HC dismisses plea challenging BJP MP Pragya Thakur's election from Bhopal in 2019
Jabalpur (PTI): The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the election of Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha member Pragya Singh Thakur from Bhopal on grounds of giving "communal speeches" after neither the petitioner nor his counsel appeared in the case despite getting repeated opportunities.
A single bench of Justice Vishal Dhagat dismissed the plea on December 12 and also cited two previous cases in which the issued raised in the application had been settled.
"In view of aforesaid, since the petitioner is not appearing despite repeated opportunities being granted to him, therefore, the election petition is dismissed for want of prosecution," the judge said.
Bhopal resident Rakesh Dixit had filed the petition, alleging Thakur had given "communal speeches and incited religious sentiment" to win the 2019 Lok Sabha election in violation of section 123 of the Representation of the People Act.
The section deals with corrupt practices, which include appeal by a candidate or his/her agent to vote or refrain from voting for any person on the ground of religion, race, caste, community or language.
The HC noted the petitioner's counsel also did not appear in the court to argue in favour of the plea.
"None appeared for the petitioner on 11.10.2022, 23.11.2022 and on 29.11.2022. Despite the circular of cause list and knowledge of listing, counsel for the petitioner is not appearing in the case. Repeated opportunities were granted to the petitioner to argue the case on preliminary issue," according to the court order.
The court order mentioned two cases in which law on the issue had been settled - P Nalla Thampy Thera Dr Vs BL Shanker (AIR 1984 SC 135) and Punjab & Haryana 268-Gurmesh Bishnoi Vs Bhajan Lal (AIR 2003).
The petitioner, to buttress his accusations, had incorporated CDs of the BJP leader's speeches and clippings of news reports along with the plea.
Thakur defeated Congress stalwart and two-time chief minister Digvijaya Singh with a huge margin of 3,64,822 votes in 2019 from the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, which the saffron party has been winning since 1989.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
