A Delhi court has granted student activist Sharjeel Imam seven days' interim bail to attend the weddings of his two cousins in Delhi and Bihar. The court cited it as his second such plea for family events, despite opposition from Delhi Police regarding the seriousness of charges under UAPA related to the 2020 Delhi riots. Imam is subject to strict conditions during his temporary release.
The Election Commission has informed the Supreme Court that over 37 lakh appeals concerning deletions or inclusions in West Bengal's electoral rolls remain pending under the Special Intensive Revision. The apex court-appointed tribunals have disposed of only a fraction of the 38.20 lakh appeals filed, prompting the Supreme Court to seek data and a plan for streamlining the adjudication process.
The Election Commission of India has addressed reports of internal dissent among its commissioners and clarified that all Special Intensive Revision (SIR) orders and Form 6 updates for voter enrolment received unanimous consent and were upheld by the Supreme Court. The EC also announced measures to ease the process for voters issued notices, including doorstep document collection and extended deadlines in Delhi and Maharashtra, while affirming its commitment to transparent decision-making and meticulous compliance with directives.
Modi's greater weakness is his inability since July when he directed the exit of Dharmendra Pradhan, to come up with a political counter strategy. Security measures and executive orders as seen in recent days will only likely further weaken him and make him as lame duck a premier as many prior to him, Indira Gandhi and Manmohan Singh included, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
A special court in Mumbai discharged NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar and others in a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate concerning an alleged Rs 25,000 crore scam at the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank (MSCB). The court stated that the money laundering case could not proceed without a predicate offence.
The Chhattisgarh Economic Offence Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau (EOW/ACB) has filed its 10th supplementary charge sheet in the alleged liquor scam, accusing 20 individuals, including former state Congress treasurer Ramgopal Agrawal, and 22 firms. The 27,000-page document details illegal liquor production, hawala transactions, and investment of illicit proceeds. The scam, estimated by the ED to be between 2019 and 2022, involved a complex network of illegal liquor sales, duplicate holograms, and routing of funds.
A special court in Kochi will complete proceedings for framing charges against the prime accused in the 2010 hand-chopping case involving professor T J Joseph. PFI activists are accused of attacking him at Muvattupuzha.
Delhi is under an unprecedented security clampdown with 25,000 police and paramilitary personnel deployed, 45 metro stations shut, and mobile internet suspended in parts of the city, as authorities deny permission for a protest by the Cockroach Janta Party against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Unless the Congress stops seeing a CIA and RSS in everyone who disagrees with it, many well-meaning people will find it difficult to rub shoulders with Rahul Gandhi, notes M R Narayan Swamy.
A special court in Mumbai discharged NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar and others in a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate concerning an alleged Rs 25,000 crore scam at the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank (MSCB).
The CBI has filed a charge sheet in a Rs 3,750-crore cheating case against Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCom), former executives of the Reliance ADA Group, and a former Chief Investment Officer of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The case involves LIC subscribing to NCDs worth Rs 1,500 crore from RCom in 2012 based on alleged misrepresentations, with funds subsequently diverted to ADA group companies, causing wrongful loss to LIC.
Delhi Police has registered an FIR against Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, and other members for allegedly trespassing into the Jantar Mantar area, which was recently denotified as a protest site. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke has condemned the detentions as 'kidnapping' and questioned the legality of preventing lawyers from meeting the detained members.
The CJP allegedly violated an undertaking for a June 20 protest on the NEET paper leak, leading the Union Home Ministry and Delhi Police to implement heightened security for its upcoming demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Saturday. Police cited past breaches of conditions, including a 'Sansad Chalo' march on July 20 without permission, as reasons for denying permission for the new protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, and actor-activist Prakash Raj joined a protest in Bengaluru, demanding the scrapping of the electoral roll revision exercise and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging widespread voter deletion aimed at disenfranchising specific groups.
A Delhi court has granted default bail to six Ukrainian nationals arrested in connection with an NIA probe into a drone-warfare training camp linked to ethnic armed groups in Myanmar. The court also discharged them from Immigration and Foreigners Act charges after the FRRO compounded the offences with a fine. The NIA's UAPA probe is ongoing, with a supplementary chargesheet possible.
A government school principal in Bihar's Nawada district, Mahesh Prasad Yadav, has been arrested following allegations of molesting girl students. Police initiated an investigation after receiving a complaint, recording student statements, and examining CCTV footage. A Special Investigation Team has been formed to probe the serious case further.
Even as lawyers on both sides study the pros and cons of a court battle, there are unanswered questions: When did Tata Trusts review its resolution of 2025 on backing Chandrasekaran for a third term?How will the shareholders of Tata Sons respond on listing and the leadership issue?
The Supreme Court has ordered the Delhi and Gurugram police to explain why the body of missing Delhi realtor Yuvraj Singh Manchanda was cremated without identification and why details were not uploaded to the CCTNS portal. This directive comes after Manchanda's family alleged they were not informed about the recovery of his body, which was found in Gurugram and cremated before they were notified. The court also referenced its earlier directives on prompt FIR registration for missing persons, highlighting concerns about human trafficking and the need for an all-India police grid.
