Scribes locked in during Yogi’s inspection in Moradabad
Priyanka Gandhi slams UP govt for its move
Moradabad: In an unprecedented move, the Moradabad District Magistrate (DM) locked up over two dozen mediapersons inside an emergency ward for two hours while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was visiting the district hospital.
DM Rakesh Kumar Singh posted guards outside the gate to ensure that the journalists did not come out during Adityanath’s visit on Saturday.
After half-an-hour when the Chief Minister left, Singh came and unlocked the gate, saying that the mediapersons were responsible for his act.
He asked the media persons not to visit the district hospital.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has criticized Adityanath for banning mediapersons from covering his routine visit.
In a post on Twitter, she said: “Journalists are being held as hostages, questions are being shielded and problems are being sidelined. The BJP government, which got a majority in the Lok Sabha elections, is turning a blind eye to the questions of the public.”
The incident has been criticized on social media and many have also slammed the DM for giving such an order.
However, Singh later clarified on Twitter that no such incident occurred.
“It is not correct. During inspection, many mediapersons were inside the ward and we simply requested media persons not to go inside the ward,” he said.
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'Someone must be held accountable': HC converts civil suit on Goa nightclub tragedy into PIL
Panaji (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday converted a civil suit against Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) saying "someone has to be held accountable" for the tragedy in which 25 people were killed.In a stern observation, Goa bench of the High Court of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ashish Chavan said the local panchayat had "failed to take suo motu cognisance" of the club and had taken "no action despite complaints."
The division bench directed the Goa government to file a detailed reply on the permissions granted to the nightclub.
The High Court, while fixing January 8 as the next date of hearing, pointed out that commercial operations were continuing in the structure despite it having been served a demolition order.
The original petition was filed after the December 6 tragedy by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divkar, the owners of the land on which the nightclub was operating.
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Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa, the lawyer representing the petitioner, was made amicus curiae in the matter and has been asked to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.
In their petition, Amonkar and Divkar highlighted "the alarming pattern of statutory violations that have remained inadequately addressed despite multiple complaints, inspections, show-cause notices, and even a demolition order".
They contended that these violations posed "immediate threats to public safety, ecological integrity, and the rule of law in the state of Goa."
Investigations by multiple agencies into the nightclub fire have revealed various irregularities, including lack of permissions to operate the nightclub.
The Goa police arrested five managers and staff members of the club, while co-owners Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra have been detained in Thailand after they fled the country.
