Zaheera Sheikh denies knowledge of affidavit filed in her name; NDA opts to boycott remainder of Parliament's Budget session; SC reserves order in 2001 Parliament attack case; Phukan was not entitled to use IAF aircraft: Pranab; SC issues notice to Govt on India's dwindling tiger population; Life for raping nurse; IAF officer Anjali Gupta reports sick, fails to turn up in court; Fardeen to wed Natasha soon; Delhi police stations to have condom vending machines; Unregulated sale of tincture has Agra residents up in arms; Law and order top priority, says Buta; Nepali journalists hold convention, stage demonstrations; 60 killed, 150 wounded in Iraqi sucide bomber blast; Angelina Jolie denies being Brad Pitt's love; EBay to auction Pope's old car; Angelina Jolie takes motorcycling lessons to help the poor; Sandra Bullock loves free food; India Travel Times, Indian News, Tourism, Hotels, Airlines, Tour, Travel, Ayurveda, Yoga, Festival, Hindu, Taj Mahal, Kathakali, Dance,

Home Contact Us Dateline New Delhi, Wednesday, May 4, 2005

Zaheera Sheikh denies knowledge of affidavit filed in her name

Ahmedabad: The prime witness in the Best Bakery case, Zaheera Sheikh on Wednesday denied that she had filed any affidavit before the Godhra Commission but acknowledged the signatures on the affidavit dated May 20, 2002 was hers. Zaheera, who appeared before Nanavati-Shah Commission, inquiring into the Godhra train carnage and its aftermath, with her Advocate Atul Mistry, was shown a copy of the May 20 affidavit bearing her name and was asked to thoroughly read it. However, after reading the affidavit, Zaheera denied that the contents were given by her but acknowledged that the signatures on the document was hers. Zaheera clarified that she had not filed any affidavit before this commission ever and had only filed an application on April 13, 2005 seeking an adjournment of her cross-examination as the matter was pending in the Supreme Court. She added that she had filed three affidavits before the Supreme Court dated April 31, 2004, March 20, 2005 and April 12, 2005 and she had attached the copies of these three alongwith her application seeking adjournment from cross-examination before the commission. According to the sources, Zheera also claimed ignorance about the contents of the complaint registered by Vadodara police on March 02, 2002 in connection with the best bakery case but again admitted that the signatures on the complaint was hers. Zaheera was also not co-operative during her cross-examination and refused to reply to several questions put by Advocate Mukul Sinha. This prompted Sinha to tell the commission that he would file an application wherein a witness under oath should tell the truth and if he/she knows it.

NDA opts to boycott remainder of Parliament's Budget session (Go To Top)

New Delhi: Efforts by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to appeal to the Opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to return to Parliament through a letter to former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Tuesday appear to have come to nought, with the NDA deciding on Wednesday to continue with its over week-long boycott of the two Houses. After participating in discussions on the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha on Monday, a meeting of NDA Parliamentary Party this morning, chaired by Vajpayee, has decided to continue with its protest in both Houses till the time the "Opposition is allowed to raise its voice on issues like corruption." The NDA said that it has taken a decision to boycott Parliament for the rest of the Budget session. Wednesday's meeting came amidst growing differences within the NDA on the issue of boycotting Parliament and a fresh appeal from Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to reconsider the decision. With the TDP, which extends outside support to NDA, showing reluctance in joining the protest on the ground that it wanted to raise several issues pertaining to Andhra Pradesh, the NDA top brass swung into action and "convinced" it to support the move, alliance sources said. The TDP has apparently hinted that it may not be able to support the boycott beyond a couple of more days, which was indicated by the absence of party leader Yerran Naidu from NDA meetings since Monday evening. Chatterjee had told Vajpayee to reconsider the boycott with an assurance that "permissible issues" would be allowed to be raised. This prompted the coordination committee meeting of the leaders in the evening, presided over by Leader of Opposition L K Advani. Meanwhile, the Congress, while indicating that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may consider another appeal to the NDA to return to Parliament, has accused the opposition for wasting public money.

