Disposal of first batch of 10 tonnes of Union Carbide waste linked to the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy at a facility in Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Jabalpur:

A man accused of shouting “Pakistan zindabad” was on Tuesday granted bail by the Madhya Pradesh High Court with the condition that he has to salute the national flag at a police station 21 times and raise “Bharat Mata ki jai” slogan twice a month till the end of his trial.

Justice Dinesh Kumar Paliwal granted bail to the accused, Faizal, on the condition that he will regularly report to Misrod Police Station in Bhopal on the first and fourth Tuesday of every month until the case is resolved. 

As part of his bail conditions, he will have to stand in front of the tricolor flag displayed at the station and salute it 21 times while chanting “Bharat Mata ki jai.”

“I am of the view that applicant (Faizal) may be released on bail by imposing some conditions which may enthuse in him the sense of responsibility and a pride for the country in which he is born and living,” Justice Paliwal said.

The state government’s counsel opposed the bail, saying the applicant was a “habitual offender” and 14 criminal cases were registered against him.

“By shouting the slogan of “Pakistan Zindabad, Hindustan Murdabad”, he attempted to promote enmity between different groups and his act amounts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony and national integration,” the counsel said.

“He is openly shouting slogans against the country in which he was born and brought up. If he is not happy and satisfied in this nation, he may opt to live in the country of his choice for which he raised the slogan of “zindabad”,” the counsel added.

Faizal was arrested in May after a video surfaced of him shouting slogans hailing Pakistan and denouncing India.

He is required to visit the police station between 10 am and 12 pm on the specified days.

Jabalpur:

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a man’s petition seeking to quash an FIR against him for allegedly uploading an objectionable post on his Instagram account against Lord Ram, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Hinduism.

Mohammad Bilal filed a petition to quash an FIR dated August 17, 2023 registered against him under sections 294, 153A, 295A of Indian Penal Code and sections 3(1) and 3(2) of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act at a police station in Satna.

In his plea, Bilal claimed some persons hacked his Instagram account two days earlier and uploaded the offensive post.

“From the FIR it is clear that the complainant had inquired from the petitioner as to why an offensive post has been uploaded on his Instagram account. Then instead of explaining that the said post was uploaded by somebody else by hacking his account, he (petitioner) started abusing and humiliating the complainant and also hurt his religious feelings,” a single bench of the High Court comprising Justice GS Ahluwalia said.

“This conduct of the petitioner indicates that the defence of uploading the offensive post on his Instagram account by somebody else is incorrect. Since uploading of an offensive post on his Instagram account has been admitted by the petitioner himself, therefore, he had no right to react in a manner in which it was done with the complainant,” the HC order of last month said.

Whether allegations made in the FIR are correct or not cannot be considered at this stage, the judge said.

“Considering the fact that the FIR in question discloses the commission of cognizable offence, no case is made out warranting interference”, the order stated.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jabalpur:

A 50-year-old woman, ‘missing’ for 18 years, was produced earlier this week before the Madhya Pradesh High Court which imposed a cost on her husband for filing a petition knowing fully well that she had left him because of his ill-treatment.

She was forced to leave the matrimonial home along with her two sons in 2006 to save their lives, the woman told the court on Wednesday.

Nandkishore Rahangdale, her husband, had moved the court last month seeking a direction to police to find her, said his lawyer SD Gupta.

The petition claimed that the woman and her two sons, then aged 13 and 4, vanished from Kharpadia village in Balaghat district on April 18, 2006.

Rahangdale lodged a complaint with police a month later, but their whereabouts remained a mystery, it said.

After he filed a petition, the High Court on July 28 ordered Balaghat Police to find the woman and children.

Balaghat Superintendent of Police Sameer Saurabh formed a special investigation team which contacted some 70 people including the woman’s relatives and succeeded in tracking her down. She was produced before the high court at Jabalpur.

The woman told the court that she fled because her husband used to beat her and the children. Her younger son Mukund died just after they escaped, she said.

