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Time of India
5 days ago
- Time of India
Police register case over bad roads in Kochi
Kochi: Palarivattom police registered a case against the contractor deployed by Indian Oil Adani Gas Private Ltd (IOAGPL) and a private individual who are allegedly responsible for the poor condition of four roads in the area. Police registered a case under Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act based on a complaint that the roads dug up by KWA and IOAGPL were not restored to their original standards. "Thammanam-Pulleppady Road, PJ Antony Road, Mahakavi Vailoppilli Road and Nandanath Kachacko Road in Palarivattom area have been remaining in a dilapidated condition for the past several years. When I submitted an RTI application seeking whether the local body gave nod to dig up any of these roads, reply from the main office of corporation was that they gave approval to dig up only Thammanam-Pulleppady Road. Approval was given to a person called Divya Roslin for 15 days in Dec 2024. I think she may be the contractor deployed by other agencies. Police are yet to identify her," said Firdous Ammanath, a lawyer who filed the case. "Other three roads were dug up without permission. As per a govt directive issued in 2024, those digging up a road should restore it as per its original standard. I lodged a complaint with Palarivattom police seeking action against those responsible for the poor condition of roads. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo As police failed to take action, I moved judicial first-class magistrate court, Ernakulam, which asked police to register a case," Ammanath said. Several other roads in the city are in a dilapidated condition. "Agencies like IOAGPL, KWA and telecom service providers used to dig up roads, and in several cases, this is done without permission. Lack of proper monitoring on the part of road-owning agencies like Kochi corporation and PWD is one of the reasons for the increasing number of unauthorized road cuttings," said corporation opposition leader Antony Kureethara. Mayor M Anilkumar said corporation would ensure proper restoration of roads. "In certain cases, contractors are not ready to undertake such works. Anyway, we will strengthen monitoring to nab offenders," he said. On Palarivattom police registering a case, he said, "Law will take its own course." Though TOI tried to get the response of IOAGPL officials, they didn't reply. KWA officials feigned ignorance about roads not being restored after the agency dug them up.
Indian Express
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Supreme Court dismisses Rajasthan BJP MLA's petition in 2005 revolver threat case
The Supreme Court Wednesday dismissed Rajasthan BJP MLA Kanwarlal Meena's petition challenging the High Court order which had directed him to surrender 'immediately' in a 2005 case for threatening a Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) officer with a revolver. Dismissing the MLA's petition and granting him two weeks' time to surrender, a Bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sandeep Mehta said: 'We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgment and order.' The SC said that if Meena, the BJP MLA from Anta in Baran district, doesn't surrender by then, 'the state will be at liberty to take all such measures to take him into custody to serve out the remaining sentence.' The SC dismissing Meena's petition effectively means that Meena is set to lose his MLA status. As per Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People (RP) Act of 1951, conviction of a lawmaker for an offence with a two-year sentence or more leads to disqualification from the House. In oral remarks, the SC, while criticising the public representatives for treating public servants 'like dirt', said: 'Elected representatives need to discipline themselves…this is one of those rare cases where somebody has been convicted otherwise you do everything and anything and get away with it, without any action against you.' Meena's lawyer Namit Saxena argued that he did not commit any crime and that the facts of the case were 'exaggerated.' The case pertains to February 2005, when Ramniwas Mehta, then a RAS officer and posted as Sub Divisional Officer, Aklera, was informed of a group of people in Manohar Thana, Jhalawar, blocking the road to demand re-poll in a sarpanch election. When Mehta and others reached the spot, Meena, who arrived with 6-7 men in a vehicle about half an hour later, took out a revolver and allegedly aimed it at Mehta's head asking him to 'announce a re-poll within two minutes or get killed'. Mehta, as per records, told Meena that, 'a revolver can kill but not enforce a re-poll.' On Wednesday, Meena's lawyer Namit Saxena said: 'There was no recovery of the revolver. The allegation is that he took out the videographer's cassette and broke it and burnt it. There is no videography camera recovered, no CD or cassette recovered, and no public property which was recovered for the purpose of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act.' Appearing for the respondent, senior advocate S Murlidhar pointed out that Meena 'has 27 cases against him, of which 15 were even before the said incident. After this case, 12 more cases were filed.' He said that after this case, five more cases of attacks on public servants were lodged against Meena, terming this as Meena's 'specialization.' Meena, a two-term BJP legislator, had initially been acquitted by a trial court but was later convicted by an appellate court in December 2020. He had then filed a criminal revision petition in the HC against his appellate court conviction which found him guilty under IPC Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant), 506 (criminal intimidation), and the PDPP Act. He was sentenced to three years' rigorous imprisonment for the last two charges and two years for IPC 353, to be served concurrently. On May 2, the Rajasthan HC upheld Meena's 2020 conviction and sentence handed down by the appellate court, and directed him to surrender immediately in the case. Then on May 5, a single bench of the SC stayed a part of the HC order and the case was on Wednesday put up before a larger bench. On May 5, Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully had led a delegation, which included Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra, Deputy LoP Ramkesh Meena, Chief Whip Rafeek Khan, among others, to Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani, submitting a letter to an official in Devnani's absence. In his letter, Jully cited Section 8(3) of the RP Act, demanding Meena's disqualification, while adding that such a person cannot contest for six years after the date of completion of his sentence. Attaching a copy of the HC order, Jully said that it is important to cancel his membership 'to maintain the dignity and the democratic values of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly.' Meena first won election from Manohar Thana in 2013 and from Anta in 2023. Meanwhile, Mehta is now an IAS officer and serves as Secretary, Rajasthan Public Service Commission, Ajmer.
