New Delhi: The government is mulling to introduce a witness protection programme based on best international models for guaranteeing anonymity to those who depose in courts against powerful accused in criminal cases.
The Home Ministry has sought opinion of the state governments on the move to protect a threatened witness or any person involved in the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during and after a trial.
Interestingly, the Delhi High Court last week directed the city government to come up with a witness protection policy within ten weeks to ensure that they are not harassed or intimidated by influential accused in criminal cases.
While the high court order came in the wake of 32 of 101 witnesses in the Jessica Lal murder case turning hostile, the Home Ministry initiated the move following a recommendation of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission....
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10:10 AM, May 26, 2013
New Delhi: Penal provisions on rape have been misused by some women who develop consensual physical relationship with their lovers and after the breakup file false rape cases to force them to marry them, the Delhi High Court has said. Justice Kailash Gambhir said rape law was often misused by women as weapon for "vengeance and vendetta" to harass and blackmail their male friends by filing false cases to extort...
10:22 PM, May 25, 2013
Thrissur: Ace Malayalam comedian and character artiste Kalabhavan Mani surrendered to police Friday and was presented in a court which released him on bail. Mani was on the run since May 14 after three forest officials filed a complaint that they were roughed up by the actor after they stopped his vehicle as part of a routine night checking. According to the forest officials, Mani, after refusing to cooperate with...
11:50 AM, May 25, 2013
New Delhi: In the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, the Delhi High Court on Friday reserved the judgment on Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the Sultanpuri case. The court heard the arguments of both sides. Riot victims' lawyer HS Phoolka argued that criminal conspiracy be also added to the existing charges. Earlier in May, the Congress leader was acquitted of all charges in another case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots....
06:18 PM, May 24, 2013
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court will hear the appeal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar to quash charges of murder and rioting framed against him in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He is accused in the murders of six people in the Sultanpuri area of New Delhi. Earlier in May, Sajjan was acquitted of all charges in another case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. District and Sessions Judge JR Aryan...
07:58 AM, May 24, 2013
New Delhi: "Worried" that children can be exploited through social networking sites, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked Facebook and Google to submit within four weeks suggestions on safety measures for online usage of such sites by minors in India. A bench of justices BD Ahmed and Vibhu Bakhru voiced concern about Indian children entering into agreement with Facebook and other social networking sites and then being lured knowingly...
08:34 PM, May 22, 2013
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has decided that a case of perjury will commence against two witnesses, Shayan Munshi and Prem Sagar Manocha in the Jessica Lal murder trial. The rest of the 17 witnesses have been acquitted by the court. The 19 witnesses had turned hostile during the trial of the Jessica Lal murder case. A bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and GP Mittal pronounced its decision...
02:50 PM, May 22, 2013
Chennai: The Madras High Court has admitted a Public Interest Litigation that seeks a government takeover of the BCCI and the IPL administration. The PIL was filed by a lawyer at the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court. He has alleged that the conduct of certain activities and receipt of income were totally commercial and there was no element of charity in the conduct of BCCI. The court has...
02:30 PM, May 22, 2013
New Delhi: More than two years after reserving its verdict, the Delhi High Court will on Wednesday decide whether to prosecute 19 witnesses including Bollywood actor Shyan Munshi on the charge of perjury for turning hostile during the trial of Jessica Lal murder case. A bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and GP Mittal would pronounce its decision in the afternoon in the case in which the high court had...
03:07 AM, May 22, 2013
Ghaziabad: Dentist Rajesh Talwar on Tuesday told special court in Ghaziabad that the CBI did not carry out any dummy test at their Jalvayu Vihar residence where his daughter Aarushi and domestic servant Hemraj were killed five years ago. CBI investigator AGL Kaul, who led the second probe team in connection with the sensational murders, had claimed in his deposition as prosecution witness that he carried out such a test...
06:46 PM, May 21, 2013
Gujarat: The Supreme Court on Monday severely criticised the Gujarat government of Chief Minister Narendra Modi over its Vidya Sahayak scheme. The court came down heavily on the Modi government on the recruitment process of vidya sahayaks in government primary schools. In a stinging criticism a bench of justices BS Chauhan and Dipak Misra asked the Gujarat government to explain why full time teachers were not being recruited even after...
02:11 PM, May 21, 2013
New Delhi: Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta was on Monday elevated as the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. He was currently a judge in the Uttarakhand High Court. Justice Sengupta (60) was appointed as a permanent judge of the Calcutta High Court in July 1997 and assumed charge as the acting Chief Justice in October 2012. He was transferred to the Uttarakhand High Court at Nainital in October...
12:17 AM, May 21, 2013
Mumbai: Observing that painting nude images prima facie amounted to an offence, the Bombay High Court has refused to quash a criminal complaint against an artist who painted nude and derogatory pictures of his estranged wife in his bedroom. The couple, who got married in 1998 and jointly owned a flat, were staying in separate rooms in Mittal Ocean View on Juhu Tara Road in suburban Santacruz as they were...
10:10 AM, May 19, 2013
Pithoragarh: Ruling Congress MLA in Uttarakhand Harish Dhami on Saturday surrendered before a local court which rejected his bail plea and sent him to jail. Dhami, an accused in a clash that took place between two groups in 2007, surrendered before the first class judicial magistrate at Didihat on Saturday, two days before the time given to him by the Nainital High Court. The court on Saturday rejected the Dhami's...
01:33 AM, May 19, 2013
Kolkata: The West Bengal Election Commission on Friday announced dates for the Panchayat elections in the state. The elections will be held in three phases on July 2, 6 and 10. The results will be announced three days later. The state government's demand for a two-phase polling was earlier shot down by the Calcutta High Court. The state election commission though said that the court order was not clear on...
04:55 PM, May 17, 2013
Lahore: A serving judge has been named by a Pakistani court to probe the murder of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who died earlier this month after being assaulted within the Kot Lakhpat Jail here. Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial appointed Justice Syed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi to investigate the matter and submit a report to the court. However, no deadline has been given to Naqvi...
04:48 PM, May 17, 2013
Ghaziabad: A special Ghaziabad CBI court is likely to record statements of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case on Friday. The statements could not be recorded on Tuesday, as scheduled, because the petition of the Talwar couple to summon 14 'crucial' witnesses in the case was pending in the Allahabad High Court. While the special CBI court on Tuesday slammed the "delaying tactics" allegedly being adopted...
09:39 AM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court verdict that the Right to Education (RTE) Act is not applicable to nursery admission in unaided private schools has been challenged in the Supreme Court. An NGO, Social Jurist, has approached the apex court, saying that the high court erred in law in holding that the Act applied only in the matter of admission of children between the age of 6 years to 14...
04:46 PM, May 16, 2013
Jodhpur: A revision petition against Bollywood actor Salman Khan in the 14-year-old blackbuck poaching case seeking additional charges against him under Arms Act was on Wednesday rejected by the Rajasthan High Court. The court observed that the petition of the Rajasthan government has been pending for a long time and "that there was no point in carrying it further," government counsel Mahipal Bishnoi said. "So the court rejected the petition...
10:13 PM, May 15, 2013
Kolkata: A day after the Calcutta High Court directed the West Bengal government and the State Election Commission to mutually decide on dates for the panchayat election, a move has been initiated by both to hold a meeting on Thursday. The meeting will take place amidst a deadline set by the High Court to complete the poll process by July 15. SEC secretary Tapas Roy told reporters that the meeting...
05:56 PM, May 15, 2013
