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Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Bombay HC grants interim protection from demolition to over 200 people residing in vicinity of Malegaon fort
The Bombay High Court on Friday granted interim protection from demolition to over 200 people residing near the vicinity of a fort, an archeological site at Malegaon in Nashik district, who were sent eviction notices by the tehsildar. The HC granted interim protection from coercive action to the petitioners pending their plea challenging the government resolution seeking eviction of people residing near the site. The court also asked the state government's lawyer Kavita N Solunke to file an affidavit in reply to the plea. A vacation bench of Justices Gauri V Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan was on May 30 hearing a plea by Mohammad Rajjab Khan Mohammad Khan and Shakeel Ahmed Mohammad Israil, residents of Killa (fort) area at Raviwar Ward in Malegaon, who claimed to have filed it on behalf of themselves and over 200 other residents, challenging fresh eviction notice, apprehending demolition. The petitioners, through advocate Manisha Desai, claimed while a gymkhana and a school are already running inside the archeological site, no action has been taken against them. However, arbitrary action has been initiated only against the occupants who are outside the archaeological site. She submitted that the petitioners were informed by the tehsildar that a fresh order for eviction and demolition had been issued against them. The petitioners whose residential structures are on land belonging to the Nashik district Collector claimed the houses have been existing for over 40 years. The petitioners claimed that after they learnt from a news report that the encroachments in the fort will be removed, they came to know from the Collector's office that the state culture and tourism department on January 20 had under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 and Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules 1959 had issued a Government Resolution (GR). The GR ordered demolition of unauthorised structures on 47 forts protected by the central government and 62 protected by the archeological department, across the state. A committee headed by the Collector was to be constituted and submit a report, and between February and May this year, the encroachments were to be demolished. The petitioners were informed that their structures are also liable to be removed, after which they approached the HC challenging it. The vacation bench noted that on May 8, a coordinate bench, while hearing another plea relating to similarly placed over 100 petitioners, had directed that no coercive measures be taken against their structures and if at all it is to be taken, due procedure of law by issuing showcause notice be followed and same interim protection from eviction and demolition to those petitioners was extended through May 29 order. On May 30, the bench noted that facts of the present case are similar to facts of the matter in which interim protection was already granted. The court asked Solunke to take instructions about the same and said that the copy of fresh order of eviction be supplied to petitioners' lawyer.
Indian Express
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Bombay HC orders immediate release of Yemeni national ‘detained in police station' for overstaying in India
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday ordered immediate release of a Yemeni national detained by the Mumbai Police for overstaying in India and questioned how he could be detained in the police station. Prima facie, the court found that there was no supporting provision in law which would enable the authorities to detain him at a police station and as per authorities, there are no detention centres made available by the government. The court also stressed on the need for Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to handle cases of overstaying under the Foreigners Act and also questioned the lack of proper detention facilities in the city for such purposes. It also raised a question on how the man was detained without a formal order and who would have been held responsible in case anything untoward happened to him during the detention period. A vacation bench of Justices Gauri V Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan passed an order while hearing an application by one Mohammed Qassim Mohammed Al Shibah, a former employee of Yemen Airlines, who claimed that he was illegally detained in the Byculla police station premises. He said in December 2023, the high court had granted relief to another person in a similar case. The applicant said the petitioners, including him, are refugees from Yemen registered under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), whose visas expired in September 2015. Deportation orders were issued against six members of his family that included three minors. The plea claimed that Al Shibah travelled to India between 2002 and 2015 and when the civil war broke out in Yemen, he and his family had sought asylum in India. The applicant, through advocate Weseley Menezes, said since he was illegally detained earlier this month on May 16, he approached the high court with an interim application in a petition filed by the family that challenged various orders passed against them under the Foreigners Act, 1946. The application seeking interim release contended that the respondent authorities would not be entitled to detain him in a police station as there are no other allegations against him except for 'overstay' in India. Menezes claimed that his client was not a threat to public order and that the family, which had been granted refugee status until August 2027, was in the process to resettle in Canada and the same required another 12 months in India. However, advocate Purnima H Kantharia, representing the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), Mumbai, Additional Commissioner of Police, Special Branch- FRRO along with Union Home and External Affairs ministries, opposed the plea. She referred to Section 3 (2) (e) of the Foreigners Act and Foreigners Order, 1948, and said that the same provides the central government the powers to make orders regarding foreigners. The bench noted that the applicant had entered India on a diplomatic passport with valid permission and was working in India and there were no criminal antecedents against him. 'Prima facie, we do not find that the provision of the Foreigners Act would be of any help to detain him in a police station,' the HC noted. It added that the Foreigners Order provides powers to impose restrictions on movement related to place of residence, therefore, there was no supporting provision to detain him in the police station. 'We do not find any reason why he should continue to remain in Byculla police station,' the bench remarked. It directed the applicant present in the court to be immediately released from the custody of respondents and that he shall not leave Greater Mumbai without seeking the court's permission. The bench said there was no reason that the police or FRRO could seize the applicant's passport without following any procedure and asked Kantharia to hand over his original diplomatic passport to his lawyer. The HC sought affidavits in reply by respondent authorities to the main petition and the interim application within two weeks, followed by petitioner's rejoinder, and posted further hearing to June 16.
