Meghalaya murder: Sonam's brother supports Raja Raghuvanshi's family; to fight to get them justice
Indore, Jun 11 (PTI): The brother of Sonam Raghuvanshi, who is among the five arrested for the murder of her Indore-based husband Raja Raghuvanshi, on Wednesday came out in support of the victim's family and vowed to fight a legal battle to get justice for them.
An emotional Govind Raghuvanshi, Sonam's brother, reached Raja Raghuvanshi's house here to console his family members. Sharing the family's grief, he hugged Raja's mother Uma and broke down.
Raja Raghuvanshi (29) and Sonam got married here on May 11. They went missing during their honeymoon trip to Meghalaya on May 23. Raja's body was found in a deep gorge near a waterfall in Sohra area (also known as Cherrapunji) of East Khasi Hills district on June 2.
Sonam, who was initially reported missing in Meghalaya, surfaced in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur on Sunday night where she surrendered after her alleged accomplices Akash Rajput (19), Vishal Singh Chauhan (22), and Anand Kurmi were arrested for their alleged role in conspiring and killing Raghuvanshi. Raj Singh Kushwaha (21), the alleged conspirator, was arrested later.
Talking to reporters during his visit to Raja Raghuvanshi's house, Govind said, "I have announced that I am with Raja's family and will fight a legal battle to get him justice."
He said he does not know whether his sister Sonam has admitted her crime or not.
"I met Sonam only for two minutes when she was in the custody of the Meghalaya police. I could not talk to her much. She did not confess her crime in front of me," he added.
When asked about Raj Kushwaha's role in the Raja Raghuvanshi murder case, he said, ''Raj was just our employee."
Accused Sonam's maternal home is located in Indore's Govind Nagar Kharcha area. She handled the family business of lamination sheets used in furniture.
According to the local police, Raj Kushwaha, who was reportedly romantically involved with Sonam and accused of plotting the murder of Raja Raghuvanshi, is a 12th dropout and worked as an accountant at the lamination sheet unit owned by Sonam's family.
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SC to hear on May 4 PIL seeking stringent guidelines for issuing Aadhaar to adolescents, adults
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six years, and frame stringent guidelines for its issuance to adolescents and adults to stop infiltrators from masquerading as Indian citizens.
As per the apex court's causelist of May 4, the plea would come up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought a direction to the authorities to install display boards at common service centres stating that the 12-digit unique identification number is only a "proof of identity" and not a proof of citizenship, address or date of birth.
Besides all the states and Union Territories, the plea has made the UIDAI -- which is the authority that issues Aadhaar -- and the Union ministries of home, law and justice, and electronics and information technology as parties.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, said Aadhaar, originally intended as a proof of identity, has increasingly become a "foundational document" enabling individuals to obtain other identification documents, such as ration cards, domicile certificates and voter identity cards.
"The UIDAI has issued 144 crore Aadhaar and 99 percent Indians have been enrolled. Therefore, the petitioner is filing this writ petition as a PIL under Article 32, seeking a direction to UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar to children only and frame new stringent guidelines for adolescents and adults, so as to stop infiltrators from getting it and masquerading as Indian citizens," the plea said.
It said the need to file the plea arose when the petitioner came to know the manner in which infiltrators are able to procure Aadhaar through a verification process that is weak and can be easily manipulated.
"Foreigners apply for Aadhaar under the 'foreign' category. But infiltrators apply for Aadhaar under the 'Indian citizen' category and get it easily made. Thereafter, they obtain a ration card, birth and domicile certificate, driving licence, et cetera, essentially becoming indistinguishable from Indian citizens…," it said.
Besides seeking other directions, the plea has raised legal questions, including whether the Aadhaar Act 2016 has become "temporally unreasonable" for failing to keep up with the legislative intent of distinguishing foreigners from Indian citizens.
It said the alleged misuse of Aadhaar undermines targeted welfare delivery and leads to diversion of public resources.
