National Green Tribunal issues notice to Centre among others on proposed neutrino observatory

The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal at Chennai on Friday issued notices to the central and state governments on a petition challenging the environmental clearance granted to the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project in Tamil Nadu.

 

Representational Picture of Neutrinos

The Rs. 1,500 crore project is aimed at building a world class underground laboratory (at a depth of 4,300 feet) at Bodi Hills in Theni district to study neutrinos, tiny electrically neutral and nearly massless particles which cannot be broken further.

The project, jointly supported by the department of atomic energy and the department of science and technology, was given final approval by the Centre in January this year. The project is facing opposition from environmentalists as the site chosen is located in the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats.

G Sundarajan of Theni, who filed the petition, said the Union government granted the clearance to the project in June 2011 without following the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) guidelines. There was no detailed study to find out the impact of blasting more than 6 lakh tonnes of rock on the aquifers, rivers and reservoirs in the region, he said. The project would affect groundwater and surface water bodies which fed three river systems: Periyar, Vaigai and Vaippar in Idukki district of Kerala and 12 dams in Tamil Nadu, all located within a radius of 50km from the proposed site.

He said the expert appraisal committee provided the clearance without satisfying itself about the impact of the project. Categorisation of the project as a 'basic science project' was wrong as no statute contained such classification, he said.

A Bench of the NGT comprising of judicial member Justice M Chockalingam and expert member R Nagendran issued notices to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, State-Level Environmental Impact Assessment Authority, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and Institute of Mathematical Science, asking them to file their replies. 

The bench then posted the matter to April 7 for further hearing.

Prashant Bhushan denied reissuance of passport with full validity on the ground of pendency of criminal case; Delhi High Court issues notice to Ministry of External Affairs

The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice to the Union government on a writ petition filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan challenging the government`s refusal to reissue him a passport with full validity of 10 years on the ground that criminal cases are pending against him.

 

Prashant Bhushan has approached the Delhi High Court challenging the act of the Union Govt in reissuing his passport for a limited period of 1 year instead of reissuing it with a full validity of 10 years

Justice Rajiv Shakdher sought the response of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Regional Passport Office, Ghaziabad, while posting the matter for March 16.

Advocate Pranav Sachdeva, appearing for Mr. Prashant Bhushan, contended that merely because a criminal case pertaining to being part of an unlawful assembly is pending against him, the government denied him a passport with full validity.

Bhushan, also a founding member of India Against Corruption (IAC), had staged a protest in August 2012 against the coal scam. Though the protest was non-violent, the police had registered a few cases under section 144 of the CrPC for participating in an assembly which was declared unlawful, against the members of the IAC, including Bhushan. The cases are pending in Patiala House court, the petition said.

Hearing the petition Justice Shakdher remarked: "If someone holds a valid passport but against him some minor traffic violation case is filed, then can you stop subsequent reissue of his passport."

The court also noted that "only if a court impounds the passport or put restrictions on foreign travel, then only passport validity can be restricted".

According to Mr. Bhushan, he had submitted his application for renewal/reissue of the passport to the regional passport office on June 26, 2014 and on the same day, as per procedure, his old passport was cancelled. The government had informed him that in order to get his passport renewed, he needs to first obtain a no objection certificate (NOC) from the concerned court where criminal cases are pending against him.

On September 2, 2014 he moved an application before the Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) at Patiala House Courts here seeking a NOC for the reissue of his passport, which was granted to him. However, the NOC did not specify the duration of validity of the passport.

On September 15, 2014 the government reissued the passport of Mr. Bhushan for a period of only one year instead of the full validity period of 10 years.

The counsel for Mr. Bhushan argued that the one-year restriction on reissuing the passport is "arbitrary, unreasonable and also discriminatory" and thus in violation of article 14 (equality before law) of the Constitution.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain appearing for the Centre cited an Aug 25, 1993 notification, saying "Bhushan`s request for re-issue of passport for full validity cannot be acceded to unless the court concerned issues a fresh order in this regard".

The ASG argued that as per the notification a person (having a criminal case pending) who applies for issue or reissue of passport to first obtain a NOC from the court where the case is pending and that if the court does not lay down any time period for renewal, then a passport of only one year validity would be issued.

The High Court then said it would examine the validity of the notification which requires a person with a pending criminal case pending to first obtain a No Objection Certificate from a court

The passport issued to Bhushan from Sep 12, 2014 with a short validity of one year, is due to expire on September 11, 2015.

Gujarat High Court commences hearing on the appeals in the Godhra carnage case

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday commenced hearing on the appeals filed in the Godhra carnage case, four years after the special SIT court convicted 31 persons for burning the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express near Godhra station on February 27, 2002. In all, 59 kar sevaks were killed in the carnage. 

Picture courtesy : Indian Express

The trial court has sentenced 11 accused to death and 20 others to life imprisonment. The Court also acquitted 63 others of all charges framed against them. 

There are different sets of appeals before the Gujarat High Court-one set of appeals filed by the convicts against their conviction and sentence, the other set of appeals filed by the government questioning the acquittals and demanding enhancement of punishment for the 20 convicts who have been given life sentence to death penalty, as well as appeals filed by relatives of the deceased. 

During the trial of the case, three accused, including Shaukat Patalia, who was later convicted, died. One Maulana Umerji and Yusuf Kazi, who were acquitted, also died during this period.

 

The appeals are being heard by a Bench comprising of Justice Anant Dave and Justice G R Udhwani. 

The state government took more than three years to compile and print the paper-book of the bulky records in this case, which runs into more than 60 volumes.

Alleged rape and assault of a 22-year old girl by her father and his accomplices : Supreme Court orders CBI probe

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the alleged rape and assault of a 22-year-old girl by her father and his accomplices who tried to force her into prostitution. It has also asked the agency to look into the failure of the Uttar Pradesh police to act on her complaint and conclude the investigation into the crime.

"Prima facie the police has acted in a partisan manner to shield the real culprits," the court said while expressing its pain that a class of women are trapped as prostitutes and rich communities exploit them and harvest at their misery and ignominy in an 'organised gangsterism', in particular, with police nexus.

Expressing shock at the incident, a Bench comprising of Justices M.Y. Eqbal and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh said it was high time "public spirited sections of the society" came forward to "prevent gender exploitation of girl children".

The girl hailing from Meerut had directly approached the apex Court through some public-spirited advocates to narrate the story of her ordeal at the hands of her father and his accomplices, who allegedly raped and assaulted her for not accepting their demand to enter the flesh trade in which her family is actively involved.

"Having regard to the facts, sequence of events and inordinate delay in the investigation of the case, it would show that the investigation by the state police authorities is not being conducted in a proper direction," the court said.

The Supreme Court said that the case was fit to be handed over for independent probe since serious allegations have also been levelled against the Uttar Pradesh Police.

"More than two years have passed but the police failed to conclude the investigation, which goes to show that police have not acted in a forthright manner in investigating the case. Prima facie the police has acted in a partisan manner to shield the real culprits and the investigation of the case is not being conducted in a proper and objective manner. Since local police is allegedly involved as per the statement of the petitioner recorded under Section 164, there may not be fair investigation," the Bench observed, while passing the order handing over to the CBI.