CBI questions former Haryana CM Hooda in land allotment scam
NEW DELHI: The CBI on Monday questioned former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is facing charges of irregularities in the allotment of 14 industrial plots at the state’s Panchkula district.
The questioning was on at the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) headquarters here in south Delhi’s Lodhi Road area since morning.
“Hooda is being questioned from 11am in connection with his involvement in the irregularities in the allotment of 14 industrial plots at Panchkula by Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA),” said CBI spokesperson RK Gaur.
It is for the first time that Hooda is being quizzed in the case in which he is accused of releasing the orders of plot allotment during his stint as chief minister and HUDA chairman.
The CBI had recently examined Union Public Service Commission member Chattar Singh, who was the then principal secretary to the chief minister, in connection with the case, registered by the agency in May 2016.
In its FIR, the CBI mentioned that industrial plots were given to 14 people by allegedly manipulating certain provisions of allotment, which included allowing them to submit their applications even after the last date of submission ended. NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought the views of the Centre and four states in response to a petition seeking a ban on female circumcision, a practice followed by a Muslim sect which activists say violates the fundamental rights of women.
A bench headed by chief justice JS Khehar issued notices to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Delhi where the practice is more prevalent among the Dawoodi Bohras, a Shia Muslim sect. The court did not set a time frame for the responses by the Centre and the states.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) involves cutting off the clitoral head, which many in the community believe makes women amorous and leads them to infidelity. The circumcision, called ‘khatna’, is done at a young age, mostly by midwives in unhygienic conditions.
The court order comes amid growing clamour among Muslim women for banning the practice of triple talaq which allows men to divorce their wives by simply uttering the word talaq three times.
The government has also pushed for banning the practice which it says infringes on the rights of Muslim women.
In her petition against FGM, advocate Sunita Tiwari said there should be law against the practice as it was violative of human and child rights.
“...The practice...also amounts to causing inequality between the sexes and constitutes discrimination against women...It amounts to serious violation of the rights of children as even minors have a right of security of person, right to privacy, bodily integrity and the freedom from cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment,” the petition said.
She said it causes pain during menstruation and sexual intercourse, loss of libido and even pain during urination.
“It can be categorised as violence against women.”