SC issues notice to Maha officials over Avni killing
INSTRUCTION TO NOT CELEBRATE THE KILLING OF THE TIGRESS WERE VIOLATED, SAID THE COURT
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued contempt notices to top officials in the Maharashtra government for violating its order to declare no reward for killing the man-eater tigress Avni and to not celebrate the killing. The tigress was shot dead by a hunter during a late night operation in November 2018.
Raising questions over the procedure followed in shooting down the tigress, a petition filed by wildlife enthusiast Sangeeta Dogra claimed that there is enough in the post-mortem report of the tigress to show that she was not a man-eater.
Dogra further stated in her petition that on September 11, 2018, the Supreme Court while permitting Avni (T-1) to be put down, said: “The efforts to tranquilize and capture T-1 tigress will be continued and if unsuccessful, it shall be eliminated by shooting to avoid any further loss of human life. The Chief Conservator of Forests, Yavatmal is authorized to carry out the above order. He shall not declare any prize or any similar incentive for the responsible person.”
Despite the clear instruction by the court, Dogra claimed in her contempt petition that within days of the killing, the villagers arranged a felicitation function on November 14, 2018 and presented a silver statue of the tigress along with a cash reward to the shooter involved in the killing.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde issued notice on the contempt petition to Principal Secretary, Maharashtra, Vikas Kharge, Principal Chief Conservator Forests (Nagpur), Deputy Conservator of Forests, Pandharkawada district, and Member Secretary, National Tiger Conservation Authority.
“First we need to examine your plea that the dead tigress was not a man-eater. Second, they (contemnors) flouted our order that they shall not celebrate or reward anyone for killing the tigress. We will issue notice as our order is clearly violated,” said the bench, which also comprised justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.
Dogra claimed that the postmortem report did not indicate presence of nails, hair or teeth of human beings in the stomach. According to her, if the dead tigress was a man-eater, these would have been found because they remain in a predator’s stomach for around six months. The bench asked Dogra to submit proof to this effect and adjourned the matter after two weeks.
The tigress is believed to have killed at least 13 villagers in Maharashtra’s Pandharkawda and Ralegoan regions of Yavatmal district for over one-and-ahalf years. The six-year-old tigress was shot dead after a massive hunt and her two cubs, relocated.
NEW DELHI: The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) on Wednesday scrapped all new taxes such as betterment tax, education cess and professional tax, which were proposed by the EDMC additional commissioner in the budget presentation last December for financial year 2021-22.
The civic body has, instead, decided to bring more properties under the tax ambit to boost its revenue. It has also decided to approach the Delhi government to ask for its dues of ₹2,985 crore to improve its financial situation.
The total budget projection of the East corporation for fiscal 2021-22 is ₹4,653 crore.
Presenting the final budget estimates for the financial year 2021-22, leader of the house in EDMC Pravesh Sharma said increasing tax on properties cannot be the only solution to boost revenue collection. “There will be no new tax for the people living (in neighbourhoods) under the EDMC jurisdiction. The public are already suffering because of the coronavirus pandemic, hence, we will not levy any new tax. The proposal of imposing new taxes has been scrapped,” Sharma said.
The additional commissioner had also proposed an education cess of 5% on the annual property tax.
“At present, only 250,000 properties in the EDMC pay taxes while the number of taxable properties is above 1.4 million. So, we will conduct a fresh survey of properties from which tax can be collected and will start special drives to improve tax collection,” Sharma said.
He also said that the municipality will mount pressure on the Delhi government to release ₹2,985 crore, due towards EDMC, so that the civic body’s financial health improves.
Reacting to the final budget estimates, leader of opposition in the EDMC and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Manoj Tyagi said, “It is not a people-friendly budget as there is no new public oriented announcement.”
NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Thursday will hear a plea seeking an independent court-monitored probe into the death of Navreet Singh, a 25-year-old farmer, who had died allegedly due to the overturning of a tractor during the farmers’ rally on January 26.
The petition filed by Hardeep Singh, grandfather of the deceased, said the Delhi Police had falsely declared Navreet’s death as “accidental”, without fairly investigating the cause of death. The plea filed through advocates Vrinda Grover and Soutik Banerjee also said that various medical/forensic experts, who reviewed the description of injuries in the post-mortem report, have independently made statements opining that the injuries are consistent with ante-mortem firearm /gunshot wounds, and the injuries could not have resulted from a tractor overturning.
The petition said the grandfather had sufficient reason to mistrust the police and not accept the “hasty and unverified conclusion in the death of his grandson” as no investigation was conducted. The plea sought that the matter be investigated by police officers who are “independent, professional and impartial”.