News Analysis India

Tag: Justice

  • LS polls: Farmers of Lakhimpur Kheri await justice

    Amid the rising political heat, people in Tikunia area of Lakhimpur Kheri still remember the unforgettable incident that shook the country three years ago.

    Eight people including a journalist and four farmers were killed when violence broke out after an SUV ran over a group of protesting farmers in October of 2021.

    “I pass by this place everyday. We have tried a lot to forget what happened here but every time we approach this place, the images of that day flash before our eyes,” said Manjeet Singh, a resident of Tikunia pointing towards the ground where the farmers held the protest against the three controversial farm laws, which have been scrapped now. This ground lies on one side of the narrow road leading towards Tikunia, a small town located on the northern most corner of Lakhimpur Kheri district, over 215 km away from state capital Lucknow. AllUttar PradeshMaharashtraTamil NaduWest BengalBiharKarnatakaAndhra PradeshTelanganaKeralaMadhya PradeshRajasthanDelhiOther States”The ground is a constant reminder of how nothing happens to a person with political influence,” said Satwant Singh, another Tikunia resident who participated in the protest and was a witness to the incidents. Ashish Mishra ‘Monu’, the son of Union minister Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’, was made an accused in the case. Ashish Mishra was arrested after the incidents but is currently out on bail. “Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’ was awarded by the BJP for the incident. The party did nothing to him and has now given him a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls,” said Rajdeep Singh, another resident who was injured in the incident. The BJP has renominated Ajay Mishra from the Lakhimpur Kheri seat. The Samajwadi Party (SP) has fielded Utkarsh Verma and the BSP Anshay Kalra. Voting will be held on May 13.

    The 2021 incident occurred in Tikunia but almost all the victims were from different places in the district.

    Mandeep Singh, the son of an elderly farmer Nacchatar Singh who was killed after being run over by the SUV, said, “We were shown how important we are in the incident. Nobody from the government has till date asked about us. We want this to change, we want to see the accused behind bars.”

    Singh declined to comment on the ongoing elections but said he wants to see a change. “Like every other farmer and local we want to see a change.”

    Surendra Singh, a relative of another victim Lovepreet Singh and also a member of farmers union, said, “This was an attack on farmers who produce grains to feed the entire country. We will continue to fight for justice.”

    The Bhartiya Kisan Union (Tikait) unit in Lakhimpur Kheri had objected to the candidature of Ajay Mishra.

    “This is nothing but disrespect to those killed in Tikunia and all farmers. The farmers will respond to this by their votes,” said Surinder Singh Virk, an office bearer of the farmers union.

    Though farmers, especially from the Sikh community in Tikunia and nearby areas, express anger over the incident, the same emotion is not reflected by people of other communities, particularly outside Tikunia.

    “What happened in Tikunia was wrong, nobody will support such an act but we need to come together and move ahead for development of Lakhimpur,” said Prabhat Singh, a former village head in Palia area of the district.

    SP president Akhilesh Yadav has talked about the episode in his public meeting held here but his party candidate Utkarsh Verma has made only passing reference in his public meetings.

    BSP’s Kalra, who himself comes from the Sikh community, has raised the issue in his public meetings in Palia and Nighasan area.

  • Speedy, affordable delivery of justice legitimate expectation of people: Law Minister Rijiju 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Speedy and affordable delivery of justice is the “legitimate expectation” of the people and different organs of the State have a collective responsibility to ensure this, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Saturday.

    The law minister, while speaking at the launch of a six-week-long ‘Pan India Legal Awareness and Outreach Campaign’ of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), also stressed on the need for strengthening the legal education system in the country.

    President Ram Nath Kovind and Chief Justice of India Justice N V Ramana were also present at the campaign’s launch here.

    “I would like to remind us all that the speedy and affordable delivery of justice is the legitimate expectation of the people and is the collective responsibility of the different organs of the State,” the minister said, adding that it is important that all stakeholders work together to “deliver this mandate”.

    Rijiju said that access to justice has been recognised as the integral part of the legal framework prescribed under the Constitution and to achieve and realise this vision, better collaboration between the legal services authority, various departments of the government and the judiciary will be needed.

    He also said efforts should be made to ensure that mediation becomes the preferred mode of deciding commercial disputes as this will lessen the burden on courts and bring investments in the country, leading to ease of doing business and ease of living.

    “In this regard endeavours should be to restrict the adjournments to the bare minimum and mediation should be the preferred mode for litigation for commercial disputes, and this would not only lessen the burden of courts but also boost the confidence in the Indian legal system so that more investment can be attracted,” he said.

    Efforts should be made to strengthen legal education, and law colleges and universities have onerous responsibilities on their shoulders in this regard, Rijiju said, adding that “today’s law students are tomorrow’s lawyers and judges”.

