Visva-Bharati to undertake joint survey of Amartya Sen's land
Kolkata, Feb 9: After sending two missives to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen for allegedly occupying parts of land leased to his family in an "unauthorised manner", Visva-Bharati University on Thursday said it will conduct a joint survey of the land along with the economist's side.
In a statement, the university sought a suitable date and time from Sen for the exercise.
"With reference to our earlier letters, this is to inform you that the university wants to survey/demarcate jointly the land mutated in your favour for the residual period of lease as per lease deal executed on October 27, 1943 vide resolution no 8 dated September 3, 2006 of the executive council of Visva Bharati and communicated to you on October 31, 2006," the letter said.
The varsity, in the letter, said the joint survey will be conducted on at least two days, and sought to know a suitable date and time from Sen.
One of the previous letters issued by the university to Sen on January 27 stated, "You are in possession of 1.38 acre of land which is in excess of your legal entitlement of 1.25 acre. Kindly return the land to Visva Bharati as early as possible "
On January 24, the central university had issued a similar letter to Sen.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee last week came out in support of the economist and handed over land-related documents to the octogenarian during a visit to Birbhum.
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K’taka HC judge whose controversial remarks triggered controversy expresses regret before open court
Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court judge, Justice V Srishananda, on Saturday expressed regret in open court after facing backlash over his controversial remarks in his recent court hearings, reported Bar and Bench.
Two purported video clips from Justice V Srishananda’s court hearing that show him making inappropriate comments went viral across social media platforms.
On Saturday, Justice Srishananda invited members of the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and senior lawyers to his courtroom at 2:30 PM, where he read out a note expressing regret for inappropriate comments.
Quoting Advocates Association President Vivek Subba Reddy, Bar and Bench wrote, “He expressed regret for the comments and clarified that it was not his intention to offend any community or members of the Bar. He also requested the association to relay this message to all members of the Bar.”
Reddy further stated, “We also advised him to encourage young lawyers in the courtroom and refrain from making any irrelevant remarks during hearings.”
Another senior lawyer present during the session confirmed to the legal news portal that Justice Srishananda also addressed comments directed at a woman lawyer, who was seen in one of the videos being reprimanded by the judge. The judge Justice Srishananda clarified that his remarks were not intended to target her (woman lawyer) specifically, but rather pertained to the appellant she was representing. “He explained that his comment was meant to imply that the appellant seemed to know a lot about the other party,” said the lawyer.
In addition, Justice Srishananda assured those present that he would avoid making such comments in the future.
The controversy came to light on September 19, when a video clip from an August 28 Court hearing surfaced on social media, showing Justice Srishananda referring to a Muslim-majority sub-locality in Bengaluru’s Goripalya as "Pakistan." Hours later, another video from the same courtroom emerged, in which the judge was seen making a gender-insensitive remark.
Following outrage over the viral videos, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, on September 20 took a suo motu cognizance and sought a report from the Karnataka High Court Registrar General in connection with the viral video.
