Odisha Police have instructed Special Security Battalion personnel to remove tattoos that are visible while wearing uniforms on their bodies within 15 days, as it demeans the image of the battalion.
“A good number of unit men are found making “TATTOOS” on their bodies, which demeans the image of the Battalion as well as Odisha Police since these are offensive, obscene and derogatory in nature. Hence, after careful consideration; it is decided that, from today onwards, tattoos that are visible while wearing uniform are not permitted,” said an order issued on Tuesday by the deputy commissioner of police (security), Bhubaneswar.
All guard I/Cs were directed to make a list of men having tattoos on their body from the date of receiving the orders failing which necessary departmental actions as deemed fit shall be initiated against the wrongdoers, the order said.
The order further advised SSB personnels to avoid getting inked on face, neck and hand to maintain a level of professionalism.
Special Security Battalion provide security coverage to VVIPs and dignitaries within the State and those visiting the State from rest of India.
Its personnel have been deployed at various nationalised banks in Bhubaneswar city and in Police Control Room (PCR) duties under different police stations. It also performs law and order duties, especially during religious functions.
This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
Three Independent MLAs moved Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday challenging the HP Assembly speaker for not accepting their resignations.
MLA Hoshyar Singh from Dehra, Ashish Sharma from Hamirpur and KL Thakur from Nalagarah assembly segments submitted their resignations to the speaker on March 22, 2024, and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a day later in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, all three MLAs were summoned by speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania to appear before him on Wednesday.
“Today we have to file a reply before the speaker and our case was listed in the High Court today as our case was delayed we had submitted our resignations on March 22nd and it should have been accepted on the same day. We have pleaded in the High Court that the Supreme Court had earlier given verdicts on similar cases in the cases of Karnataka and Mizoram,” said MLA Hoshiyar Singh.
“The decision has to be given by the speaker in one day, they have delayed it and this is not good for the Constitution. We shall submit our reply to the speaker. Their intention is just to delay as they don’t want the elections to be held early if they have disqualified the Congress legislators in 12 hours and why they are not accepting our resignation. There is no genuine reason for delay our case is listed in the HP High Court for April 24th,” said the MLA.
Along with six Congress MLAs (now disqualified), the three Independents had voted in favour of BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan during the Rajya Sabha polls in February. This led to the defeat of Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
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 Wednesday (10th April), a Delhi court dismissed the plea moved by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking direction to increase the number of legal meetings with his lawyers from two to five times a week. Notably, Kejriwal is under judicial custody in connection with the Delhi Liquor Policy scam. Yesterday the Delhi HC dismissed his plea against his arrest by ED noting that the material evidence shows that he conspired in the scam.
In his application before the Delhi court, Kejriwal argued that he is facing multiple FIRs in various states, because of which a lot of legal work takes place and hence the number of meetings with his legal team should be increased. However, the court rejected the plea, saying that Kejriwal is not using the currently allowed two meetings with his lawyers to discuss his case, instead he is using them to send orders to his ministers in the Delhi govt.
Appearing for the respondent authorities, Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain opposed the application stating that the demand is clearly against the Jail Manual. According to the manual, only one legal meeting is allowed in a week, but in special circumstances, two meetings may be allowed. Kejriwal is already getting two legal meetings.
The counsel quipped if someone chooses to run the government from jail he cannot be treated exceptionally.
Used legal meetings to pass on directions to the Water Minister through his lawyer: Delhi Court
Special judge Kaveri Baweja observed that Kejriwal has been utilising the permitted two meetings with his legal team not only to discuss his pending litigations but also to use the allotted time for “purposes other than legal interviews”.
According to the Judge, Kejriwal failed to satisfy the court that he has been using the two permitted legal meetings per week solely for discussing the pending litigations with his lawyers. According to the court, Arvind Kejriwal, through his lawyers, had passed directions to the Water Minister (Atishi Marlena).
