Kochi Apr 19 PTI The Kerala High Court on Tuesday declined to quash an FIR against actor Dileep and others accusing them of conspiring to intimidate and kill the officials probing the 2017 actress assault case saying the offence of criminal conspiracy was attracted based on director Balachandra Kumars statement that the accused had decided to harm the police officers The high court said that while Kumars statement does not specifically mention the commission of any murder but the agreement among the accused is apparently for causing physical harm to the police officers Justice Ziyad Rahman A A also declined to transfer the case to the CBI saying that there was not sufficient force in the allegations by the actor that proper and fair investigation was not possible in the matter The high court said that apart from mere allegations there are no materials substantiating the same It further said that while traces of overzealousness on the part of the authorities concerned can be found it could not find any materials revealing any ulterior motive or malafide on the part of the investigating agency In such circumstances I do not find any reason to allow the prayer sought for the transfer of investigation in this case the judge said and dismissed Dileeps plea seeking quashing of the FIR or transferring the case to CBI Regarding the offences of abetment intimidation and criminal conspiracy mentioned in the FIR the court said that there were no materials or information in the FIR to indicate that the first two offences were attracted However the court said that the offence of criminal conspiracy was attracted not because of the utterances allegedly made by the actor against the police officers at his residence but because of the statement of Balachandra Kumar -- which was also recorded in the complaint of Baiju Paulose -- that the accused have decided to cause harm to five police officers The court further said that formation of such an agreement was revealed from the contents of the FIR and the complaint and the reading the allegations therein as a whole prima facie suggests an intention to cause physical injuries to the police officers including chopping off hands of one of them In this case it is true that annexure-9 FIR does not contain any substantiating materials indicating the nature of the agreement and the stage of execution of such agreement However it contains information as to the existence of an agreement to commit an offence punishable with more than two years In such circumstances no discrepancies or any legal infirmity can be attributed to the registration of the said FIR the court said and added that lack of a preliminary enquiry before lodging of the FIR cannot be reason to quash the proceedings The court further substantiating its decision said that when invoking its powers under the Criminal Procedure Code to quash or interfere with an FIR the relevant consideration can only be the allegation contained in the FIR and not the materials placed in support of the same The materials substantiating the allegations have to be collected through the process of investigation which has to commence based on the registration of the FIR it added The court further said that even if the allegations only reveal a doubtful case for making out the offences at the stage of FIR the benefit of the doubt should go to the investigation as any interference at this stage would foreclose all opportunities for the police to collect materials in support of the allegations In my view the duty of the court is not confined to seeing that no innocent person is punished but also to ensuring that proper punishment is granted to the real culprits Therefore a balance has to be struck and I find that a proper balancing can be made in this case by allowing the investigation to continue the judge said in his 81-page long decision The court said that the actor has not made out a case warranting interference in the FIR by it Dileep in his plea filed through advocate Philip T Varghese had claimed that there was absence of any material in the murder conspiracy FIR to indicate commission of any of the offences attributed to the accused and the entire case was based on something allegedly wished by him The Crime Branch represented by Director General of Prosecutions DGP T A Shaji and Additional Public Prosecutor P Narayanan on the other hand had contended before the court that the allegations in the FIR make out offences which warrant setting in motion of the investigation machinery The actor and five others were booked under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code including Sections 116 abetment 118 concealing design to commit offence 120B criminal conspiracy 506 criminal intimidation and 34 criminal act done by several people and later Section 302 was also added to it for allegedly conspiring to murder the officials probing the 2017 actress assault case The actress-victim who has worked in Tamil Telugu and Malayalam films was abducted and allegedly molested in her car for two hours by some persons who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17 2017 and later escaped in a busy area The entire act was filmed by those persons to blackmail the actress There are 10 accused in the 2017 case and police have arrested seven Dileep was arrested subsequently and released on bail PTI HMP SS SS