United News of India
27-05-2025
- Politics
- United News of India
Maha: HC grants bail to 19-yr-old student arrested for her social media post on 'Operation Sindoor'
Mumbai, May 27 (UNI) The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to a 19-year-old student from Pune who was first rusticated by her college after her social media post that was critical of 'Operation Sindoor', India's counter-terror strikes in Pakistan on May 7, and she was later arrested by local police. A vacation bench of Justices Gauri V Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan, while granting bail to the second-year student of a course in Information Technology at Pune's Sinhgad Academy of Engineering College, directed her release on bail and also pulled up the Maharashtra government for its "radical" reaction to her post. While observing that the girl had posted the comment, then deleted the same and apologised for it as well, the court held that the state government, instead of giving her a chance to reform, had got her arrested, thereby turning her into a criminal. The bench said such a "radical" reaction from the state government was unwarranted and has turned a student into a criminal. "This is an absolutely shocking case. Are the police bent upon ruining the girl's life? Is she a hardcore criminal?" the court remarked. At the most, the girl's act of sharing such a post can be termed as an "act of indiscretion" by a young student, the bench said. "The girl has posted something and then realised her mistake and apologised. Instead of giving her a chance to reform, the state government has arrested her and turned her into a criminal," it noted. The court questioned the conduct of the government and the college. "Someone is expressing their opinion, and this is how you ruin her life? A student's life has been ruined," it said. Additional government pleader P P Kakade said the girl's post was against the national interest. The court, however, said national interest would not suffer because of a post uploaded by a student who has realised her mistake and apologised. "How can the state arrest a student like this? Does the state want students to stop expressing their opinions? Such a radical reaction from the state will further radicalise the person," the court said. The bench also rapped the college for rusticating the girl, saying that an educational institution's approach should be to reform, not punish. The court also pulled up the Sinhgad Academy of Engineering for its action taken against her and asked the college to allow her to appear in the forthcoming examination. Advocate Farhan Shah, while appearing for the petitioner, challenged her rustication in the court, contending that the petitioner was rusticated in an 'arbitrary' manner without issuing any issuance of a show-cause notice or grant of any opportunity to be heard, to her. Adv Shah contended that the same was in violation of the principles of natural justice and that the same infringed upon her fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution. Shah sought direction from the High Court to quash the rustication and issue directions to allow the petitioner to appear for the semester examination. During the hearing, the court was also informed that the petitioner was arrested earlier this month after she had reposted a message from an Instagram account called Reformistan. The post criticised the Indian government for 'provoking a war against Pakistan' during the then ongoing Operation Sindoor. After receiving threats online, she deleted the post within two hours and issued an apology. Despite this, she was arrested the same day by the Kondhwa police, following the registration of a FIR against her, and she was lodged at the Yerwada Prison in Pune under judicial custody after her arrest. A local court had earlier rejected her bail plea, Adv Shah said. When it was brought to the notice of the High Court, the bench expressed deep concern over how a young student was treated by the authorities and asked the lawyer to immediately file a bail application. The judges assured that they would grant her bail on the same day. After hearing the bail application at length, the bench ordered the student to be released on bail forthwith, noting that she should not have been arrested at all in the first place since she had deleted the post immediately, expressed remorse and apologised for the same. This is not a case where the girl has to remain in custody anymore, the HC said, adding, the girl has to be released on Tuesday itself. "The applicant (girl) shall be released on bail by the Yerwada prison on Tuesday itself," the bench stated. The concerned officer of the prison is directed to ensure that she is released today evening itself so that she can appear for her college examination, the court noted. The court also suspended the rustication order passed by the girl's college and directed the institution to issue her a hall ticket so that she can appear for the examination. The rustication order has been issued hurriedly without giving the student an opportunity to give her explanation, the HC pointed. UNI AAA SS
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Business Standard
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Bombay HC slams Maharashtra govt for student's arrest over Op Sindoor post