The court stated, “The status report/note filed by the Investigating Agency indicates that the Applicant had dictated certain directions for being passed on to the Water Minister, to one of his lawyers (whose name he refused to disclose to the Investigating Agency) during the course of a legal meeting.”
"The Applicant has failed to satisfy this court that he has been using the two permitted legal meetings per week solely for the purpose of discussing the pending litigations with his counsels. The status report/note filed by the Investigating Agency indicates that the…
Incidentally, on 24th March 2024, the Delhi government’s Water Minister Atishi Marlena addressed a press conference where she displayed a letter adding that Kejriwal had sent it to her. Back then, Kejriwal was in ED custody.
(In March this year, Atishi Marlena displayed a letter Kejriwal had sent to her while he was in ED custody, Photo Credit – PTI)
Atishi added that through the letter, Kejriwal had instructed her to solve water- and sewer-related problems in some areas of the city. Following the incident, it was reported that the Enforcement Directorate took cognisance of Atishi’s statement that CM Kejriwal sent her directions while he was in ED custody.
Days later, the Delhi CM sent another letter to his health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, directing him to solve the issues of unavailability of free medicines and tests at some hospitals and mohalla clinics in Delhi.
VIDEO | "Despite being in jail, he (Arvind Kejriwal) is worried about the health of the people of Delhi. He has issued me a direction in this regard. In his direction, he said that free medicines are not available in some of the Delhi hospitals and mohalla clinics. Besides, free… pic.twitter.com/Xb1DCckWH7
Furthermore, the court found no statistical basis or objective assessment to grant Arvind Kejriwal five meetings with his legal team instead of two. It stated, “In the absence of any such objective criteria for assessment, the prayer of the Applicant for five (05) legal interviews with his lawyers per week not only appears to be whimsical but also seems to have been made without any statistical basis or objective standards for assessment.”
"In the absence of any such objective criteria for assessment, the prayer of the Applicant for five (05) legal interviews with his lawyers per week not only appears to be whimsical but also seems to have been made without any statistical basis or objective standards for…
The court dismissed the argument that since the jailed AAP leader is accused in many legal cases he should be permitted to have more meetings with his legal team. The court noted that since such a privilege can’t be extended to other jail inmates, hence the Delhi CM can’t be treated above the law of the land.
The court stated, “Even otherwise, regardless of the absence of any objective criteria for such assessment, if the prayer of the Applicant is allowed, would the courts, or for that matter the prison authorities, be under an obligation to grant more than five (05) visitation rights for legal meetings to other prisoners, who may be having more pending litigations than the Applicant?”
The Judge cited the observations of the Delhi High Court made in the case of Amanatullah Khan. In that case, the High Court held that a public figure is not above the law of the land.
Judge Baweja said that the Jail Rules which allow only two meetings will apply to Kejriwal like any other inmate.
Judge Baweja referred to Delhi High Court's observations in the case of Amanatullah Khan where the Court said that a public figure is not above the law of the land.
Judge Baweja said that the Jail Rules which allow only two meetings will be applicable to Kejriwal like any other…
The Court also dismissed Kejriwal’s contention that he should be entitled to 5 meetings based on parity, citing a similar order passed in the case of Sanjay Singh.
It is also noteworthy that the said order dated 22.02.2024 [in Sanjay Singh case] was passed not only without hearing the opposite side as well as the Jail Authorities, but the relevant Jail Rules were also not considered while passing the said order. Hence, this court is of the…
The court stated that the said order dated 22nd February.2024 [in Sanjay Singh case] was passed without hearing the opposite side and the Jail Authorities. Additionally, the relevant Jail Rules were also not considered while passing the said order. Hence, the court noted that the said order can neither be treated as a precedent nor can this application be allowed on the grounds of parity.
In a startling incident, a television documentary about France’s external intelligence agency went on the reveal that honeytraps are ineffective against French spies because their wives are accustomed to them having affairs with other women.
According to intelligence agents at the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), their Russian opponents realized that blackmailing French spies over their relationship with their respective girlfriends were useless.
