Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], May 3 (ANI): After resigning from the Gujarat assembly on Tuesday, former Congress MLA Ashwin Kotwal has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, on the same day.

Mumbai Jan 18 PTI The Bombay High Court on Tuesday commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence awarded to sisters Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit who were convicted by a Kolhapur court for kidnapping 14 children and killing five of them between 1990 and 1996A bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and S V Kotwal commuted the death sentence awarded to the two women after holding that the Maharashtra government and the Centre had caused inordinate delays in executing their death sentence and had breached their fundamental rightsThe bench noted that the government authorities particularly the state government had acted casually delayed protocol despite being aware of the seriousness of the case and did not execute the death sentence awarded to the women despite their mercy petitions being rejected by the President over seven years agoThe Maharashtra authorities had delayed processing papers related to the mercy petitions filed by the convict women and a bunch of mercy petitions filed by others on their behalf it saidThe state prison authorities had failed to follow the protocol of informing the convicts about the status of their pleas the state government officials had delayed sending relevant details to the Union ministry of home affairs and in seeking a hearing in HC the bench notedThough the procedure for deciding mercy petitions mandates speed and expediency the state machinery showed indifference and laxity at each stage the court saidThe High Court noted in its judgement that the womens conviction and death sentence for having kidnapped 14 children and killing five of them was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2006Their mercy petition was rejected by the President of India in 2014The day that their death sentence was to be executed in August 2014 the sisters filed the present plea in the High Court seeking that their death sentence be commuted due to inordinate delay in its execution and that they be released from custody immediatelyThe High Court noted that the state made a statement on not executing the death sentence till the plea was heard finally but did nothing to seek circulation or schedule the next hearing and the plea was heard finally by the court in September-October 2021The position of law that an unexplained delay in disposal of mercy petitions may result in commuting the death sentence was already holding the field when mercy petitions by the petitioners were made the bench saidDespite this legal position only due to the causal approach of the officers of the respondent state Maharashtra the mercy petitions were not decided for 7 years 10 months and 15 days it saidThe bench of Justices Jamdar and Kotwal said that the state machinery showed indifferenceThat it took over seven years for movement of files is unacceptable Dereliction of duty of the state is the reason for commuting the death sentence it saidThe sessions court in Kolhapur had convicted the accused and sentenced them to death in 2001 The death sentence was confirmed by the High Court in 2004 and thereafter by the Supreme Court in 2006The convicts approached the governor with a mercy petition in 2008 which was rejected in 2012-13 After that they approached the President with a mercy petition and the same was rejected in 2014The sisters argued before the High Court that they had both suffered over 25 years in custody and had therefore invoked their fundamental right under Article 21 through the present petitionThe women urged the court to commute their death sentence to a life term and to also order for their release forthwith considering the 25 years they already spent behind by bars as the life sentence already undergoneAdvocate Sandesh Patil appearing for the Centre argued that the mercy petition had been sent across to the President as soon as it was received from the state government and that there had been no delayThe President had decided on the application within 10 months he saidThe bench allowed the womens petition partly by commuting their death sentence to life It however refused to allow them to be released from custody stating that the two women will have to serve their life sentence till the end of their natural life considering that the crime committed by them was heinousThe argument of the state Maharashtra government that they death sentence should be executed today overlooks that it is the dereliction of its officers that is the cause for commuting the sentence of death sentence to life imprisonment it saidThe High Court further said that while the state was supposed to represent the interest of the society in a criminal justice system in the present case the state machinery had not only violated the constitutional rights of the two convicts but it had also failed the innocent victims of a heinous crimeMeanwhile when contacted advocate Manik Mulik who was a defence counsel in the case when it was tried in the Kolhapur sessions court welcomed the HC decisionHe said an appropriate decision has been taken by the HC as inordinate delay took place in execution of the death sentence awarded to the sistersSuhas Nadgauda additional superintendent of police Anti-Corruption Bureau who was part of the state CID team that probed the case said the prosecution had built a watertight caseA strong case was put up by the prosecution which led to the conviction of the two sisters and over 150 witnesses were examined during the trial he saidThe entire case unfolded during an investigation of an offense against Anjana Gavit mother of the two sisters who died in 1997 before the trial began in the Panchvati police station in Nashik in 1996 The kidnapping and murder of children were revealed during that probe the police officer recalledHe said as the scope of the crime was spread across Nashik Pune Kolhapur and Thane the case was transferred to the state CID which then formed a special team to prove the kidnapping and murdersI was a part of the team at Kolhapur Later all the cases from these cities were clubbed together and a common charge-sheet was filed in the sessions court in Kolhapur said NadgaudaHe said noted lawyer Ujjwal Nikam was the special public prosecutor in the caseKiran Shinde Renukas husband who was also arrested in the case He had given an application before the trial court expressing his wish to provide information about the crimeThe court granted his application and he was made an approver He gave statements in the court explaining the roles of the three women the two sisters and their mother in the crime the police officer said PTI AYA SPK ARU RSY RSY

