HATHRAS SHOCKING: SC SC moved over scribe’s arrest
UP govt, petitioners seek CBI probe, though for different reasons
The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing pleas on the Hathras alleged gang rape and murder case for a week, directing the Uttar Pradesh government to find out the scope of the case already being dealt by the Allahabad High Court that had suo moto taken up the midnight burning of the victim's body and spell out the protection granted to the witnesses.
It also assured the petitioners that "we will ensure that the probe into the Hathras case is smooth," describing the incident as shocking and horrible. It kept on hold their demand for a court-monitored CBI probe and shifting of the police case to Delhi.
Both the state government and the petitioners, who rushed to the Supreme Court with three PILs (public interest litigations), converged on a demand for a Court-monitored CBI probe into the alleged gang-rape and death of a Dalit woman in Hathras, but for different grounds.
The state said a probe by an independent central agency was needed to ensure that no vested interests are able to create a fake and false narrative with "oblique motives." It referred to a "vicious" campaign unleashed in the social media, TV and print media to defame UP government, despite it wanting the matter that has caught the national
attention be probe by a central agency.
The three petitioners said they have no faith in the probe by a team of the UP Police and so they want the probe either by the CBI or by a Special Investigation team (SIT) monitored by a sitting or retired Supreme Court or High Court judge.
The Bench of Chief Justice Sharad A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian sought an affidavit from the state government by Thursday to apprise it on the steps taken for protection provided to the witnesses. It also asked if the victim's family has chosen a lawyer.
NEW DELHI A Kerala journalists' organisation has moved the Supreme Court, challenging the "illegal detention" of its Delhi unit Secretar y in Uttar Pradesh while on the way to report the Hathras incident. The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) has filed a habeas corpus petition seeking immediate release of journalist Siddique Kappan, who was arrested at Toll Plaza near Hathras, on the way to Hathras to report on the case.
Ex-BJP MLA, 100 others booked
An FIR has been registered against former BJP MLA Rajveer Singh Pehelvan and 100 others for a meeting attended by scores of people here defying prohibitor y orders. The meeting was held outside Pehelvan's house on Sunday where they defended the accused in the alleged gang-rape of a Dalit woman, who later died, and demanded registration of an FIR against her family members. Meanwhile, the National Commission of Women has sought explanation from BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya, Congress leader Digvijay Singh and actress Swara Bhasker for allegedly revealing the identity of Hathras victim on Twitter.