Articles 370, 35-A must go, says Bhagwat
New Delhi, Sep 19: Amid the raging debate, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday said that Articles 370 and 35-A of the Constitution, which give special status to Jammu and Kashmir, must go.
"Our views on Articles 370 and 35-A are well known. These Articles must go," the Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) said in response to a query on the concluding day of his outreach programme.
Of late, there has been a raging controversy over Article 35A that empowers the Jammu and Kashmir legislature to define "permanent residents" of the state and provide special rights and privileges to those permanent residents.
After huge opposition in Jammu and Kashmir, the new Governor had intervened in the matter when the state told the Supreme Court that a PIL on the matter be deferred for hearing later.
On the question of a demand for division of Jammu and Kashmir into three parts -- Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir Valley, Bhagwat said it was for the government to decide.
"The idea behind the division of any state is administrative convenience and the country's integrity and security should remain intact. If on these parameters the government feels at any time that the state should be divided, then so be it. If not, the state may remain intact," he said.
"But it needs to be seen whether the state government there is working for the development of all the regions of the state without discrimination. The primary thing is that the state government must ensure there is no threat to the internal security of the country," he added.
Bhagwat disclosed that some RSS volunteers have started running schools, etc., in the troubled state to work on the youth and prevent them from going astray.
"Vande mataram and Jana Gana Mana are sung in these schools. Independence Day and Republic Day are also celebrated. We are getting good support from the students and their guardians. This will grow gradually, because no such attempt had been made earlier. The effort will take time to bear fruit," Bhagwat said.
On the question of need for tougher laws to maintain the internal security of the country, Bhagwat said that both government and society should ensure through reaching out to every section of the society that people do not get attracted towards elements which create a threat to the internal security.
He added that those openly opposing the implementation of law and order must be dealt with strictly.
"We cannot reach anywhere through the bullet but through talks. But the talks must go in a direction that Bharat must remain united and integrated," he said.
"We should ensure that those posing threat to country's security, those speaking the language of treason do not get the support from inside the country. We must isolate such people," Bhagwat said.
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
