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Time of India
32 minutes ago
- Business
- Time of India
Bombay High Court holds businessman's arrest in Rs 67 cr case illegal, orders his release
Representative image MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court vacation bench on Friday declared the arrest of Anchor Group director Hemang Shah , 50, by Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) as illegal, citing failure by police to produce him before a magistrate in 24 hours. The court ordered his immediate release from Arthur Road Jail. The vacation bench, comprising Justices Gauri Godse and Somasekhar Sundaresan, noted that chat messages between the wives of the two brothers supported Hemang Shah's claim that his arrest and continued custody were intended to recover the settlement amount in mediation between family members. The arrest was based on allegations of defrauding his elder brother, Mehul Shah, of Rs 67 crore. Hemang Shah petitioned the HC, arguing that his arrest was illegal since he was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours as required by law. He was detained at Delhi airport at 5.30 pm on May 17 and produced in court only at 10.45 pm on May 18. The HC agreed, stating that his arrest "without producing him before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours is completely illegal" and infringes on fundamental rights under Article 22(2), which mandates such production. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trading CFD dengan Teknologi dan Kecepatan Lebih Baik IC Markets Mendaftar Undo The FIR by the elder brother was lodged with Malabar Hill police station in South Mumbai at 2.14 am, and a Look Out Circular (LOC) was issued at the police station's request. The dispute, being resolved before a mediator, is between Hemang on one side and his brother and their father on the other. The FIR was filed during mediation, and Hemang, scheduled to fly to Muscat from Delhi on May 17, was apprehended at the airport due to the LOC. Police stated they arrested him on May 18 after the immigration department handed him over at 4.30 am, and then he was brought to Mumbai. Senior counsel for the elder brother-the complainant-argued that the immigration officers cannot be considered police officers, and hence his custody after being "accosted" at the airport was not an "arrest" by cops. The EOW's arrest memo states he was arrested on May 18 at 7.30 pm. The HC bench said, "In our view, the act of the Immigration Officers to accost the petitioner or detain him on 17th May 2025 at 1730 hours is the act of arrest, and therefore the period of 24 hours as contemplated under Section 58 of BNS and Article 22(2) of the Constitution of India shall begin on 17th May 2025 at 1730 hours."
Indian Express
an hour 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.
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
HC sets aside life imprisonment in rape case, ‘regrets' to note ‘grand failure' in investigation
The Telangana High Court set aside the life imprisonment sentence awarded by a special court here to Colonel Rishi Sharma in a case of rape and criminal intimidation, observing that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt. There were inconsistencies in the testimonies of key witnesses, and even documentary evidence was overlooked. The Bench of Justices P. Sam Koshy and N. Tukaramji directed the government to free Rishi Sharma, acquitting him of all the charges. The Rajendranagar police of Cyberabad arrested the Colonel, who was then serving as an administrative officer at a defence organisation in Shamirpet, based on a complaint from a woman in her early 20s that he sexually assaulted her. According to the charge-sheet, the 'accused' was the victim's family friend who use to frequent their house. In January, 2017, the complainant's mother went on a trip, requesting Rishi Sharma to stay at their house and look after her daughter and younger son. Police records stated that the accused sexually assaulted her at night and threatened to kill her younger brother if she disclosed the matter to anyone. Nearly three months later, she became pregnant and eventually lodged a complaint, leading to the arrest of the accused. Nearly seven years later, the special court found him guilty and sentenced him to life-imprisonment. Challenging the judgment, the accused filed a criminal appeal petition in the HC. Lack of documents Pronouncing the verdict, the Bench said the prosecution failed to present documents confirming the victim's pregnancy and details of medical laboratory where pregnancy tests were held. The Bench sought to know why the doctor who confirmed the pregnancy was not called as a witness. The survivours' family claimed that the pregnancy was aborted but no records confirming this were presented before the trial court. There were no records about the abortion performed as per the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, the Bench noted. The Bench noted that Rishi Sharma had undergone vasectomy operation in 2005. He even presented the sterilisation certificate issued by the Government of India and the Vasectomy certificate issued by the Military hospital of Khadakwala in Pune. This proved the physical inability of the accused to cause the pregnancy, the bench said. Observing that the Bench regretted to note the 'grand failure of the investigation in the case', Justice Tukaramji said that improper handling of the case prompted the Bench to think that the investigators invented a case in support of the police report 'may be with emotional bias or extraneous influence'.
