In Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Bajrang Dal activists have caught a young man accusing him of love jihad. The name of the Muslim youth is Irfan Sheikh. When caught, Irfan presented himself as a Hindu, but soon he was exposed. It is alleged that Irfan Sheikh used to tease Hindu girls while they came out of the local school and he would often molest them.
A photo of a minor Hindu girl was also found on Irfan’s phone. Irfan Sheikh first told that this girl was his sister but later informed about marrying her. Irfan Sheikh has been handed over to the police.
According to media reports, the case is from the Rajnagar area, where Bajrang Dal roughed up the man over allegations of being involved in love jihad. The video of this entire incident is also going viral on social media.
In the viral video, a Bajrang Dal member is asking Irfan Sheikh ‘will you commit love jihad again’ during the beating. Later, dressed in a cap and a blue T-shirt, Irfan Sheikh is seen confessing to roaming near the city convent school. During this, he also told the name of a girl whom he had come to meet. Sheikh told that he has been meeting the girl for 1 year.
#indoo 17 साल की हिंदु बेटी से पहले ही शादी कर चुके इरफान शेख,अब स्कूल में पढ़ने वाली 16 साल की हिंदू बेटी को दोस्ती के जाल में फंसा रहा था और 8 अन्य लड़कियों के फोटो और मोबाइल में मिले। बदमाश बजरंग दल के लोग बिचारे मासूम मुस्लिम युवक को हिंदू बेटियों को धोखा भी नही देने दे रहे। pic.twitter.com/XUuC0mE5HH
When Bajrang Dal activists asked Irfan Sheikh about the girl’s age, he said that she was 17 years old and told them that she lived in the Rahim Nagar area. He said that he married the girl six months ago. He also went to the girl’s house once. According to Irfan, he got scared when he saw the Bajrang Dal activists and started running away.
In the same video, the Bajrang Dal members questioned him about pictures of 8 to 10 different girls on Sheikh’s mobile. On that, he informed them that they were his sister’s friends. However, he could not give information about why his sister’s friends took a photo with him. Later, the Bajrang Dal members handed over Sheikh to the local police.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar who is also Chairman of the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday spoke on the 99th Constitutional Amendment Bill paving way for the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) which was undone by the Supreme Court in 2015.
“…the Parliament in a much needed historic step passed the 99th Constitutional Amendment Bill paving way for the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC). There was unprecedented support for the above. On August 13, 2014, the Lok Sabha unanimously voted in its favour with there being no abstention. This House too, passed it unanimously on August 14, 2014 with one abstention. Rarely in Parliamentary democracy, there has been such massive support to a Constitutional legislation,” Dhankhar said.
“This process fructified into a Constitutional prescription, after 16 State Assemblies out of 29 States ratified the Central Legislation; the President of India in terms of Article 111 accorded his consent on December 31, 2014,” he said.
The Rajya Sabha Chairman further said, “This historic parliamentary mandate was undone by the Supreme Court on October 16, 2015 by a majority of 4:1 finding the same as not being in consonance with the judicially evolved doctrine of ‘Basic Structure’ of the Constitution.”
He added, there is no parallel to such a development in democratic history where a duly legitimised constitutional prescription has been judicially undone. This a glaring instance of severe compromise of parliamentary sovereignty and disregard of the mandate of the people of which this house and the Lok Sabha are custodians.
Dhankhar emphasised that Parliament is the exclusive and ultimate determinative of the architecture of the Constitution.
“We need to bear in mind that in democratic governance Basic of any ‘Basic Structure’ is the prevalence of primacy of the mandate of the people reflected in the Parliament. Parliament is the exclusive and ultimate determinative of the architecture of the Constitution,” he said.
“It is disconcerting to note that on such momentous issue, so vital to democratic fabric, there has been no focus in the Parliament, now for over seven years. This House, in concert with the Lok Sabha, being custodian of the ordainment of the people, is duty bound to address the issue, and I am sure it will do so,” he added.
“Authorities in constitutional positions in any institution are required to exemplify their conduct by high standards of propriety, dignity and decorum. Time for all constitutional institutions to reflect and give quietus to public display of adversarially challenging stance/trading or exchange of advisories emanating from these platforms. I urge the Members of the House to proactively catalyse evolution of wholesome cordial ecosystem ending this aberration,” he said.
