1. Kulbhushan Jadhav Verdict: Justice in International Court
After more than two years of battle at the global court, New Delhi won a legal and diplomatic victory over Islamabad on Wednesday, 17 July, after the International Court of Justice ruled that Pakistan must review the death sentence for Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav. He was sentenced by a Pakistani military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism”.
The court affirmed the former Indian Navy officer’s right to consular access and slammed Pakistan for denying this. And made it clear that Jadhav’s death sentence should remain suspended until Pakistan effectively reviews and reconsiders the conviction and sentence in the light of its breach of Article 36 — that is denial of consular access and notification.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Pakistan Arrests Hafiz Saeed on Terror Finance Allegations
Lashkar-eTaiba (LeT) founder and alleged Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed was on Wednesday arrested by Pakistani security officials on charges of collecting funds for banned terror groups and remanded to judicial custody.
This is the first time the head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) has been arrested on specific charges filed by authorities. In the past, he was detained without charge in connection with incidents such as the Mumbai attacks.
The arrest came against the backdrop of pressure on Pakistan from the US and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to crack down on terror and its financing, and days before Prime Minister Imran Khan embarks on a three-day visit to the US during which he will hold talks with President Donald Trump on July 22. Khan will be accompanied by Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Karnataka Trust Vote Today: Speaker’s Call on Resignations, Says SC, but Gives Rebel MLAs a Shield
In an interim order on the eve of the crucial trust vote in the Karnataka Assembly Thursday, the Supreme Court Wednesday left it open to the Speaker to decide on the resignations of 15 rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs but also ordered that the MLAs should not be “compelled” to attend the ongoing session of the House.
Hearing a plea by the rebels against Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar who has not accepted their resignations, a bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose said it was passing the order keeping in view the fact that Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s government faces a trust motion Thursday.
Thirteen Congress and three JD(S) MLAs have resigned since July 6, technically reducing the numbers of the coalition from 117 to 101 compared to the BJP’s 105 in the 224-member House where the halfway mark is 113.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Lok Sabha Witnesses Most Productive Session in 20 Years
Encouraged by the proceedings in Parliament in the current session which has been the most productive in the last 20 years, the government is contemplating to extend the sittings for a few more days, a day after PM Narendra Modi dropped hints about it while addressing the BJP parliamentary party meet on Tuesday.
Several legislations are still pending and the government is keen on getting most of them cleared by extending the session rather than calling a separate Monsoon session. “After the current session, the next will be the winter session,” a source said.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Nine People Shot, 4 Injured Over Land Dispute in Sonbhadra District
At least nine persons, including four women, were shot dead over a dispute of land at Ubha village in Sonbhadra district on Wednesday afternoon. Ubha village is around 25 kilometers from Ghorawal police station where the jurisdiction lies. Around four persons were injured in the incident.
Police said the incident occurred when village head Ek Dutt had gone to take possession of the land which he purchased two years ago and villagers gathered at the spot and started to protest. After heated arguments, both groups entered into brick batting. The situation took an ugly turn when gunshots were fired.
Inspector General, Law and Order, Praveen Kumar said village head purchased 90 bigha land two years back. “On Wednesday afternoon, village head along with his associates reached to take possession of the purchased land. Locals opposed it and as a result firing took place,” Kumar said, adding that two persons have been arrested.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. One Convicted, One Acquitted in British Teen Scarlett Murder Case
The Bombay high court at Goa on Wednesday convicted a beach shack worker of culpable homicide for drugging and sexually assaulting British teenager Scarlett Keeling, whom he left to die on the Anjuna beach in February 2008. The court acquitted a second man of the charges.
The court overturned the acquittal of Samson D’Souza, who was charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, sexual assault, drugging, sexual abuse of a child, and destruction of evidence.
The second accused, Placido Carvalho, was found not guilty of the same offences and his acquittal upheld.
“Samson D’Souza, we find you guilty of the offences of administering (stupefying) drugs, outraging the modesty, culpable homicide, disappearing evidence and child abuse,” ruled the bench comprising justices RD Dhanuka and Prithviraj Chavan, which will pronounce the sentence on Friday.
(Source: The Hindustan Times)
7. Kohli, Most Other Seniors Ready for Full Windies Tour
Contrary to media reports, most of Team India's senior players have indicated their availability for the full tour of the West Indies, which will begin early next month.
The exceptions are Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is learnt to be headed to his army unit for the next two months, allrounder Hardik Pandya, who has been enduring back trouble and pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who has been advised a bit of rest.
The others, including captain Virat Kohli and white-ball vice captain Rohit Sharma, are ready and willing to play the three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests.
There has been talk that most of Team India's regulars, especially the ones who play all three formats, would not play the T20s and ODIs and only be picked for the Tests. In fact, some reports had speculated that Kohli and Bumrah would be rested even for the Tests. However, this is unlikely to be the case when the national selectors meet on Friday.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. Ranchi Court Modifies Donate Quran Order After Police Highlight Difficulty in Implementation
A court in Ranchi on Wednesday modified its July 15 order directing a 20-year-old woman to donate five copies of the Quran to educational institutions as an additional condition for her bail.
Richa Bharti, who was released on Monday, was charged with posting content allegedly targeting Muslims on WhatsApp and Facebook on July 12. Magistrate Manish Singh on Monday granted her bail on the condition that she donates five copies of the Quran to government schools and colleges. She expressed her unhappiness over the condition while several people took to social media to criticise Singh.
Singh modified the order after the investigating officer (IO) of the case urged the court to do away with the condition as there were difficulties in its implementation.
(Source: The Hindustan Times)
9. BJP Expels Uttarakhand MLA Pranav Singh Champion
BJP on Wednesday expelled its Uttarakhand MLA Pranav Singh Champion from the party for six years, days after a purported video of the legislator brandishing guns and dancing at a house party became viral on social media.
Uttarakhand BJP chief Ajay Bhatt had last week served a show-cause notice on Championm, who was already suspended from the party, asking why he should not be expelled from the party.
Champion was suspended from the BJP last month for three months. He was accused of threatening a journalist at Uttarakhand Niwas in New Delhi.
Stating that indiscipline could not be tolerated in the party, Bhatt said, "The BJP is a party which does not compromise on principles. Indiscipline by anyone cannot be tolerated." BJP's media in-charge and Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni told reporters that the party has taken cognizance of his serial public misconduct and expelled him for six years.
(Source: The Times of India)
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