QMumbai: BMC Pulls Up Dosti Realty; Kirana Stores Can Use Plastic
The latest updates in the Nirav Modi case and the Maharashtra plastic ban.
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1. Nirav Modi’s Signatory Seeks Case Transfer To CBI Court
An accused in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam on Wednesday moved the Prevention of Money Laundering Act court challenging its jurisdiction and sought transfer of the case to the CBI court.
Besides, another accused in the case filed an application before the special CBI court, claiming lack of coordination between the two prosecuting agencies — the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Advocate Vijay Aggarwal moved the application on behalf of Hemant Bhatt, an authorised signatory of billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi’s company, before PMLA court’s special judge M Azmi, who is currently presiding over the case lodged by the ED.
The PMLA court has no power to continue with the case as the cognisance [of the chargesheet] has been taken by special CBI judge, said Aggarwal.
The CBI had earlier booked Bhatt, along with others, under section 420 (cheating) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. He is also named in another FIR filed by the ED under the PMLA in connection with the case.
“If the act or acts of an accused in the same transaction constitute more than one offence under different laws, the person may be charged with and tried at one trial for each of such offences,” said Bhatt’s application.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
2. Kirana Stores Can Use Plastic Packaging
The state government has diluted the plastic ban, barely five days after enforcement. The ministry of environment has exempted retail packaging at kirana stores following vehement demands from the industry. It has also framed a buyback policy for such plastic.
The ban has been lifted for only packaging for food items following complaints of absence of affordable substitutes. Small retailers had complained of being “harassed” by BMC’s inspectors tasked with levying fines on offenders and of the lack of alternatives.
An empowered committee decided on Wednesday at Mantralaya that plastic packaging of not less than 250 gm will be permitted at small retail stores and a notification regarding the exemption will be issued soon.
The issue was also discussed at the CM’s cabinet meeting on June 21, said Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
3. Mumbai Rains: MMRDA's Claims Fall Flat As Potholes Stare In Their Face
Just two days of rain has washed away the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s (MMRDA) pre-monsoon claims that commuters won’t face any problems while travelling on the stretches where Metro construction work is underway. Not only water-logging, but even potholes have started appearing on the New Link Road between Andheri and Dahisar, where the D N Nagar Dahisar Metro 2A work is going on, and the Western Express Highway (WEH) stretch between Andheri East and Dahisar, where the Metro 7 work is under progress.
On Monday, when mid-day visited these places, it found that MMRDA’s promises had completely fallen flat. A lane of the New Link Road stretch between Lotus petroleum in Andheri West and Behrambaug was found to be in a terrible condition. Not only is the road surface uneven, but it has also developed potholes at certain spots. Around 30-40 potholes were found on just a 200-metre stretch of the road, leading to traffic jams in the area.
Even the service road of the WEH near Hub Mall in Goregaon East was in a poor condition. Along the median between the highway and the service road, a 2-3 feet deep pit has been kept uncovered with barricades around it. A visit to the WEH stretch between Goregaon and Bandra revealed that even though at certain places the road isn’t uneven, potholes have already started appearing on the stretch. Even on the southbound stretch of WEH between JVLR flyover and Jogeshwari flyover, there are potholes at three to four spots.
(Source: Mid-Day)
4. Mumbai Wall Cave-In: BMC Withholds Future Permissions To Dosti Realty
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in a fresh order issued on Wednesday, withheld all construction permissions given to Dosti Realty Limited, until buildings on its adjoining plot in Wadala that saw a landslide on Monday morning become structurally sound. The order was in addition to the stop-work notice issued to the builder on Monday evening.
The landslide at Dosti’s construction site caused the compound wall of the neighbouring Lloyd Estate to collapse, taking six cars along. Around 3.20pm on Tuesday, loose soil began to slip into the gorge, spreading fear of another landslide in the adjacent Dosti Blossoms. Panicking after the incidents, residents of Lloyd Estate and adjoining Dosti Blossoms protested outside the building proposals department on Wednesday, demanding the construction at the site be stopped and all existing permissions revoked.
While the existing nod can’t be revoked, taking their concerns into consideration, the notice was issued around 2pm. It read: “All further permissions are kept on hold till the adjoining buildings are restored to structurally safer proportions.”
“The Dosti building has been constructed upto the plinth level. The developer recently applied for permissions for the remaining construction. We have withheld all approvals, in addition to the stop-work notices issued on Monday,” said an official from the building proposals department, adding, “Not just Lloyd Estate, all buildings in the vicinity have complaints against the construction. The builder will have to take safety measures.”
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Arts Professor Attempts Suicide Outside MNS Chief’s House
An Arts professor tried to commit suicide outside Maharashtra Navnirman Sena(MNS) chief Raj Thackeray’s residence in Dadar over the shutting down of his department.
Gite, 38, who is an assistant lecturer, Arts, at LS Raheja School of Arts in Bandra, was reportedly upset that with the closure of the Arts faculty, the city’s poor will lose an opportunity to study the subject being offered by only one other state-run institution.
On Tuesday, Gite, who had been fighting to keep the department running for four years, was especially miffed after the college principal allegedly complained against his protests to the authorities.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
6. Mumbai: Day After Domestic Help Kills Self, Couple Booked
A senior banking executive and his wife were booked Wednesday for driving their domestic help to commit suicide a day after she allegedly jumped off their 18th floor apartment in Jogeshwari. Nitin Khanna, who heads the motor insurance wing at a large private sector bank and his wife, were charged with abetment of suicide under the Indian Penal Code by the Meghwadi police station on Wednesday, said N D Reddy, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone X.
On Tuesday night, 19-year-old Jyoti Potkar, who worked as a help at their home in Oberoi Splendour building on the Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road in Jogeshwari East, allegedly jumped off the 18th floor. She was rushed to Holy Spirit Hospital in Andheri East, where she was declared dead upon arrival.
Her family lodged a complaint with the police, alleging that the Khanna family had threatened Potkar after finding out that she been stealing from their home. According to the police, Potkar had been working as a stay-at-home help for the past one year.
(Source: Indian Express)
7. Bombay HC Says Prices Of Food And Drinks In Multiplexes ‘Exorbitant’, Sometimes More Than Movie Tickets
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday said prices of food and beverages sold at multiplexes are “exorbitant” and sometimes they are more expensive than movie tickets. The court has asked the state government to see if it can regulate the prices of food items sold in the theatres under the Bombay Police Act. The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Jainendra Baxi, through his lawyer Aditya Pratap. The petition states that there is no law that prohibits people from carrying their own food inside theatres.
A division bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Anuja Prabhudessai, said: “The prices of food and beverages sold in multiplexes are exorbitant.” It added that they understand when the state cannot permit the public to carry food from outside, but “why can’t it regulate the prices of food sold inside the cinema theatres”?, it asked. Senior counsel Iqbal Chagla, appearing for the Multiplexes Owners’ Association, told the court that the first rule of the multiplexes is that no outside food is allowed. The court then said: “In short, you are compelling the public to buy the food you sell at a price that suits you.” The court added: “Sometimes, some food articles are more expensive than the movie tickets.”
The court also said that almost all food items sold at theatres are above Rs 200-250.
(Source: Indian Express)
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