Hyderabad Mar 21 PTI The situation in Bodhan town of Nizamabad district remained peaceful on Monday a day after members of two groups indulged in protests and stone pelting over installation of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj police said Four cases were registered and a total of 12 people who were involved in stone pelting were arrested so far they said According to police a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji was placed at a junction in Bodhan town by one group on Saturday which was objected to by members of another group resulting in protests by both the groups on Sunday after which the protesters hurled stones at each other Police resorted to a lathicharge and lobbed teargas shells to disperse the two groups and brought the situation under control though one police constable was injured during the stone pelting The situation in Bodhan town is peaceful and under control a senior police official told PTI over phone on Monday and said patrolling has been intensified and pickets have been set up Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code which was promulgated on Sunday continued in the town on Monday and depending on the situation a decision on lifting or extending prohibitory orders will be taken the official said Meanwhile a bandh was being observed by some Hindu organisations in Bodhan town in protest against the lathicharge In view of the bandh call as many as 213 people were taken into preventive custody the official said At some places owners voluntarily shut their shops and business establishments while in other places they remained open police said Members of one group belonging to a political party stated that the Bodhan Municipal council had passed a resolution over installation of the statue while workers of another political party maintained that there was no permission for installing it and demanded that the statue be removed from the junction PTI VVK VVK SS SS

Kochi Feb 24 PTI The Kerala High Court on Thursday said that there appears to be a ring of truth in the allegations by a minor victim in her statement before a magistrate in a POCSO case against the owner of city-based Hotel 18 and two others including a woman Justice Gopinath P said that after perusing the statement given by the minor under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code before a magistrate there appears to be a ring of truth in that The section 164 statement shows how the entire thing was planned There is sufficient material in it to indicate that accused no 3 Anjali Vadakkepurakkal had practically enticed the girl by saying she minor will be made a model She Anjali made her minor do all sorts of things made her wear all kinds of dresses took her photographs I cannot say anything more than that regarding the 164 statement the judge said The court further said that according to the prosecution CCTV images show that the minor and her mother left the hotel in a disturbed state on the date of incident The court was hearing the anticipatory bail pleas moved by the three accused -- Hotel 18 owner Roy J Vayalat and his friends Anjali Vadakkepurakkal and Syju M Thankachan -- who have alleged that the complaint of molestation and sexual assault against them by the minors mother was a deliberate attempt at blackmail The petitioners lawyers urged the court to see the CCTV visuals of that day and said that it would show the correct state of affairs Subsequently the court listed the matter for further hearing on March 2 The court on Tuesday had said that if it found the 164 statement believable it would dismiss the accused anticipatory bail pleas According to the complainants mother who was an employee of Vadakkepurakkal the latter had invited her and her daughter to Hotel 18 under the guise of a meeting and there Vayalat had allegedly molested the minor and also video recorded the same After the mother and daughter left the hotel Vadakkepurakkal allegedly circulated the video and other photographs of the minor on social media and to others the complaint has claimed According to the prosecution the minor has given a statement under section 164 CrPC to a magistrate and in that she has made serious allegations against the three accused Hotel 18 Vayalat and Thankachan recently came in the news in connection with the the deaths of three people including two models in a car accident which allegedly resulted as the latter was chasing them in his four-wheeler Models Ancy Kabeer 25 and Anjana Shajan 24 had died in the fatal crash on November 1 last year A third passenger in the car succumbed to his injuries a few days later According to the prosecution in that case Thankachan had allegedly stalked the models from a bar to Hotel 18 and when they left that place to avoid him he chased after them In that matter the high court granted bail to Thankachan PTI HMP SS SS

New Delhi [India], January 20 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Thursday granted interim protection from arrest to Trinamool Congress leader SK Supiyan, who was the election agent of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram, in connection with a murder which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been investigating.

New Delhi Dec 25 PTI Five inmates have died inside prisons in Delhi in the last eight days officials said on Saturday and asserted that none of the deaths were related to violence According to the officials these deaths were reported in different jails In all these cases the circumstances indicate towards natural cause like old disease or other unknown reason Inquest proceedings are being conducted by Metropolitan Magistrate in each case in accordance with the rules a senior jail official said Police said an undertrial prisoner died on Friday in jail number 3 of Tihar Vikram alias Vicky lodged in central jail number 3 in Tihar died allegedly because of health issues Action has been initiated under Section 176 of the Criminal Procedure Code CrPC a senior police officer said PTI NIT CK

