Ex-CM Fadnavis calls Amravati, Malegaon violence conspiracy

Last week was the week for judiciary and things came out from courts in Maharashtra, whether it was from Supreme Court or High court or a lower court. But Amravati and Malegaon violent  incidents have become a political game between the political parties.Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis alleged that the violence witnessed in cities like Amravati and Malegaon were part of a planned strategy to push society towards communal polarization. Taiking to media on Sunday, he said that it was an experiment to test people’s response and create anarchy in the state. Fadnavis also demands to stop “partisan action” against members against saffron organisations. 

No evidence against Aryan Khan and two others, says Bombay High Court 

While granting bail to Aryan Khan in the drug busted case on a cruise ship  in October , the Bombay High Court has said ,” The court prima facie has not noticed any positive evidence against Aryan Khan and two others.” A single bench of Justice Nitin Sambre had granted bail to Aryan Khan and co-accused Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha,on October 28. The detailed order was made available on Saturday. The bench stated :” There is hardly any  positive evidence on record to convince this Court that all the accused persons with common intention agreed to commit unlawful act. There is no material evidence to connect all these three Applicants with other co-accused on the issue of conspiracy.”

Supreme Court  refuses relief to Anil Deshmukh and Param Bir in separate cases

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused relief both to former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh noting that “these persons who occupied top offices “ are now facing serious charges.” Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal failed to prima facie convince the Court that the case against the former minister was without basis. Deshmukh is accused of money laundering. He is under investigation by the CBI and ED. Justice S.K.Kaul dismissed  Deshmukh’s plea. Later in the day, the same Bench took up a petition filed by Singh and told him that he would have to disclose his location to seek the court’s protection. The counsel asked for time till Monday. The court posted  Singh’s case on November 22.

Sexual intent and not skin to skin contact is the most important ingredient in Section 7: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed a Bombay High Court decision to acquit a man who was charged with assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) solely on the grounds that he groped the child over her clothes without “skin to skin” contact. A bench of Justices U.U.Lalit. S. Ravindra Bhat and Bela M. Trivedi held that “ The act of touching a sexual part of the body with sexual intent will not be trivialised and not excluded under Section 7of the POSCO Act.”

Justice Trivedi who authored the judgment , observed that the purpose of law is not to allow the offender to sneak out of the mesh of law.  The bench noted that the most important ingredient in Section 7 was the sexual intent of the offender and not skin to skin contact.The Court while setting aside the High Court decision , confirmed the guilt of the offender in the case and sentenced him to three years of rigorous imprisonment , subject to the period hed had undergone.