All is not well in Bihar, says SC; pulls up police for not arresting ex-minister
New Delhi, Oct 31: "All is not well in Bihar", the Supreme Court said Wednesday and expressed displeasure over the failure of police in arresting former state minister Manju Verma -- who stepped down in the wake of the Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal -- in a case of recovery of "illegal ammunition" from her.
A bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta, which had Tuesday pulled up the Bihar Police for not arresting the ex-minister, was informed by the state that Verma was in "hiding".
"All the not well in Bihar. A former minister has gone hiding and the state does not know where its former cabinet minister has gone after her (anticipatory) bail plea was rejected," the bench said while terming it as "strange".
Manju Verma had resigned as social welfare minister in Bihar government following the Muzaffarpur case, where several women at a shelter home were allegedly raped and sexually abused, after it came to light that her husband Chandrashekhar Verma had spoken to prime accused Brijesh Thakur several times between January and June.
Her husband had surrendered before a Begusarai court in Bihar on Monday in connection with the case related to recovery of ammunition.
The apex court was earlier informed that Manju Verma's anticipatory bail plea was dismissed by the Patna High Court on October 9.
During the hearing on Wednesday, the bench was also informed that the CBI team probing the Muzaffarpur shelter home case has not been changed.
Advocate Aparna Bhat, assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the case, had Tuesday told the bench that she has got information that one of the members of CBI team probing the Muzaffarpur case has been changed despite court's specific direction that composition of the investigating team be not changed without the leave of court.
The court had also directed that Brajesh Thakur be shifted to Patiala high security jail in Punjab from Bihar's Bhagalpur jail.
The order to shift Thakur out of Bihar was passed after the CBI had on October 25 told the court that he was an influential person and was found in possession of mobile phone inside the Bhagalpur jail.
On September 20, the court had said it had come on record that Chandrashekhar Verma and his wife were in "possession of illegal ammunition of a fairly large quantity". It was not clear whether they were in possession of illegal arms as well.
The court had observed that the CBI, in its status report filed earlier, had noted that an FIR has been lodged against Chandrashekhar and Manju Verma.
"The affairs of these two need to be looked into, particularly with regard to their procurement and possession of illegal ammunition and availability of illegal weapons, if any. We request the local police in the state of Bihar to look into this aspect with some degree of seriousness," the bench had said in its order.
Over 30 girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused at the shelter home in Muzaffarpur and the issue was first highlighted in an audit report submitted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to the state's social welfare department.
An FIR was lodged on May 31 against 11 people, including Thakur, who was running the shelter home.
The probe was later taken over by CBI and so far 17 people have been arrested.
The apex court had earlier termed as "horrible" and "scary" details placed before it by CBI about the investigation into the case.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
