Will continue investigation, apex court wants further report

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was set up by the Supreme Court to reinvestigate the 2002 post-Godhra riots, submitted its report before the apex court on Monday.

The SIT, headed by former CBI director RK Raghavan, is investigating nine cases, including the Sabarmati Express carnage incident and the subsequent Naroda Patia, Naroda Gaam and Gulbarg society massacres. The team submitted its report before a bench comprising justices Arijit Pasayat, P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam.

The Supreme Court widened the scope of death penalty, saying killing more than one innocent people or killing through organised crime could attract capital punishment.

The apex court said this while reversing the verdict of the Allahabad high court, which had reduced the death sentence of two men in the case of alleged murder of six of a family in 1994.

The two men were part of a six-member group that had entered a house and murdered the inmates due to a family feud.

Advocates to decide next step after SC hearing

Advocates of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have decided to continue their agitation till March 4 though retired Supreme Court judge justice B Srikrishna, who is inquiring into the February 19 incident, requested them to call off the strike.

A Lok Adalat on Sunday ruled that even a second wife has the right to maintenance for herself and the couple's child. The court dealing with pending matrimonial cases asked a Delhi police constable to pay his second wife Rs4,000 per month as maintenance.

The court also asked him to include the name of his second wife's daughter in his official documents, including the Central Government Health Scheme, so that the child can avail of the medical facility.

The policeman had married the woman in 2003 even though his first marriage was alive. He has three children from the first marriage.

"The court decided that my wife will keep her and I will pay her Rs4,000 a month. I am happy with the decision," he said.

In a setback to opponents of capital punishment, the Supreme Court has enlarged the scope of the penalty, saying killing of more than one innocent or killing through organised crime could attract the sentence.

"A murder committed due to deep-seated mutual and personal rivalry may not call for death penalty. But an organised crime or mass murder of innocent people would call for imposition of death sentence," a bench of justice Arijit Pasayat and justice Mukundakam Sharma said.

The judges scrapped a verdict of the Allahabad High Court reducing to life term the death sentence given by a trial court to two persons for killing six members of a family in 1994.

The state government’s new licence initiative will be a people friendly one. Sources in the state government claimed that the new system will help reduce the time it takes a licence holder to pay fines and various taxes and fees such as the fee for renewal of licence. The new digital licence will have a microchip which will contain all relevant information about the licence holder. This information will be made available online to various traffic authorities such as the police and the RTO.