Mumbai Jan 18 PTI The Bombay High Court on Tuesday commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence awarded to sisters Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit who were convicted by a Kolhapur court for kidnapping 14 children and killing five of them between 1990 and 1996A bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and S V Kotwal commuted the death sentence awarded to the two women after holding that the Maharashtra government and the Centre had caused inordinate delays in executing their death sentence and had breached their fundamental rightsThe bench noted that the government authorities particularly the state government had acted casually delayed protocol despite being aware of the seriousness of the case and did not execute the death sentence awarded to the women despite their mercy petitions being rejected by the President over seven years agoThe Maharashtra authorities had delayed processing papers related to the mercy petitions filed by the convict women and a bunch of mercy petitions filed by others on their behalf it saidThe state prison authorities had failed to follow the protocol of informing the convicts about the status of their pleas the state government officials had delayed sending relevant details to the Union ministry of home affairs and in seeking a hearing in HC the bench notedThough the procedure for deciding mercy petitions mandates speed and expediency the state machinery showed indifference and laxity at each stage the court saidThe High Court noted in its judgement that the womens conviction and death sentence for having kidnapped 14 children and killing five of them was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2006Their mercy petition was rejected by the President of India in 2014The day that their death sentence was to be executed in August 2014 the sisters filed the present plea in the High Court seeking that their death sentence be commuted due to inordinate delay in its execution and that they be released from custody immediatelyThe High Court noted that the state made a statement on not executing the death sentence till the plea was heard finally but did nothing to seek circulation or schedule the next hearing and the plea was heard finally by the court in September-October 2021The position of law that an unexplained delay in disposal of mercy petitions may result in commuting the death sentence was already holding the field when mercy petitions by the petitioners were made the bench saidDespite this legal position only due to the causal approach of the officers of the respondent state Maharashtra the mercy petitions were not decided for 7 years 10 months and 15 days it saidThe bench of Justices Jamdar and Kotwal said that the state machinery showed indifferenceThat it took over seven years for movement of files is unacceptable Dereliction of duty of the state is the reason for commuting the death sentence it saidThe sessions court in Kolhapur had convicted the accused and sentenced them to death in 2001 The death sentence was confirmed by the High Court in 2004 and thereafter by the Supreme Court in 2006The convicts approached the governor with a mercy petition in 2008 which was rejected in 2012-13 After that they approached the President with a mercy petition and the same was rejected in 2014The sisters argued before the High Court that they had both suffered over 25 years in custody and had therefore invoked their fundamental right under Article 21 through the present petitionThe women urged the court to commute their death sentence to a life term and to also order for their release forthwith considering the 25 years they already spent behind by bars as the life sentence already undergoneAdvocate Sandesh Patil appearing for the Centre argued that the mercy petition had been sent across to the President as soon as it was received from the state government and that there had been no delayThe President had decided on the application within 10 months he saidThe bench allowed the womens petition partly by commuting their death sentence to life It however refused to allow them to be released from custody stating that the two women will have to serve their life sentence till the end of their natural life considering that the crime committed by them was heinousThe argument of the state Maharashtra government that they death sentence should be executed today overlooks that it is the dereliction of its officers that is the cause for commuting the sentence of death sentence to life imprisonment it saidThe High Court further said that while the state was supposed to represent the interest of the society in a criminal justice system in the present case the state machinery had not only violated the constitutional rights of the two convicts but it had also failed the innocent victims of a heinous crime PTI AYA ARU ARU