The Bombay High Court slammed the Maharashtra government and Pune's Sinhgad Academy of Engineering for their actions against a second-year female engineering student, who was rusticated and arrested over a social media post related to Operation Sindoor. The student, studying at the private college affiliated with Savitribai Phule Pune University, was rusticated and arrested on May 9 after an FIR was lodged at Kondhwa police station. She has been lodged in Pune's Yerwada prison since then. In her plea, the student challenged her rustication as 'arbitrary and unlawful,' claiming it was issued without any show-cause notice or opportunity to be heard, violating principles of natural justice and her fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19(1)(a), and 21 of the Constitution. Her lawyer, Farhana Shah, requested an urgent hearing considering her upcoming semester examinations, emphasizing the impact of her continued detention. A vacation bench of Justices Gauri V Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan ordered the student's release, stressing the need for reform rather than punishment. Justice Godse sharply questioned the state's and the college's actions, 'What is this? You are ruining the life of a student? What kind of conduct this is? Somebody expresses something you want to ruin the life of the student? How can you rusticate? Did you call upon an explanation?' She emphasized that 'she is not a criminal,' the HC stated. 'What is the purpose of an educational institution? Is it only to educate academically? You need to reform a student or make a student into a criminal? We understand you want to take some action but you cannot refrain her from taking exams. Let her appear for the remaining three papers.' The court ruled, 'she cannot be stopped from appearing in exams. She cannot be asked to appear with police around her.' The college's counsel claimed the action was taken in 'national interest,' which the bench dismissed, saying, 'What national interest? This is an age to make mistakes and rectify. She has already faced consequences. What impact will a student's comment have on national interest? She has suffered enough. You are treating her like a criminal. She accepted she made a mistake and removed it. You need to reform her. You need to help her, or you want to convert her into a criminal?' The college's rustication letter stated that while free expression was recognized, students were expected to act responsibly and within the law, claiming her posts undermined the college's reputation and risked disharmony. The court allowed her legal team to file a criminal plea for her release and requested the government's counsel to obtain police instructions before adjourning the matter.
Indian Express
27-05-2025
- Indian Express
‘Treating her like she's a criminal': Bombay HC pulls up govt, Pune college for rustication, arrest of student over Operation Sindoor post
Hearing a plea by a 19-year-old student from Pune who was rusticated by her college after a social media post amid Operation Sindoor and later arrested and jailed, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday pulled up the Maharashtra government and Sinhgad Academy of Engineering for the action taken against her. Sinhgad Academy of Engineering in Pune had rusticated the second-year Information Technology student on May 9 after an FIR was registered against her at the Kondhwa police station in Pune. She was arrested on the same day and is currently lodged in Yerawada jail. Seeking direction from the Bombay High Court to quash the rustication, the student sought that she be reinstated and be allowed to appear for the semester exams that were to begin from May 24. Hearing her plea on Tuesday, a vacation bench of Justices Gauri V Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan said that she should be released from jail to appear for exams. She has already faced consequences for her post, and as she has expressed remorse, she needs to be reformed, the court said. The court asked her lawyer to file a criminal petition seeking her release, which will be heard later in the day. The Pune college's rustication letter stated that while the institution recognised the right to free expression, it also expected students 'to exercise such rights responsibly and within the bounds of the law'. It further said that the student's posts on her social media account 'have been deemed to undermine the reputation of the college and may incite disharmony within the campus community and society'. In her plea, filed through advocate Farhana Shah, the student claimed she was rusticated in an 'arbitrary' manner without issuing any show-cause notice or any opportunity to be heard and the same was in violation of the principles of natural justice and infringed upon her fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution. The petitioner contended that she had merely re-posted the Instagram post without any ill-intention and had immediately apologised. During the hearing, Justice Godse orally remarked to the lawyer representing the institute: 'What is this? What kind of conduct is this? Someone expresses something, you want to ruin the life of a student? How can you rusticate like this? Did you call for any explanation? We understand you want to take some action, but you cannot refrain her from appearing for exams. Let her appear for the remaining papers.' After the lawyer representing the college said that the action was taken considering 'national interest', the bench went on to remark: 'What national interest? This is an age to make mistakes and rectify. She has already faced consequences. What impact will a student's comment have on national interest? She has suffered enough. You are treating her like a criminal. She accepted she made a mistake and removed it. You need to reform her. You need to help her, or you want to convert her into a criminal?' After the college's lawyer said that it supports students, the bench said that the institution could hold an inquiry, but its action should be with the intention to reform the petitioner. 'Educational institutions should not do this. You are supporting her so that she gets converted into a criminal? What kind of approach is this,' the bench questioned the college. The court was informed that the sessions court is likely to hear the student's bail application on Wednesday, May 27, but she has to appear for an exam on the same day. After Additional Government Pleader P P Kakade submitted that she can appear for exams with police escort while being in custody, the bench responded: 'She is not a criminal. She cannot be asked to appear with police around her, and she has to be released (from custody).' The court allowed Shah to file a criminal plea seeking her release and sought a government lawyer to take instructions from the police and posted a hearing later during the day.