Indian Express
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
SC dismisses Rajasthan BJP MLA's petition in 2005 revolver threat case
The Supreme Court Wednesday dismissed Rajasthan BJP MLA Kanwarlal Meena's petition challenging the High Court order which had directed him to surrender 'immediately' in a 2005 case for threatening a Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) officer with a revolver. Dismissing the MLA's petition and granting him two weeks' time to surrender, a Bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sandeep Mehta said: 'We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgment and order.' The SC said that if Meena, the BJP MLA from Anta in Baran district, doesn't surrender by then, 'the state will be at liberty to take all such measures to take him into custody to serve out the remaining sentence.' The SC dismissing Meena's petition effectively means that Meena is set to lose his MLA status. As per Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People (RP) Act of 1951, conviction of a lawmaker for an offence with a two-year sentence or more leads to disqualification from the House. In oral remarks, the SC, while criticising the public representatives for treating public servants 'like dirt', said: 'Elected representatives need to discipline themselves…this is one of those rare cases where somebody has been convicted otherwise you do everything and anything and get away with it, without any action against you.' Meena's lawyer Namit Saxena argued that he did not commit any crime and that the facts of the case were 'exaggerated.' The case pertains to February 2005, when Ramniwas Mehta, then a RAS officer and posted as Sub Divisional Officer, Aklera, was informed of a group of people in Manohar Thana, Jhalawar, blocking the road to demand re-poll in a sarpanch election. When Mehta and others reached the spot, Meena, who arrived with 6-7 men in a vehicle about half an hour later, took out a revolver and allegedly aimed it at Mehta's head asking him to 'announce a re-poll within two minutes or get killed'. Mehta, as per records, told Meena that, 'a revolver can kill but not enforce a re-poll.' On Wednesday, Meena's lawyer Namit Saxena said: 'There was no recovery of the revolver. The allegation is that he took out the videographer's cassette and broke it and burnt it. There is no videography camera recovered, no CD or cassette recovered, and no public property which was recovered for the purpose of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act.' Appearing for the respondent, senior advocate S Murlidhar pointed out that Meena 'has 27 cases against him, of which 15 were even before the said incident. After this case, 12 more cases were filed.' He said that after this case, five more cases of attacks on public servants were lodged against Meena, terming this as Meena's 'specialization.' Meena, a two-term BJP legislator, had initially been acquitted by a trial court but was later convicted by an appellate court in December 2020. He had then filed a criminal revision petition in the HC against his appellate court conviction which found him guilty under IPC Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant), 506 (criminal intimidation), and the PDPP Act. He was sentenced to three years' rigorous imprisonment for the last two charges and two years for IPC 353, to be served concurrently. On May 2, the Rajasthan HC had directed Meena to surrender immediately in this case. The HC upheld his 2020 conviction and sentence handed down by the appellate court. Then on May 5, a single bench of the SC stayed the part of the HC order and the case was on Wednesday put up before a larger bench. On May 5, Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully had led a delegation, which included Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra, Deputy LoP Ramkesh Meena, Chief Whip Rafeek Khan, among others, to Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani, submitting a letter to an official in Devnani's absence. In his letter, Jully cited Section 8(3) of the RP Act, demanding Meena's disqualification, while adding that such a person cannot contest for six years after the date of completion of his sentence. Attaching a copy of the HC order, Jully said that it is important to cancel his membership 'to maintain the dignity and the democratic values of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly.' Meena first won election from Manohar Thana in 2013 and from Anta in 2023. Meanwhile, Mehta is now an IAS officer and serves as Secretary, Rajasthan Public Service Commission, Ajmer.