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Kerala govt finalises new school academic calendar; working hours extended by 30 minutes
T'puram: Following pressure from the Kerala high court, the govt on Saturday finalised a new school academic calendar. Accordingly, the working hours of govt and aided schools in the state will be extended by 30 minutes, except on Fridays. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The office of the general education minister V Sivankutty stated that the daily additional hours would be equally split into two. The morning session will start 15 minutes earlier than the previous schedule, and the afternoon session will conclude 15 minutes after the schedule. Two Saturdays in an academic year will be working days for upper primary (UP) classes while there will be regular classes on six selected Saturdays for high school classes. However, there will be no classes on Saturdays for lower primary (LP) classes. The high court had recently criticised the state govt for not finalising the school academic calendar on time and asked it to finalise the calendar at the earliest to avoid the general education principal secretary being summoned to the court. Following the court's strong observations, minister Sivankutty revealed the govt's plans at a hastily called Quality Assurance Programme (QAP) meeting on Friday. However, only pro-CPM and CPI teachers' organisation representatives attended that meeting, as invitations were sent to them at the last minute. The new academic calendar has been finalised as per the recommendations of a committee appointed by the govt for this purpose. According to the new academic calendar, there will be 198 teaching days and 800 study hours in LP schools. With the inclusion of two Saturdays, the teaching days in the UP section will be 200, and the learning hours will be 1,000. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now As per Kerala Education rules, there should be a minimum of 1,100 learning hours in high schools. With the new arrangements, there will be 204 working days for the high school section. The govt earlier tried to overcome the minimum working days issue by declaring 25 Saturdays as working days. However, the order was challenged by stakeholders, and the high court struck down the govt's decision to declare Saturdays as working days in the 2024-25 academic year. The HC then urged the govt to ensure the minimum working days and teaching hours in schools after taking all stakeholders into confidence.
News18
8 hours ago
- Politics
- News18
Delhi HC Upholds Dismissal Of Christian Indian Army Officer Who Shunned Religious Parades
Last Updated: Samuel Kamalesan had argued that he accompanied his troops to the mandir and gurdwara in weekly parades and festivals, seeking exemption only from entering the innermost sanctum The Delhi High Court has confirmed the dismissal of a commanding officer in the Indian Army, Samuel Kamalesan, who consistently refused to participate in regimental weekly religious parades due to his Christian faith, despite multiple counselling sessions and opportunities provided by his superiors. Kamalesan challenged his termination and the denial of pension and gratuity, arguing that he had accompanied his troops to the mandir and gurdwara during weekly parades and festivals. He sought exemption only from entering the innermost sanctum during rituals, citing respect for his monotheistic Christian beliefs and his troops' sentiments. His plea highlighted that the regiment maintained only a mandir and a gurdwara for its religious needs, not a 'Sarv Dharm Sthal" for all faiths. The court noted that the dismissal was based on his conduct and its negative impact on military discipline and unit cohesion, not solely on his Annual Confidential Report (ACR) ratings. The HC emphasised the dedication of armed forces personnel and their ethos of placing the nation before self and religion. It observed that the armed forces are united by their uniform, not divided by religion, caste, or region, and commanding officers have a higher responsibility to ensure their troops can observe their religious practices. Commissioned as a lieutenant in March 2017, Kamalesan served in the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, which includes Sikh, Jat, and Rajput personnel. He led a squadron primarily composed of Sikh soldiers and noted the absence of a Sarv Dharm Sthal, or church, on the premises. Kamalesan claimed regular attendance at the mandir and gurdwara but sought to avoid the inner temple sanctum during rituals. The respondent argued that his consistent non-attendance at regimental parades was despite efforts to explain their significance. The Chief of Army Staff reviewed the records and deemed his retention undesirable due to misconduct. The court dismissed the plea, underscoring the secular principles of the armed forces, despite regimental names and war cries that might appear religious to outsiders. It respected the religious beliefs of personnel but stressed the higher standard of discipline required in the armed forces. The HC ruled that Kamalesan's prioritisation of his religion over a lawful command constituted indiscipline. It underscored that the armed forces and military leadership, not the courts, determine necessary actions for effective command and troop motivation. The termination order highlighted Kamalesan's behaviour as contrary to the Indian Army's secular ethos and detrimental to officer-troop camaraderie essential in combat. The court concluded that a court-martial trial for Kamalesan's misconduct was impractical due to the sensitive nature involving religious beliefs and upheld the disciplinary action taken against him. First Published:
