SC slaps ₹5 lakh fine on man for ‘misuse of law’

A man from Noida was slapped with a ₹5 lakh fine by the Supreme Court, which dismissed his plea demanding more compensation in lieu of his land acquired for public purpose and said his petition was a “gross abuse of process of law.”

The SC bench dismissed the man’s appeal against the Allahabad High Court that rejected his demand for more compensation.

The bench took the view that SC had already decided the legal questions raised in the petition. The authorities fixed the compensation money pursuant to that verdict. “SC judges have sat for two months and settled this issue. This is misuse of law. We will impose such a fine on you that people will remember,” the bench told the petitioner.

The bench was inclined to impose ₹25 lakh as fine initially, but reduced the amount after the counsel prayed for leniency saying the petitioner was a poor farmer and cannot pay.

“We know everything. Do you want us to comment on the compensation these people have got after our verdict? Everybody have become crorepatis after the verdict,” the bench observed.

Kashmir has been intensely restive since the killing of a popular militant leader, Burhan Wani, last summer. The death triggered a long unrest in which more than 80 people were killed and hundreds wounded in clashes with security forces.

The incidents prompted the BJP to send its national general secretary, Ram Madhav, for a meeting with the PDP leadership last week.

But his alleged comments that “everything is fair in love and war” have drawn flak from the PDP, with education minister Altaf Bukhari calling the statement indefensible.

“Is it a war declared against Kashmiris who despite all odds cast their votes reaffirming their belief in democracy? Or it is a war declared to satiate the sanguine electoral interests of a particular political party in the country?” he asked.

Bhukari, refused to meet Madhav in protest, said the sole solution to the current unrest could be a comprehensive dialogue.

“You can’t be indifferent and think that the situation will improve. There is no other way; the only solution is talking to Kashmiri people.”

Voices of dissent in the PDP have been increasing lately as its workers and leaders feel the leadership is showing no sympathy to the people, its core constituency, sources said.

“At least (former chief minister) Omar Abdullah would express grief, oppose killings and say stones don’t deserve bullets. But she (Mufti) is not showing sympathy,” a PDP leader said. year — 65,000 hired from abroad and 20,000 from those enrolled in US colleges.

Due to the heavy demand for these visa, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, which runs the programme, receives several time more applications than it can grant and uses an electronic lottery to pick the ones that will go through.

The administration believes the lottery system allows companies to game the system.

“We’re going to switch away from a random lottery system in which it’s weighted toward the lowest wage workers towards a system that prioritises higherskilled, higher-paid workers, which would make it much more difficult to use it to replace American workers.”

American critics of the programme allege it is being abused by companies to bring foreigners, who are typically on lower wages compared to the median, to displace local workers.

At least (former CM) Omar Abdullah would express grief... and say stones don’t deserve bullets. But she (Mufti) is not showing sympathy