No more special NIA courts required in Gujarat: High Court Chief Justice
Ahmedabad (PTI): The Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court has refused to recommend to the Centre setting up of additional special courts to try the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) cases in the state, an official said on Tuesday.
The Chief Justice rejected the proposal made by the division bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Niral R Mehta, citing "that there are only 12 cases under the said Act and two special courts have been designated as special courts for the said purpose".
In an order, the division bench mentioned a letter addressed by the High Court's additional registrar (administration) to the deputy registrar, criminal appeal department dated November 17.
As per the letter, the ground for rejection was that there were only 12 cases under the said Act and two special courts have been designated for the purpose, said the court in its order passed on Monday.
The court had requested the Chief Justice to consider recommending to the Centre to appoint at least two more judges to the special court as provided under section 11(6) of the NIA Act, 2008, "so that the trial can proceed expeditiously and the undertrial accused may not have to languish in jail for a long period .
The court had made the request while hearing the bail application of a man who was arrested for allegedly printing fake currency notes post the demonetisation, and the matter was investigated by the NIA.
The request had come after a special NIA judge, who was hearing the accused's case, informed that she was in-charge of almost seven trials under the NIA and was also hearing the ongoing 2002 Naroda Gam riots case.
The special judge had claimed that she also has to do other judicial work as a city civil judge and administrative work of the city civil and sessions court.
The High Court, hearing the bail plea, was told that a special NIA court had in the last three months examined only one witness in the case, and the prosecution intends to examine around 47 witnesses for which at least six months will be required.
Since the petitioner has been in jail for the last five years, the court directed the Additional Solicitor General of India to take instructions whether serious prejudice is likely to be caused to the NIA if the appellant is ordered to be released on bail.
The court posted the matter for further hearing on November 29.
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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.
