‘India engaging Russia, Ukraine to help end war’ India has been holding talks with both countries to see if there is something it can do to initiate negotiations between them, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar said. He said India does not have a peace plan or any suggestions on how to end the conflict. Rather, it is having conversations about ending the conflict with each of the two sides and keeping each apprised of what the other side is saying THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l thursday l September 26, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l LATE city EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Lokayukta police to probe MUDA dirt against Siddu Special court directs the SP to register a case under land grab law Yat h i r a j u @ Bengaluru A day after the Karnataka High Court allowed investigation against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the alleged Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam case, a special court directed the Lokayukta police to probe the allotment of 14 compensatory sites to his wife Parvathy B M. The Lokayukta police has been asked to submit its report within three months. The special court in Bengaluru, which exclusively deals with criminal cases against sitting and former MPs and MLAs, also directed the Superintendent of Police, Mysuru Division of Karnataka Lokayukta, to register a case under the provisions of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act and the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act. This is in addition to provisions under Indian Penal Code sections 120B (conspiracy), 166 (disobeying law), 403 (misap- Siddaramaiah ‘Not scared of probe’ Siddaramaiah said he is ready to face any probe and will continue the legal fight. “We are not scared of investigation and are prepared for the legal fight. I said it yesterday and am reiterating it today,” he said propriation), 406 (breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 426 (mischief), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery of an electronic record), 340 (wrongful confinement), 351 (use of criminal force) and oth- er relevant sections of the IPC, under Section 9 (bribing public servant) and 13 (criminal misconduct) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. In his order, Special Court Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat ordered registration of a private complaint against Siddaramaiah, his wife, brother-inlaw Mallikarjuna Swamy, and one Davaraju J, among others, in connection with the MUD’s illegal allotment of the compensatory sites. The case pertains to 14 sites worth `56 crore being allotted illegally in an upscale Vijayanagar 3rd Stage for the land acquired at Kesare village, a down market area on the outskirts of Mysuru, due to alleged undue advantage taken by Siddaramaiah when in power. On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court had upheld Governor Thawarchand Gehlot’s approval to conduct a probe into the MUDA case and the allegedly illegal allotment of 14 sites to the CM’s wife. Phase II done, heartening to see Kashmiris casting their votes, say foreign diplomats F aya z W a n i @ Srinagar The second phase of polling for 26 assembly seats in J&K on Wednesday recorded a healthy 56.05% tur nout, which could go up further. While brisk polling took place in five districts, there were no long queues in Srinagar, where the poll percentage for eight seats stood at 29.24%. However, 4.41% more voters turned up to vote in Srinagar as compared to the Lok Sabha polls in April-May when the percentage was 24.83%. A team of foreign diplomats visited a few polling stations and found it “heartening” to see Kashmiris casting their votes after 10 years. US Deputy chief of Mission Jorgan K Andrews, who was among the visiting diplomats Foreign diplomats after visiting a polling booth in Srinagar for a first-hand assessment of the assembly elections in J&K on Wednesday | Zahoor Punjabi said, “It has been excellent and fascinating to see how India organises its elections and how thorough the preparations are. It has been very inspiring.” It looks very healthy and democratic, he added. The turnout was good in the three violence-hit districts in the Jammu region Reasi (74.14%), Poonch (73.78%) and Rajouri (69.84%) Even Ganderbal (62.63%) and Budgam (61.31%) in the Kashmir re- HC questions Dileep’s objection to illegal card access investigation gation team by registering an FIR on the unauthorised access to the The Kerala High Court on Wednesmemory card and pen drive while day sought to know why actor it was in the custody of the JudiDileep, the eighth accused in the cial First Class Magistrate Court, 2017 actor abduction and sexual asAngamali, and the Principal Sessault case, is objecting to an invessions Judge, Ernakulam. She also tigation into the illegal access of a requested that the investigation Dileep memory card while it was in the be headed by an officer not below custody of the trial court. The HC the rank of an Inspector General Examination of of Police and carried out under noted that the state government accused today the supervision of the court with does not have any objection to the Kochi: investigation. periodic reports. “What is your (Dileep’s) objec- Examination During the argument, the court tion? This is a matter purely be- of accused in asked, “Does the petitioner have a tween the court. A document pro- the 2017 actor case that you (Dileep) are the one assault case duced in the court has been who tampered with it?” Advocate tampered with. Somebody has will be held at Philip T Varghese, counsel for Ernakulam committed a crime. You are only an Dileep, told the court that the atDistrict intervener, you can just submit the tempt is to place the blame on him Principal matter,” the HC said. without directly saying so. The counsel for the survivor ar- Sessions Court The petitioner said the inquiry gued that an investigation is essen- on Thursday. by the district and sessions judge, P4 tial to identify the culprits and deas directed by the High Court, had ter mine the extent of the found that three persons — a transmission of the allegedly leaked former Angamaly court magistrate and video. two court employees — accessed the memThe court considered the survivor’s pe- ory card containing the visuals of the 2017 tition seeking a probe by a special investi- assault and rape of the actor. ● More on P4 E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @Kochi In Comrade’s memory Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, CPM state secretary M V Govindan, senior leaders S Ramachandran Pillai and M A Baby, and KC MLA Mons Joseph at the Sitaram Yechury commemoration at Ayyankali hall in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday | B P Deepu | P5 MCH panel for donating Lawrence’s body; Asha decides to move court Govt succumbs, orders probe into ADGP-RSS rendezvous ARUN M @Kochi In a curious move, the police on Wednesday issued notices to RSS pracharak A Jayakumar and others in connection with the meetings that ADGP (Law & Order) M R Ajith Kumar had with leaders of the Sangh fountainhead, including general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, in May last year. The notices have been issued to the persons who were with the ADGP during the meetings for recording their statements. Earlier in the day, the Pinarayi Vijayan government After three days of uncertainty the advisory committee , set up by the Ernakulam Medical College Hospital (MCH) on Wednesday recommended handing over the mortal remains of CPM leader M M Lawrence for medical research, even as his daughter Asha Lawrence, who wants to bury him as per Christian rituals, decided to move the HC against the suggestion. The committee constituted under MCH principal Dr Prathap Somnath made the recommendation after its hearing on Wednesday. Sources said it will take two to three days to complete the proceedings to hand over the body . At the hearing, M L Sajeevan, Lawrence’s son, presented two witnesses -- Rajan Sunny Pollayil and Abi Lazar -- saying his father had expressed the desire to hand over his body for medi- Asha lodges complaint with commissioner Asha Lawrence has lodged a complaint with the Kochi city police commissioner, alleging that she and her son were assaulted during the public homage to her father on Monday. The complaint names her brother M L Sajeevan, CPM district secretary C N Mohanan, and her brother-in-law Boban Varghese, among others. cal research in their presence. Rajan is the son of Lawrence’s brother-in-law Sunny, and Abi Lazar is the son of Lawrence’s elder brother M M Lazar and an employee of CPM mouthpiece Deshabhimani. The committee found the witnesses’ statements were reliable. Moreover, Sajeevan had lawful possession of his father after his death, a report of the ● More on P4 committee said. E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @T’Puram succumbed to pressure from inside and outside the ruling LDF and instructed the DGP to probe the ADGP’s meetings. Ajith had met two RSS national leaders on separate occasions and during those meetings, he was reportedly accompanied by the Sangh’s state leaders. The meetings of the ADGP, who oversees the day-to-day functioning of the local police force, with senior RSS functionaries set off a huge political controversy, with the UDF alleging they were held at the behest of the chief minister and Ajith played the messenger’s role. LDF ally CPI too has been critical of the meetings and questioned the ADGP’s intention. The CPM, however, has been downplaying the episode saying it was a personal matter. The CM, on the other hand, has been treating Ajith with a kid’s gloves and refused to remove him from the powerful post despite other serious allegations against him, including that of corruption and maintaining ties with gold smuggling rackets. The meetings had turned controversial especially following the disr uption of the Thrissur Pooram this ● More on P4 year. On run in rape case, Siddique moves SC for anticipatory bail P R a m d a s @Kochi Actor Siddique, who is facing arrest for the alleged rape of a young actress in 2016, approached the Supreme Court on Wednesday in an attempt to evade arrest after the Kerala High Court rejected his anticipatory bail petition. Siddique contended that the HC denied him anticipatory bail on the ground that his custodial interrogation is inevitable for proper investigation of the crime, especially since his defence is in total denial of the incident and his potency test is to be done. The HC had also cited the prosecution’s apprehension that he may intimidate the witness and tamper with the evidence. As per the document filed by Siddique, which TNIE accessed, total denial of the alleged incident cannot be a ground for custodial interrogation. The accused has a “constitutional right to remain silent”, said the plea filed through Advocate Ranjeeta Rohatgi. ● More on P4 EXPRESS READ Cabin of Arjun’s truck, body found Kozhikode: After a 72-day search, the cabin of the truck of Kozhikode native Arjun, who went missing following a landslide in Karnataka’s Shirur, was recovered on from Gangavali River. Authorities confirmed a decomposed body, believed to be of Arjun, was found in the cabin. P7 Labourers die trying to clean waste tank Thrissur: Two labourers at a bakery died while trying to clean blockage in the pipe of a waste tank under the building at Aloor in Thrissur on Wednesday. P7 SC tells lower courts to avoid misogynistic remarks S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @New Delhi T h e S u p re m e C o u r t o n Wednesday war ned courts across India against making remarks that could be construed as “misogynistic” or directed towards a certain “gen- der or community”. “Courts, therefore, have to be careful not to make comments in the course of judicial proceedings which may be construed as being misogynistic or for that matter prejudicial to any segment of our society,” a fivejudge bench said while closing the suo motu proceedings over Karnataka High Court judge Justice V Srishananda’s alleged objectionable comments during his one of his court hearings. The bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandarchud advised judges to conduct proceed- gion did well. “The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi seat in Reasi district recorded the highest voter turnout of 79.95%,” informed J&K Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P K Pole. In Srinagar, which has remained a hot bed of separatist politics, people came out to vote for first Assembly polls without any poll boycott or militant threat. “It is first time that I am casting a vote. There are no jobs, power bills are very high and youth are falling to drugs. We hope that the elected government will provide some relief to the population,” said Javed Ahmed, a resident of Nowhatta area of Srinagar. Nowhatta was once a stronghold of militants and separatists where stone pelting used to take place every Friday . ings conscious of the wider impact of casual observations on the community . In video clips that went viral, Justice Srishananda was seen making some objectionable comments against a woman lawyer when she intervened in an ongoing hearing. Kangana eats her words on farm laws Harpreet Bajwa & Preetha N a i r @ Chandigarh/ New Delhi A day after BJP member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut’s statement that the three controversial farm sector reform laws repealed in 2021 should be reinstated made her party squirm and the Opposition go ballistic, the actor was forced to to eat her words. “I withdraw my remarks. I have to keep in mind that I am not just an artist, but a party worker of the BJP My opinion . should not be personal and my actions should align with the party’s stand. I regret and take my words back,” she said. Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi sought to put the government on the mat, demanding an explanation from Modi whether he was opposed to the comments or is he “up to some mischief ”. 18 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express
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