SC grants anticipatory bail to Malayalam actor Siddique in rape case
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Malayalam actor Siddique in a rape case.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma said the veteran actor will have to deposit his passport and cooperate with the investigating officer in the probe.
The top court also took note of the fact that the complaint in the case was filed in August, eight years after the alleged incident took place in 2016.
On September 30, the court granted Siddique interim protection from arrest in the case.
Kerala Police has alleged lack of cooperation on the part of Siddique in the investigation.
In its status report, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kerala Police has alleged that the veteran actor is hindering the investigation and has destroyed electronic devices besides deleting his social media accounts.
On September 24, the Kerala High Court rejected Siddique's anticipatory bail plea in the rape case, saying in view of the seriousness of the accusations, his custodial interrogation was inevitable for a proper investigation of the crime.
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'No response to our appeals': Gopal Rai urges Centre to give its approval on artificial rain
New Delhi(PTI): Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said he has written to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav four times, seeking urgent clearances for cloud seeding to artificially induce rain that could help combat the escalating pollution crisis in the national capital.
Amid Delhi’s worsening air quality, which has plunged into the “severe plus” category with an AQI consistently above 450, Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday called for immediate intervention from the central government.
“Despite repeated requests through letters on August 30, October 10, and October 23, the Union Environment Minister has not taken cognisance of the situation or responded to the Delhi government’s appeals," Rai said in his latest letter.
Rai said while the GRAP-IV restrictions are being enforced to tackle the alarming levels of pollution, the thick smog layer engulfing the city can only be broken by wind or rain.
He said artificial rain, facilitated through cloud seeding, is a viable emergency measure that the Delhi government is ready to fund but cannot proceed without clearances from key central agencies such as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Defence.
“Delhi cannot get relief from pollution unless we break the smog layer. Cloud seeding can help mitigate the crisis and provide immediate relief to citizens,” Rai said.
The Delhi government collaborated with IIT Kanpur last year to explore cloud seeding as an emergency pollution control measure.
However, it faced procedural hurdles with regard to clearances from central authorities.
Emphasising the urgency of the current situation, Rai said in his letter, “I request the Union Environment Minister to convene an emergency meeting with all stakeholders, including IIT Kanpur and relevant central agencies, to fast-track the clearances required for artificial rain.”
Earlier during a press briefing, Rai alleged that the BJP-led central government is deliberately ignoring the health crisis in north India, adding that “its apathy is both disheartening and disturbing.”
Rai also criticised the Union Environment Minister, stating, “Maybe if I had written to the environment minister of another nation, they would have responded sooner than our own government.”
