Judge Who Quit Hours After Mecca Masjid Blast Verdict Hopes To Join BJP
HYDERABAD: Former Judge K Ravinder Reddy, who quit hours after delivering the verdict in the Mecca Masjid blast case, has expressed keenness to join the BJP, describing it as a 'patriotic party' and the one which does not have 'family rule'.
Banners welcoming him into the party were put up at the BJPs Telangana State headquarters. He was supposed to join party on Thursday but did not do so. Mr Reddy, the then Judge of the Special anti-terror court, had on April 16 this year acquitted Hindutva preacher Aseemanand and four others in the case.
A powerful blast, triggered by remote control, had ripped through the over four centuries-old mosque here during an assembly of devotees on May 18, 2007, when they had gathered for Friday prayers, killing nine people and injuring 58. Mr Reddy, meanwhile, told reporters he was asked to keep his programme of joining the BJP on hold, but that no reason was cited. "Former Union Minister and Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya felicitated me and invited me to join the party. I also expressed my interest to join as I believe it is a party which has national interest. It is the only national level patriotic party and does not have any family-rule", he said.
Mr Reddy said he had met BJP President Amit Shah when he was in the city recently. "Along with me, all my well-wishers, family friends and advocates came here (party office) to witness my joining the party. But I received a message asking me to keep the programme on hold without any reason being assigned," Mr Reddy said. Asked about the issue of former judge's joining the party, Mr Dattatreya told reporters here Friday it was just a 'communication gap'.
"As per the Sampark (contact) and Sahyog (cooperation)programme, I met many prominent people. Retired judge Ravinder Reddy was one among them. He expressed his opinion on all the subjects we discussed. There was a communication gap. There is no other problem (in him joining the party)," he said when asked why the former judicial officer had not joined the party.
Meanwhile, MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi in his twitter account, said "Yes Retired Judge saheb we knew where you were heading and certainly you will be rewarded by Supreme Leader and Assemanand and Co will campaign for you. I hope you loose your deposit."
Mr Reddy, the then Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge, had put in his papers, citing personal reasons, after pronouncing the judgement in the Mecca Masjid blast case. He was among the 11 subordinate judges suspended by the Hyderabad High Court in June 2016 for protesting appointment of the judges who hail from Andhra Pradesh to the courts in Telangana and over the demand for setting up a separate high court for Telangana. The suspension was later revoked.
courtesy : ndtv.com
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Jamshedpur man among crew of LPG vessel back from West Asia, family heaves sigh of relief
Jamshedpur (PTI): A family in Jharkhand's Jamshedpur heaved a sigh of relief after learning that the Indian-flagged LPG vessel Shivalik, on which their son was working, had safely reached Gujarat's Mundra port after crossing the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict in West Asia.
Mithilesh Tripathy said his only son, Ansh Tripathy, who serves as the second engineer on the vessel, was responsible for monitoring the ship's technical operations during the journey through the strategically crucial maritime corridor.
Tripathy said he last spoke to his son over a WhatsApp call about four to five days ago, when the vessel was leaving Qatar.
"They were instructed to maintain a safe distance from the Strait of Hormuz until they received the green signal from headquarters. The Indian government was negotiating with Iranian authorities to ensure safe passage," Tripathy told PTI.
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A former flight engineer with the Indian Air Force, Tripathy later worked at Uranium Corporation of India in Jadugora near Jamshedpur. He now lives in a residential society near Pardih in the city.
Speaking about his son, Tripathy said Ansh completed his schooling in Jamshedpur and Jadugora, pursued mechanical engineering at BIT, and later graduated as a marine engineer from Kochi. He joined the Shipping Corporation of India around 2014-15.
"Before leaving Qatar, Ansh told me they were heading towards the Indian Ocean. That was all he said," he added, noting that he did not discuss the number of crew members on board.
Tripathy said the family remained anxious after hearing about the war in West Asia.
"We were extremely worried about Ansh and the crew members since the war broke out in the region. We were glued to the TV for updates," he said, expressing relief after hearing that the ship had reached Mundra port safely.
"It was a very painful time, but we were confident that if my son and the crew returned safely, it would be due to the efforts of PM Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar," he said.
Tripathy said that while people may hold different views about the tensions in West Asia, his experience in the Air Force helped him understand the realities of operating in a conflict zone.
Two Indian-flagged LPG carriers, Shivalik and Nanda Devi, with 92,712 metric tonnes of LPG, crossed the Strait of Hormuz early on Saturday following negotiations between India and Iran.
Shivalik arrived at the Mundra Port on Monday with 46,000 metric tonnes of LPG ordered by Indian Oil Corp Ltd, officials said.
While 20,000 MT will be unloaded at Mundra, 26,000 MT will be unloaded at Mangaluru, they said.
Nanda Devi is scheduled to reach Gujarat's Kandla port on Tuesday, they added.
These two ships were among the 24 ships stranded on the west side of the strait since the war broke out in the region.
Besides the 24 on the west side of the strait, four others were stranded on the east side.
India imports about 88 per cent of its crude oil, 50 per cent of its natural gas and 60 per cent of its LPG needs. Before the US-Israel strikes on Iran on February 28 and Tehran's retaliation, more than half of India's crude imports, about 30 per cent of gas and 85-90 per cent of LPG imports came from West Asian countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The conflict has led to a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the main transit route for Gulf energy supplies.