“It is institutional seamless connect marked with mutual trust and respect that generates eco system best suited for serving the nation. This House needs to catalyze this wholesome environment to promote synergic functioning of Constitutional Institutions, emphasising need to respect Laxman Rekha,” he added.
In 2014, the National Democratic Alliance government brought the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act in an attempt to change the system of appointment of judges.
The NJAC was a proposed body, which would have been responsible for the appointment and transfer of judges to the higher judiciary. The NJAC Act and the Constitutional Amendment Act came into force on April 13, 2015. But the top court on October 16, 2015, struck down the NJAC Act. The verdict brought back the primacy of the collegium system of judges appointing judges.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
Considering the case of Ex-Navy officers detained in Qatar as “sensitive”, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the Indian side is constantly in touch with the government of Qatar, as he assured the officers are a priority for the country as well.
“This is a very sensitive case. Their interests are foremost in our minds. Ambassadors and senior officials are in constant touch with Qatar’s govt. We assure, they’re our priority,” the EAM said during his address to the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. During a presser on December 1, the official spokesperson of MEA, Arindam Bagchi also underlined that India is regularly responding to the case of ex-Indian Navy officers arrested in Qatar as the embassy is actively pursuing the issue.
He said that the detained Indians are in touch with family members in India.
“We’ve been responding to this regularly. Our embassy is actively pursuing the case. We understand that detained Indians are able to speak to their families in India over the telephone now, some of them have families staying in Doha,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during the presser.
The MEA spokesperson further added that some detainees have families in Doha and are being allowed to have physical meetings on a weekly basis.
Earlier, among 8 former naval officers detained in Doha, retired commander Punendu Tiwari’s sister Dr Meetu Bhargava who lives in Gwalior has sought help from the government to bring her brother back.
In the first week of November, she told ANI, ” I tweeted on October 25 and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring back my brother who is in illegal detention in Doha, Qatar. My brother is a retired navy commander officer and he went there to provide training to Qatar Navy through his company Dahra Global Consultancy Services”.
“There are eight ex-Indian Navy officers, including my brother lying in illegal detention. They were picked up by the Qatar police during the night on August 30. There were no charges against them. Neither the Qatar government told us nor the Indian government has information about any charges imposed on them,” she added.
Furthermore, the EAM also spoke at length on India’s Foreign Policy and its direct impact on the daily lives of Indian citizens. “Foreign policy has a direct impact on the daily lives of all Indian…our endeavour is that the welfare of Indian people is ensured however challenging the situation”, EAM Jaishankar said in Rajya Sabha.
The EAM also underscored how India is a member of a growing number of groups and mechanisms, Some of which are established whereas some are emerging.
“Currently, Indias is a member of a growing number of groups and mechanisms. Some of them are relatively established like BRICS and Commonwealth…others have been more recent like QUAD and SCO….and still, others are emerging like I2U2 and Indo pacific economic framework (IPEF).
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
Counting of votes in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh will take place on Thursday, December 8, starting at 8 AM. In a major change in the process, the counting of both postal ballots and EVM votes will start simultaneously. In the existing process, the postal ballots are counted first, after which the EVMs are taken up.
Talking to All India Radio, Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer P Bharati said that this time EVMs and postal ballot papers will be counted simultaneously.
The Election Commission has made extensive preparations to ensure a smooth and peaceful count. Gujarat will have 37 counting centres covering 182 Assembly seats. Ahmedabad district will have the most counting centres, with three, while Surat and Anand districts will each have two.
Earlier Postal Ballots were counted first. Although postal ballots are counted first, however, counting of votes of EVMs can be started after 30 minutes. Postal Ballots are considered valid for counting only if the entries on the outer envelope are correct.
Postal ballots are issued to government employees on election duty and service voters such as armed forces personnel, state armed forces deployed outside the state, and employees in foreign countries and their spouses. As people from these categories are normally not present at their constituencies, they are issued postal ballots to caste their votes during elections.
This exception is provided under Section 60 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Postal ballots received before 8 AM on counting day are taken up for counting.
Notably, people above the age of 80 and people with disabilities can also exercise their voting right through postal ballot. A total of 1966 voters who are aged 80 or above have cast exercised their voting right through postal ballot for 21 seats in Ahmedabad.
Gujarat assembly elections were held in two phases. The first phase was conducted on December 1 and the second on 5. The turnout in the elections was 64.33 percent, the lowest in ten years. Only 3.16 crore of the 4.9 crores registered voters voted.