    The Union minister said that the quality of education and training of law students will contribute to their success in the future and upholding the rule of law.

    He said “legal illiteracy” is one of the barriers for those who are not aware of their entitlements under the welfare laws and schemes of the central and state governments and this comes in the way of speedy justice.

    He said that contact with the justice system can be a challenging experience for many people due to its complexity.

    “For the poor and marginalised group, the justice system can be difficult to understand and navigate due to various obstacles such as lack of financial resources, awareness due to insufficient command of the local language, and long-distance to reach a legal service provider,” Rijiju said.

    He said that legal aid is the only means for such people to overcome the barriers and extolled NALSA and state legal authorities for performing exemplary roles in bringing justice to the doorstep of citizens.

    The minister said legal service authorities make people aware of their entitlement and duties on various laws and schemes relating to children, labourers, SC-ST, persons suffering from disabilities.

    “The legal service authorities touch upon the lives of disaster victims, victims of trafficking, acid attack, sexual exploitation.

    Each scheme is testimony to the fact that our legal service authorities are committed to help disadvantaged persons in realizing their legal rights and build a secure future,” he said.

    He said that more than 90 lakh people so far have been facilitated by the legal service authorities in accessing their need for food, medicine, and shelter.

    “They are also using their colossal network to reach out to people in remote areas. Particular work that I applaud is the Lok Adalat, especially the e-Lok Adalat,” Rijiju said.

    Rijiju, however, emphasised that there needs to be better collaboration between legal service authorities and various departments and agencies of the government to achieve the vision and build on the work accomplished so far.

    Judges of the Supreme Court Justice U U Lalit and Justice A M Khanwilkar were also part of the event.

  • Justin Bieber reveals tracklist for upcoming album ‘Justice’

    By ANI
    WASHINGTON: Singer-songwriter Justin Bieber, who is soon coming out with his new album ‘Justice’, has left fans excited, who can’t wait to hear the new music. And every piece of news about it is keeping them on their toes. As the release date is fast approaching, Bieber teased some new details about his upcoming album.

    On Thursday, the singer shared a photo on Twitter showing a board with notecards pinned to it, presumably unveiling the final tracklist for his sixth studio album ‘Justice’, which is set to release on March 19.

    JUSTICE 3/19https://t.co/VSc6FCWSVs pic.twitter.com/je75ZGGC5D
    — Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) March 11, 2021

    The lineup includes already-released singles like ‘Hold On’, ‘Holy’, ‘Lonely’ and ‘Anyone’, plus new song titles. Other song names include: ‘2 Much,’ ‘Die For You,’ ‘Deserve You,’ ‘As I Am,’ ‘Somebody,’ ‘Love You Diff,’ ‘Off My Face,’ ‘Loved By You,’ ‘Ghost,’ ‘Unstable’ and ‘Peaches.’

    Announcing ‘Justice’ late last month, Bieber said it will be his “small part” in providing both comfort and justice for those feeling helpless. The singer had announced the release of his forthcoming album on his social media handles.

    “In a time when there’s so much wrong with this broken planet we all crave healing and justice for humanity. In creating this album my goal is to make music that will provide comfort, to make songs that people can relate to and connect to so they feel less alone,” the 27-year-old singer wrote on Instagram, sharing the album’s cover.

    He added in his caption at the time, “Suffering, injustice and pain can leave people feeling helpless.”

    “Music is a great way of reminding each other that we aren’t alone. Music can be a way to relate to one another and connect with one another. I know that I cannot simply solve injustice by making music but I do know that if we all do our part by using our gifts to serve this planet and each other that we are that much closer to being united,” he continued.

    Bieber ended his note, saying, “This is me doing a small part. My part. I want to continue the conversation of what justice looks like so we can continue to heal.”

    As per People magazine, Bieber released his last album ‘Changes’ on February 14 last year, featuring singles ‘Yummy’, ‘Intentions’, and ‘Forever’. The album was nominated for the best pop vocal album at the Grammys and served as his return to music since releasing ‘Purpose’ in 2015.

  • Air pollution: NGT slaps 25 crore fine on Delhi govt

    The National Green Tribunal Monday asked the Delhi government to deposit Rs 25 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for their failure to curb the problem of pollution in the city.

    A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also asked the AAP government to furnish a performance guarantee of Rs 25 crore with the apex pollution monitoring body to ensure that there is no further lapse in this regard.

    It said despite its clear directions, there is hardly any action for compliance of orders of the tribunal and pollution continues unabated in blatant violation of law and under the nose of the authorities “who have hardly done anything concrete except furnishing excuses and helplessness”.

