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Crime

Gag on POSH cases: After 6 months, Bombay HC says it’s ‘case specific’

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Nearly six months after a complete ‘gag’ order to media reporting and uploading of judgements on cases pertaining to the Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (POSH) Act, 2013, the Bombay High Court has clarified that it was ‘case specific’ and not applicable to all matters under the (POSH) act.

Justice G.S. Patel, who had passed the earlier order of September 24, 2021, acknowledged that “it remained to be specifically noted in that order that “the directions had to be confined” to that particular case and could not have any wider or larger applicability.

Justice Patil further noted that any such rules of general applicability would have to be approved by the full court, and a single judge hearing a particular matter within his rostered assignment has “no authority or jurisdiction to issue any rules binding the entire court”.

“It is only the full court or the Chief Justice which or who can do that. Very possibly, such rules might even have been required to be notified in the official gazette. None of this was in contemplation at any time on September 24, 2021,” Justice Patil added.

The clarifications came on Thursday while disposing an intervention application filed by the Forum Against Oppression of Women under the impressions that the guidelines were general in nature.

FAOW senior advocate Indira Jaisingh contended that these guidelines were not only against the letter and spirit of the POSH Act, but also contrary to the very concept of open courts, which are an essential aspect of judicial determinations globally, and now it was being cited by men in other cases.

In the previous order (IANS – Sept 27, 2021), Justice Patel had said all such matters shall be heard either “in camera” or in the judge’s chambers, orders cannot be passed in open court, or uploaded on the high court’s official website, and the media has been prohibited from reporting the proceedings or the verdicts without the court’s permission.

Virtually making POSH cases at par with the existing guidelines in rape cases, the order warned that violation of the same or publishing the concerned party’s names or other details, even if in the public domain, would be treated as contempt of court.

He observed that since there are no set guidelines for such matters, his initial order would set a working protocol for the future orders, hearings, case file management, and would be revised or modified, as needed.

The ‘minimum guidelines’ issued dealt with the format of filing orders in POSH cases, the filing protocols, grant of access by the registry, hearings, directions to the certified copy department, public access, breach, etc.

“Both sides and all parties and advocates, as also witnesses, are forbidden from disclosing the contents of any order, judgment, or filing to the media or publishing any such material in any mode or fashion by any means, including social media, without specific leave of the court,” the court said on the media disclosure part.

Justice Patel added that it was imperative to protect the identities of the parties from disclosure, even accidental disclosure in such proceedings, in the interests of both sides, and the endeavour would be to “anonymise the identities of the parties”.

The orders came in a hearing of a POSH case involving a major blue-chip company and its woman staffer — who was represented by advocate Abha Singh.

The other highlights were: Parties’ names shall be replaced with “A v B”, etc., the order will mention them as only ‘Plaintiff, Defendant No. 1, etc.’, no reference to any ‘personally identifiable information (PII) like email, mobile or phone numbers, addresses, etc,’ and ‘no witness names and addresses’ shall be mentioned.

All orders/judgements would be delivered in private, not in open court but only in the judge’s chambers or in camera, with online or hybrid facility not allowed, in the presence of the litigants and lawyers and others including most of the court staff to leave the court.

“Orders can’t be published without court’s direction, and if any order is to be released into public domain, it will require a specific order of the court. This will be on the condition that only the fully anonymised version of the order of judgement is let into the public domain for publication,” said Justice Patel in the earlier order.

It forbade both sides, all parties and advocates and witnesses from disclosing the contents of any order, judgment, or filing to the media or publishing any such material in any mode or fashion by any means, including social media, without specific leave of the court, as per the guidelines.

There are strict restrictions barring anyone other than the Advocate-on-Record to inspect or copy any filings/orders, the entire record will be kept sealed and not handed over to anybody without the court’s order, witness depositions would be strictly not uploaded under any circumstances, and so on.

Crime

ED conducts raids in Delhi, Raj, Gujarat in ₹2,700 cr money laundering case involving real estate scheme

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Jaipur, June 12: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched a massive crackdown on Thursday in connection with a Rs 2,700 crore money laundering case involving a real estate scheme. The ED conducted raids at approximately 24 locations across Delhi, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

According to agency sources, the ongoing investigation is linked to a large-scale financial fraud related to a real estate scheme named Red Nexa Evergreen.

In Rajasthan, ED teams carried out operations in cities including Jaipur, Jodhpur, Sikar, and Jhunjhunu.

Simultaneous raids were also conducted in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and parts of Delhi. The crackdown is being executed under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Red Nexa Evergreen project reportedly lured investors with promises of high returns or property allocations — either flats, land, or premium rates after a fixed tenure.

Allegations suggest that a significant number of investors were duped in the process.