While the change in pattern in counting will not make in difference to the election results, it will bring major differences to the early morning trends during the counting. When only postal ballots are counted first in the morning, the results generally do not reflect the final results. This is because, only a small number of postal ballots are received for each polling station, and their numbers are not enough to represent the voting pattern. With EVM vote counting beginning with the start of counting, it will give a more accurate early prediction. This decision will result in the declaration of results earlier by half an hour.
Apart from counting for assembly elections of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, counting for bye-elections to six Assembly Constituencies, one each in Odisha, Rajasthan, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and two in Uttar Pradesh and one Parliamentary Constituency of Uttar Pradesh will also take place tomorrow.
While Rahul Gandhi is on his mission to ‘unite’ India with the Congress party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, the party’s Himachal Pradesh unit has reportedly expelled 30 district Shimla office-bearers from the primary membership for six years over anti-party activities.
Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president Pratibha Singh took the decision after receiving a resolution from the Block Congress Committee, Chopal, that called for the expulsion of 30 Congress functionaries allegedly involved in anti-party activities in a poll-bound state.
In the Chopal Assembly constituency, the Congress has nominated Rajneesh Kimta in opposition to the BJP’s sitting MLA Balbir Verma. The Congress had declined to give a ticket to its 2017 candidate Subhash Manglate, who is now contesting the elections as an Independent candidate.
The dismissal from the party gains significance, given that it came on the eve of the counting of votes for the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, which the exit polls suggest could throw a hung assembly, with Congress and BJP both racking up a near-identical number of seats in Vidhan Sabha.
The Aaj Tak-Axis My India survey gave Congress a slight advantage with 30-40 seats while BJP came a close second with 24-34 seats.
However, the ABP-Cvoter predicted that BJP will trounce Congress in a close fight. Its exit poll said BJP will bag 33-41 seats while granting Congress 24-31 seats.
While all exit polls predicted a close fight between Congress and BJP, the polls of all exit polls handed the advantage to the saffron party and projected BJP’s return to power in Himachal Pradesh.
The president of a Christian organization, who is accused of illegal conversion of children to Christianity, was recently honoured by Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia. Dr. Vivart Lall, who is the President of the Mid India Christian Society, was honored for his ‘social work’ at the second edition of the ‘Pride of Central India, 2022’ event organized by Dainik Bhaskar in Delhi. Lall was awarded two weeks after he was named in an FIR filed on the complaint of NCPCR. The union minister was invited by the media group to hand over the awards at the event.
It is notable that the Mid India Christian Society has been booked in an illegal conversion case after a surprise inspection by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). 10 persons associated with the Christian organisation, including the president, have been named in the FIR after NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo filed a written complaint against them.
Dr. Vivrat Lall who has been named in the FIR registered by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) along with 9 other accused members, is absconding at present. However, the Dainik Bhaskar award was accepted by Lall’s assistant named Salil on December 1 in Delhi.
Award accepted by absconding accused Vivart Lall’s personal assistant Salil (Image source- Dainik Bhaskar)
The case against Lall pertains to alleged forceful conversion appearing from the Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh. NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo had filed a complaint against ten members of a Christian organization named Mid India Christian Society in Damoh. Kanoongo in the complaint had said that several Hindu minor students residing in the children’s home of Mid India Christian Society were converted to Christianity and were forcefully being kept away from studies. They were being lured by the missionary authorities to become a pastor in the future.
The matter came to light after Kanoongo conducted a surprise inspection of a children’s home run by the Mid India Christian Society on November 13. He said that massive irregularities were found in the working of the organization and the home also failed to produce legal documents.
“There were 91 children registered in Mid India Christian Society, of which 45 were present. Most of these children are Hindus and some are Muslims, but they were all being taught teachings of Christianity. The organization did not even have proper documents for its functioning,” the FIR copy attained by OpIndia read.
Complaint filed by NCPCR against Dr Vivart Lall and 9 other accused (FIR copy obtained by Opindia)
The NCPCR in the complaint also mentioned that no proper documentation regarding children and their parents was being maintained by the hostel authorities. It said that orphan children were forcefully given the last name ‘Lall’ after the President of the organization. “This also becomes a case of conversion and human trafficking,” the NCPCR said.
The Police then registered an FIR under sections 42 and 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act and 3 and 5 of the MP Freedom of Religion Act, along with 370 of IPC against the 10 members. The 10 members named in the FIR were identified as the organization’s president Dr Vivart Lall, secretary RD Lall, Sheela Lall, Manjula Varnwas, Sanit Lall, GK Henry, Ernest, Vivek Lall, Injila Lall and Dr Ajai Lall.
