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Security beefed up in Varanasi ahead of Gyanvapi case hearing in district court

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Security has been beefed up in Varanasi as the court of district judge is set to start hearing of Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri case from Monday.

All the related files were transferred to it in compliance with the Supreme Court’s May 20 order of shifting the trial from civil judge (senior division) court.

District government counsel (civil) Mahendra Prasad Pandey said the district judge court will on Monday make clear the points on which the hearing would start.

Meanwhile, senior police officials, on Monday, said that adequate security arrangements had been made to ensure that there was no trouble from any side over the hearing of the case.

“We have deployed adequate forces and barricades have been put up as precautionary measure,” said a senior official.

Five women devotees, Rakhi Singh of Delhi, Laxmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas and Rekha Pathak, all of Varanasi, had on April 18, 2021 filed a petition seeking daily worship of goddess Shringar Gauri on the mosque premises, in the court of civil judge.

On April 8, the court had appointed Ajay Kumar Mishra as the advocate commissioner for survey of Gyanvapi mosque. The defendants, Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, had filed a petition in the Allahabad high court challenging the order for survey and appointment of advocate commissioner, but the plea was rejected.

The court commission had started the survey of Gyanvapi on May 6, but it was stalled the next day due to protest by AIM, which also demanded the civil judge (senior division) court to change the advocate commissioner saying Mishra was biased.

The court rejected the plea to change Mishra but also appointed Vishal Singh as special advocate commissioner and Ajay Pratap Singh as assistant advocate commissioner.

The court commission resumed the survey on May 14 and concluded it on May 16 amid claims of a ‘Shivling’ being found in the wuzu pond of Gyanvapi by the petitioners.

On May 17, the court sacked Mishra following complaints of leaking information and asked special advocate commissioner Vishal Singh to table the survey report on May 19.

On May 20, while hearing the petition of AIM Committee, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the survey order passed in the Gyanvapi mosque case and transferred the civil suit filed by Hindu devotees from civil judge (senior division) to the district judge, Varanasi saying looking at the ‘complexities’ and ‘sensitivity’ of the issue, it is better if a senior judicial officer having experience of over 25-30 years handles this case.

Maharashtra

Will BMC Wake Up? Eastern Freeway Becomes Mumbai’s Most Dangerous Road At Night Due To Defunct Street Lights

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Mumbai: Motorists on the Eastern Freeway, which connects south Mumbai to Ghatkopar, are yet again suffering from blackouts as the street lights at several stretches of the road are defunct. The 16.8 km signal-free road connects south Mumbai from P D’mello Road to the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd link road and is preferred by lakhs of motorists to reach the eastern suburbs.

However, instead of providing basic facilities like street lights, the BMC departments concerned are busy passing the buck. “The speed limit is 80 kmph and the absence of streetlight makes the road very dangerous. Accidents can happen any time,” said Hemant Vichare, a daily user.

“It has been at least six months since the road lights have been non-functional, especially from the Wadala to Chembur section. I have never seen all the lights working in the tunnel as well. During the rains, the water accumulates on the roadside and without lights, it becomes very risky to drive,” said D Pinto, a daily user of the Freeway and resident of Chembur.

“The least BMC could have done is install working street lamps. Earlier, it was only the Wadala section that was dark; now even the flyover towards Ghatkopar (after Chembur exit) has gone dark. The freeway has heavy vehicular flow with cars running at high speeds. It is very unsafe,” said another commuter.

The flyover was built by the MMRDA and fully handed over to the BMC for operations and maintenance in 2015. When the FPJ contacted BMC’s Chief Engineer (Bridges), Uttam Shrote said that he reminds his staff regularly to follow up. “I am aware the lights at certain sections of the freeway are not working. The tender and quotations to install or repair lights is in process by the Mechanical & Electrical department.”

However, Chief Engineer (Mechanical & Electrical) Krishna Perekar said that his department has neither floated any tender nor is in the process of installing new lights or repairing he existing ones.

“It is not possible that stretches of freeway are without road lights. However, the lights are always purchased in bulk and not for a particular section in the city. The ward offices in the concerned stretch need to look at the issue. The BEST and Adani Electricity supply power to the road,” he said.

