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Maharashtra

No relief from Delhi HC to Uddhav on plea against party name, symbol freeze 

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The Delhi High Court has refused to stay its single judge order, which dismissed a plea filed by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray against the Election Commission’s decision to freeze his Shiv Sena’s ‘bow and arrow’ symbol.

A division bench, headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, held: “There shall be no stay on the proceedings before the Election Commission of India. Therefore, the Election Commission of India is free to proceed with the adjudication of the dispute pending before it.”

“It is needless to state that the Election Commission of India will proceed in accordance with the procedure followed by the Commission while adjudicating a petition under Para 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968,” it added.

The HC had, on December 15, reserved its order on the same matter.

Thackeray had approached the High Court on December 13 against its single-judge bench order rejecting his plea against Election Commission’s decision to freeze Shiv Sena’s name and symbol.

On November 15, Justice Sanjeev Narula had dismissed Thackeray’s petition holding that there was no interdiction by the Supreme Court regarding the proceedings to be conducted by the EC.

The EC had directed both Thackeray and Eknath Shinde to restrain from using the same name or symbol till the official recognition is finally decided on October 8.

They were alloted different symbols for the recent Andheri East bypoll.

Thackeray had appealed that EC had assumed that there are two factions of Shiv Sena party while passing the freezing order.

Moreover, he had claimed that it cannot be said that there are two factions in the party as he remains “rightfully elected President”, which was admitted even by Shinde.

“The observation of the Ld. Single Judge that both the appellant and the respondent No. 2 claim to be the President of the original Shiv Sena party is factually incorrect, as the respondent No. 2 in para 3 of his para 15 petition filed before respondent No. 1 himself states that the appellant herein is, and continues to be the Shivsena Pramukh (President/Pramukh) of the Shiv Sena political party,” the appeal stated.

He had stated that the EC has exercised its jurisdiction without taking note of the disqualification proceedings pending before the top court against Shinde.

“Single-judge failed to appreciate that the question of disqualification of Respondent No. 2 (Shinde) is still pending adjudication before the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the action of Respondent No 1 (ECI) is premised on an underlying assumption that the Hon’ble Supreme Court will decide in favour of Respondent No. 2,” he had said.

Maharashtra

Mumbai Local Trains On Central Line Hit As Freight Engine Fails Between Neral & Vangani

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Mumbai: A diesel freight locomotive failure between Neral and Vangani early Friday morning caused significant disruption to Mumbai’s Central Railway (CR) services, delaying local and express trains during the peak rush hour.

At 8.13 am, a Sanath Nagar (Secunderabad)–JNPT freight train suffered a diesel locomotive failure and came to a halt at the Vangani Home signal on the Up line. The train blocked the main track, paralysing suburban and long-distance operations on the busy Neral–Vangani section.

Railway officials confirmed that the section was occupied and no train could move until the stranded freight rake was cleared.

The control office was alerted immediately, and on-site efforts to restart the diesel engine were made but proved unsuccessful. A decision was then taken to dispatch an assisting locomotive from the rear to move the failed train.

The relief loco arrived promptly, coupled to the stranded rake, and successfully cleared the section by 9.15 am — restoring normal train movement after one hour and two minutes of disruption.

The incident led to cascading delays across CR’s suburban network. The S-18 local service was among the first to be detained due to the blockage.

Two major long-distance trains — Train No. 11010 (Pune–CSMT) and Train No. 12124 (Pune–CSMT) — were diverted via Panvel to avoid further congestion and ensure minimal inconvenience to long-distance passengers.

Several subsequent suburban trains also faced delays as services were gradually normalised after clearance.

Freight movement in adjoining sections was briefly regulated until the failed locomotive was moved to the nearest station for inspection and repairs. Railway officials have initiated a technical assessment to determine the exact cause of the failure and prevent similar incidents.

Normalcy Restored After One Hour

By 9.15 am, train operations were fully restored on the Neral–Vangani stretch. Officials lauded the prompt coordination between the control room and the field team, which helped contain the disruption within a short span.

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Maharashtra

Rohit Arya, who held 20 children hostage, died during treatment after being shot.

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Rohit Arya, the accused who held 20 children hostage inside a studio in Mumbai’s Powai area, has died. The accused, Rohit Arya, had taken the children hostage and also fired at the police. Police retaliated, injuring him, and he died during treatment.

Rohit Arya was mentally ill. He had taken 20 children hostage at RA Studios in Powai. Upon receiving information, police immediately arrived at the scene and attempted to apprehend him. During this, Rohit Arya opened fire on the police, who retaliated, injuring him. He was immediately taken for treatment, but died during treatment.

Earlier, the accused, Rohit Arya, had released a video admitting to holding the children hostage. Police had stated that Rohit Arya was mentally ill. Police had safely rescued all the children from his custody.

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Maharashtra

Making Vande Mataram compulsory is illegal: MLA Raees Shaikh writes to the Chief Minister and Education Minister, demanding withdrawal of the order

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Mumbai: Samajwadi Party’s Bhiwandi East MLA Raees Sheikh has demanded that the Chief Minister and the Education Minister should revoke the ban imposed on all schools in the state on making the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ written by ‘Bankam Chandra Chatterjee’ mandatory on October 31.

In this regard, MLA Raees Sheikh said that ‘Jan Gana Man’ written by Rabindranath Tagore is the national anthem of India. However, the government’s order to sing the song in all schools in the state on October 31 and organize a song exhibition between October 31 and November 7 in the context of the 150th anniversary of the national anthem ‘Vande Mataram’ is illegal. Any organization should write a letter to the Minister of State for School Education Pankaj Bhuyar and the Education Department should immediately declare ‘Vande Mataram’ a mandatory song for all schools in the state, this is not good governance in a progressive state like Maharashtra.

The condition of schools and education in the state is deteriorating. It is the duty of the government to provide quality education. However, the government is discriminating by including religious issues like ‘Vande Mataram’ in the education sector. Making ‘Vande Mataram’ a mandatory song is a violation of the rights granted by the Constitution. There have been many discussions on the issue of ‘Vande Mataram’ till date. MLA Rais Sheikh said in the letter that ‘Jan Guna Man..’ is the national anthem of India and the national anthem should be given a place of honor, sanctity and respect everywhere, it has been agreed upon.

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