10 accused including awardee Dr Vivart Lall mentioned in the FIR lodged by NCPCR (FIR copy obtained by Opindia)
Reportedly, no appropriate action has been taken against the accused named in the case. Bishop Dr Ajai Lall sought anticipatory bail in the case which the Damoh Court rejected on November 17, while Dr Vivart Lall is still absconding in the case. As reported earlier, Dr Ajai Lall was also awarded on August 15 this year at the hands of Minister Govind Singh Rajput for his ‘social service’ activities. He was nominated for the award by Collector S. Krishna Chaitanya in the year 2021 when one of the former’s NGOs was under scrutiny.
Bishop Ajai Lall was awarded for his ‘social service’ in August 2022
Bishop Dr. Ajai Lall has maintained good relations with the district administration including Damoh Collector S. Krishna Chaitanya. The collector’s wife looked after the accounts of one of the FCRA-licensed NGOs which belongs to accused Bishop Dr. Ajai Lall. She was also engaged in NGO activities for around one and a half years until the Centre launched an investigation into the financial transactions of the NGO. The Centre in the year 2021 stated that the organization was engaged in evangelism-related activities and had violated the FCRA laws.
Notably, one of the IBC24 reporters named Jitendra Gautam who exposed the relations between Bishop Ajai Lall and Damoh Collector was issued threats by Collector’s PRO Y Qureshi.
For exposing Bishop Ajai Lall n @CollectorDamoh relations; IBC24 reporter Jitendra Gautam threatened by DC PRO Y Qureshi! Woman Dalit complainant in fraudulent Christian conversion case threatened by Bishop’s goons but @SP_DAMOHMP refused to act; @drnarottammisra is HM or Bishop? pic.twitter.com/h2KgRfXSjR
In the current case, Dr Vivart Lall, President of Mid India Christian Society was awarded at an event titled ‘Pride of Central India, 2022’ organized by Dainik Bhaskar in Delhi. He was awarded for his ‘remarkable social service’ in Damoh region of Madhya Pradesh. 55 other social workers from Madhya Pradesh were also awarded at the hands of Union Minister Scindia at the event on December 1.
Accused Dr. Vivart Lall featured by Dainik Bhaskar in print format (Image obtained by Opindia)
During the program, Scindia said that all the awardees at the event were the ‘jewels and navratnas’ of Madhya Pradesh. He said that the country’s economy has reached number 5 in the world, but if the country has to be taken to the top 3 economies of the world, more such ‘navratnas’ would be needed.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) conducted several search operations against some office bearers of the NRI Academy of Sciences for allegedly siphoning off huge money collected from Covid patients and medical students.
The search operations were conducted in the ongoing investigation at various places in Vijayawada, Kakinada, Guntur and Hyderabad under the PMLA, 2002. ED also seized cash and incriminating documents and froze the properties of various persons involved in this case.
Investigation under PMLA was initiated based on the FIRs registered by Andhra Pradesh Police to probe into the alleged diversion of funds of the society by some of the members of the society in the name of construction of buildings, collection and siphoning off huge amounts of money from Covid patients over and above the figures mentioned in the books of accounts, collection and siphoning off huge amounts of money from medical students for admission in MBBS course over and above the figures mentioned in the books of accounts, diversion of funds payable to NRI Society by floating a company by similar name such as NRIAS Private Limited etc.
53 documents of immovable properties suspected to be involved in money laundering have been seized and frozen and various other incriminating documents and electronic devices found connected with the alleged diversion of funds have also been seized.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
Sharjeel Imam has approached the Supreme Court seeking direction to expunge some remarks made by the Delhi High Court against him while denying bail to Umar Khalid in the Delhi riots case.
Imam said that Delhi High Court while rejecting Umar Khalid’s bail plea, made certain observations and remarks against him when he was not even a party in the said petition. On October 18, while denying bail to JNU student Khalid, the High Court had said that Khalid was constantly in touch with Sharjeel Imam, who was arguably ‘at the head of the conspiracy’ and also referred to Imam as the main conspirator in one of the paragraphs.
In the 52-page judgment, the High Court took note of the charge sheet filed by the Delhi Police referring to Imam as the “main conspirator” and further noting that Imam was the main member of a WhatsApp group of Muslim Students of JNU which was formed one or two days after the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed on December 4, 2019.
