Gujarat HC extends relief from arrest to Teesta Setalvad in Rs 1.4 cr embezzlement case

Agencies
May 28, 2018

Ahmedabad, May 28: The Gujarat High Court today extended the protection from arrest to activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand till June 13, in a Rs 1.4 crore fund embezzlement case.

Earlier today, Justice A Y Kogje, in whose court the matter was listed, recused himself from hearing it saying "not before me." The matter was then taken up by the court of Justice Biren Vaishnav, who extended the activists' interim protection from arrest till June 13. The court has listed the case for next hearing on June 12. The Supreme Court had last month granted temporary relief to Setalvad and Anand, extending their interim protection from arrest and transit anticipatory bail from May 2 to May 31, granted to them by the Bombay High Court.

The apex court had said the duo will not be arrested till May 31, but before that they would have to approach the competent court in Gujarat which will decide the matter on merits. Setalvad and Anand had moved the Gujarat High Court after a lower court rejected their anticipatory bail plea in the Rs 1.4 crore fund embezzlement case related to their NGO Sabrang Trust. The duo had moved the plea for anticipatory bail after an FIR lodged against them on March 30 this year by complainant Raeeskhan Pathan. Opposing the bail plea in the lower court, the Crime Branch had claimed that the couple misused the money granted to their NGO by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development between 2010 and 2013 for their "personal and political cause".

In its submission, the Crime Branch said the accused misused the funds "to pay witnesses in serious cases in Gujarat (2002 riot cases) to make false deposition." During this period, Setalvad worked as the field co-coordinator for her NGO - Citizen for Justice and Peace, while her husband Javed Anand worked as the trustee of the Sabrang Trust. The ministry had granted Rs 1.4 crore between 2010 and 2013 to the NGO for a scheme under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Under the 'Khoj project', the Sabrang Trust had published literature and pamphlets that spread communal enmity which is "dangerous for the country's unity", the police said.

In their defence, Setalvad and Anand had told the court that the books published by them were written by some enowned writers, like Govind Pansare and Savitriben Phule, and were approved by the HRD Ministry. They also provided details of bank accounts related to the fund, saying all payments were made through cheques and were transparent. They claimed the police wanted their custody on "false complaint" and that the complainant, Pathan, had a "personal grudge" against them.

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News Network
November 17,2024

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An Israeli airstrike on the office of Syria’s Baath party in Lebanon’s capital Beirut has killed the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah's Media Relations Officer, Mohammad Afif, reports say.

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli raid struck the Ba'ath party’s building in central Beirut district of Ras Al-Naba'a on Sunday, adding that the strike was an attempt to assassinate the leader of the resistance media front.

According to Baath Secretary-General Ali Hijazi, Afif was having a meeting in the Baath Party headquarters when Israel carried out the attack.

"Afif did not fight with weapons and did not lead a military unit in Hezbollah. Rather, he led a media unit," he said.

Reuters, Sky News, Al Jazeera and a number of Henrew-language media reported that Afif was killed in the Israeli strike.

However, Hezbollah has not yet confirmed Afif’s death or whether he was present at the site or not.

Earlier, the Lebanese Health Ministry said at least one person was killed and three others injured after an Israeli strike targeted a central district in Beirut.

Lebanon's al-Mayadeen television network reported that five people were killed in the attack.

The latest development came after Afif said Hezbollah was behind the Caesarea operation and targeting Netanyahu’s home during a speech at the Ghobeiry area in the southern suburbs of Beirut on October 22.

This was the second assassination attempt on Afif in the last two months, after he survived an attack on the Hezbollah media relations office several weeks ago.

Israel launched a ground assault and massive air campaign against Lebanon in late September after a year of exchanging fire across the Lebanese border in parallel with the Gaza war.

At least 3,287 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the past year, with the vast majority in the past seven weeks. Another 14,222 have been wounded, mostly women and children.

In response to the ongoing aggression, the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has been staging hundreds of retaliatory strikes against the occupied Palestinian territories and the Israeli forces trying to advance on southern Lebanese areas.

The movement has vowed to sustain its strikes until the regime ends the escalation.

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News Network
November 27,2024

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Gaza health authorities say Israel’s military has "erased” over 1,400 Palestinian families in the besieged territory over the past year.

The Health Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the Israeli regime "completely erased about 1,410 families, numbering 5,444 people, from the civil registry during the same period.”

It said that there were 3,463 families with only one survivor, while 2,287 families had more than one survivor.

In northern Gaza, Israel’s warplanes have continued dropping bombs over Palestinian families, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

It said one airstrike hit a family home in Jabalia, causing numerous casualties on Tuesday.

According to Gaza's civil defense agency, at least seven people were killed and several others wounded in the attack.

Another person was killed in a strike on a house in nearby Beit Lahia, a town in northern Gaza, which has been declared “a disaster area" by the municipality due to "the Israeli war of extermination and siege, and it has no food, water, hospitals, doctors, services, or communications."

The health ministry said, “Israeli forces killed 14 people and injured 108 others in three massacres of families in the last 24 hours.”

“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them.”

International organizations and leaders believe that Israel’s genocidal war, now in its second year, is a deliberate attempt to destroy the population of Gaza.

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News Network
November 25,2024

Udupi: Six junior artists from the prequel of Kannada blockbuster film ‘Kantara’ were injured, when the bus they were travelling in overturned in the district, police said on Monday.

According to police, the accident occurred near Jadkal on Sunday night when the mini-bus carrying the crew of the film overturned.

“The incident happened while they were returning to Kollur after completing the shoot at Mudoor in Jadkal. The mini-bus was carrying 20 junior artistes when it met with the accident,” a police officer said.

The injured were rushed to hospitals in Jadkal and Kundapur for treatment, they said.

The Kollur police are investigating the matter.

"The news making rounds is completely false. The Kantara: Chapter 1 team began shooting at 06:00 AM today, and everything is proceeding as normal. A minor accident occurred 20 kilometres away from the shooting location, involving a local bus carrying some members of the Kantara team. However, no injuries were reported," a source close to the production said.

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