Prashanth Rajan Babu, the alleged kingpin of an interstate counterfeit drug racket, has been arrested at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru after absconding to Azerbaijan. He is accused of leading a network that refilled cheap bulk drugs into new vials and relabelled them as premium imported brands, with a previous raid seizing fake medicines worth Rs 5 crore.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) next week that seeks the suspension of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and challenges the alleged unilateral decision-making within the Election Commission without the approval of two other Election Commissioners.
Prashanth Rajan Babu, the alleged kingpin of an interstate counterfeit drug racket, has been arrested at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. He had been absconding and was reportedly hiding in Azerbaijan. The arrest follows a major raid in August where fake medicines worth Rs 5 crore were seized, and a Special Investigation Team was formed to probe the network.
A 19-year-old youth, Nitin Ganesh Salunkhe, accused of stalking and sexually harassing a girl under the POCSO Act, has been acquitted by a special court in Belapur. The acquittal came after the victim turned hostile during the trial, denying any knowledge of the accused or the incident.
The troubles, however, go beyond the exit of one office-bearer.
The Election Commission has clarified that its ECINet platform is decentralised, with statutory functions performed only by designated officials, not headquarters staff. This comes after concerns were raised about the centralisation of electoral roll databases. The EC also defended the legality of an additional declaration sought from new voters during the Special Intensive Revision, citing unanimous commission approval and a Supreme Court judgment.
A court in Kottayam has found former state DGP Tomin J Thachankary guilty of amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The sentence will be pronounced later, with the prosecution arguing against leniency despite Thachankary's health plea.
In Rediff's series on modern marriages, Pratik, 36, tells Rediff's Divya Nair how the difficult decision to stay away from both sets of parents, among other things, helped strengthen their marriage.
The article details a history of internal disagreements among Election Commissioners in India, highlighting instances from 1993 to the present, including clashes between CECs and commissioners over various issues like removal recommendations, dissent notes, and affidavits, culminating in recent objections regarding voter list revisions.
Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi reportedly flagged multiple issues during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, including name deletions. Despite a media report suggesting 14 objections over 10 months, Election Commission officials assert that all decisions, including SIR, were unanimous and approved by all commissioners. The report also highlights opposition parties' criticism of the SIR, alleging it targets non-BJP aligned voters.
The Karnataka CID is investigating alleged irregularities in the KPSC veterinary officer recruitment exam, questioning 40 candidates and arresting suspended IAS officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar. The probe has revealed financial links, with significant deposits traced to accounts connected to candidates and middlemen, and has frozen substantial amounts. The High Court has ordered a fresh probe by an SIT.
A special NIA court in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district has convicted all 10 accused, including two women, in the 2013 Jhiram Valley Maoist attack case. The attack resulted in the deaths of 29 people, including senior Congress leaders, and was one of the deadliest incidents of Left Wing Extremism. The quantum of punishment will be announced on September 16.
'If Gyanesh Kumar had some shame he would have resigned and would have taken agni pariksha.'
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) in Chennai has registered a new case under the POCSO Act against granite baron R Veeramani, following a complaint from the mother of a minor girl. This development comes as Veeramani's judicial custody was extended, and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) announced a fact-finding visit. The case has led to significant public outcry and action against police officers for alleged inaction.
A Delhi court has denied bail to Raj Kumar, an accused in an inter-state child trafficking racket, emphasising that child trafficking is a "heinous scourge" and an "onslaught on the moral conscience of civilised society." The court highlighted the vulnerability of children and the commercialisation of infants, noting that the complainant's newborn is still missing and the accused's wife has prior involvement in similar cases.
The Kerala High Court has dismissed a petition seeking to quash criminal proceedings against a man accused of repeatedly raping a 17-year-old girl. The court ruled that even if a marriage was solemnised under Muslim religious rites, it would not protect the accused from criminal liability under the POCSO Act, reinforcing that the Act applies when one party is a minor, irrespective of personal law.
The Calcutta High Court has verbally directed the West Bengal government to allow Congress' Nandigram bypoll candidate Milan Pradhan to contest the election properly, provided he secures bail in five criminal cases. Pradhan was recently arrested in connection with multiple long-pending cases, raising questions about his ability to campaign for the upcoming bypoll.
The UN human rights office expressed concern over mass detentions during protests in Delhi on Saturday, urging India to respect peaceful assembly rights and release detainees. India rejected these concerns as "misplaced" and "unwarranted interference." The protests, organised by the Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), demanded electoral reforms and the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar over alleged voter list manipulation, which the Election Commission and BJP deny.
A 38-year-old man from West Bengal was arrested in Gurugram for allegedly committing an obscene act against his 17-year-old stepdaughter. He was traced to Malda district after fleeing following the registration of an FIR under the POCSO Act.
Former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan, ex-IAF Chief NAK Browne, and other prominent figures in Delhi have received notices regarding discrepancies in their voter details during the ongoing Special Summary Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. Over 33 lakh electors have been identified for such notices, with a deadline of September 30 for responses.
'Their functioning is flawed, they are not accountable, they are opaque, they are non-transparent, they have lost credibility.'
CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka has reiterated the outfit's demand for CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, alleging the exclusion of 13 crore names from electoral rolls and questioning the BJP's defence of Kumar. The CJP plans a nationwide protest starting October 2, vowing not to back down until Kumar resigns, and has launched the 'Election Commission Thik Karo' campaign. Ranka also accused the CEC of fraudulently redrawing constituencies in Assam to benefit the ruling party.
