Court summons Amit Shah as witness in Naroda Gam riot case

Agencies
September 12, 2017

Ahmedabad, Sep 12: A special SIT court hearing the 2002 Naroda Gam riot case today summoned BJP president Amit Shah to appear before it as a defence witness for former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani, who is one of the prime accused.

On a petition filed by Kodnani, special SIT judge P B Desai summoned Shah to appear before the court on September 18.

The court said it will not re-issue the summons in case Shah fails to present himself on a given date.

Kodnani's advocate Amit Patel submitted before the court the residential address of Shah in Thaltej area of Ahmedabad city, after which the court issued the summons to him on the same address.

Earlier, Kodnani had failed to give the address to which the summons to Shah were to be issued.

Her advocate had twice sought time for four days each to her to find out and submit the address on which the summons could be issued to Shah.

The court had in April allowed Kodnani's plea to have the summons issued to Shah and some others as witnesses in her defence.

At the subsequent hearings, the court had asked Kodnani to tell it whether Shah will depose as her witness.

Kodnani, in her application to prove her innocence, said that on the day of incident she had visited Sola civil hospital after attending the state Legislative Assembly.

She claimed in the application that Shah, who was an MLA at that time, was also present at the Sola civil hospital, where bodies of 'karsevaks' killed in the Sabarmati train burning incident were brought from Godhra.

Kodnani said that Shah's testimony will help prove her alibi.

Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court had asked the SIT court to conclude the trial within four months.

A bench headed by then Chief Justice J S Khehar was informed that the trial was in progress and evidence of the defence witnesses was being recorded by a special court.

The top court had asked the lower court to complete the recording of evidence of the remaining defence witnesses in two months.

The massacre in Naroda Gam in Ahmedabad is one of the nine major 2002 communal riots cases which were investigated by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Eleven persons belonging to the minority community were killed in Naroda Gam in the 2002 riots, during a bandh called to protest the Godhra train burning incident.

A total of 82 persons are facing trial in the case.

Kodnani, who was then a minister in the Narendra Modi-led state government, has already been convicted and sentenced to 28 years in jail in the case of riot at Naroda Patiya where 97 people were massacred.

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News Network
September 16,2024

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Mangaluru: Police have arrested five miscreants belonging to saffron outfits for pelting stones at a masjid at Katipalla near Surathkal on the outskirts of the city last night. 

The arrested have been identified as Bharat, Chennappa, Nitin, Manu and Sujit all residents of Surathkal and surrounding areas. Among them, Bharat is said to be a rowdy sheeter. 

The miscreants, who came on two motorbikes late on Sunday night, pelted stones at Masjidul Huda, located at 3rd block of Katipalla on the eve of Miladunnabi.  

Confirming the incident, City Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal said that investigation is in progress and a case has been registered at Surathkal police station.

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News Network
September 14,2024

Mangaluru: The block level and District Congress Committee presidents in the state will be changed in the next one month for better reach into society and bring in organisational fortification, said Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president G C Chandrasheker on Saturday.

The All India Congress Committee and KPCC have a vision for bringing a change in how the party works with the last man and woman in the state, he said at a press conference here.

"We are looking at bringing development models into the state with a new vision. We are a party that likes to work with the opposition in the developmental aspects and keep all other matters away that do not relate to the development of the state.

"We have a great respect for the people of the coast who are considered to be forward-looking and perceptible, but it is also true that we do not have the numbers in the upper house and in the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)," he said.

"Our endeavour is to not only create a strong pro-development workforce at the base level by strengthening the second and third level leadership in the state," he said.

Chandrasheker, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, said that he and his four colleagues of the rank of working presidents of the KPCC are going to every district to infuse the new thinking in our workers and leaders.

"This move will get a new surge considering the party is facing byelections in Shiggaon, Chennapatna and Sandhur segments and also vacant seats in the legislative council, followed by elections to the Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats" he said.

When asked about the reason for the changes, Chandrashekar said most of the people have already lived their tenures. The party wants to reward those who have not been given tickets to contest in the 2023 state assembly elections and 2024 Lok Sabha elections for political reasons.

There are quite good leaders and hard-working ground level workers who have great potential to lead the party in the coming years, he said.

"Women will get at least one top post in all District Congress Committees and block levels. There is also a move to give responsible positions for the workers and leaders coming from different strata of society, which are deliverable. The party will not shy away from it," he said.

The other two working presidents, Dr Manjunath Bhandary and Vasanth Kumar, were also present at the press conference.

Kumar said some of the regions in the state are dominated by the BJP. "We want to end this run and defeat the divisive models of the BJP." Bhandary said the Indian National Congress was aiming at a high development phase in the state and involve the opposition parties and their leaders in the development plans in the state. 

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News Network
September 17,2024

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New Delhi, Sept 17: Atishi will be the new Chief Minister of Delhi. The decision came after a legislative party meeting was chaired by Arvind Kejriwal at his Delhi residence earlier today.

Kejriwal is expected to tender his resignation later today, and will also meet Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena at 4.30 pm.

On September 13, Arvind Kejriwal was released from Tihar Jail, where he had been lodged for his alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor policy case. Nearly two days after his release, on Sunday, Kejriwal said he would resign as the Chief Minister within 48 hours.

He also sought early polls in Delhi, and vowed not to sit in the chief minister’s chair until people gave him a “certificate of honesty”.

On Monday, the AAP held a series of meetings as Kejriwal sought feedback from members of the political affairs committee, the party’s highest decision-making body, on his successor in one-on-one meetings at his official residence.

Names of Delhi ministers Atishi, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot and Saurabh Bharadwaj were making the rounds as contenders, news agency PTI had quoted party insiders as saying and added that Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal and Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel were also the probables.

Mangolpuri MLA Rakhi Birla, who is also the deputy speaker in the assembly, and Kondli legislator Kuldeep Kumar were also potential candidates, they added.

Earlier, sources with the AAP had told PTI that the surprise candidate could also be a member of the minority community as the party has witnessed its support among the community wavering since the 2020 Delhi riots.

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