SC reserves order in 2001 Parliament attack case (Go To Top)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on appeals filed by two accused in the Parliament attack case. The accused had challenged the award of death penalty to them by the trial court that was upheld by the Delhi High Court. The court also reserved its verdict yesterday on two appeals filed by the Delhi police challenging the High Court order acquitting SAR Geelani and Navjot Sandhu alias Afshan Guru of all charges in the case. On December 13, 2003, the Delhi police had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court challenging a Delhi High Court order acquitting lecturer S A R Geelani and Afsan Guru, the lone woman accused of carrying out the attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001. The Delhi High court had acquitted the two in the attack on Parliament conspiracy case. Five terrorists had attacked Parliament on December 13, 2001. All the five were killed. Geelani and Afsan Guru, along with Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists Mohammad Afzal and Shaukat Hussain Guru, husband of Afsan Guru, were charged for being a part of the conspiracy to attack Parliament. While the high court absolved Geelani and Afsan Guru of all charges on October 29, it confirmed the death sentences of Afzal and Hussain Guru. In its voluminous appeal filed through its counsel Mukta Gupta, the police had said that the Delhi High Court erred in acquitting Geelani, who had been sentenced to death by the lower court. The lower court had also sentenced Afsan Guru to life imprisonment. The police, in their special leave petition, said that the high court failed to take into account the relevant evidence bringing out the clear involvement of Geelani and Afsan Guru. The high court had taken note of the fact that Geelani had not given a confessional statement under Prevention of Terrorism Act and his telephonic conversation with other two accused and his brother was not by itself sufficient to draw an inference of his involvement in the conspiracy to attack Parliament on December 13, 2001.

Phukan was not entitled to use IAF aircraft: Pranab (Go To Top)

New Delhi: Union Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that Justice S N Phukan, who is probing the Tehelka expose on defence deals, was provided with a Indian Air Force aircraft and helicopters to visit defence establishments, even though he was not entitled to do so. Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha in a suo motu statement that Mr. Justice Phukan travelled on an IAF aircraft and helicopters to Pune, Ahmadnagar and Mumbai as part of his inquiry into 14 major defence deals, including acquisition of Russian Main Battle Tank T90s, advanced jet trainers, Sukhoi-multi role combat aircraft and upgunning of 130mm guns . He also confirmed that the use of these aircraft by the judge was approved by his predecessor George Fernandes, but added that members of Commissions of Inquiry are not entitled to use IAF aircraft. Phukan was accompanied by his wife and eight officials and they also visited the shrine in Shirdi on December 24 by road, Mukherjee said. Justice Phukan was the second judge appointed by the government to probe the defence deals, the first being Justice Venkataswamy, who was forced to resign before the completion of his assignement for having accepted another assignment before completing his inquiry. Phukan too has given his first report so far.

SC issues notice to Govt on India's dwindling tiger population (Go To Top)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the Centre on a petition seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the dwindling tiger population in the Project Tiger reserves across the country. Acting on the petition, the three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice YK Sabharwal, asked the Centre why the CBI had not been directed to take up investigation in tiger reserves facing problems similar to what had emerged in the Sariska Tiger reserve. Recently, the CBI had submitted a report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh alleging that not a single tiger was left in the Sariska tiger reserve due to large scale poaching and negligence of forest officials. The court will take up the matter again on Thursday on the petition sent by conservationist Ashok Kumar of Delhi.

Life for raping nurse (Go To Top)

New Delhi: A Delhi Additional Sessions Court on Wednesday sentenced a ward boy to life imprisonment for raping a 22-year-old Keralite nurse, who was working at the Shanti Mukund hospital. Bhura was handed the maximum punishment for the crime by Additional Sessions Judge J M Malik. The incident took place on September 7, 2003 after the nurse turned down his proposal for marriage. However, minutes before the judge was to deliver the sentence, the convict moved an application expressing his desire to marry the victim. The girl, who was summoned along with her parents by the court of Additional Sessions Judge J M Malik to file their reply, not only rejected the proposal which had triggered a public outcry but also urged the court to give the convict severest of punishment including death sentence. "The convict has committed a horrendous crime which should not be repeated. After he was found guilty, he is trying to escape punishment with the bogus offer," the girl said in an affidavit filed before the court through her counsel. The counsel for the victim told the court that the application filed by Bhura was itself illegal and it was a "calculated move" to escape punishment.

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