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Supreme Court rebukes Telangana CM over statement made in Assembly

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New Delhi, April 2: The Supreme Court on Wednesday rebuked Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy over his statement made in the state Assembly, saying he was making mockery of the anti-defection law.

The Chief Minister had stated that there would be no by-elections even if the MLAs of the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) defect to the ruling Congress.

“If this is said on the floor of the house, your Hon’ble CM is making a mockery of the 10th Schedule,” the bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and A.G. Masih, slamming the Chief Minister while hearing petitions filed by BRS leaders, seeking disqualification of BRS MLAs who defected to Congress last year.

BRS MLA P. Kaushik Reddy had filed the petition seeking the disqualification of MLAs T. Venkata Rao, Danam Nagender, and Kadiyam Srihari for defecting to the Congress after winning the election on BRS tickets.

The Telangana High Court, in November last year, directed the Speaker of the Telangana Assembly to decide on the disqualification petitions within a ‘reasonable time’.

Later, Kaushik Reddy and another BRS MLA K. Pandu Vivekananda and BJP MLA A. Maheshwar Reddy filed separate petitions in the Supreme Court, seeking direction to the Speaker to decide on the disqualification petitions in a time-bound manner.

The Supreme Court is also hearing the petition of BRS Working President K. T. Rama Rao, seeking the disqualification of seven other BRS MLAs who switched loyalties to Congress.

During the hearing on the petitions on Wednesday, counsel for the petitioners C. Aryaman Sundaram brought to the court’s notice the statement made by the Chief Minister in the Assembly on March 26.

Appearing for the respondents, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued that Assembly proceedings were not in question in the present case.

Justice Gavai suggested that the senior lawyer warn the Chief Minister against making such controversial statements in the legislature.

“We know we are slow in issuing contempt notices, but we are also not powerless,” he said.

The bench observed that statements made in legislatures have sanctity.

“When politicians say something in the Assembly, it has got sanctity. In fact, the judgments say that when we interpret laws, the speech given on the floor of the House can be used for interpreting,” it said.

Justice Gavai told Rohatgi to warn the Chief Minister against repeating the mistake.

The judge was apparently referring to the CM’s remark made in August last year about the bail granted to BRS MLC K. Kavitha in Delhi liquor policy case. Revanth Reddy had reportedly stated that Kavitha could secure bail within five months as the vote bank of the BRS was transferred to the BJP.

“Do we pass our orders in consultation with political parties? We are not bothered about which party politicians belong to… We are not bothered by politicians’ criticism of our orders. We do our duty as per the Constitution and our oath,” Justice Gavai had said while addressing Rohatgi and Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Revanth Reddy.

After the Supreme Court faulted the Chief Minister for his remarks, he unconditionally expressed his regret.

Speaking in the Assembly last month, the Chief Minister told BRS MLAs who switched loyalties to the Congress that they need not worry as by-elections will not be held.

The Chief Minister stated that during the BRS rule, turncoats took oath as ministers and no by- elections were held in the previous government. “How will by-elections be held now?” he asked.

The Chief Minister’s statement drew a strong reaction from the BRS leader Rama Rao, who had said that they would bring this to the court’s notice.

Crime

Delhi Police arrest notorious cyber stalker in Palam

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CRIME

New Delhi, July 2: A 21-year-old man was arrested in Delhi’s Palam village for allegedly harassing a college student by creating fake Instagram accounts and using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate objectionable content.

The accused was persistently stalking and defaming the victim, a college-going girl, through multiple fake Instagram profiles, Amit Goel, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South West District, said in a statement.

The complainant approached the Cyber Police Station, West District, on June 16, reporting that the accused was daily creating new accounts using her photographs, posting them with derogatory captions, and targeting her and her followers.

Acting on the complaint, the police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

“In view of the seriousness of the matter, a dedicated team led by SI Priyanka was formed to identify and apprehend the accused,” the statement added.

A team of PS Cyber, South-West District, arrested the notorious cyber stalker and recovered the smartphone used in the commission of the offence, the statement read.

During the investigation, it came to the fore that the accused was impersonating a female using a profile picture taken from the victim’s public Instagram account, the police said.

The police said the accused further used AI tools to convert the images into sexually explicit content and uploaded these edited pictures through fake Instagram stories.

Despite efforts to mask his identity by not linking any accounts to verifiable mobile numbers or Gmail IDs, the cyber team used advanced technical analysis to track the suspect to the Palam area of South-West Delhi. Multiple raids were conducted before he was successfully arrested.

The accused, whose identity has been withheld, confessed to the crime during interrogation, the police statement read.

Further investigation is underway.

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National

Ashish Shelar Orders Timely Honorarium Disbursal And SOP Reinforcement For Senior Folk Artists

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Cultural Affairs Minister Adv. Ashish Shelar on Tuesday directed the department to re-communicate instructions to all District Collectors regarding the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for disbursal of honorarium to senior folk artists. He also instructed that every senior artist must receive a written response to their application within the prescribed timeframe.

A review meeting was held at Mantralaya to assess the remuneration process for senior artists, during which Cultural Affairs Minister Ashish Shelar issued key directives. The application process for this year’s honorarium disbursal began today.

Noting that several complaints are received annually regarding delays and inconsistencies, the Minister instructed the Director of Cultural Affairs to ensure time-bound redressal of all grievances. He emphasized that every senior artist must receive a written response to their application within the stipulated timeframe to build trust and transparency in the system.

Minister Shelar also pointed out that the formation of remuneration committees for senior artists is still pending in many districts. In light of this, he stressed the need to re-communicate the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to all District Collectors to ensure uniformity and accountability in the implementation of the honorarium process across the state.

Deputy Secretary of the Cultural Affairs Department Mahesh Vavhal, Director of the Directorate of Cultural Affairs Bibhishan Chavare, Joint Director Shriram Pande, and other senior officials were present on the occasion.

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National

Ravindra Chavan, Trusted Lieutenant Of Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, Appointed BJP State Unit President

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Mumbai: Ravindra Chavan, known as a trusted lieutenant of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, will take over as BJP’s state unit president on Tuesday.

The incumbent, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, will hand over charge at a party conclave in Mumbai. The mantle is being handed to Chavan, whose grassroots planning ensured BJP’s impressive electoral performance in Thane and the Konkan belt, with an eye on the coming elections to the local bodies, according to party sources.

Chavan was the only candidate who filed his nomination papers on Monday at BJP state headquarters in the presence of Fadnavis, Bawankule and the party’s Maharashtra in-charge Arun Singh. Union minister Kiren Rijiju was present as the central observer.

Chavan represents Dombivali for the fourth term in the Assembly. He was a member of the Fadnavis cabinet between 2014 and 2019 and the Eknath Shinde-led government from 2022 to 2024. There was speculation of his elevation to the key party post started when he was denied a Cabinet berth after last year’s Assembly elections. He has been officiating as the working president of the state unit for the last few months.

The BJP is eyeing maximum number of municipal bodies in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) comprising 8 municipal corporations. With the elevation of Chavan, known for his aggressive politics, BJP seems to be sending out a message to deputy CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which is likely to ask for lion’s share of seats for the civic polls. As an experienced leader, Chavan will shoulder his responsibilities with vigour and strength, Fadnavis asserted.

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