The standard reaction of the French spies to the blackmailers was “Go ahead, my wife already knows,” according to one agent in Making of Secret Agents, a 90-minute documentary that secured unprecedented access to the intelligence agency over several weeks. It was slated to appear on the French public television station France 2 on Tuesday night.
The agent known only as Nicolas, whose speech and persona were blurred was quoted as saying, “Defectors from the Soviet Union used to talk about the ‘French paradox’, namely if you surprised a Frenchman with a mistress by telling him, we’ve caught you red-handed with a 22-year-old called Tatyana, work for us or we’ll tell your wife, it didn’t work.”
He said that when Russians threaten them with blackmailing after honeytraping them using women, a French spy usually says that his wife already knew about it, or ‘Go ahead, show her, she’ll understand’. Cameras were allowed into the DGSE for the documentary Making of Secret Agents, which aired on French television channel France 2 on Tuesday.
In one segment of the 90-minute show, former French espionage head Bernard Emie denied that his operatives were oblivious to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after Putin massed soldiers on the border.
Both the UK and the US had warned that Putin was scheming to start a war, but French intelligence insisted that there was no imminent threat. Emie claims in the documentary, however, that France was well aware of the situation but chose not to disclose it.
“When Russia unleashed its war on Ukraine, the DGSE had the same technical information as its American partners. The problem is then how you exploit and analyze that information and the way in which you think an event will or won’t take place. The CIA made the totally respectable decision to divulge the intelligence it had with the aim of dissuading the Russians from launching their operation. This is a policy that we don’t pursue. But in terms of intelligence, we had the same level of knowledge. In plain terms, nobody was party to someone within President Putin’s entourage with access to his personal way of thinking,” he said.
The documentary features interviews with agents who explain why they joined, as well as footage of them learning how to use firearms and defend themselves. Agents describe how difficult it is to keep their work from their families, with one stating that they learn not to ask questions.
The documentary begins with DGSE members distinguishing between “secret agent” and “spy,” which is a more rigid job description that only covers a portion of the agency’s activities. The secret agent’s job is to “gather information abroad to protect France”. However, this is commonly done from behind a desk.
The Allahabad High Court recently held that the prosecution of an accused facing trial under the POCSO Act cannot be quashed solely based on a compromise between the accused and the survivor. The court asserted while dismissing an application for quashing a rape case registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) against the applicant-accused.
The Court pointed out that the power under Section 482 of CrPC should not be exercised in prosecutions that involve heinous and serious offences like murder, rape, dacoity, etc. The court noted that such offences were not private and seriously impacted society. Likewise, for offences under the purview of a “Special Statute” like the POCSO Act, 2012, the prosecution cannot be quashed on the grounds of mutual compromise between the accused and the victim.
A Single Bench of Justice Samit Gopal held, “Where the prosecutrix is a minor below 18 years of age, then her consent would be immaterial. When an offence is made out against the accused irrespective of the fact that whether the prosecutrix was a consenting party or not, then certainly, the prosecution cannot be quashed merely on the ground that at a later stage the prosecutrix has entered into a compromise.”
The accused urged the court to set aside the cognizance and summoning order issued by a Special Judge (POCSO) Act at Azamgarh. In this case, the FIR was lodged under Sections 376 (rape), 313 (causing miscarriage without woman’s consent), and other sections of IPC and 3/4 of the POCSO Act at Bilariganj police station in Azamgarh district.
The accused challenged the POCSO court orders and sought the quashing of the charge sheet and all further criminal proceedings related to the mentioned charges. For this, the petitioner raised a single ground that a compromise was reached between the accused and the victim. Incidentally, the counsel for the victim also endorsed the accused’s plea.
However, the counsel for the state opposed the plea of the accused-applicant. The state’s counsel submitted that the case pertains to allegations that the accused subjected the girl to sexual assault for over three years when the survivor was only 15 years old.