When contacted to the spokesperson of Adani Electricity, he said that there is no interruption of power supply in the area, including the freeway from their side.

Notably, this is not the first time that stretches of the Eastern Freeway have gone dark. In July 2023, the media had highlighted the issue of non-functional street lights on the eastern freeway and how it is fast emerging as the most dangerous road in Mumbai, especially at night, primarily because of gross laxity on the part of the civic body.

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National

Delhi court to hear defamation petition filed by Somnath Bharti’s wife against FM Sitharaman

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New Delhi, June 26: A Delhi court on Thursday will hear a criminal defamation complaint filed by Lipika Mitra, the wife of former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Somnath Bharti, against Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The complaint stems from alleged defamatory, false, and malicious statements made by Sitharaman regarding Mitra and Bharti’s marriage during a press conference held on May 17 last year.

Mitra claims the remarks were widely aired by national television channels with the intention of damaging her husband’s reputation and electoral prospects.

Bharti was the INDIA bloc candidate from the New Delhi parliamentary constituency during the general elections.

Earlier, the matter was listed before the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Paras Dalal, who granted Sitharaman’s counsel additional time to file a ‘vakalatnama (affidavit)’ and review the contents of the complaint.

The court instructed Mitra’s legal team to provide a soft copy of the complaint and a video link of the press conference containing the allegedly defamatory statements.

According to Mitra’s plea, “The accused made these utterances with the sole intention of weakening his chances of winning and for causing immense mental anguish to him.”

She asserted that Sitharaman’s remarks not only harmed Bharti’s political standing but also inflicted “irreparable mental agony” on her and their two minor children — a daughter and a son.

She further noted that Bharti, an alumnus of IIT Delhi with a wide global network, has suffered reputational damage that extends well beyond India.

“The defamatory acts of the accused continue to cause enduring damage unless they are retracted or an apology is issued,” the complaint read.

Mitra urged the court to take cognisance of the alleged offences and summon the Union Minister for trial.

She also sought an injunction to restrain Sitharaman from “publishing, circulating or distributing similar defamatory content” via any platform and requested that steps be taken to ensure the removal of the content from all outlets.

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Maharashtra

Maharashtra Dy CM Ajit Pawar Meets Muslim Leaders & Senior Police Officials Over Mosque Loudspeaker Controversy In Mumbai

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Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Wednesday chaired a crucial meeting at the Sahyadri Guest House to address growing concerns over the removal of loudspeakers from mosques in Mumbai. The meeting was attended by State Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla, Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti and several prominent Muslim leaders and MLAs, including Nawab Malik, Zeeshan Siddique, Abu Azmi, Waris Pathan, Sana Malik, Jallal Uddin and Siddharth Kamble.

The delegation expressed alarm over what they claim is police overreach in removing mosque loudspeakers, allegedly under pressure from a campaign launched by a former BJP MP. The leaders argued that the issue of Azaan is not new and has existed peacefully for generations. “Someone, some Somaiya, has created pressure in Mumbai. Because of one person, Muslims are being harassed,” said Samajwadi Party’s state president Abu Azmi after the meeting. “All sides were heard, and both the Commissioner and the DGP were present,” he said.

AIMIM leader Waris Pathan also echoed the sentiment, stating that the delegation included Muslim legislators, social workers, and community representatives. “We raised the issue of police forcibly removing loudspeakers from mosques and issuing notices without due process. This is creating unnecessary tension in the city,” Pathan said.

Muslim organisations from South Mumbai had earlier met with Pawar and submitted their concerns. They alleged that police were harassing mosque committees despite their compliance with High Court-decided permissible noise levels between 45 and 56 decibels. “There is no court order to remove loudspeakers outright,” the organisations pointed out. Action should be taken only if a violation is proven, such as issuing a notice or cancelling a licence. But instead, police are dismantling systems without proper verification, demanded the organisations.

The controversy is said to have intensified following visits by a BJP leader to areas like Govandi, where he reportedly pressured local police to act against mosques using loudspeakers. Muslim leaders have demanded a fair and transparent resolution to prevent communal disharmony and urged the government to issue clear directives to law enforcement based on legal parameters, not political pressure.

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