Know how crowded Mumbai local trains are? K'taka HC asks petitioners against Shakti Scheme
Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has permitted the withdrawal of a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the 'Shakti' scheme, which offers free bus travel for women in Karnataka. The court determined that the PIL, filed by three law students, lacked specificity and supporting research.
The students, Ashwin Shankar Bhat, Neha Venkatesh, and Yashika Saravanan, had argued in the PIL that the scheme had led to "chaos, commotions, and unruly behavior at bus stands, impacting children and senior citizens, and causing significant economic losses."
The petition contended that the provision of free travel in state-owned buses was more detrimental than beneficial to women. During the PIL hearing, the bench consisting of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice M G S Kamal questioned the petitioner's counsel about whether bus travel was comfortable for women before the introduction of the 'Shakti' scheme.
The court sought clarification on the locations experiencing overcrowding, whether the scheme was restricted to a particular group, and whether any studies had been conducted on the matter. The bench also inquired whether the PIL aimed to address overcrowding or challenge the entire scheme. Drawing a comparison to Mumbai local trains, the court asked if the petitioners were aware of their crowded nature.
The court advised the petitioners that PILs should be filed with proper preparation, and subsequently, the petitioners' counsel requested permission to withdraw the PIL, which the court granted.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