The counsel for the state also contended that since the victim was a minor at the time of the incidents, the charge sheet was filed under relevant sections. After finding a prima facie offence against the applicant, the trial court summoned him. It was further argued that the petition should be dismissed since a compromise in a case of this nature cannot be entertained.
Subsequently, the High Court relied on a Supreme Court judgment that held, “Where the accused was facing trial for an offence punishable under a special statute, the prosecution cannot be quashed based on compromise”.
“It is, thus clear that where the accused is facing trial for the offence of rape, then the factum of compromise under no circumstances can be of any help to him. They are crimes against the body of a woman. The honour of a woman cannot be put to stake by compromise or settlement,” the Court added while dismissing the plea.
On 7th April (Sunday), tensions escalated in the Araria district of Bihar after a Hindu temple was vandalised just before “Chaitra Navratri,” in yet another incident of communal strife in the country. The two sides confronted each other which led to a heavy police deployment in the area to pacify the situation. Furthermore, a First Information Report is registered and an investigation is underway.
The matter pertained to the Phulkaha Police Station area. There is a government school in the Bhangahi village panchayat which is known as Bhaundhar Madhya Vidyalaya. There is a temple inside the institution’s premises where people regularly come to worship. However, on 9th April (Tuesday) locals complained that miscreants had damaged the holy place. Meanwhile, members of other community started assembling there and the matter began to intensify.
OpIndia spoke with a resident of the village who stated that the Hindu community prays at the temple dedicated to Goddess Bhagavati during Navratri. We were informed that the occurrence transpired when the school was not in session. The person mentioned that unidentified miscreants entered during this time and defiled the idols. A fire was started on the hearth and some food was cooked inside the temple grounds. Mutton was suspected to be consumed there. Furthermore, ‘XXX’ was also scrawled on the property which was later erased.
The villagers learned about the development on Tuesday and the individual hoped that the authorities would take strict action against the perpetrators. However, the local wished to remain anonymous.
अररिया जिला के फुलकाहा थाना अंतर्गत स्थिति शांतिपूर्ण है एवं निगरानी रखी जा रही है। आमजनों से अपील है कि अफवाहों से बचें एवं सौहार्द बिगाड़ने का प्रयास करने वाले असामाजिक तत्वों के संबंध में प्रशासन को सूचित करें।#BiharPolicehttps://t.co/C7VlBP6nHv
The cops arrived at the location as soon as they received information about the instance. A concerted effort was made to spread out the gathering and restore order. The officials talked to the senior members of both parties and that dispute was brought under control. The Hindu side has submitted an official complaint to the police and demanded stringent measures against the culprits and that they be held accountable. Araria Police has opened an inquiry, lodged a formal complaint and commenced seeking the accused. Additionally, the Bihar Police has urged people to be wary of rumours. In the village. The cops are camping there.
On Tuesday (9th April), the Calcutta HC pulled up West Bengal Chief Secretary BP Gopalika over the delay in sanctioning prosecution in the ‘cash for jobs’ scam. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the case and has sought the court’s intervention to grant prosecution sanction against the accused who were former TMC ministers, and MLAs. The court rapped the Chief Secretary asking, “Is there any ‘level playing field’ for prosecution agencies in West Bengal?”
The division bench comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Gaurang Kanth is jointly hearing the bail prayers of Former Minister Partha Chatterjee and other Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs. They highlighted that on 3rd April, the court had issued a clear order directing the Chief Secretary to submit a report highlighting the time frame in which he will grant sanction in this case. Despite the order, the bench noted that he did not clarify his stand. On the contrary, he sought more time to decide this matter citing the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Coming down heavily on the government counsel, the bench remarked, “Are you an agent or a lawyer? This is the way you submit? Your duty is to haul him up. How do general elections stand in the way of the administration of criminal justice? Have you stopped investigating crimes? Within 7 days you take a decision. These people [CBI] cannot wait (for) your luxury, We indicated that the Chief Secy should not get influenced by those who have no power over him. Sanction is an independent decision. He is not governed by anyone.”
