villupuram l saturday l may 11, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Delhi court to frame charges against Brij Bhushan Singh The BJP MP and former chief of the Wrestling Federation of India is an accused in a sexual harassment case filed by female wrestlers ‘Sufficient evidence against accused’ Co-accused Tomar also to be charged Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Priyanka Rajpoot ordered framing of charges against Singh under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. “There is sufficient evidence to frame charges against the accused,” the judge said in her order on Friday ■ Six wrestlers had filed complaint against Singh and the Delhi Police filed the chargesheet on June 15. The court, however, discharged Singh in a complaint filed by the sixth victim, citing lack of evidence to support the charges ■ The court also ordered framing of charges against co-accused and ex-WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar for the offence of criminal intimidation May 21 When the court will officially frame charges against Brij Bhushan Singh CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Kejri gets 21 days to hit campaign trail Justice at last as two SC grants him interim bail till June 1; says it took a holistic and libertarian position in view of the general elections S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi In a major relief to jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Supreme Court on Friday granted him interim bail till June 1 to participate in the general election campaigns, while imposing certain conditions on him. He was in Tihar jail since March 21 for alleged money laundering tied to the Delhi excise policy scam. In its eight-page order, a two-judge bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna directed Kejriwal to surrender on June 2. Hours later, Kejriwal stepped out of Tihar and thanked the judges for their liberal order. “We have to save the country from dictatorship, I will fight with all my might but need the support of 140 crore people,” he told the media. While rejecting the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) stiff opposition to the bail, the court said, “Arvind Kejriwal is the Chief Minister of Delhi and a leader of one of the national parties. No doubt, serious accusations have been made, but he has not been convicted. He does not have any criminal antecedents. He is not a threat to the society. The investigation in the present case has remained pending since August 2022.” While the ED argued that the grant of interim bail would amount to placing politicians in a beneficial position compared to ordinary citizens, the bench said, “courts always 12 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh encounter, 2024 toll reaches 103 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Raipur Security forces on Friday gunned down 12 Maoists during an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, taking the number of Left-wing extremists eliminated so far this year in the state to 103. Two security personnel were also injured in an Improvised Explos ive D ev i c e ( I E D ) b l a s t triggered by the Naxalites during the operation, police officials said. This was the third major strike on Naxalites by security forces in the past month. On April 16, the forces had killed 29 extremists in an encounter in Kanker district. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai congratulated security forces and senior officials for the successful operation. “Since we came to power, we have strongly fought against Naxalism. Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah want Naxalism to end soon, and we are getting the benefit of double engine sarkar,” he said. The latest offensive took place in a forest near Pidia village when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation. Personnel from the District Reserve Guard from Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma districts, Bastar Fighters, Special Task Force, Central Reserve Police Force and its elite unit CoBRA were involved took part in the operation, official said. Four commandments 1 Kejriwal can’t visit the office of the Chief Minister and the Delhi Secretariat Arvind Kejriwal addresses supporters after coming out of Tihar Jail | Express take into consideration the peculiarities associated with the person in question and the sur- @ Chennai Tamil Nadu state board students have registered a pass percentage of 91.55 in Class 10 exam results declared by the directorate of government examinations on Friday. While the pass percentage was 91.39 in 2023 and 90.07 in 2022, the highest pass percentage recorded in recent years was in 2019 when 95.17% students had cleared the exam. As usual, the pass percentage of girls (94.53) was 5.95 percentage points more than that of boys (88.58). Boys, however, are closing the gap as their performance has improved from last year’s difference of 6.5 percentage points and 8.55 percentage points in 2022. This year, 8,94,264 students — 4,47,061 girls and 4,47,203 boys— from 12,625 schools wrote the exam, and 8,18,743 (4,22,591 girls and 3,96,152 boys) students have cleared it. While 9,10,024 students had registered for the exam, 15,760 students were absent and 75,521 failed. About 4,105 schools, including 1,364 government schools, recorded 100% pass. The pass percentage of government schools is 87.90%, government-aided schools 91.77%, and private schools 97.43%. In language papers, students who had passed English (99.15%) was more than Tamil (96.85%). p5 91.39 pass percentage 4,105 Schools record in class 10 in 2023 full 100% pass Class 10 students celebrate in Madurai on Friday | K K Sundar corpn girls’ success tale of grit, resolve NIRU PAMA V IS W ANATHAN @ Chennai For the girls of Chennai corporation schools who had triumphed in Class 10 public exam, education is not just an isolated struggle with letters and numbers. It is among the numerous battles they fight every day for a life of basic needs that many would take for granted. For instance, G Shanthoshini of corporation girls higher secondary school on Buddha Street, who stood first in her school and third among all corporation school students with a score of 488, managed the feat while taking care G Shanthoshini with her of a polio-affected father father Ganesan | P Jawahar and a mom with mental illness. Shanthoshini and her elder sister ran the household, took care of their parents, and also managed to excel in studies. CONTINUED ON P5 Akhilesh’s Kannauj fight to reclaim legacy NAMITA B AJ PAI @ Lucknow THE battle for Kannauj, a former Samajwadi Party bastion, suddenly turned fiercer after SP chief Akhilesh Yadav entered the contest at the last moment, replacing his nephew Tej Pratap Yadav as the SP candidate. When the SP had initially announced Tej Pratap’s name, the BJP immediately pounced on it accusing it of dynastic politics. But now with Akhilesh in the fray the optics have completely , changed, making the contest tough for the sitting BJP MP Subrat Pathak, who had emerged as giant killer in the 2019 election by defeating Akhilesh’s wife Dimple Yadav. Subrat himself admitted as much, saying he had thought it would be like an India-Nepal match when Tej Pratap was the opponent; but now it has turned to an India-Pak match. Kannauj is known as the ‘perfume capital of India’ and Subrat, a Brahmin, belongs to one of the oldest perfume business families. Akhilesh’s decision was after much flip-flop. He finally decided to take the plunge to avenge the humiliating defeat of his wife in 2019 and reclaim Shall not sign official files unless it is required and necessary for obtaining clearance/ approval of L-G rounding circumstances. In fact, to ignore the same would be iniquitous and wrong.” The bench noted that the legality and validity of the arrest itself is under challenge before them and that they are yet to take the call. “The situation cannot be compared with harvesting of crops or plea to look after business affairs. In this background, once the matter is sub judice and the questions relating to legality of arrest are under consideration, a more ho- 91.55% clear Class 10 exam, girls outdo boys S u b a s h i n i V i j aya k u m a r 2 the political legacy of his father late Mulayam Singh Yadav. Kannauj Lok Sabha constituency was formed in 1967 and Ram Manohar Lohia was the first MP from the seat. In due course, Mulayam established his party in this Muslim-Yadav dominated seat and gradually consolidated it into an SP bastion. Mulayam contested from Kannauj in 1999 and then left the seat to launch his son Akhilesh. However, the winning streak of SP’s first family was broken in 2019 by Subrat. In in 2014, Dimple had won by a margin of 19,000 votes. Before his 2019 win, Subrat had lost two Lok Sabha polls from Kannauj. He has a formidable opponent this time but his supporters claim the Yogi-Modi factor will help him. On the other hand, things don’t look bright for Akhilesh either. In the absence of his father, he From left, Subrat Pathak and Akhilesh Yadav Illustration: Mandar Pardikar has to work twice as much to win. 3 Kejriwal must not make any comment on his role in the present case 4 CM must not interact with any witness and/or have access to any official files connected with the case listic and libertarian view is justified, in the background that the 18th Lok Sabha General Elections are being held,” the order said. Retired SC judge Madan B Lokur described it as a “good order that can have a large significance at the Centre and Delhi”. Another retired judge P K S Baghel termed the order as good for a healthy democracy adding it would definitely , give a good boost to the AAP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on May 25 in Delhi. ngt order FIX coastal Management plan The NGT has asked State Coastal Zone Management Authority to correct the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan by incorporating fishers’ housing plan | P2 sentenced to life for Dabholkar’s murder S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Close to 11 years after rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead in Pune, a special session court on Friday sentenced two of the accused to life imprisonment while acquitting three others, including alleged key conspirator Dr Virendrasinh Tawde. All five accused were linked to the Sanatan Sanstha. Apart from Dr Tawde, an ENT surgeon, Mumbai-based lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar and his aide Vikram Bhave were acquitted for lack of evidence. Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, who alleged shot dead Dabholkar, were convicted. Rationalist, anti-superstition activist and founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, Dr Dabholkar was 67 when he was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants on the VR Shinde bridge in Pune on August 20, 2013. The shocking murder was initially probed by the Pune City Police and was handed over the CBI in 2014. W h i l e D r Taw a d e w a s chargesheeted in September Dr Narendra Dabholkar 2016, Andure and Kalaskar were chargesheeted in February 2019. The chargesheeting of Punalekar and Bhave happened in November 2019. The accused were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 34 (common intention), 120 B (conspiracy), 302 (murder), relevant sections of the Arms Act, and Section 16 (terrorism) of the UAPA. The court blamed the competent officer’s negligence for the failure to prove the charges under UAPA. As for Dr Tawde, the judge said there was ample scope for doubt, the prosecution had failed to convert the suspicion into evidence. “In the case of Bhave and Punalekar, even if there is scope for suspicion, there is no evidence,” the judge said.
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