Indian Express
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
High Court orders BJP's Anta MLA to surrender in 2005 revolver threat case
The Rajasthan High Court on Friday directed BJP MLA Kanwarlal Meena to surrender immediately in connection with a 2005 case in which he was convicted of threatening a bureaucrat with a revolver. The court upheld his 2020 conviction and sentence handed down by an appellate court. The HC upholding Meena conviction also threatens the latter's Assembly membership; as per Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act of 1951, conviction of a lawmaker for an offence with a two-year sentence or more leads to disqualification from the House. Meena, a two-term BJP legislator, had initially been acquitted by a trial court but was later convicted in December 2020. He had then filed a criminal revision petition in the HC against his appellate court conviction which found him found guilty under IPC Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant), 506 (criminal intimidation), and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. He was sentenced to three years' rigorous imprisonment for the last two charges and two years for IPC 353, to be served concurrently. Justice Uma Shankar Vyas, while dismissing Meena's revision petition, noted that the conviction was 'in accordance with the facts and law' and based on 'strong evidence.' The court directed him to surrender before the trial court or face a non-bailable warrant. The court said that crimes, such as the one by Meena, 'seriously affect the law-and-order situation and create a feeling of insecurity among the common people and public servants and their morale falls.' Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully said the HC's decision is 'welcome,' while hoping that Meena's 'membership will immediately be revoked due to the sentence exceeding two years.' The case pertains to February 2005, when Ramniwas Mehta, then a Rajasthan Administrative Services (RAS) officer and posted as Sub Divisional Officer, Aklera, was informed of locals in Manohar Thana, Jhalawar, blocking the road to demand an up-sarpanch re-poll. When Mehta and others reached the spot, Meena, who arrived with 6-7 men in a vehicle about half an hour later, took out a revolver and allegedly aimed it at Mehta's head asking him to announce a re-poll within two minutes or get killed instead. Mehta, as per records, told Meena that, 'a revolver can kill but not enforce a re-poll.' Despite the presence of senior police officials, Meena damaged recording equipment — to remove traces of his actions — and left the scene. At the time, he already had 15 criminal cases against him and was not yet an elected representative. Subsequently, the District Magistrate asked the Superintendent of Police to lodge an FIR, who then directed the concerned SHO and an FIR under several sections of the IPC, PDPP and the Arms Act was lodged. Key testimonies came from Mehta, IAS probationer Pritam B. Yashwant, and Tehsildar Ramkumar, while other witnesses mostly turned hostile. Meena was arrested three years after the incident and released on bail the same day. His lawyers argued that the case was politically motivated and pointed to inconsistencies in witness statements. Advocate Manish Gupta confirmed they plan to challenge the HC order in the Supreme Court via a Special Leave Petition. Meena first won election from Manohar Thana in 2013 and was re-elected from Anta, Baran District in 2023. Meanwhile, Mehta is now an IAS officer and serves as Secretary, Rajasthan Public Service Commission, Ajmer.
Business Standard
02-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Sanjay Khanna Takes Over the Additional Charge of Chairman & Managing Director of BPCL Today
NewsVoir Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 2: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), a Fortune Global 500 company, and one of India's leading oil and gas companies, announced today that Sanjay Khanna has assumed additional charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of the company. Currently he serves as the Director (Refineries) in the company. A Chemical Engineering graduate from National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli and Postgraduate in Finance Management from Mumbai University, he has over 3 decades of experience in refinery operations and technical services. He anchored several prestigious projects for setting up new process units in Refineries at Mumbai, Kochi and Numaligarh. Prior to becoming Director (Refineries) he headed Kochi and Mumbai Refineries of BPCL. As executive Director of Kochi Refinery, he played a key role in commissioning the first 'Niche Petrochemical' project of BPCL, Propylene Derivative Petrochemical Project (PDPP). Sanjay Khanna also serves as a Director on the Boards of Bharat Petro Resources Limited and Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited. Additionally, Khanna is also the current Chairperson of 'Technical Committee for petroleum Refineries' under Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) Fortune Global 500 Company, Bharat Petroleum is the second largest Indian Oil Marketing Company and one of the integrated energy companies in India, engaged in refining of crude oil and marketing of petroleum products, with presence in the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry. The company attained the coveted Maharatna status, joining the club of companies having greater operational & financial autonomy. Bharat Petroleum's Refineries at Mumbai, Kochi and Bina have a combined refining capacity of around 35.3 MMTPA. Its marketing infrastructure includes a network of installations, depots, fuel stations, aviation service stations and LPG distributors. Its distribution network comprises over 23,500+ Fuel Stations, over 6,200+ LPG distributorships, 500+ Lubes distributorships, 80 POL storage locations, 54 LPG Bottling Plants, 79 Aviation Service Stations, 5 Lube blending plants and 5 cross-country pipelines. Bharat Petroleum is integrating its strategy, investments, environmental and social ambitions to move towards a sustainable planet. The company has Electric vehicle charging stations at 6500+ Fuel Stations. With a focus on sustainable solutions, the company is developing an ecosystem and a road-map to become a Net Zero Energy Company by 2040, in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Bharat Petroleum has been partnering communities by supporting several initiatives connected primarily in the areas of education, water conservation, skill development, health, community development, capacity building and employee volunteering. With 'Energising Lives' as its core purpose, Bharat Petroleum's vision is to be an admired global energy company leveraging talent, innovation & technology.
