ABVP SUSPENDS 2 MEMBERS FOR ‘ATTACK’ ON AISA

New Delhi, March. 1: Two ABVP members, arrested for allegedly attacking a group of AISA supporters, were on Wednesday suspended from the RSS-backed outfit for their act of “indiscipline”.

The accused, Prashant Mishra and Vinayak Sharma, allegedly strangulated AISA activists, Raj Singh and Utkarsh Bhardwaj, near Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College on Tuesday. “We condemn this act by the two students and advocate a violence-free atmosphere on campus. The two members have been suspended from the party,” ABVP national media convener S. Bahuhuna said. The Bombay High Court has scrapped the state government’s February 2016 circular that had mandated the knowledge of Marathi language as an eligibility condition for auto-rickshaw drivers seeking regional transport office (RTO) permits.

The high court also directed the state to set up a grievance redressal mechanism for auto-rickshaw passengers to complaint against drivers within three months.

Setting aside the circular with immediate effect, the HC clarified that those who did not apply for the permit after reading about the mandatory eligibility condition on knowledge of Marathi can now apply for the permit. The HC has kept the matter for further hearing on March 3 and asked state to submit an action-taken report. The Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, terming the HC order “insensitive” towards Marathi-speaking people, have appealed to the state government to challenge it in Supreme Court. A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Anuja Prabhudesai was hearing a petition filed by various autorickshaw unions of Mumbai that challenged the state’s circular.