Dawood aide’s passport renewal under scanner

NEWDELHI: The External Affairs Ministry on Friday said that they are investigating how Farooq Takla, who is an accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts, managed to renew his passport in Dubai in 2011 when he had a red corner notice issued against him.

“There’s a way to issue and renew a passport. We are finding out how this took place in his case. It is very clear that he is a fugitive and is wanted by the Government of India. We were in touch with the Dubai government and they have deported him,” ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

On Thursday, underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim’s key aide Takla was sent to judicial custody till March 19 by a TADA court in Mumbai.

Earlier in the day, Takla was produced before the TADA court for remand. Takla was brought back to Mumbai after being deported from Dubai.

His was renewed in 2011 when UPA was in power. To another question as to how Talka got a passport issued in 2001, when NDA was in power, the spokesperson said he has to find out where the passport was issued. The question was based on the fact that validity of an Indian passport is ten years.

Takla had fled India after the Mumbai blasts, following which a Red Corner Notice was issued against him in 1995.

This apart, Takla is also facing various other charges including criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder. At least 27 other accused in the Mumbai blasts, continue to elude and are declared as absconders. NEWDELHI: The law ministry notified the appointment of 23 permanent judges in the Gujarat, Rajasthan and Bombay high courts on Friday evening.

These come on the heels of the government appointing three new additional judges to the Calcutta high court and notifying 17 additional judges in Madhya Pradesh as permanent on March 7.

Experts however, said these seemingly large-scale exercises mask the fact that only emergency appointments are being made to the higher judiciary. Just eight new judges have been appointed so far this year.

Before Calcutta, five additional judges were appointed to the Karnataka high court in February. In both cases, lawyers went on strike demanding that the government appoint judges already recommended by the Supreme Court collegium. While the lawyers in Karnataka withdrew their relay hunger strike after the new appointments were made on February 9, their counterparts in the Calcutta high court refused to end their agitation even after Wednesday’s development.

“Three judges are just not sufficient. The collegium had sent 13 names (for consideration),” said Uttam Kumar Majumder, president of the Calcutta high court Bar Association.

Congress leader Brijesh Kallappa said Karnataka chief minister Siddharamaiah had also sought the appointment of more judges from the Union law minister last month. The Calcutta high court has 39 vacancies against 72 judicial posts while its Karnataka counterpart has 32 vacancies against 62 positions. An official said the apex court collegiums had restricted its recommendations for making additional judges permanent in a February 22 meeting. It is believed that things will only get worse with the government unable to agree with the collegium on a new memorandum of procedure for appointing judges. “This might continue till a change of guard in the SC. We are headed for a medium-term standoff,” said Sumathi Chandrashekharan, judicial reforms expert at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.