Ghaziabad Oct 22 PTI A special court here on Friday sentenced a man to seven years in jail for raping a minor girl eight years ago and leaving her with a six-month pregnancy Special Judge Piyush Tiwari of a court set up under the POCSO Act convicted and sentenced Sahibabad resident Amzad despite the victim claiming that she was 18-year-old at the time of the alleged rape Turning hostile to the prosecution case she also pleaded with the court that she wanted to live with Amzad as she had been living with his family since his arrest in June 2014 Special Public Prosecutor Sanjiv Bakharva said The court however sentenced the man to seven years in jail and also imposed a fine of Rs 50000 ignoring the victims pleas and after ascertaining that she was only 17 years old at the time of her rape he added The court however giving the convict the benefit of section 428 of the Criminal Procedure Code set off Amzads sentence against the period of his detention that he underwent during the trial as he was never granted bail after his arrest in June 2014 The victims father who had lodged the complaint of her daughters rape had died during the trial he said adding the court asked the convict to give Rs 35000 out of the fine to the victim PTI CORR RAX RAX

Kolkata Sep 23 PTI Amid a series of defections from the TMC to the BJP in West Bengal the national general secretary of the states ruling party Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday said if his organisation keeps its door ajar the saffron camp will collapse in no time Addressing a rally at Murshidabad districts Samserganj constituency where polls are set to be held on September 30 Banerjee claimed that BJP leaders mostly MLAs have been queuing up before the TMC office the doors of which are shut We have kept the doors closed If the doors are opened the BJP will surely collapse he said The Diamond Harbour MP further said that the Mamata Banerjee-led party during the March-April Assembly polls had driven outsiders away and it would do so again in the upcoming polls The TMC has often referred to the BJP as a party of outsiders These outsiders need to be taught a lesson again The saffron party will be defeated in the upcoming elections Wherever the BJP is in power we will go there and dislodge the party he asserted The MP also alleged that the BJP government in Tripura has imposed restrictions under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code to stop him from holding rallies in the neighbouring state How long will the order be in force in Tripura The TMC will register victory in Tripura for sure People will see what the TMC is capable of achieving in the next three months he added Assembly polls are scheduled to be held in Tripura in early 2023 The TMC has fielded Amirul Islam from Samserganj seat where polls were earlier countermanded following the death of Congress candidate Rezaul Haque PTI DC RMS RMS

Chandigarh (Haryana) [India], September 6 (ANI): Haryana government on Monday announced the suspension of Internet and SMS services in Karnal, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind and Panipat districts from 12:30 am tomorrow (September 7), ahead of a mahapanchayat in Karnal and the call to "gherao" the mini-secretariat by farmers in protest against police lathicharge against them on August 28.

Chennai Aug 24 PTI A special court here on Tuesday asked top AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami to appear before it on September 14 after the duo could not do so in response to the summons issued by it in a defamation plaint by an expelled party leaderInitially after taking objection to the non-appearance of Panneerselvam the AIADMK Coordinator and the joint coordinator Palaniswami today in response to the summons issued earlier on the basis of a defamation complaint from V Pugalendhi the special court constituted for exclusive trial of corruption cases against MPs and MLAs adjourned the hearing to September 14 when the duo should appear before itEarlier when the complaint came up for hearing the counsel for the two leaders told presiding officer Alicia that they could not make their presence before the court today in view of the ongoing Assembly sessionThey being the Leader and deputy leader respectively of the opposition in the State Assembly could not avoid the proceedings While Palaniswami is the Leader of Opposition Panneerselvam is Deputy leader of AIADMK LegislatureMoreover their petition challenging Pugalendhis defamation complaint before the High Court is posted for hearing on Friday the counsel addedNot satisfied with the submission the judge pointed out that as per the provisions in the Criminal Procedure Code CrPC the first appearance of the accused before the court is mandatory The judge however granted time till September 14 to the duo to make their presence in the court without failThe first summon was issued on the basis of a defamation complaint from V Pugalendhi who had been expelled from the AIADMK recently for his alleged anti-party activities The contents of the order removing him from the post of official spokesman of the AIADMK as also from the primary membership of the party defamed him Pugalendhi had contendedAnd the Special Court had issued summons asking the AIADMK leaders to appear before it todayAggrieved the duo had moved the Madras High Court with a plea to quash the proceedings pending before the special court and to dispense with their presence Justice M Nirmal Kumar on Monday rejected their interim plea to dispense with their appearance before the special court and adjourned the matter till Friday August 29 PTI COR SA ROH ROH