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Maharashtra

‘Erase all differences’: Bombay HC tells Maharashtra Governor and CM

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Bhagat-Singh-Koshyari

The Bombay High Court has expressed distress that the two apex Constitutional functionaries in Maharashtra – the Governor and Chief Minister – do not “trust” each other, and urged them to “sit together” and “erase” all their differences.

The observations came when a bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M.S. Karnik dismissed two Public Interest Litigations, one filed by a Bharatiya Janata Party leader Girish Mahajan and other by activist Janak Vyas.

Referring to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s inaction on the nomination of 12 MLCs, pending since November 6, 2020, the bench pointed out that there was no movement even after the court’s verdict in Aug. 2021.

At that time, the court had observed that it was the Governor’s duty to decide on the recommendations of the Council of Ministers for the 12 MLCs’ nomination “within a reasonable time”.

Expressing anguish over how the court was “treated” after it passed the order, Chief Justice Datta said that now it is March 2022, and nothing has happened even after eight months.

The bench elaborated that the unfortunate part in the state was the two highest Constitutional functionaries “do not trust each other”, with both the Governor and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray “not on the same page”.

“You both please sit together and sort this out between yourselves… Who is suffering in all of this?… Erase all these differencesa Your ramblings do not take the state forward,” it observed.

Dismissing the PILs by Mahajan and Vyas, the court admonished them and ordered forfeiture of their Rs 10 lakh and Rs 2 lakh deposits which they were ordered to pay up in an earlier hearing.

The petitioners had challenged the Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s amendments to the procedures for the election of Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly, which has been pending for nearly a year now, and were proposed to be held on Wednesday (March 9), but the Governor’s nod is awaited.

They contended that the amendments were “undemocratic”, “arbitrary”, “illegal”, and “unconstitutional”, but Chief Justice Datta objected to the lack of pleadings in the PIL to demonstrate their locus or how the election of Speaker was a matter of public interest.

State Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni had strongly opposed the PILs on the grounds of maintainability and said they were a waste of the court’s precious time.

Reacting to the developments, state Congress President Nana F. Patole said that the high court’s observations were “a slap on the face” of those who are creating hurdles in the election of the Speaker.

In a strong statement, he said the Governor must respect the court’s verdict and take immediate action on the Speaker election and the nomination of 12 MLCs.

“The BJP must understand the democratic process and stop rushing to the court all the time to prevent the good work of the MVA government. We want to conduct the Speaker’s election before the state Budget on March 11. We hope the Governor will take a decision on priority in this regard,” Patole urged.

Maharashtra

Mumbai Accident: Elderly Woman Hit By Garbage Truck Near Shitladevi Metro Station In Mahim; Suffers Heavy Blood Loss

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Mumbai: An elderly woman was seriously injured after being hit by a garbage dumper truck in Mahim on a busy stretch. Disturbing visuals showed the woman in glaring pain. The incident took place near the Mumbai Metro 3’s Shitladevi Mandir Metro Station in Mahim.

The victim was attempting to cross the road when the garbage dumper truck hit her. The dumper, reportedly moving at speed, struck her, leaving her with severe injuries and heavy blood loss. Visuals also showed locals rushing to help and taking her to the nearest hospital.

Currently, there is no update on her condition. Though visuals showed police and traffic police on the scene, it is yeh not known if any case was registered against the garbage dumper truck.

Meanwhile, in another recent accident case, three students of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay were killed after their car met with an accident on the Mumbai–Pune Expressway near Lonavala on Thursday morning while returning from Khandala, where they had gone to watch the sunrise.