The High Court took note of her allegations.

“The wife of the petitioner informed this court that her husband used to beat her and her sons mercilessly, therefore, she left his house in the year 2006,” Justice Vishal Dhagat observed in his August 7 order.

“After considering the statement given by the wife of the petitioner, the petition is dismissed with a cost of Rs 10,000. Petitioner is well aware of said facts and his brutality,” the order read.

“She was not living with her husband for the last 18 years. Knowing said facts fully well, the petitioner has filed this petition abusing the process of court,” the court said, adding that the police had to take the trouble of finding her for no reason. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jabalpur:

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has quashed a rape case registered on the complaint of a woman against a man, observing that the two were in a relationship for over 10 years out of their “own free will”.

In his order of July 2, Justice Sanjay Dwivedi also observed that the matter appears to be an abuse of process of law.

As per the order, the woman and man are well-educated persons and had physical relations out of their “own free will” for over 10 years. They broke up after the man refused to marry her, it noted. However, it does not mean that a rape case could be registered against the petitioner (man), the court said.

“In my opinion, as per the factual circumstances, as have been narrated by the prosecutrix (woman) in her complaint and also in her statement of 164 CrPC, this case cannot be considered to be a case of rape as defined under Section 375 of IPC (Indian Penal Code) and the prosecution is nothing but appears to be an abuse of process of law,” the court said.

In this matter, the court said, even IPC section 366 (inducing a woman to compel her for marriage) is not made out against the man. “Therefore, the offence under Section 366 of IPC registered against the petitioner at the later point of time is also liable to be quashed,” it said.

The man was booked for rape and other charges by the Police Station Mahila Thana in Katni district in November 2021. He eventually moved the HC for relief. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Indore:

The Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday granted eight more weeks to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to complete its scientific survey of the disputed medieval-era Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque complex.

However, a division bench of Justices SA Dharmadhikari and Gajendra Singh made it clear the ASI won’t be given any more time at the end of this 8-week period.

The bench fixed the next date of hearing on July 4 and directed ASI to submit its final report.

It also turned down a plea of a group of Muslims seeking a stay on the survey work.

Maulana Kamaluddin Welfare Society on behalf of Muslims objected to ASI’s request for more time. It had also claimed the ASI was carrying out excavations contrary to the order of the Supreme Court in the matter.

On April 1, the Supreme Court had made clear that “no physical excavation should be taken which will change the character of the premises in question,” while refusing to stay the “scientific survey” of Bhojshala.

On Monday, the High Court rejected the objection of Maulana Kamaluddin Welfare Society and said the respondent was free to approach the appropriate forum if any such violation was taking place.

Hindus consider Bhojshala, an ASI-protected 11th-century monument, to be a temple dedicated to Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati), while the Muslim community calls it Kamal Maula Mosque.

As per an arrangement made by the ASI on April 7, 2003, Hindus perform puja in the Bhojshala premises on Tuesdays, while Muslims offer namaz in the complex on Fridays.

On March 11, the HC ordered the ASI to conduct a “scientific survey” of the Bhojshala-Kamal Moula mosque complex within six weeks. The survey was ordered on a plea from an outfit called Hindu Front for Justice (HFJ). The survey started on March 22.

On April 22, the ASI filed an application stating it needed some more time for the survey to understand the nature of exposed portions of the structures in the disputed premises.

The ASI, in its application, stated a detailed survey of the complex and its peripheral area is in progress using scientific tools, and its team is conducting detailed documentation of the entire monument.

Excavation, which is a very systematic and slow process, is also in progress, and more time will be needed to understand the nature of exposed portions of the structures, it said.

“On close examination of the monument, it is observed that later filling in the entrance porch is hiding the original features of the structure, and its removal is to be done very carefully, without causing any damage to the original structure, which is a slow and time-taking process,” the ASI application stated.

The application also said the ASI has requested National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) to conduct a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey.

A NGRI team was surveying the entire area regularly, strictly complying with the directions passed by the High Court, the ASI plea said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)