While the DMK depends on a 'silver sieve' of welfare schemes to stay in power, its support is slowly draining away under the weight of poor governance, corruption, and voters who are no longer satisfied with benefits alone and now want basic administration to work, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
A Kerala court is expected to deliver a verdict in the 2017 actress assault case involving Malayalam actor Dileep, a case marked by twists, delays, and a battle over narrative.
Activist Umar Khalid seeks bail in the UAPA case related to the 2020 Delhi riots, claiming lack of evidence and denying conspiracy charges. Other activists also argue for bail, citing delays and insufficient evidence.
Reigning Indian Super League champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant on Saturday suspended all their football activities indefinitely a day after the AIFF failed to receive a single bid for ISL's commercial rights, and said they will review contracts of players and support staff next month.
In the fresh complaint, the woman allegedly stated that Mamkootathil had grievously exploited, assaulted, and emotionally abused her under "the false promise of marriage."
The Supreme Court of India granted bail to an accused in a cheating case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), criticizing the Allahabad High Court for adjourning the bail hearing 27 times. The Supreme Court deemed the repeated adjournments in a matter related to personal liberty unacceptable and issued a notice to the CBI.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's senior official Nikhil Sosale was arrested over the June 4 stampede in Bengaluru during RCB's IPL title triumph celebrations on June 4.
The agency opposed Sisodia's bail plea before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, who extended the judicial remand of the AAP leader till April 18 after he was produced before the court on the expiry of his custody.
The Supreme Court of India has emphasized the importance of conducting day-to-day trials, especially in sensitive cases, to ensure speedy justice as guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution. The court has directed high courts to form committees to address trial delays and revert to the practice of continuous trials.
'Faulty alarms, delays in shutting off oxygen, poor electrical maintenance and staff untrained for emergencies. These are not isolated incidents but reflect a larger pattern of weak oversight.'
The Delhi High Court has ruled that an undertrial's prolonged incarceration cannot be a reason to grant bail in terrorism cases, emphasizing the gravity of such offenses and their potential to destabilize the nation. The court denied bail to separatist leader Nayeem Ahmad Khan in a terror-funding case involving Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed. The court considered the accused's argument regarding a prolonged trial and his right to liberty but emphasized that the serious nature of the crime, with its potential to disrupt national unity and create fear among the public, outweighs the length of incarceration. Khan, who was arrested in 2017, has been accused of conspiring for secession of Jammu and Kashmir through terrorist activities, receiving funding from Pakistan, and organizing anti-India rallies and demonstrations. The court highlighted the evidence, including witness statements and documents, supporting the accusations against Khan.
After big win in Bihar, the BJP is likely to push harder in Tamil Nadu, where the DMK government and the uneasy BJP-AIADMK alliance are preparing for a tense election filled with seat-sharing fights, changing alliances, and the unpredictable entry of Vijay's TVK party, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav dismissed rumors that Azam Khan might join the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) after his release from jail.
The Supreme Court has granted bail to alleged middleman Christian Michel James in the purported Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland case. James had been in custody for six years while the investigation was ongoing. The alleged scam relates to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland. James, a British national, was extradited from Dubai in December 2018.
The alleged gang rape of a second-year medical student in West Bengal's Durgapur has sparked massive outrage, snowballing into a major political storm, with the survivor's father likening Bengal to 'Aurangzeb's rule' and Governor C V Ananda Bose calling for a 'second renaissance' to make the state safer for women.
Vijay, despite the loud message from his delayed arrival at the road-show/stampede venue, and more so his continued inaccessibility for fans-turned-cadres after graduating from a super-star to a political party leader with electoral ambitions, refuses to change. Or, so it seems, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Supreme Court of India has expressed concern over the protracted trials in heinous offences related to Maoist activities, stating that indefinite incarceration violates the right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. Two separate benches of the court granted relief to two accused, citing the delayed trials. One bench expedited the trial of a man accused of transporting ammunition for a banned organization, while the other granted bail to a man accused of transporting materials for Naxal activities. The court emphasized the importance of speedy trials and suggested the establishment of special courts to handle Maoist-related cases, aiming to expedite proceedings. The court also criticized the practice of examining an excessive number of witnesses, which can lead to indefinite delays in the conclusion of trials.
The Supreme Court has criticized the Tamil Nadu government for implicating over 2000 individuals in the cash-for-jobs scam involving former minister V Senthil Balaji, demanding details of all accused and witnesses.
'They should be given a strong message that they are not the ones who decide the rule of the land, and they are not the ones who decide what justice is.'
'Karur could still impact Jana Nayagan's box-office success if Vijay and the TVK do not get their act together,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'They have to prove the credibility of their talk; whether they want to focus on the secular face of India, whether they want to focus on democracy and above all freedom of an individual to practice his or her religion.'
In a relief to academic-activist Shoma Kanti Sen, arrested in June 2018 in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, the Supreme Court on Friday granted her bail while taking cognisance of the "composite effect" of the delay in framing charges coupled with her prolonged detention.
The Sealdah court on Friday granted bail to former officer-in-charge of Tala police station Abhijit Mondal and R G Kar Medical College and Hospital ex-principal Sandip Ghosh in the rape and murder case of an on-duty doctor.
Balaji was arrested on June 14 last year by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged cash-for-jobs scam when he was the transport minister in an earlier AIADMK government.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on September 30 the plea of Malayalam film actor Sidhique challenging the Kerala high court order denying him anticipatory bail in a rape case.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, however, said there can be no straitjacket formula which enumerates that every case concerning the consideration of bail should depend upon the filing of a charge sheet.
The CBI's failure to file a chargesheet within the mandated 90 days has resulted in bail being granted to two key suspects in the rape-murder case of an on-duty medic at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata. This comes just days after the West Bengal Police secured capital punishment for a convict in a similar crime against a minor. The delay in justice has sparked outrage, particularly among the victim's family and junior doctors who are demanding accountability.
The AAP hailed a Delhi court granting bail to Satyendar Jain describing the decision as a victory of truth and the defeat of another BJP "conspiracy".
The Supreme Court on Thursday said constitutional courts cannot allow provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to become instruments in the hands of the Enforcement Directorate to continue incarceration for a long time.
Former Mumbai police commissioner A N Roy expressed shock over the Bombay High Court's acquittal of all 12 accused in the 7/11 train blasts case, defending the police investigation and expressing confidence in an appeal to the Supreme Court.
The killings of Gopal Khemka and his son Gunjan, seven years apart, bear a striking resemblance, reports M I Khan.
A special court in Mumbai denied bail to businessman Sujit Patkar, an aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, in the alleged COVID treatment centres scam. The court found that Patkar played with the "life of people" by under-deployment of doctors and staff to generate proceeds of crime. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged that Patkar's firm, Lifeline Hospital Management, fraudulently obtained a contract for supplying medical staff at Dahisar and Worli Jumbo Covid facilities during the pandemic, resulting in the generation of proceeds of crime (PoC) amounting to Rs 32.44 crore. The court noted that there are ample statements of the witnesses to show that a list of more staff members was prepared than being deployed on the instructions of Patkar.
The CBI has significantly increased the rate of fugitive repatriation, bringing back 134 individuals in the last five years, doubling the number from the previous decade. This success is attributed to enhanced diplomatic efforts, technological advancements, and improved coordination with Interpol.
In a relief to former Aam Aadmi Party communication in-charge Vijay Nair, the Supreme Court on Monday granted him bail after nearly 23 months of incarceration in a money laundering case stemming from the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, observing that liberty is 'sacrosanct' and needs to be respected in cases involving even stringent laws.
Two Maharashtra Police officers are facing dismissal for alleged negligence in the investigation of a fatal Porsche crash in Pune last year. The officers were suspended for their late reporting of the incident and dereliction of duty, and an internal inquiry revealed lapses in the case registration and blood sample collection. The case involves a drunk minor driver who killed two tech professionals, and there was an attempt to swap blood samples to conceal the driver's intoxication.
Kejriwal has filed two separate petitions challenging the denial of bail and against his arrest by the CBI in the corruption case filed by the central agency.
'She had been in jail for nearly 6 years; the charges had not been framed and the trial had not begun.' 'Even if it began, it would take years to complete.'
The top court also took note of the fact that the complaint in the case was filed in August, eight years after the alleged incident took place in 2016.
The release of activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, could get delayed as a special NIA court in Mumbai on Monday rejected their pleas for temporary cash bail.
The Supreme Court of India has emphasized the importance of individual liberty, setting aside a Himachal Pradesh High Court order that cancelled bail for an accused in an attempt-to-murder case. The Supreme Court found no material to support the cancellation, stating that courts should be cautious about interfering with an individual's freedom.