Expressing displeasure over the delay, the Court said that it was more troubled to note that the CBI officers, who have invested their time and energy to investigate these cases, were now awaiting only the sanction.
Justice Bagchi said, “Today, we feel if this is the situation, how far is West Bengal a neutral field for trials.. this is something which even the prosecuting agencies need to consider. If this is a circumstance in which a prosecuting agency has to prosecute, will the agency be able to have a level playing field?”
The Court opined that it respects the Chief Secretary’s standing to take such a decision that may make him unpopular to the political executive of the state, however, adding that it was his duty.
It noted, “Everyone of us is required to take independent, strong and perhaps unpalatable decisions, but that is what the rule of law is. We cannot allow this. What is troubling us is that these people who have investigated have their hands tied because a decision on sanction is not taken.”
The Calcutta HC castigates the TMC government for standing with the accused
The Calcutta HC further expressed displeasure with the state government for standing with the accused persons in the scam.
The court observed, “At least the State of West Bengal shall not stand up for this sort of indifference. These accused may be officers or former ministers of some party, it does not matter. We all need to uphold the rule of law and everyone has to be made accountable for their deeds. We are seeing this sanctioning situation has become extra-ordinary in this case.”
In its order, the bench stated that the Chief Secretary failed to apply his mind to the matter and submitted a ‘laconic’ report. It added that he failed to consider the magnitude of responsibility to submit the sanction within a time frame.
The court further remarked, “We are left to wonder why the highest civil servant of the State has not discharged his bounden statutory duties in a prompt manner, resulting in an undesirable hiatus to the progress of the prosecution in cases involving deep-rooted corruption in the high offices of this State.”
Notably, the School Jobs for Cash Scam or recruitment scam pertains to illegal recruitments made in the primary and secondary schools across the State, during the recruitment process of 2016. The accused in the case include many high-ranking TMC politicians including former education minister Partha Chatterjee and other Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs – Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha. They are behind bars along with suspended TMC leaders like Santanu Kundu and Kuntal Ghosh.
The court concluded the recent hearing by noting that they had been most indulgent with the state Chief Secretary and consequently gave him a last chance to decide on the matter by the 23rd of April.
On 10th April, during the bail hearing of anti-Hindu Delhi Riots accused Umar Khalid in Karkardooma Court, Delhi, the public prosecutor said a false narrative is being set in media and on social media to influence the judiciary by media houses, activists and NGOs to influence judiciary in favour of Khalid. Yesterday, the prosecutor categorically pointed out that when Khalid was not in jail, he was using media and social media to set a narrative. He would make posts on social media and use his influential contacts to set the narrative especially when there would be bail hearings of the Delhi Riots accused.
SPP said that now, a false narrative is being run to influence judiciary – like SQR Ilyas in his interview with TheWire.
OTHER NAMES TAKEN IN COURT: 1. Teesta 2. Aakar Patel 3. Amnesty 4. Azhar Khan 5. Kaushik Raj 6. Swati Chaturvedi
On the 9th of April during the hearing, Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad revealed WhatsApp chats between Umar Khalid and several influential individuals like Swara Bhaskar, Sushant Singh, AltNews, Yogendra Yadav, Sanjukta Basu, Pooka Bhatt and others to demonstrate how he was creating a false narrative in his favour to influence the judiciary in his favour.
He had also give the example of SQR Ilyasi’s interview with The Wire’s Arfa Khanum Sherwani where he gave several false and misleading statements. Notably, during the interview, Ilyasi mentioned 14 adjournments at the Supreme Court for Khalid’s bail hearings but conveniently skipped the part that out of 14, seven adjournments were sought by Khalid.
This interview was played in court to demonstrate how the narrative is being gamed in order to influence the judicial process.
Today, the SPP said that while Umar Khalid was out of jail, he was using influential persons to change the narrative in his favour. However, now, while he is in jail, the narrative is being poisoned by others on social media and the media to influence the judicial process in his case.
