Maha Kisan Sabha to protest low milk purchase price

Kisan Sabha, a farmers’ organisation, has begun distributing free milk outside offices to draw the attention of the government to its demand for higher procurement prices. The organisation, which wants milk to be purchased at ₹27 per litre by dairies and chilling plants, started the agitation in Aurangabad two days ago.

Britain’s high court has rapped India for not providing its second sovereign assurance on time in the Sanjeev Chawla extradition case, which led the lower court not taking it into consideration before preventing his extradition in October last.

Not taking the second assurance from the ministry of home affairs (MHA) on prison conditions for suspected cricket bookie Chawla is the main reason for India appealing against the October 16 judgment of the Westminster Magistrates Court.

India submitted the second assurance with more details on September 25, which was deemed too late to be taken into consideration. Its first assurance of February 28 signed by MHA under secretary V Vishwanathan was dismissed by the lower court as being “general”. The high court said in its ruling on Friday: “In our judgment the district judge was entitled to say that the second assurance had come too late to be admitted at the final hearing…”

During hearing on April 24, Mark Summers of the Crown Prosecution Service, appearing for India, apologised for the delay, but said it was “not for want of cooperation” but due to a misunderstanding. The court said: “Although Mr Summers is right to say that it was only 5 weeks late, it was handed in on the day of the hearing in circumstances where the issue had been live for over a year…(There) was no good reason advanced for the failure to provide the second assurance on time”. PRASUN SONWALKAR

MUMBAI: LONDON: