Legal

Trigger Warning: Sexual harassment
A Delhi court on Tuesday framed charges of sexual harassment, intimidation and outraging the modesty of women against ex-Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a criminal case filed by female wrestlers.

Singh pleaded not guilty to the charges before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Priyanka Rajpoot and claimed trial.

"Why will I plead guilty when I am not guilty?" Singh said. The court also framed the charge of criminal intimidation against co-accused and former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar in the case.

Singh, the sitting BJP MP from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh, was denied ticket to contest the Lok Sabha poll in the aftermath of the sexual harassment allegations against him. The party has fielded his son Karan Bhushan Singh for the seat.

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday said there was no need for an urgent hearing on a plea filed by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) research scholar Ramadas KS, who was suspended from the institute for alleged misconduct and anti-national activities.

A vacation bench of Justices Arif Doctor and Somasekhar Sundaresan posted Ramadas's petition for hearing on June 18 after the summer vacation of the high court.

The bench said the plea can wait, and there is no urgency. Ramadas, a PhD student from the School of Development Studies of TISS, had moved the court earlier this month challenging the April 18 order passed by the institute suspending him for two years.

His counsel, Mihir Desai, submitted to the court on Tuesday that pursuant to the suspension order, Ramadas's scholarship had been stopped, and he was facing difficulties.

The institute, in its affidavit, said the student had an alternate remedy, and hence his petition was not maintainable. Refusing to hear the matter urgently, the court said arguments would have to be first heard on the maintainability issue.

As per the TISS's affidavit, considering the increasing number of serious misconducts by students, a high-level common committee comprising officials in senior posts within the institute was constituted to deal with issues of misconduct and disciplinary action of students.

The affidavit said the remedy against any decision by the committee is to approach the vice-chancellor of the institute with an appeal. The institute sought dismissal of Ramadas's petition, claiming he could not have moved the high court directly without filing an appeal before the vice-chancellor first.

Ramadas was accused of participating in a protest march in New Delhi in January against the "anti-student policies" of the Central government and for urging people to watch the documentary 'Ram Ke Naam' during the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren if a writ court can examine his arrest after the trial court has taken cognisance of the prosecution complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the money laundering case against him related to an alleged land scam.

The bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma posted the matter for further hearing on Wednesday. Soren's counsel is asked to first satisfy the court on how interim bail can be granted to him for campaigning in the Lok Sabha poll when his application for regular bail has been dismissed. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the ED, opposed Soren's interim bail plea, contending his case was different from that of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was granted interim bail on May 10 for campaigning in the general elections.

The ED has alleged that Soren is actively attempting to "subvert" the probe in the money laundering case against him by "misusing state machinery".

Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court extended the judicial custody of former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia until May 31 in the Delhi liquor excise policy case on Tuesday.

Sisodia has been in custody since February 26, 2023, following his arrest by the CBI, and was subsequently arrested by the ED. Investigating agencies allege that irregularities occurred during modifications to the excise policy, including undue favours to license holders, waiver or reduction of license fees, and unauthorised extensions of the L-1 license.

According to the Enforcement Directorate, the beneficiaries diverted "illegal" gains to the accused officials and falsified their accounts to avoid detection.

A Uttarakhand court sentenced three people to six months' imprisonment for violating food safety standards in making Patanjali Elaichi Soan Papdi.

The Pithoragarh Chief Judicial Magistrate Sanjay Singh on Saturday also imposed fines of Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 on them, besides the jail sentence.

The three who were sentenced include Leeladhar Pathak, a shopkeeper from the Berinag town of Pithoragarh, who has been given six months' imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 for selling the product. The others are Ajay Joshi, assistant manager of Patanjali's authorised representative Kanhaji Distributors Pvt Ltd located in Nainital’s Ramnagar and Abhishek Kumar, assistant general manager of the company. 

Assistant Prosecution Officer Ritesh Verma said that after collecting samples of Patanjali Elaichi Navratna Soanpapdi from Pathak's shop on September 17, 2019, they were sent to the National Laboratory in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad for testing.

A case in this regard was registered in 2021 after reports found the samples did not meet the food safety standards.

Justice Chitta Ranjan Dash, who retired as a judge of the Calcutta High Court on Monday, said he was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS).

Speaking at his farewell at the high court in the presence of the judges and members of the bar, Justice Dash said he was "ready to go back to the organisation" if they call him for any assistance or for any work that he was capable of doing. “To the distaste of some persons, I must admit here that I was and am a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS),” he said.

Demitting office after over 14 years as a judge, Justice Dash came to the Calcutta HC from the Orissa HC on transfer.

"I owe a lot to the organisation... I am there from my childhood and throughout my youth," he said. "I have learnt to be courageous, upright and have an equal view for others and above the sense of patriotism and commitment to the work," he said.

Justice Dash said that he had distanced himself from the organisation for about 37 years because of his work.

"I have never used my membership of the organisation for any advancement of my career because it is against its principles," he said.

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition that challenged the enactment of three new laws that seek to overhaul India’s penal codes.

A vacation Bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal allowed petitioner advocate Vishal Tiwari to withdraw the plea.

The Lok Sabha, on December 21 last year, passed three key legislations - the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill. President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the bills on December 25. These new laws - the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Act - will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act respectively.

At the outset, the Bench told Tiwari, “We are dismissing it (petition)”.

The Bench said these laws have not come into force so far.