The prosecutor took several names like Teesta Setalvad, Aakar Patel, Amnesty International, Azhar Khan, Kaushik Raj and Swati Chaturvedi who have been helping in setting the narrative. The prosecutor further mentioned that these individuals and entities run hashtags in his support and present a false narrative of the case.
Following the detention of a major hawala operator at Chennai airport, officers of the Income Tax Department have purportedly uncovered a conspiracy by a “prominent political party” to bring Rs 200 crore through hawala transactions for distribution during the Lok Sabha election.
As reported by The Hindu, Vinoth Kumar Joseph, an Indian national, was intercepted on Sunday (7th April) at Chennai International Airport after being deported from Malaysia. Reports say that during the probe the officials found that Joseph was part of a huge Hawala network that operates from Dubai and Malaysia to move illicit funds from Dubai to India.
The Income Tax Department officials also confiscated a mobile phone, iPad, and laptop from Joseph and recorded Joseph’s statement.
According to authorities in the IT Department, “It has been found through WhatsApp conversations on his mobile phone that he was planning to bring money from Dubai to Chennai through hawala for a prominent Tamil Nadu-based political party.”
According to Vinoth Kumar Joseph’s recent WhatsApp chats with a Dubai-based person by the name of Selvam, Rs 200 crore was supposed to be sent from Dubai in connection to the parliamentary elections.
Reportedly, a person named Appu, also known as Vinayagavelan, was a close associate of Joseph. Appu aka Vinayagavelan is reportedly involved in the election campaign for a well-known politician.
The other people or organisations who appeared to be involved in helping the hawala transactions are Monika Virola based in Dubai, Al Manar Diamonds, and Suresh based in Malaysia. Further investigation into the matter is underway. The IT officials, reports say, have not ruled out the possibility of the Enforcement Directorate joining the probe.
On Wednesday (10th April), former Indian cricketer and coach Ravi Shastri posted a picture of himself in a bathrobe on his social media handle. Ravi Shastri’s new post has surprised his fans who are praising the former coach of the Indian men’s cricket team.
In the caption of his post, the stylish former cricketer wrote, “I am hottie, I am naughty, I am sixty.”
In the picture shared by Ravi Shastri, he is seen wearing a blue bathrobe. 61-year-old Ravi Shastri is currently working as a commentator and expert in IPL 2024. The photo posted by Ravi Shastri went viral in no time. With more than 5 lakh views, more than 20 thousand likes, 2200 plus shares and more than a thousand comments, the picture of the former Indian cricketer became a social media sensation within a few hours.
As if this was not enough, Ravi Shastri posted another picture in the same attire. In the caption of this photo, he wrote, “Does this photo qualify as a thirst trap?” This photo got more than 360000 views, more than 9000 likes, over 500 reshares and almost 500 comments. Some of his fans mistakenly believed it was his birthday and began congratulating him on the occasion. However, he was born on 27th May 1962, so today is not his birthday.
In the caption of the third photo, Ravi Shastri wrote, “Your girl doesn’t need to see my face to know it’s me.” In this photo, he is hiding his face with a towel.
After this post by Ravi Shastri, former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag also posted a commercial advertisement for Make My Trip in which both Virender Sehwag ad Ravi Shastri are seen endorsing app. Interestingly, the latest series of advertisements by the ‘Make My Trip’ are made in such a way that the face of the celebrity is not revealed. Actor Jackie Shroff and director Prabhu Deva are already seen in two such advertisements. In the caption of the post, Virender Sehwag wrote, “Ravi bhai was saying ‘let’s also take off the bathrobe’.
Ravi Shastri took over as the head coach of the Indian team in 2017. Rahul Dravid became the head coach of the Indian team after the T20 World Cup 2021. From 1981 to 1992, Shastri played 80 Tests and 150 ODIs, in which he scored a total of 7000 international runs and 272 international wickets. After playing his last international match in 1992, Shastri made his debut as a TV commentator in 1995. Since then, he has been in the role of commentator barring his stint as the coach of the Indian cricket team.