    The green panel said that even after more than four-and-a-half years, the complaint of the aggrieved parties is that the pollution caused by the unregulated handling of plastic continues to remain unabated.

    The tribunal was hearing pleas filed by Mundka village resident Satish Kumar and Tikri-Kalan native Mahavir Singh alleging pollution caused by burning of plastic, leather, rubber, motor engine oil and other waste materials and continuous operation of illegal industrial units dealing with such articles on agricultural lands in Mundka and Neelwal villages.

    The tribunal had earlier directed the Delhi chief secretary to co-ordinate with the concerned municipal authorities, police authorities and other officers responsible for compliance of orders of this tribunal already passed referred to  ensure compliance at the ground-level forthwith.

    It had asked the chief secretary to hold a joint meeting with the persons considered responsible for compliance and till the orders remain un-complied, continue to hold such meetings at least once a month.

    “It will be open to the chief secretary to seek feedback from concerned inhabitants about the ground situation,” the NGT had said.

  • 3 Bombay HC judges recuse from case

    Three judges of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court have recused themselves from hearing a petition filed by Advocate Satish Uke alleging that Judge BH Loya, who was presiding over the trial in the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, was “poisoned” with a radioactive isotope.

    Two days after Justice SB Shukre and Justice SM Modak recused from hearing the petition filed by Uke, the same petition came up before the bench of Justice PN Deshmukh and Justice Swapna Joshi on Wednesday, the court stated in its order: “Not before the bench of Justice Swapna Joshi”.

    Earlier on Monday when the petition came up before them for hearing, Justices Shukre and Modak had stated: “Not before us”.

    All the three judges have not assigned reasons for recusing themselves from hearing the Justice Loya death case.

    It is being surmised in the legal circles that Justice Shukre’s decision to recuse himself from hearing the Justice Loya death case might be attributed to the fact that he had spoken to an English national newspaper earlier and stated among other things that there was nothing suspicious behind Judge Loya’s death and that doctors had done their best to save him.

    Secondly, Justice Modak was staying with Judge Loya along with another Judge Shridhar Kulkarni at Ravi Bhavan Guest House in Nagpur’s civil lines area. Judge Loya was staying with them he had gone to Nagpur to attend his colleague’s daughter. However, the reason for Justice Swapna Joshi’s recusal from the case was not immediately known.

    Incidentally, the names of Justices Shukre, Modak and Joshi feature in the reported sequence of events leading up to Loya’s death in Nagpur on  December 1, 2014.

    It may be recalled that Justice Loya (48) had died of a “heart attack” on December 1, 2014 when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague’s daughter. At that time, Justice Loya was hearing the alleged Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case — in which BJP’s current national president Amit Shah was one of the accused.  Justice Loya’s family had earlier raised several questions about the circumstances leading to Loya’s sudden death. There were also reports in a section of the media raising suspicions  over the cause Judge Loya’s death.

    In his petition before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, Advocate Uke has alleged BJP president Amit Shah, one of the key accused in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case who was discharged later, had met Ratan Kumar Sinha, then Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, during the latter’s (Shah’s) visit to Nagpur in March 2015 for three days.

    Uke has alleged that all official records regarding this meeting have been wiped out. Uke has also alleged that the meeting between Sinha and Shah, “is an indication that Loya was ultimately poisoned with a radioactive isotope”.

    In his petition, Advocate Uke has made a case for the safe custody of records in the controversial case of Judge Loya’s death.

    Among other things, Uke has also alleged in his petition that his former colleagues, retired district judge Prakash Thombre and advocate Shrikant Khandalkar, had told him that Loya died due to poisoning from a radioactive isotope. Thombre and Khandalkar have died since in allegedly mysterious circumstances.

    Uke has also alleged that before their death, Thombre and Khandalkar had informed him that records at Ravi Bhavan had been manipulated “to shield the real perpetrators of the crime”.

    Uke has also stated in his petition that in the second week of October 2014, Loya had reached out to him through Thombre and Khandalkar saying that he was being “pressured” in the Sohrabuddin “fake encounter” case to give a judgement in favour of Shah. He has stated while he never met Loya, he had spoken to him on video call sometime in October 2014.

    In that purported video call, Loya allegedly told Uke that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was pressuring him to give a favourable outcome in the matter. Loya also allegedly told Uke about a certain Shubhanshu Joshi from Nagpur who would pay him the bribe.

    Uke has stated in his petition, Loya had admitted to him that he had already written a draft judgment giving Shah a clean chit.

    Uke stated that he along with Thombre and Khandalkar had travelled to Delhi with draft agreement and met advocate Prashant Bhushan who at that time had felt that there was no sufficient evidence to pursue the matter.