Connect with us
Saturday,27-July-2024
Breaking News

National News

Bombay High Court says, ‘Speeding not an offence, rash driving is’

Published

on

The Bombay High Court has upheld acquittal of a man whose car allegedly killed a cyclist and a bullock observing that driving a car speedily is not an offence; the act is punishable only if it is rash and negligent.

“Act of driving is punishable only when it is rash and negligent. Rashness implies speed which is unwarranted. Whereas the act of negligence involves not taking proper care and paying attention while driving,” observed Justice SM Modak early this month.

The HC was hearing appeal challenging acquittal of a Kuldeep Pawar
The HC was hearing an appeal filed by the State government challenging the acquittal of one Kuldeep Pawar.

According to the prosecution, on November 1, 2009, at 8.30am, Vasant Desai, owner of a bullock cart, and one Balaso Mane were cycling on a road near village Tasgaon. At the time, Pawar drove by in his Tata Sumo, at a speed, and allegedly dashed into the bullock and then into Mane. The police charged Pawar with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Pawar was acquitted on August 24, 2011. The state approached the HC challenging his acquittal. One of the passers-by testified that the car came speedily when it dashed against Mane and the bullock.

However, Justice Modak observed that the evidence has to be appreciated on the basis of other available materials.

Judge noted speed alone is not punishable
The judge noted that speed alone is not punishable unless the car is driven rashly and negligently.

The HC noted that the bullock cart owner and one of the eye witnesses gave completely opposite statements as far the directions of the bullock cart were concerned. That is, whether the art was heading south to north or vice-versa. The cart owner said he was going from north to south.

According to the spot panchanama, the bullock cart was lying on the southern side and facing the eastern flank. The panch witness, however, said that the bullock cart was found on the northern side of the road.

The HC noted that it could not conclude the directions in which the car, the bullock cart and the cyclist were going.

“With the assistance of both the sides (prosecution and accused), I am trying to understand the direction as per documentary evidence and the oral evidence. We have tried to understand it from various angles but we could not arrive at a particular conclusion,” noted justice Modak.

Advocate for Pawar said investigating officer is not an eye-witness
Aashish Satpute, advocate for Pawar, submitted that there were tea stalls at the accident spot; however, statements of none of these independent eye-witnesses were recorded by the police. The policeman, who was examined by the prosecution, is not an eye-witness to the incident and his evidence is only relevant to what he has seen after the incident, added Satpute.

The court felt that it was “really a strange state of affairs” — that, neither the Investigating Officer has prepared a map/rough sketch, nor “the trial court has taken pains in recording directions correctly in the evidence”.

“It is true that the consequences of the accident are the death of the bullock and the bicycle driver. For want of evidence, the trial court could not come to the conclusion about rash and negligent driving by the respondent. Even this court is unable to come to that conclusion for the above reasons,” said the HC while upholding Pawar’s acquittal.

National News

‘Mantriji Haath Jeb Mein Se Bahar’: LS Speaker Om Birla Chides Minister For Putting Hand In Pocket Inside House

Published

on

'Mantriji Haath Jeb Mein Se Bahar': LS Speaker Om Birla Chides Minister For Putting Hand In Pocket Inside House

New Delhi, July 26: The Parliament’s Monsoon Session has seen its share of confrontations between the members of the ruling government and the Opposition. Even Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla has not been immune to getting into an argument or chiding a member for inappropriate behaviour. A similar incident was witnessed in the lower house on Thursday when speaker Birla scolded a member of the ruling government in the house and a minister for putting “hands in pocket”.

A video that has now gone viral shows Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla telling the minister, “Mantriji haath jeb se bahar (Minister, hands out of the pocket please)”. After this, Birla requested all the members not to put their hands in pocket while being inside the house.

He also went on to instruct that if a member is speaking, the member sitting in front should not get up and in fact try to sit somewhere back so that the member speaking is not obstructed.

The video also caught the voice of a person trying to clarify after Birla’s remarks. However, the video did not show which minister was scolded by the Lok Sabha Speaker.

