1. Gujarat HC Directs Police to File FIR in Human Trafficking Case
The Gujarat High Court has directed Ahmedabad police to lodge an FIR in an alleged case of human trafficking following a CBI investigation into a case of missing girl.
With the police failing to investigate the case of a woman reportedly sold thrice by an alleged trafficker, identified as Maya, in the guise of marriage, Justice JB Pardiwala on Friday ordered the police to investigate the case, saying that it was “something very serious.”
The high court’s decision came during hearing of the probe progress report in connection with case of a girl, who has been missing since 4 October 2014. During the probe, the CBI found that another girl, who had gone missing for nearly one-and-a-half-year and had returned, was picked up by an auto-rickshaw driver and sold to a woman, identified as Maya.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Two Shot Dead Over Land Dispute in Ahmedabad
Two persons were killed and nine injured in a clash over a land dispute at Bavla town in Ahmedabad district on Sunday, police said. The dispute was about alleged encroachment on a plot of land near the town, they said.
“A fight broke out where one party opened fire, leaving three persons injured. Two died at a local community health centre while another is critically injured," said Ahmedabad (rural) Superintendent of Police RV Asari.
Eight others, who were attacked with sticks and sharp objects, were being treated at a government hospital, he said. Those killed in the incident were identified as Mahesh Bharwad and Ranjit Bharwad. Two persons have been arrested so far and investigation is underway, Asari said.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. Swanky AMC Hospital Threatens Future of Affordable VS Hospital
A new swanky hospital that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate in Ahmedabad has sparked protests since it proposes to take away beds, super speciality services and the medical college attached to the 1931-founded Sheth Vadilal Sarabhai Hospital and Chinai Maternity Home.
VS Hospital is a public hospital easily accessible to people from economically weaker sections. It was set up on land provided by Ahmedabad Borough Municipality, which then had Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as mayor, with a donation of Rs 1.20 lakh from Chinai family and Rs 4 lakh from Vadilal Sarabhai.
The new 17-floor hospital, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, is separated from VS Hospital by a wall. Trustees of VS Hospital — Brijesh and Rupa Chinai — have moved high court after the Charity Commissioner did not resolve their complaint against Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s decision to transfer beds to the new hospital and place administration of both hospitals under MET.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. SC Dismisses Plea for Cancelling Lease of Kandla Port Land to Firm
The Supreme Court has refused to interfere with a Delhi High Court order holding as not maintainable a PIL seeking cancellation of a lease awarding 50 acres of land at the Kandla Port in Gujarat to a private firm, due to lack of territorial jurisdiction.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said no prejudice was caused to the petitioner NGO – Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) – by asking it to move the Gujarat High Court.
“We are not inclined to interfere with the order impugned in the special leave petition as, in our considered view, no prejudice has been caused by requiring the petitioner to move the appropriate jurisdiction i.e the High Court of Gujarat, raising its grievance under the same subject matter before the said High Court. The special leave petition is, accordingly, dismissed,” the bench, also comprising Justice S K Kaul, said.
(Source: PTI)
5. Liquor Racket Busted: 911 Bottles Brought in Cars in Trailer Truck Seized, 12 Held
The Vadodara Crime Branch on Sunday seized a trailer truck carrying three cars filled with 911 bottles of illegal liquor. Acting on a tip-off, the crime branch raided a hall in Manjalpur from where a local bootlegger, Vijaysinh Rana, was arrested. The police also seized his car, full of liquor bottles. He was going to supply this liquor to customers across the city on Uttarayan.
The police also arrested his accomplices — Pramod Surve, Pravinsinh Tadvi, Rajubhai Tadvi, Hitesh Solanki, Vinay Sharma and Sanjay Wagh. “Upon investigation we found that the consignment was supplied from Haryana. The consignment reached Vadodara in three cars which were loaded inside a trailer truck,” said Jaydeepsinh Jadeja, DCP Crime Branch.
Rana told the police that he was in touch with one Dheeraj Kumar Sharma, a resident of Haryana, who was supplying him with the liquor.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Ahmedabad-born Woman Appointed as NY SC Judge
Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant spent her childhood growing up in the bylanes of Ahmedabad. Last month she took office as a Supreme Court Judge in the state of New York making her the first South Asian and Indian-orgin Woman to be elected to the position.
Justice Pandit-Durant immigrated to the US with her family in the 70s at the tender age of 11. Turning 57 next month, this Gujarati will preside over criminal cases in Queens County. Her induction ceremony was also a first of sorts, as she took oath on the Bhagvad Gita.
(Source: The Times of India)
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