The High Court in a paragraph of the judgement had stated, “Having heard counsel for the parties and having carefully gone through the charge-sheet and taking into consideration the fact that the Appellant (Khalid) was in constant touch with other co-accused persons, including Sharjeel Imam, who arguably is at the head of the Conspiracy; at this stage, it is difficult to form an opinion that there are no reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against the petitioner is prima facie not proved.”
Imam wants remarks to be expunged where he has been called the ‘main conspirator’ and where the court said that Khalid was in constant touch with other co-accused, including Sharjeel Imam, who arguably is at the head of the conspiracy.
In his appeal before the top court, Imam said certain observations and remarks on him were made by the High Court where he was not a party in the said petition and it was in complete defiance of the law laid down by the apex court and a catena of other judgments reiterating the same principles of law.
“The observations and remarks in the impugned order have been made qua the petitioner (Imam) without an opportunity having being afforded to explain or defend himself and thereby, is in clear violation of the principles of natural justice,” the appeal stated.
It added, “In any event, without prejudice to the foregoing, there is absolutely no evidence on record to justify the impugned observations/remarks made against the petitioner. Notably, none of the impugned observations and remarks is borne out of the record. Rather, they are ex-facie contradictory and even go beyond the allegations contained in the chargesheet.”
Imam filed the appeal against the October 18 order seeking an ad-interim ex-parte stay of the order.
He further sought direction that his appeal pending before the High Court be heard uninfluenced by the impugned observations.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
Two persons were shot dead over a dispute in Baruipur area of West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, police said on Wednesday informing that one person has been detained.
Officials said that the two deceased have been identified as Sajjat Mondal (48) and Sarfuddin Laskar (32) – both residents of Baruipur, and the incident was reported on Tuesday afternoon. One person has been detained in connection to the incident, they said.
The victims, Sajjat, Sarfuddin, Abdul Hamid Modal, and three-four others gathered near the Gaurdah Paka Pole area.
They were having drinks together, and an argument broke out between Abdul and the two victims – Sajjat and Sarfuddin.
It soon escalated, and Abdul in a fit of rage took out a gun and shot at Sajjat and Sarfuddin, leaving both injured, the police said.
Both of them were taken to Baruipur SD Hospital, where doctors declared them brought dead, the police said.
Officials said the bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination, a case has been registered and an investigation was underway.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
On Tuesday, a bizarre case was reported from Punjab’s Dera Bassi wherein a drunk man allegedly bit off his 27-year-old neighbour’s tongue during a brawl near Harkishan Public School.
The incident took place on the night between Saturday and Sunday. The victim has been identified as Harpreet Singh. The victim recorded his statement on Monday, the police said.
The accused has been identified as Vipul Garg. The incident happened when Harpreet and his friend Jung Bahadur were returning in the night from a wedding in Dera Bassi. When Harpreet stopped his motorcycle next to a park near his house to relieve himself. The accused, who was drunk and driving home from a birthday party, struck another car parked in the same spot.
As Harpreet knows Vipul, he asked him to leave the spot to avoid conflict. But a man seating in the front passenger seat of Vipul’s car started to abuse him. After that Vipul and his friend got out of the car and started to assault Harpreet. He attempted to flee on his motorcycle but failed to do so.
Vipul called his older brother Rishav into the altercation and when he arrived, now the three of them attacked Harpreet. Vipul brutally bit off Harpreet’s tongue after grabbing him by the throat. Harpreet’s friend attempted to stop them but they assaulted him also.
When the accused and Harpreet’s friend Bahadur saw Harpreet bleeding, they took him to the Dera Bassi civil hospital, from which he was referred to GMCH, Sector 32, Chandigarh, and then to PGIMER. Later on, the victim was taken to a private hospital where his severed tongue was reattached.
The complaint was lodged by victim Harpreet Singh’s father. “My son requested the car driver to leave. Instead, the driver, Vipul Garg, began arguing with my son. Vipul then called up his brother and another friend to the scene,” Pawan Kumar said in his complaint.
The accused runs a cement and iron bar shop in Zirakpur. On the basis of the complaint lodged by the victim’s father, the police filed a case against Vipul Garg, his brother Rishav Garg, and an unnamed accomplice under sections 323 (assault), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous harm), 341 (wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention). There have been no arrests in the case so far.