This is the second time in two days when the usually unflappable Lok Sabha speaker was seen trying to correct an MP inside the house. On June 24, the exchange between Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee had gone viral.

The video shows Om Birla asking TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee to not talk about past events while speaking on the budget and focus only on the current budget in his speech. Abhishek Banerjee retorted saying, “Then why do you have no problem when someone speaks on Nehru ji and talks about 60 years old things.” Banerjee then went on to say that if he speaks on demonetisation (which took place in 2016), then the speaker has problem.

The Union Budget and the first one of Modi 3.0 was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23. The Opposition criticised the budget calling it an exercise by the government to ensure that it keeps its alliance partners happy and alleged that the budget favoured several states and deliberately left out the other regions.

Continue Reading

National News

Farah Khan’s Mother Menka Irani Passes Away At 79, Days After Undergoing Multiple Surgeries

Published

on

Menka Irani, the mother of filmmakers Farah Khan and Sajid Khan, passed away on July 26, Friday. The news was shared by Kamaal R Khan on his social media handle.

Farah’s mother was 79 when she breathed her last.

The heartbreaking news comes days after Farah had revealed in an Instagram post that her mother had undergone multiple surgeries. On her birthday on July 12, Farah had penned a heartfelt note for her mother and had lauded her strength.

“We all take our mothers for granted. especially me! This last month has been a revelation on how much I love my mom Menka.. she’s been the strongest, bravest person iv ever seen.. sense of humour intact even after multiple surgeries,” she wrote.

“Happy birthday mom! Today’s a good day to come back home. Can’t wait for you to get strong enough to start fighting with me again.. I love you,” she wrote.

Friends of Farah and Sajid were seen reaching their residence to extend their support and condolences.

Menka was the sister of former child actors Honey Irani, who later married Javed Akhtar, and Daisy Irani. She is survived by her two children — Farah and Sajid.

Not many know but Menka also acted in the film Bachpan in 1963, which starred Salman Khan’s father Salim Khan.

In an earlier interview, Farah had revealed how their mother brought Sajid and her up after their father lost all money and died due to alcohol addiction. “We’d lost all our money, dad’s film had flopped. We had a riches to rags story,” she had said.

Continue Reading

National News

‘Pakistan Has Not Learned Any Lessons From History’: PM Modi Warns Neighbouring Country On Kargil Vijay Diwas

Published

on

'Pakistan Has Not Learned Any Lessons From History': PM Modi Warns Neighbouring Country On Kargil Vijay Diwas

As the country commemorates the 25th anniversary of the victory in the Kargil War, PM Modi on Friday paid tribute to the brave soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the country in the 1999 conflict.

On this occasion, PM Modi also warned the neighboring country, stating that Pakistan has not learned any lessons from history.

Speaking at the Kargil Vijay Diwas Shradhanjali Samaroh in Kargil, PM Modi said, “India was trying to establish peace at that time, in return, Pakistan once again showed its untrustworthy face. However, lies and terror were defeated by the truth. Every time Pakistan attempted something nefarious, it has received a befitting reply in the past. However, Pakistan has not taken any lessons from its own history. It is trying to keep itself relevant taking help of terrorism and proxy war.”

“Today, I am speaking from the very place where the masters of terrorism can hear me clearly! I want to tell these patrons of terrorism that their sinister plans will never succeed,” added PM Modi.

“However, Pakistan has not taken any lessons from its own history. It is trying to keep itself relevant taking help of terrorism and proxy war,”

Paying tribute to the Indian soldiers who died in the war, PM Modi added, “Today, the majestic land of Ladakh marks a significant milestone – 25 years since the triumphant victory of Kargil. Kargil Vijay Diwas reminds us that the sacrifices made for our nation are eternal and forever remembered. As time passes, days turn into months, months into years, and years into centuries – the names of those who laid down their lives for the sake of national security remain etched in our collective memory, forever immortalised!”

Earlier today, PM laid a wreath at the Kargil War Memoria in Drass, Ladakh, on the occasion of the 25th Kargil Vijay Diwas.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan and all ranks of the armed forces also joined in remembering the supreme sacrifice made by the soldiers during the Kargil war.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending