A Mumbai court has granted anticipatory bail to Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi in a case filed against him for his remarks praising Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. The court, however, cautioned Azmi to exercise restraint during interviews, warning that any irresponsible statement could spark riots. The case stems from Azmi's remarks during an interview where he praised Aurangzeb's rule and claimed that India's GDP during his reign accounted for 24 percent of the world's GDP. Azmi's lawyer argued that his client's statements were made spontaneously and without any malicious intent, while the prosecution opposed the bail plea, arguing that the remarks were made in a sensitive time following the release of a film based on the life of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, a revered Maratha king who was captured by Aurangzeb. The court noted that the investigation was at a preliminary stage and that the investigating officer did not have the video recording of the interview when the case was filed. The court also expressed concern over the potential for Azmi's remarks to incite violence.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday filed its final investigation report before a Delhi Court into a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case allegedly involving former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler.
The counsel of social activist Teesta Setalvad on Thursday told a sessions court in Ahmedabad that affidavits which the prosecution claims are false were signed by witnesses and submitted in different courts in the past.
'I am not able to restrain myself from observing that when history will look back at the worst communal riots since partition in Delhi, it is failure of investigating agency to conduct proper investigation by using latest scientific methods will surely torment the sentinels of democracy'
Gujarat BJP leaders on Friday said if the physician-turned-politician, once a member of the powerful Narendra Modi ministry in the state and rising star in politics, wants to return to active politics, the saffron party will definitely assign work to her.
The Supreme Court expressed its displeasure over the role of the parties before it in bringing frequently new facts relating to the 2002 Gujarat riot cases and said these were making it to deviate from the main issue on Wednesday.
'The lesson you taught was that you will free the murderers of Bilkis' three-year-old daughter. You also taught us that Ahsan Jafri can be killed. You taught the lesson of Gulbarga bakery, you taught the lesson of Best bakery lesson'
Sharjeel Imam will, however, stay behind bars as he has not been granted relief in the case involving alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 North East Delhi riots which left more than 50 people dead and hundreds of others injured.
The ISI strategy has been to use its proxies to target Hindus in India. They want an outrage and counter-targeting of India's minorities. Further, even the whiff of it restores the Pakistan army's popularity, especially when it's in the dumps, like now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The protesters torched tyres and old furniture in the middle of the road in Kwakeithel and Uripok, demanding the release of the leader. The situation remained tense on Sunday morning.
A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to former JNU student Sharjeel Imam in a sedition case in which he was accused of instigating the Jamia riots in New Delhi in 2019.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal has been booked in Haryana's Kurukshetra district for his "poison in Yamuna" remark, which was made ahead of Delhi assembly elections. The FIR was filed based on a complaint by a local resident and advocate, accusing Kejriwal of making provocative statements and spreading false claims about industrial waste being drained into the Yamuna. The case has been registered under sections related to inciting riots, promoting enmity between groups, and outraging religious feelings.
A Delhi court expressed 'immense disgust' while coming down heavily on a lawyer for alleging that the 2020 riots here were the handiwork of a political party and criminal cases were fastened upon the members of the Muslim community alone, calling his statements highly irresponsible and patently false.
"This is a very sorry state of affairs," Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav said, seeking a report from the Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) in this regard.
Last month, the court had convicted him for being part of a riotous mob that set a house on fire.
Mumbai-based social activist Teesta Setalvad on Monday appeared before a sessions court in Ahmedabad in a case where she is accused of fabricating evidence to frame "innocent" people and defame Gujarat in connection with the 2002 post-Godhra riots.
Khalid is currently in judicial custody in connection with a larger conspiracy case related to the 2020 North East Delhi violence.
The Congress party has criticized the Modi government for appointing Dr Shaija A, a professor at NIT-Calicut, as Dean despite a pending police case against her for allegedly praising Nathuram Godse, Mahatma Gandhi's assassin. The party alleges this appointment is part of a larger pattern by the government to "appropriate Gandhi, glorify Godse". The appointment has sparked protests from political parties, including DYFI, the youth wing of the CPI(M). Shaija was questioned by police last year after making a comment on social media expressing "pride" in Godse for assassinating Gandhi. The appointment is for two years, until further orders.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT), to be headed by a deputy inspector general (DIG) of Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS), will probe the case against activist Teesta Setalvad and former Indian Police Service officers R B Sreekumar and Sanjiv Bhatt who have been accused of abusing the process of law by fabricating evidence to frame innocent people in connection with the 2002 Gujarat communal riots, a senior official said on Sunday.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra asked the Centre to suggest names on Wednesday itself for its consideration and appointment in the proposed SIT.
