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Maharashtra

SC refuses to release Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh to vote in MLC election

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 The Supreme Court on Monday denied the pleas of Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party lawmakers Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh to be released temporarily to cast their votes in the ongoing state Legislative Council election.

Minutes before the poll, a vacation bench of Justices C.T. Ravikumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia declined to grant interim relief to NCP leaders, who moved the top court challenging the Bombay High Court order, which last week refused to grant them temporary release.

However, the top court said a further interpretation of Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, will be considered by it to examine whether arrested lawmakers — MLAs and MPs – could be allowed to vote in elections to Rajya Sabha and legislative councils. Section 62 (5) imposes a bar on a prisoner from voting.

Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the petitioners, submitted before the bench that polling is being held on Monday, as she pressed for an interim relief. The lawmakers sought temporary release from prison – under escort protection — to cast their votes in the election, which is underway.

During the hearing, the bench noted that regarding the entitlement of vote, the question is whether the person is in prison or not.

“If you are in prison, in connection with preventive detention, there’s no bar at all but if it’s falling under money laundering (which doesn’t fall into exception)… prima facie Section 62(5) applies,” the bench told the petitioners’ counsel.

Both NCP leaders are lodged in prison in separate cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Arora argued that by closing her clients right to vote, the constituency is being deprived to cast its vote in the council. “Through me, as an elected representative I represent my constituency. It’s just not me but my constituency which is also there,” she argued.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, citing a top court judgment, submitted that the validity of Section 62 (5) has been upheld.

Earlier, during the day, the top court expressed its disinclination to take up the matter, saying this should go before the Chief Justice first, before allowing an urgent listing. Arora vehemently argued that the matter requires urgent hearing since the election is scheduled on Monday itself. The bench said it would see whether the matter can be taken up for hearing after lunch.

Maharashtra

Mumbai Police arrests 367 absconding and wanted accused

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Mumbai: Police has claimed to have arrested 367 wanted criminals, including 18 who were wanted for 20 years. All these wanted criminals were declared absconders. In this, an accused wanted since 1987 has also been arrested in Azad Maidan police station, similarly an accused wanted since 1988 has also been arrested in MN Joshi Marg. These accused have been arrested from January 1, 2026 to March 31, 2026. The police have arrested these accused in this special operation to search for the absconding criminals, which is highly successful. This operation has been carried out on the instructions of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti.

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Maharashtra

Public representatives should cooperate for effective implementation of SIR program in Mumbai: Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide

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Mumbai: As per the instructions of the Commission of India, the Special In-depth Review (SIR) programme is being implemented for the electoral rolls in Mumbai city and suburban districts of Mumbai. District Election Officer and Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide has appealed to the public representatives and political parties to cooperate in implementing this programme in Mumbai in a very effective manner.
In connection with the Special In-depth Review (SIR) programme, a meeting was held with representatives of various political parties at the Mumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters today (April 24, 2026). Leader of Opposition Kishori Pednekar, group leaders of various parties, representatives of various political parties were present at the Mumbai Municipal Corporation House. Additional Municipal Commissioner (Western Suburbs) Dr. Vipin Sharma, Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) Dr. Ashwini Joshi, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijeet Bangar, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Eastern Suburbs) Dr. Avinash Dhakne, District Collector (Mumbai City) Aanchal Goel, Joint Commissioner of Municipal Commissioner (Mumbai City) and Local Government Commissioner etc. were present.
At the beginning of the meeting, detailed information about the Special In-Depth Review Programme was provided to the representatives of political parties through a computer presentation. Apart from this, various issues were discussed in detail.
District Election Officer and Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide said that earlier a Special In-Depth Review was conducted in Maharashtra in the year 2002, i.e. about 24 years ago. The change in the voter list is necessary due to migration, double registration, illegal registration of dead voters or foreign nationals. In this regard, a Special In-depth Review (SIR) programme is being implemented in the Brihanmumbai region along with other parts of Maharashtra. This Special In-depth Review (SIR) programme will be implemented in a total of six phases, namely, pre-review period, counting period, preparation of AASD (Already Enrolled, Absent, Transferred, Dead) list, publication of draft voter list, claims and objections period and publication of final voter list. The work of voter mapping in the Brihanmumbai region (Mumbai city and Mumbai suburbs) is underway under the pre-review period. Accordingly, voters in the Special In-depth Review 2002 electoral roll are being mapped in the BLO app by searching the details in the 2024 electoral roll. Meanwhile, the cooperation of political parties is important for more effective implementation of the Special In-depth Review (SIR) programme in the Mumbai region. The Municipal Corporation has appointed Polling Station Level Officers (BLOs) for this work. On this basis, Mrs. Ashwini Bhide also appealed to the political parties to appoint Polling Station Level Assistants (BLAs) in the respective local bodies so that the revision process can be completed more efficiently, transparently and expeditiously.

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Crime

Goa Cyber Police Arrest Maharashtra Man In ₹61.84 Lakh Digital Arrest Scam Case

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Panaji: The Goa Cyber Police apprehended a 48-year-old man from Maharashtra for his alleged involvement in a major cyber fraud case amounting to Rs 61.84 lakh, police officials said on Friday.

The accused, identified as Dayanand Baburao Devalkar, a resident of Ajara in Kolhapur, was traced following an in-depth technical investigation, the office of the superintendent of police (cyber crime), Raibandar, said in a statement.

Police officials said that the funds were transferred into Devalkar’s bank account before being routed to multiple accounts belonging to his associates.

An investigation was initiated after a complaint filed by a resident of Quepem on April 13. According to the police, the fraudsters, acting as Mumbai Crime Branch officers through a WhatsApp number, allegedly threatened the complainant with fabricated allegations of money laundering linked to the banned organisation, PFI.

The accused shared fake documents, including a fraudulent bank statement and an arrest warrant, to intimidate the victim, the police said.

The complainant was subjected to a ‘digital arrest’ and coerced into transferring Rs 61,84,200 to settle the alleged case, the police statement said.

A team led by Sub-Inspector Navin Naik, alongside constables Sidaramaiyya Math and Vinay Amonkar, conducted the raid in Ajara to secure the arrest of the accused.

The investigation is being conducted by Inspector Deepak Pednekar under the supervision of Assistant Superintendent of Police BV Sridevi and Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime) Raju Raut Desai.

This arrest follows a surge in ‘digital arrest’ scams across the coastal state.

In February, a Porvorim resident lost nearly Rs 15 lakh in a similar ruse involving fake narcotics officials. In late 2023, the Goa Police issued a public advisory after several professionals reported being held on video calls for hours by individuals posing as officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The arrested accused is being produced before the court to seek police custody.

The police are currently tracking the secondary bank accounts to identify the wider network involved in the syndicate.

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