Month: August 2019

The Supreme Court has asked CBI to investigate within seven days the mysterious case of the accident in which the Unnao rape survivor was seriously injured along with her lawyer while her two aunts were killed in Rae Bareli on Sunday.

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Thursday gave the direction to the agency after dismissing Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta’s plea for a month’s time for completing the probe.

“How much time do you need (for investigating the accident of Unnao rape survivor & others)?” asked Gogoi.

“A month,” replied the SG.

But the CJI remarked, “A month? No, investigate in 7 days”

“We will come back at 2 PM and pass an order on transfer of all the five cases and medical attention to the victim and her lawyer. Doctors are the best judges. They can decide whether she and her lawyer can be airlifted to Delhi.”

Supreme Court during the hearing said it will grant compensation to the rape survivor and her family, and direct the state to pay compensation.

Earlier in the day, the CJI ordered the CBI to present the status of the investigations after the agency was given charge of the probe into the accident and the FIR that included murder charges against rape accused and BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar.

When the SG said the Investigating Officer was out of station and sought time till tomorrow morning for the agency to submit a report, the CJI dismissed it asking CBI to depute some official who can gather the information over phone and present it to the court.

CBI Joint Director Sampat Meena, a woman officer, appeared before the bench and gave the status of the probe into the two cases.

The court is also likely to transfer the case out of Uttar Pradesh.

Yesterday, CJI Gogoi had sought an explanation from the Secretary-General of Supreme Court for the delay in placing the letter of Unnao rape survivor’s mother before the court.

On July 28, a truck rammed into the vehicle in which the Unnao rape survivor, her counsel and two aunts were travelling to Raebareli. While she and her lawyer sustained grievous injuries, her aunts were killed on the spot. The Unnao rape survivor and her lawyer, who is being treated at King George’s Medical University are stable, the hospital said on Wednesday.

The Uttar Pradesh Police filed a case of murder against BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and nine others in connection with the accident. Probe in the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday after which the CBI registered a case in connection with the rape survivor’s accident in Raebareli.

Sengar, a legislator from Bangermau in Unnao district, had allegedly raped the girl at his residence in Unnao on June 4, 2017, where she had gone to seek a job. He is currently lodged in Sitapur district jail.

(ANI)

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President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday gave his assent to the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage), Bill, 2019, which criminalises instant ‘triple talaq’ among Muslims and attracts a jail term of three years for the husband.

With the President’s approval, the Bill has become an Act.

Soon after the Bill was passed on July 30 by the Rajya Sabha, Kovind had tweeted: “Passage in the Rajya Sabha of Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill completes Parliament’s approval of ban on the inequitable practice of triple talaq. A milestone in the quest for gender justice; a moment of satisfaction for the entire country.”

On July 30, the Central government had scored a major victory in the Rajya Sabha on the back of cracks in the Opposition when the House passed the Triple Talaq Bill after rejecting the Opposition’s demand to refer the Bill to the Select Committee and to remove the criminality clause which provides for jailing the husband for three years for pronouncing ‘triple talaq’ to his wife.

The Bill was passed with 99 members in its favour while 84 members voted against it in the final division. In the division on referring the Bill to the Select Committee, the government got 100 votes while 84 voted against it.

The BJP led NDA government, which does not have a majority in the Upper House, managed to smooth-sail for the contentious Bill because parties like AIADMK, which has 11 members and JDU, with six, walked out after recording their opposition to the Bill. The BJD had supported the Bill.

At least five members of the Congress, some from Trinamool Congress, SP, BSP and others belonging to parties like BSP, YSRCP, and TRS reportedly abstained from voting. NCP’s Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel and Jharna Das Baidya of CPI(M) were also absent.

(ANI)

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Uttar Pradesh legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar, accused in the Unnao rape case, was expelled from BJP on Thursday. Three police personnel, appointed for the security of Unnao rape survivor, have also been suspended.

Sengar, a legislator from Bangermau in Unnao district, had allegedly raped the teenage girl at his residence in Unnao on June 4, 2017, where she had gone to seek a job.

He was arrested by the CBI last year and is lodged in Sitapur district jail. Another case was filed against him after the rape survivor met with an accident recently.

On July 28, a truck rammed into the vehicle in which the girl, her counsel and two aunts were travelling to Raebareli. While she and her lawyer sustained grievous injuries, her aunts died on the spot.

The victim and her lawyer are being treated at King George’s Medical University in Lucknow. While both the patients are stable, they are still in a critical condition, the hospital said on Wednesday.

The Uttar Pradesh Police filed a case of murder Sengar and nine others in connection with the accident. The probe in the matter was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday.

Amid a raging controversy after the accident, the Uttar Pradesh BJP unit had on Tuesday said that Sengar was suspended from the party in the past after the rape came to light. (ANI)

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