LINGUISTIC LINES

TELANGANA COPS

who were killed in the encounter were minors. While the report was submitted in a sealed cover on January 28 this year, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and justice Hima Kohli made its content public on Friday.

The bench was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) by advocates GS Mani and Pradeep Yadav, who sought an independent probe into the killings and raised doubts over the police’s claims that the encounter was genuine. The court directed the commission to supply copies to the petitioners as well as Telangana government, and directed the Telangana high court to consider passing necessary orders based on the panel’s findings.

“In our considered opinion, the accused were deliberately fired upon with an intent to cause their death and with the knowledge that the firing would invariably result in the death of the deceased suspect,” the commission, also comprising former Bombay high court judge justice (retd) Rekha Baldota and former

CBI director DR Kaarthikeyan, said in its 387-page report.

Accordingly, it recommended that all 10 police officers who were involved in the incident be tried for offences under Section 302 (murder) read Section with 34 of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 201 read with Section 302 of the IPC, and Section 34. In 2019, a huge uproar erupted over the gang rape and murder of a 26-year-old veterinarian on the outskirts of Hyderabad on November 27. Her body was set ablaze by the accused to destroy evidence, police said.

On December 6, 2019, the accused were arrested and later killed after they allegedly tried to attack police and snatch their guns when they were taken to the purported spot of the gang rape to recreate the crime scene. The accused were killed on National Highway 44 — the same highway where the charred remains of the veterinarian were found.

The four accused were identified as Mohammed Arif, Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu, Jollu Shiva and Jollu Naveen. The 10 officers who were involved in the encounter are V Surender, K Narasimha Reddy, Shaik Lal Madhar, Mohammed Sirajuddin, Kocherla Ravi, K Venkateshwarulu, S Arvind Goud, D Janakiram, R Balu Rathod and D Srikanth.

Days later, the Supreme Court formed the Justice Sirpurkar committee to probe the circumstances leading to the encounter.

In its report, the commission said it found several incongruities in the versions of the 10 police officers on the encounter.

“In view of the fact that the commission has disbelieved that the deceased suspects fired upon the policemen, the actions of the police officers in deliberately firing at the deceased suspects, is not justified in light of Sections 149 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC),” the report said. The concerned section casts a duty on police to prevent any cognizable offence.

“Each one of them was responsible for the safekeeping of the four deceased suspects. If either by acts or omissions they failed to fulfil their responsibility, then their common intention to cause the deaths of the deceased suspects is established,” it added.

Demolishing the self-defence theory of police, the commission said: “The claim that the deceased suspects assaulted the policemen, that the two policemen sustained injuries as a result and that they were treated at hospitals is false. The allegation of snatching pistols from the policemen is artificial and unbelievable. The evidence relating to snatching of weapons is best illustrated by the flip-flop evidence of CW-44 (Vasam Surender), the leader of the police party. He first states that he saw weapons being snatched from both police officers with his own eyes and later states that he only saw one and heard about the other.”

Appearing for the state, senior advocate Shyam Divan opposed the order to make the report public as it would affect the pending trial.

“Once a report is there, it has to be made public and action taken,” the bench said, directing the state to make its submissions before the high court. ping… It is a link to the country’s better future,” said Modi.

Noting that the National Education Policy (NEP) gave importance to all regional languages, Modi said, “This shows our commitment to regional languages.” The PM’S comments came amid a swirling row over government patronage of Hindi. The controversy was first sparked by the NEP, which proposed a three-language policy (English, Hindi and local language), which was rejected by the southern states such as Tamil Nadu that saw the recommendation as a way of introducing Hindi into their school syllabi, which currently include only English and the regional tongue.

Then, last month, Union home minister Amit Shah, who is also the chairman of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee, told members that 70% of the agenda of the Union cabinet was now prepared in Hindi. A statement from the MHA quoted Shah as saying that the time had come to make Hindi an important part of the unity of the country. The Opposition called it an assault on India’s pluralism and accused BJP of imposing Hindi. A spat on social media between the two sides deepened the row.

At the BJP national office bearers’ meeting, Modi also hit out at dynastic politics and opposition parties, which he said incited people in the name of caste or regionalism. He also asked BJP workers to formulate targets for the next 25 years.

He said it was essential for BJP, which was moving forward with its dream of Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat (One India, Greatest India), to keep people alert against these forces and parties. “We have to remember that only BJP can return the trust of those who are deceived by dynastic politics. The dynastic politics has given rise to corruption in the country. To save democracy, we have to fight against dynastic politics,” he added. The PM said that it was time for the BJP to set targets for the next 25 years, along with “consistently working for the country’s people to fulfil their aspirations and wading through all the challenges”.

“Now, every citizen wants to see the work getting done along with witnessing the outcome. In this backdrop, the responsibility of governments increases tremendously.” Highlighting that BJP will complete eight years of power at the Centre this month, Modi said this period was dedicated to service, good governance and welfare of the poor.

The PM also said that BJP workers need to focus continuously on politics of development and establishing it in all four directions of the country.

Congress spokesperson RC Choudhary said the PM was attacking dynasties out of frustration. “The BJP is frustrated as their party or leaders had no role in freedom or nation building. The BJP is only doing politics of division,” he added. “The BJP should answer why language is an issue. It is because they are trying to divide the masses on the basis of mother tongue. All languages should be given respect as diversity is our strength,” Choudhary said.

MONKEYPOX

health ministry official aware of the development, requesting anonymity.

The samples should be taken and “sent to a Bio safety level 4 laboratory for testing”, the official cited the directions as saying.

Some samples of suspected cases have been directed to be sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, which is country’s apex virology laboratory under the Indian Council of medical Research, for testing against the viral disease.

Monkeypox is a virus that originates in wild animals and occasionally jumps to humans, causing an illness that last 2-4weeks and is manifested by symptoms of fever and lesions. The disease is endemic in parts of central and west Africa and does not usually have a very high fatality rate. “The directive has been issued purely as a precautionary measure to look out for any warning signs. There are no cases of monkeypox detected in India so far. India has taken a proactive step like always,” said the official cited above.