Mumbai Dec 22 PTI The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that it supported the death sentence awarded to sisters Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit convicted for the abduction of 14 children and murder of five of them between 1990 and 1996 despite the delayThe sessions court had awarded them the capital punishment in 2001 for the heinous crime which had sent shockwaves across MaharashtraPublic prosecutor Aruna Pai made the statement on behalf of the government before a bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and S V Kotwal which had asked the state to put forth its stand while reserving order on the review petition last SaturdayConsidering the seriousness of the crime we support the death sentence in spite of delay If the court is commuting it to a life sentence it should be till the end of their natural life Pai saidShinde and Gavit were tried for kidnapping 14 children and murdering five of them in Kolhapur They were convicted in 2001 In 2004 the high court confirmed their death sentence and in 2006 the Supreme Court too upheld itBut the duo who have been in custody since October 1996 in 2014 filed a review petition in the high court seeking commutation of the death penalty citing delay by the state in dealing with their mercy petitions as the ground The delay violated their fundamental right to life they contendedThe high court had earlier remarked that there had been an inordinate delay of over eight years in deciding the mercy petitionsThe HC will pass order on the petition in due coursePTI AYA KRK KRK

Mumbai Dec 20 PTI The National Investigation Agency NIA on Monday urged the Bombay High Court to direct poet-activist Varavara Rao an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case to surrender before the Taloja prison authorities saying that several other old people in need of medical treatment were also in prisons The NIA made the submission as a bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and S V Kotwal extended the time for 83-year-old Rao to surrender till January 7 2022 Rao was granted temporary medical bail for six months by the HC in February this year and was supposed to surrender on September 5 but he applied for the extension of such bail stating that he continued to suffer from several ailments The HC has extended his bail multiple times due to reasons like the need for further medical care and time sought by the NIA to get him medically examined On Monday as Raos counsel Anand Grover sought time to file an affidavit responding to his medical examination reports submitted by the Nanavati Hospital here the NIA opposed any further extension of time for surrender Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh who appeared for the NIA told the HC that on December 17 a panel of expert doctors from the Nanavati Hospital a private medical facility submitted a one-page document stating that Rao had been examined thoroughly his vital parameters were stable and he did not need continued medical treatment or hospitalisation We are not experts to examine or analyse Nanavati Hospitals opinion Once it says that he Rao is fit for discharge then there is no question of any further extension Singh told the HC In jail there are other old people who need medical treatment They are treated when needed Let him Rao surrender His age cant be a ground for extension Singh said However Grover told the bench that though the NIA had submitted Nanavati Hospitals opinion on Raos medical condition and his medical reports he must be permitted to file an affidavit to inform the court whether or not Rao was in a position to be sent back to the prison He said in February this year the bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale had granted medical bail to Rao despite a similar opinion from the Nanavati Hospital On my original application Nanavati Hospital had given a similar conclusion The hospital had said at the time that I Rao didnt need indoor hospital treatment and could be discharged from the hospital Grover said But the HC bench of Justices Shinde and Pitale had granted bail observing that Raos condition was not compatible for being sent to judicial custody he said The current bench of Justices Jamdar and Kotwal then asked what the NIA had to say about the previous benchs observations While ASG Singh reiterated that Rao be asked to surrender and the court could continue to decide his application for further medical bail even while the activist is in custody the bench found merit in Grovers submissions The HC noted that the NIA says it is not necessary to analyse the hospitals preliminary report any further and that it should be accepted as expert opinion However the earlier bench of Justices Shinde and Pitale had considered the larger situation and analysed the reports despite Nanavati Hospital saying Raos condition had improved and he was fit for discharge The counsels Grovers request for this bench following the same course taken by the previous bench is justified the high court said in its order The HC directed Grover to file an affidavit by December 28 and posted the matter for further hearing on January 4 2022 But Singh argued that if the process of granting extensions to Rao continued he will never have to surrender In effect hes being given bail Singh told the HC The high court however said it was merely going by the earlier benchs order The Elgar Parishad case is related to inflammatory speeches made at a conclave held in Pune on December 31 2017 which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city The police had claimed the conclave was organised by people with alleged Maoist links The NIA later took over the probe into the case PTI AYA BNM GK GK GK

Excelsior CorrespondentBHADERWAH Aug 24 The Union Government and JK UT administration is committed to develop all the underdeveloped hamlets irrespective of caste colour and creed to ensure all social and economic upliftment of the peopleIt was stated by Chairman District Development Council Doda Dhananter Singh Kotwal while kick-starting black-topping work of Manthala -Melani- Bhaderwah link road in the presence of Sarpanchs Ward members and engineers of PMGSYWhile speaking on the occasion Kotwal said that it was a long pending demand of the local residents of the areaHe said that the Sarpanch and Panchs have played a key role in highlighting the genuine issues of the people following which the matter was taken up with the PMGSY authorities by him and the work has finally been started todayHe extended gratitude to the concerned authorities