PM Modi hails judiciary, says it has performed its duty well

Bantwal, Apr 16: A fatal pothole on a local road has claimed the life of a young community leader, sending shockwaves through the Bantwal region. Melroy D’Sa (25), president of the Thodambila Unit of the Indian Catholic Youth Movement (ICYM), died in a tragic bike accident late Tuesday night.

Melroy was reportedly riding his motorcycle when he lost control after hitting a pothole. Locals who witnessed the incident rushed him to a nearby hospital, but despite swift medical attention, he could not be saved.

A beloved figure in youth circles, Melroy was known for his leadership, vibrant spirit, and active involvement in community service across the Bantwal deanery. Many had seen him as a rising leader with a bright future.

The ICYM Central Council expressed profound grief over the loss, paying tribute to Melroy’s dedication to youth empowerment and his unwavering commitment to social causes. His untimely death has left a deep void in the community he passionately served.

Palestinian officials have raised the alarm about the dire situation of abductees held in Israeli prisons. The warning came after several abductees released from Israeli jails gave harrowing accounts of conditions in the regime’s prisons.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) said in a statement on Monday that the number of Palestinian abductees killed in Israeli jails since the regime’s genocide in Gaza started has surged to 65, including a child.

It added that inmates abducted in Gaza account for at least 40 of those fatalities.

The society emphasized that among the slain detainees are 74 whose bodies are still being held by the Israeli regime, 63 of whom have been held since the beginning of the genocidal war.

Meanwhile, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs warned of inhumane conditions at Israel’s Damon Prison, where female abductees are enduring extreme hardship.

The Commission reported that food is scarce and of poor quality, leading to digestive issues and severe weight loss among inmates.

The Commission warned that Palestinian abductees are held in filthy, blood-stained cells, given only a small mattress and no food.

Most of the abductees also face insults and humiliation during their incarceration by the regime.  

It added that prisoner Karam Musa, 53, from the town of Surra in the Nablus Governorate, who was detained on February 25, 2025, was kept in a blood-stained and filthy cell, with no room for prayer, no food, and only a small mattress.

According to Karam, the Israeli Prison Service provides one plate of legumes for eight prisoners. The break period has been reduced to one hour, during which the prisoners shower.

A 44-year-old prisoner named Hanin Jaber lost eight kilograms due to malnutrition during her five months of detention.

Jaber was arrested on December 3, 2024, while out on a walk with her children in the park, on charges of sheltering and feeding her son, whom the Israeli regime claims is "wanted."

Prisoner Fidaa Suhail Assaf, 49, from the town of Kafr Laqif in the Qalqilya Governorate, has been suffering from leukemia for a year before her detention.
 

New Delhi, The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain petitions filed by the NIA against the bail granted to 17 Popular Front of India members in the 2022 murder case of RSS leader Srinivasan in Kerala's Palakkad district.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and N Kotiswar Singh noted that the Kerala High Court order granting bail to the accused is one-year-old and the HC has the power to cancel bail if the conditions are violated.

"Our attention is invited to observation made in the last part of the impugned order by which high court has reserved liberty to the petitioners to apply to special court for cancellation of bail.

"Therefore, the petitioners can always apply to the special court for cancellation of bail on the grounds which are set out in the affidavits filed in these petitions. In fact the special court will be the more appropriate court," the bench said.

The top court said the agency can satisfy the special court about the breach of terms and conditions of grant of bail by producing materials against the accused.

"Therefore, at this stage we decline to entertain the special leave petitions with liberty to the petitioners to move the special court/high court for cancellation of bail. Needless to say that if the prayer made by petitioner does not succeed before the special court/high court remedies of the petitioners remain open.

"We make it clear that as and when application is made for cancellation of bail the special court or high court should not be influenced by the fact that this court has declined to entertain the present special leave petitions," the bench said.

During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Raja Thakare, appearing for the NIA, sought cancellation of the bail and submitted that the accused have violated the bail conditions and have contacted the witnesses.

The Kerala High Court on June 25, 2024 granted bail to the 17 accused PFI members, who are also facing trial for allegedly instigating communal violence in the state and other parts of the country.

Granting bail to 17 of the 26 accused, the high court imposed stringent conditions, which include sharing their cellphone numbers and real-time GPS locations with the investigating officer.

Aside from that, the accused were ordered not to leave Kerala, surrender their passports and keep their cellphones charged and active round-the-clock.

It had directed the 17 to "present themselves before the special court which shall enlarge them on bail on such conditions as the special court may deem necessary".

Initially, 51 persons were arraigned as accused in connection with the murder of Srinivasan on April 16, 2022. One among those held died while seven others are absconding.

Chargesheets against the remaining persons were filed in two phases in July and December, 2022.

While police was investigating the murder, the Centre received information that the office bearers and cadres of the Popular Front of India and its affiliates in Kerala had conspired to instigate communal violence and radicalise its cadres to commit terrorist acts in Kerala and other parts of the country, the high court noted in its order.

Therefore, the Centre in September, 2022 directed the National Investigation Agency to take up and probe the case against the accused.

On December 19, 2022, the Centre, referring to Srinivasan's death, opined there was a larger conspiracy hatched by the leaders of the PFI "which has grave national and international ramifications" that needed to be "thoroughly investigated to unearth the wider conspiracy and to identify the other accused".

The Centre directed the NIA to take up the probe in the murder case as well, and the agency filed its consolidated chargesheet in 2023 with two supplementary chargesheets later.

Immediately after the respective NIA chargesheets were filed before the special court, the accused moved for bail.