In the witness box, on bald embarrassing display, was not just Sub-Inspector Ganesh Dalvi, but the entire system of police investigation too.
Rediff.com's Rajesh Karkera recounts the brief moments of interaction and conversation he had with the international celebrity.
'I have strong reasons to believe that Accused number 4 (A4) Pratim Mukerjea with the assistance of other persons, including Accused no 3 (A3) turned approver Shyamwar Pinturam Rai may have conspired and abducted my daughter Sheena in 2012 and made her untraceable and subsequently destroyed evidence.'
Patcy N/ Rediff.com had spoken to Mubarak Begum back in 2011. We republish the interview.
And then came the chief moment of Friday. If the courtroom had a soundtrack, Beethoven's 9th would be playing, providing a triumphant, dramatic prologue to the production of this last clip. A woman reporter was asking Mekhail about Sanjeev Khanna. He says clearly, without mincing words, emphatically: 'Never seen him. First time I am hearing his name.'
'Could the Khar police and the CBI have tinkered with the driver's call data records?' 'And did their fiddling with the information not make it that they were tampering with the lives of people that were in the balance as a result of this case?'
After ten minutes no one could keep track of the legal team's questions on the geography of the route Sandeep Patil took on his Pulsar Bajaj motorcycle, on the morning of April 25, 2012. Not the judge. Or the onlookers. Least of all Patil.
'Indrani said she had some things to discuss with Peter, which he digested with minor surprise.' 'He looked mildly dismayed. And refused to sit down next to her, in spite of her welcome.' In spite of months of wariness from Peter's side, the ice was broken.
Protesting Congress members had on Tuesday too blocked a debate on the bill. The monsoon session ends on Thursday.
'After Indrani's arrest did you go to the police and say I did this kind of forgery?'
India's foremost architect and town planner was renowned as much for his 'breathing' spaces as for his irascible personality
In our special series revisiting great Hindi film classics, Sukanya Verma looks back at Rishi Kapoor-Sridevi-Vinod Khanna starrer Chandni.
Former editor of Femina magazine, Sathya Saran looks back at the Miss India pageant that changed the lives of two young women.
What happened within the last 40 years that turned this society from secular democratic to Hindu right-wing that clench their collective fists of spiritual nobility against the fictional enemy that never was? The internet happened, says Vinay Menon.
'For all its swagger and insolence, the script is full of silly loopholes, annoying clichs and glaring superficiality.'
Mithali Raj trained in classical dance for eight years until she decided one day it was time to follow her heart and exhibit footwork of another kind.
"Everyone knows me because of that terrible tragedy. My memories of Mosul only bring me sadness. How can I be proud about my fame? I lost everything there," Harjit Masih told Rediff.com's Swarupa Dutt over the phone.
Bhoothnath Returns has a few laughs but it ignores the basics, rants Raja Sen.
'Madhuri is the best (dancer). She's is not mechanical. Most dancers like Aishwarya, Deepika, Priyanka and Kareena are fabulous but I don't see then enjoying it the way they should. Their focus is on, 'Am I looking beautiful?'' Straight talk from choreographer Terence Lewis.
B S Prakash talked to a number of professionals, some already a part of the PM's team and others outside, as to what Narendra Modi's success and stature means for their careers or their dhanda.
A group of young guns led by Abhijit Jejurikar showed the world what they are capable of.
Scriptwriter of Baar Baar Dekho Sri Rao gets candid about his film and Bollywood.
'In 2015 I watched films in so many places. I attended several film festivals around the world -- Berlin, Tribeca (New York), Telluride, Toronto, Zurich, Mumbai, Dharamsala and Goa,' says Aseem Chhabra, author of a forthcoming book on Shashi Kapoor.
'Why is it that we are so forgiving of the glaring problems in grand multi-starrers like Dil Dhadakne Do,' asks Sreehari Nair, 'but when a small film with a truly personal vision seeks our approval, we analyse it through a prism of formal perfection?' 'With its Seinfeldian humour, episodic structure and performers who play off each other's energies, Meeruthiya Gangsters goes farther than most Hindi movies.'
Nearly a thousand people from different faiths gathered today to pay homage to the six Sikh worshippers gunned down inside a Gurdwara by a white supremacist here last year, as a sea of candles and emotional tributes marked the tragic incident's anniversary.
There it lay, a photograph on the desk under a stapler, and later a stamp pad, forgotten, done with, like its subject, a Mumbai Metro One employee who vanished overnight.
'Dadri was an extension of the cultural fascism that was happening in the country.' 'All the people in the country suffered under the Emergency, but now we see one community trying to crush the other community. Do they know what is brewing in the minds of the other side? What is happening today can lead to a very dangerous situation in the country.' 'We have lost religious tolerance in today's India.' Writer Sarah Joseph on why she returned her Sahitya Akademi Award.
Theatre is not about having all the answers. It's about raising the right questions that take you into a zone of reflection, says Aruna Ganesh Ram, founder, Visual Respiration.
'Human beings are voyeuristic by nature. We love to imagine some things. Like Salman and Katrina were ex-lovers, and are now working in Ek Tha Tiger. Oh my God, what must be going on between them...? We, as an audience -- and I include myself in that -- talk like that. If Salman and I announce a film tomorrow, I'm presumptuous enough to say there will be interest in it.' Katrina Kaif on life and love.
'Anu Malik has great respect for lyrics and lyrics writers. He has worked with big important people through the '80s and the '90s -- everyone from Gulzar and Majrooh Sultanpuri. He treated me with great respect.' 'I don't think the AIB controversy will affect any comedian who can think right and straight, who is clear about his comedy and politics.'
Anup Raaj, 23, describes how Super 30, a free IIT-JEE coaching institute located in Patna, Bihar, changed his life.
Reason must triumph over blind faith, says Praful Bidwai in this tribute to murdered rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.
'When I was staying in Teen Batti (in south Mumbai), I had one washroom and we were 10 people. Today I have three washrooms and I am the only one using all of them. Can you see the quantum leap that I have taken in life?' Jackie Shroff gets candid.
Hindu-American Congresswon Tulsi Gabbard coasts to a rollicking re-election victory in in Hawaii's 2nd District
'Madhubala told me that of all the addictions, the biggest addiction is make-up; once you put it on, you can never leave the limelight even if you want to,' Tabassum tells Patcy N.
'The real danger in India right now is that identity politics is being stoked in extremely dangerous ways.' 'The narrative you get about churches in the mainstream Indian media and the narrative you get in the social media is very different.' 'Many Americans today want to appropriate Indian culture. They want yoga, but they say yoga has nothing to do with Hinduism. They want Ayurveda, but they say it's got nothing to do with Hinduism.' 'Hinduism has been failed by political constituencies in India -- seculars and the right-wing.'
Vernon Gonsalves, who spent nearly six years in jail after being labelled a Naxalite by the security agencies, recounts in detail his arrest, the case against him and his future plans in an exclusive interview.
