Court seeks progress report on probe against Kangana on posts
Mumbai: A magistrate court here on Friday directed the Mumbai police to submit a progress report on the inquiry it had ordered into a complaint against actor Kangana Ranaut and her sister for posting alleged hateful messages on social media.
In October last year, the magistrate court had asked suburban Amboli police to conduct an inquiry into a private complaint filed by a lawyer related to the alleged objectionable messages and file a report by December 5.
The police, however, failed to file the report within the time-frame given by the court, which later extended the deadline to January 5, which, too, was missed.
The police were given a fresh deadline of February 5, but they are yet to file their report on the inquiry they have conducted into the matter.
"They were given time till today (Feb 5) to file the report under section 202 of the CrPC.
"Since they have failed to do so, I asked court to issue process directly to the accused. Thus, the court called for progress report (from police on probe so far)),"said advocate Ali Kashif Khan Deshmukh, the complainant in the case.
Issuance of process is a legal means by which an accused (against whom a case is filed) is required to appear in court or is given notice of a legal action against him/her.
Enquiry under section 202 of the CrPC is ordered to determine whether a prima facie case is made out and whether there is sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused.
The court posted the matter for further hearing on March 4.
According to the complaint, Ranaut's sister Rangoli Chandel had posted an objectionable message on Twitter in April last year, targeting a particular community, following which her account was suspended.
Ranaut then posted a video in support of her sister and in the clip allegedly referred to members of a particular community as "terrorists", the complainant said, seeking a police investigation and action against the two.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