Rajasthan Police had earlier registered an FIR against multiple individuals involved in the fraudulent scheme.

The ED’s investigation aims to uncover the financial trail and identify key beneficiaries of the scam. More details are expected to emerge as the search operations continue. Around 24 places are being raided in Rajasthan and Gujarat and Delhi.

The investors in this project were lured to invest their money till a particular time and told that they can get plots and flats in return for their investments.

However investors were duped as none of the promises were allegedly fulfilled.

In the end the frustrated investors filed many FIRs in this regard.

The raids have been conducted keeping money laundering in mind, said officials.

Once the search operation is done, action will be taken against those involved in the fraud.

Rajasthan police were acting in the matter till now, however now that the ED has come into the picture, fresh facts are expected to come out soon in the case, said sources.

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Crime

Sonam confesses to role in husband Raja Raghuvanshi’s murder

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Shillong, June 11: Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the sensational murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi during their honeymoon in Meghalaya, has confessed to her role in the crime during interrogation, sources told media on Wednesday.

According to the sources, Sonam admitted to orchestrating the murder when she was questioned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) earlier in the day.

Her confession was also formally recorded in front of officials from the Meghalaya Police, confirming her direct involvement in the crime, the sources said.

Earlier in the day, five accused — Sonam Raghuvanshi, her alleged boyfriend Raj Kushwaha, Anand Kurmi, Akash Rajput, and Vishal Singh Chauhan — were produced in a Shillong court following detailed interrogation by the SIT.

Police officials revealed that the three alleged contract killers — Akash, Anand, and Vikash — travelled from Indore to Shillong in separate phases to avoid drawing attention.

Their movement was traced through CCTV footage, train ticket bookings, and Aadhaar card photocopies, which helped authorities confirm their identities and track their route to Meghalaya.

According to investigators, the killers joined the couple on a trek on May 23, disguising themselves as fellow tourists.

Albert Pde, a local guide, informed the police that he had offered assistance to the group but was turned down.

He also noted that the group was conversing in Hindi and deliberately opted for a remote and rugged trekking trail, away from the popular tourist area of the Double Decker Living Root Bridge.

Sonam Raghuvanshi was arrested after she surrendered at the Nandganj police station in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district in the early hours of Monday.

Her surrender followed days of intense pressure mounted by a coordinated, multi-state police operation involving law enforcement agencies from Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.

According to the police, Sonam plotted her husband’s murder and hired contract killers to execute the plan while on their honeymoon.

The other accused were nabbed during a series of raids conducted by police teams across Madhya Pradesh.

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Crime

How arrested Pakistani national in Kolkata secured EPIC card, voted twice; ED probes

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Kolkata, June 11: The Enforcement Directorate have started tracking the sources of the documents based on which Azad Mullick, the Pakistani citizen whom ED arrested in Kolkata in April, secured an EPIC card, with which he voted twice, first in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election and then in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Sources aware of the development said that what has kept the ED investigating officials even more intrigued is how the EPIC card held by Azad did not create doubts in the minds of the review officials during the interim revision of the voters’ list between 2021 and 2024.

The officials are in touch with the offices of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, to get details of the documents furnished by Azad for getting the EPIC card.

According to information available with ED, Azad was enrolled as a voter of Dum Dum-Uttar Assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district, which is again one of the seven Assembly constituencies under Dum Dum Lok Sabha constituency. He admitted this in the face of interrogation about his voting in 2021 and 2024.

The issue of foreign nationals becoming voters in West Bengal has become a politically sensitive issue in the state ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled next year.

On Tuesday, ECI ordered the office of the CEO, West Bengal, to probe the case of a man, who was active in the student ‘movement’ in Bangladesh last year, and features as a registered voter in the Kakdwip Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district.

The controversy surfaced after some whistleblowers highlighted the picture of Newton Das, a registered voter with Kakdwip Assembly constituency, featuring in the students’ movement in Bangladesh last year on social media. The whistleblowers and a cousin of Das also claimed that Das had dual citizenship in India and Bangladesh.

According to the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, the new addition to the endless list of corruption under the Trinamool Congress regime is ensuring the enlistment of Bangladeshis in the state’s voters list

The case of Azad, originally a Pakistani citizen, was even more complicated. When he was arrested at the beginning of April, documents seized by the ED official then showed that he was a Bangladeshi citizen, who was residing in India after arranging Indian identity documents, including an Indian passport, by furnishing fake documents.

However, on April 29, the ED counsel informed a special court in Kolkata that in the face of interrogation, Mullick admitted that he was an original resident of Pakistan. He said he first managed to arrange a Bangladeshi citizenship for himself through the use of forged documents and subsequently, in the same manner,r arranged Indian identity documents.

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