Emphasising that the plea has been heard substantially, Aggarwal said the application "calls for strictest handling" as it has been filed with an "ulterior motive".
Salim Zarda, a 55-year-old life convict in the 2002 Godhra train carnage case, was arrested in Pune district for theft. Zarda, who had previously jumped parole on eight occasions, was arrested on January 22 by Pune rural police. He was handed over to Nashik police in connection with a theft case registered there. Zarda was among the 31 persons convicted in the Godhra train carnage case. He was released on parole on September 17, 2024, but failed to return.
The false statement was filed by an IO in his reply to a bail application of a man arrested in the case related to ransacking of a shop during the riots in Jyoti Nagar area.
The order also stated that the applicant shall not enter the jurisdiction of Pune's Paud police station, where the case has been registered, till the investigation was completed and cooperate in the ongoing probe.
The women witnesses of these trials are being forced into habitats of exclusion because of their firm decision to bring the culprits to the book. These women, most of who are casual labourers in Naroda Patiya and other places in Gujarat, are reportedly threatened by their assaulters
An Ajmer court acquitted on Tuesday all six people accused of raising the controversial 'Sar Tan Se Juda' slogan from the gates of the Moinuddin Chishti Dargah following suspended Bharatiya Janata Party leader Nupur Sharma's derogatory comments against the Prophet in 2022.
The Supreme Court today lifted the stay on trial of 2002 Gujarat riots cases and directed the setting up of fast track courts for holding it on a day-to-day basis. The apex court ordered the setting up of designated courts for riot cases in Ahmedabad, Anand, Sabarkanta, Mehsana and Gulbarga districts.
Now, the chief justice of the high court will allot the case to a new judge.
The high court also upheld the trial court order convicting two on charges of murder and acquitted another accused Devabhai Samatbhai Bharwad.
Maharashtra has witnessed 823 incidents of communal unrest since January this year, with demands for the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb and the spread of distorted facts on social media fomenting fresh trouble. Districts like Nandurbar, Pune (Rural), Ratnagiri, Sangli, Beed, and Satara have seen communal unrest in recent days due to right-wing organizations' demands for the demolition of the Mughal emperor's tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The state witnessed 4,836 Hindu-Muslim related communal crimes in 2024, with 170 incidents classified as cognisable and 3,106 as non-cognisable cases. The violence in Nagpur, triggered by protests demanding the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb, highlights the role of social media in spreading inflammatory content and instigating people. While the state has taken measures to curb the spread of misinformation, concerns remain over the impact on communities and the need for promoting peace and understanding.
A Delhi high court bench headed by Justice Mukta Gupta disposed of Imam's appeal for stay and requested the lower court to conclude on a "short date" the examination of the witnesses on which there is no dispute between the parties.
Tenants should primarily buy contents insurance. 'This covers personal belongings like electronics, furniture, clothes, and appliances against risks such as fire, theft, floods, and other natural calamities.
The indefinite hunger strike of anti-Sikh riot victims was called off on the sixth day on Wednesday after an appeal from Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh to the protesters.
Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad said Khalid's mobile phone data revealed he was in contact with some actors, politicians, activists and celebrities and sent them some links by certain news portals against the Delhi Police.
The broom, the hand or the kite, listen to the mind or the heart, 'tunnel vision voting' to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party or electing the 'right party'. With only two days to go for polling, the choice is anything but clear for Delhi's Muslims, say many voters.
The agency said it had made efforts to contact Jasbir Singh, but neither his wife nor mother was willing to give the address of the prime witness against Tytler.
Kalita pleaded that she needed the videos and chats to prove her innocence, but the Delhi police counsel contended that her petitions were not maintainable.
Additional metropolitan magistrate MV Chauhan committed the case to the sessions court in Ahmedabad for trial against Setalvad, former state director general of police RB Sreekumar and ex-Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt.
Zafar Ali, the president of the Shahi Jama Masjid committee in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, was arrested on Sunday in connection with the violence that erupted in November 2022 over a court-ordered survey of the mosque. Ali's brother alleged that the arrest was intended to prevent him from submitting his testimony before a judicial commission investigating the violence. The mosque has been at the center of a controversy after a petition claimed it was the site of an ancient Hindu temple. The violence resulted in four deaths and several injuries.
Sheikh, who was apprehended in the early hours of Thursday, was brought to Bhawani Bhawan from a local court in Basirhat, which sent him to 10 days police custody.
