Kerala continues to witness protests over fuel cess
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The opposition Congress continued to hold protests in Kerala on Saturday against the Left government's budget proposal to impose cess on petrol, diesel and liquor, demanding its roll back.
In Kochi, a group of Youth Congress activists attempted to jump in front of the official vehicle of the Chief Minister as his convoy emerged from the state-run guest house and waved black flags at him.
However, the slogan-shouting agitators were stopped by the police and cleared the way for the CM's convoy to move forward.
The protesters were later forcefully bundled into the police vehicle.
The Congress party observed Saturday as "black day" across the state seeking reversal of the proposal to levy "social security cess" on fuel and liquor.
Several protests programmes including marches and siege of petrol pumps were organised under the aegis of various district congress committees (DCC).
According to party sources, protests would continue to be held by mandalam committees across the state in the evening.
M M Hassan, convenor of the Congress-led UDF, vehemently criticised the LDF government and said the budget proposals were a "war cry" against the common people.
A decision on more intense protests would be taken in the next UDF meeting in this regard.
"This is the worst budget in the history of Kerala....It is nothing but looting of people," the leader added.
KPCC general secretary T U Radhakrishnan said party workers would take out marches to district collectorates across the state on February 9 under DCCs.
Presenting the budget on Friday, Finance Minister K N Balagopal had said that it was proposed to levy a Social Security Cess on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and on the sale of petrol and diesel as the commitment to continue protecting the decent lives to vulnerable sections of society require supplementing the financial resources.
Meanwhile, CPI (M) state secretary M V Govindan slammed the media when they asked about the upcoming hike in the fuel price in the state following the government's decision to impose cess on its sale.
He charged that the BJP-led union government had hiked the petrol and diesel price to an exorbitant rate and the media was 'silent' over it.
"It was the Centre which had constantly increased the fuel price. It is the reason for the inflation," he claimed here.
Govindan also indicated that the cess on liquor, petrol and diesel was just a budget proposal and not a final decision.
#WATCH | Kerala: Members of Youth Congress wave a black flag outside Ernakulam Guest House in Kochi where CM Pinarayi Vijayan is staying today. Protesters later detained by Police
— ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2023
Security has been enhanced outside the Guest House in wake of protests against CM over State Budget pic.twitter.com/iKZyoRDxAU
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2019 mud attack on engineer: Maharashtra court sentences BJP minister Nitesh Rane to one-month jail
Mumbai (PTI): A court in Sindhudurg on Monday convicted Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane in a 2019 case of pouring mud on an NHAI engineer when he was in opposition, and sentenced him to one-month imprisonment, noting that lawmakers are not supposed to take the law into their hands.
Later, the court suspended Rane's sentence, allowing him time to appeal before a higher court, while acquitting 29 other accused in the case.
"Even though Rane's intention was to raise a voice against the poor quality of work and inconvenience faced by the people, he was not supposed to humiliate or insult a public servant in public," additional sessions court judge V S Deshmukh stated.
"If such incidents continue to occur, public servants would not be able to discharge their duties with dignity," the judge noted.
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Calling the act "abuse of power", the court held that "it is the demand of time to curb such tendency".
Rane, a son of former Union minister Narayan Rane, was among 30 people charged under various offences, including rioting, assault to deter a public servant, and criminal conspiracy. He was in Congress when the incident occurred.
All the accused, including Nitesh Rane, were acquitted of these offences, as the court found insufficient evidence to support most of these claims.
However, the court found Nitesh Rane guilty of an offence under section 504 (intentional insult meant to provoke a breach of public peace) and sentenced him to one month's jail.
Rane, then a Congress MLA, had called the Sub-Divisional Engineer of the National Highway Authority, Prakash Shedekar, to a bridge over the Gad river in Kankavli on July 4, 2019, for inspecting the work to widen the Mumbai-Goa Highway.
According to the prosecution, Nitesh Rane and his followers, frustrated by the poor quality of the roadwork and waterlogging, confronted the engineer. They poured muddy water on Shedekar and forced him to walk through slush in public.
The court, after perusing the evidence on record, noted that the informant (victim) was holding a high post in the National Highway Authority.
"Despite that, he was made to walk through the muddy water in public. It would have certainly humiliated and insulted him," the court remarked.
The judge held that Rane compelling Shedekar to walk through the muddy water "was nothing but an intentional insult to the informant," and provocation which will cause him to break the public peace.