The deceased, identified as Omkumar Borse (23), a resident of Nashik; Lay (20), from Nagpur; and Shreyansh Sharma (22), from Jaipur, were travelling in a Volkswagen Polo when the accident occurred. Police officials said that the exact cause of the accident is yet to be determined, as there were no eyewitnesses at the scene.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai Local: 395 Without Tickets Fined At Ghatkopar During Evening Peak Hours, Central Railways Collects Over ₹1 Lakh Fine

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Mumbai: A special ‘fortress’ ticket-checking drive by Central Railway at Ghatkopar station during peak evening hours caught hundreds of ticketless passengers, with authorities collecting a whopping fine of over Rs 1 lakh in a day.

According to the update shared by DRM Central Railway, the drive was held on Tuesday, March 18, during the evening peak hours. During the intensive checking operation, “395 ticketless passengers were caught, and a Rs 1,02,260/- penalty was imposed.”

Notably, Ghatkopar railway station sees heavy passenger footfall as commuters from both Central and Western lines connect here due to its direct Metro Line 1 link between Ghatkopar and Andheri, making it a major boarding hub.

Meanwhile, on the same day, a special drive was also held at Mulund station, where the authorities caught 315 ticketless passengers, and a fine of Rs 74,860 was collected in a day.

There has been a rise in ticketless travel cases across Mumbai, with special checking drives being conducted at multiple railway stations. Hundreds of passengers are being caught every day during these operations.

On March 16 and 17, special ticket-checking drives were carried out at Asangaon, Titvala, Ambernath and Badlapur stations. At Asangaon, 312 ticketless passengers were caught and fined, and Rs 78,290 was collected, while 305 passengers at Titvala were penalised, collecting Rs 75,345 in fine.

On March 16, a separate drive at Ambernath and Badlapur during evening peak hours caught 763 ticketless travellers, with a total fine of Rs 1,88,620 collected. Last week, a similar drive was held at Vashi railway station, resulting in action against 393 passengers, with authorities collecting Rs 1,02,260 in fines in a single day.

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Maharashtra

Bomb threat to blow up Mumbai Bandra BKC Passport Office; no suspicious objects or explosives found during search; alert issued in area

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Mumbai: Bandra BKC has been rocked by a bomb threat. A panic has erupted in the area after an email was received stating that 19 cyanide bombs have been planted in the passport office in Mumbai’s BKC. The police immediately received the information about this email and the bomb disposal and bomb disposal teams reached the spot. A panic has erupted after a bomb threat was received at the passport office in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC). The threat was given through an email. A threat was made to plant 19 bombs filled with cyanide in the passport office and toilets. There was panic after the email was received. The threatening email said that the bombs would explode at 1.30 pm today. As soon as the information about this threatening email was received, the police and the bomb disposal squad reached the spot. The entire area has been evacuated and the bomb squad searched but nothing was found. Therefore, the police are taking details of the email through which the threat was sent. Mumbai Police is investigating the entire matter in depth.

Threatening mails on three email IDs
On Wednesday, the passport office in BKC received three threatening emails. In which 19 cyanide bombs kept in the passport office and toilets were threatened to explode at 1.30 pm. The threatening mails were received on the email addresses Sourav_biswas21@hotmail.com, rpo.mumbai@mea.gov.in and rpo.mumbai@cpo.gov.in. After this, the security agencies and the Mumbai Police were immediately informed. On receiving the information, the security agencies started immediate action. Senior officers of the BKC police station, an ATS team and officers of Unit 8 immediately reached the spot. They took control of the entire area and started investigation.

Citizens urged to be vigilant
The bomb disposal and bomb disposal team conducted a thorough inspection of the lobby of the passport office, the main entrance, the entrance and exit routes, the trees and bushes in the area and all the surrounding areas as a precautionary measure. Fortunately, they did not find anything suspicious or objectionable in this inspection. Still, the police, taking the matter seriously, have appealed to the citizens to be vigilant. They have also been asked to immediately inform the police if they see anything suspicious anywhere.

Fake threatening emails are also often sent. Such fake emails create an atmosphere of fear. To prevent this, the cyber police have started collecting more information about email IDs. The security personnel of the passport office have also been instructed to be vigilant and follow security standards.

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