Mumbai News Live: Raj Kundra denies involvement in production, distribution of pornography, calls episode ‘witch hunt’ – The Indian Express

For the fourth time in December, Mumbai did not report any fresh fatality due to coronavirus on Monday, keeping the death toll unchanged at 16,365, while 204 new cases took the infection count to 7,67,331, civic officials said.
  
A day after Mumbai logged 336 COVID-19 cases, the number of daily cases came down to 204, while the daily fatalities slipped to zero in the last 24 hours from two on Sunday.

According to the officials, the financial capital has reported zero fatalities for the  fourth time this month. Earlier, no death of patient linked to coronavirus was reported on December 11, 15 and 18. On October 17, the city had recorded zero fatalities for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic in March last year. The metropolis had reported its first coronavirus case on March 11, 2020, and its first death 6 days later on March 17. (PTI)

Two motorbike-borne men opened fire and attacked a person with a sword in suburban Chembur on Monday, leaving him injured, a police official said.
  
According to the official, the incident took place at RNA Park at around 5 pm when the assailants came on a motorbike. One of them fired one round from a weapon, while the other one attacked the victim, identified as Ravindra Gaikwad, with a sword.
Gaikwad was injured in the attack whose motive was not yet known, he said.

The police have launched a manhunt to nab the attackers, one of whom has been identified as Ajay Marimuthu Peraswamy alias ‘Chembur Anna’, the official said.

The police were scanning CCTV footage of the area to collect more information about the incident. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Krishnakant Upadhyay said, “We are in the process of registering an FIR against the two persons, one of whom opened fire, while the other one attacked (the victim) with a sword. An investigation was on.” (PTI)

The Maharashtra government on Monday urged the hospitality industry to support the state’s EV Policy that aims to convert 15 per cent of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) fleet into electric vehicles by 2025.
          
“The state’s comprehensive EV Policy has been developed to fortify Maharashtra’s position as the leading destination for EV manufacturing and utilisation. With standard operating procedures (SOPs), infrastructure mandates, and incentivization, we look forward to the widespread acceptance of EV’s in the state,” state Tourism and Environment Minister Aaditya Uddhav Thackeray said after a meeting with Chalet Hotels.
        
The aggressive implementation of the Policy is critical and cannot be fully successful without support from the private sector, the minister said in a statement. The minister on Monday met with Chalet Hotels which has committed to convert 100 per cent of its vehicular fleet to EVs by 2025, along with setting up of EV charging stations, across its portfolio hotels and commercial office spaces. (PTI)

The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Maharashtra government to file an affidavit detailing the statutory rules under which taxi aggregators such as Uber and Ola are granted licences to operate in the state. A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice MS Karnik also directed Uber India to file a reply clarifying whether it had secured a licence under the Maharashtra City Taxi Rules, 2016. 
        
The bench passed the directions while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Savina Crasto highlighting the lack of an effective grievance redressal mechanism for customers using Uber India app to use their cab services. Crasto cited an incident from November last year when she booked an Uber ride in the city and was dropped off mid-way ?at a shady dark place”. She then found the Uber app had no effective option for lodging complaints. 
        
On Monday, Crasto showed the HC bench how the app worked on her phone and explained that the app’s current grievance redressal mechanism had only a list of pre-set complaints that a customer could click on. The counsel for Uber India told HC the current mechanism available to those using its app covered all possible issues that one could face. (PTI)

Several public interest litigations have been filed in the Bombay High Court challenging the Maharashtra government’s decision to revoke a liquor ban imposed in April, 2015 in Chandrapur district. The petitions, filed by Dr Abhay Bang, former MLA WS Chatap and a few tribals, have challenged the decision of the state cabinet as well as a consequent circular dated June 8, 2021 repealing the ban on the sale of liquor imposed in Chandrapur.
        
The petitions came up for hearing before a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik on Monday. Bang’s counsel Rafiq Dada and advocate Uday Warunjikar told HC Chandrapur is a tribal area and if liquor is allowed then people there would get addicted, and in such cases women and children are the worst affected.
        
After hearing the matter briefly, the court noted that the Nagpur bench has the jurisdiction to hear this matter. Dada, however, told HC the decision (to revoke the ban) was taken in Mumbai. (PTI)

The Supreme Court has refused to interfere with a Bombay High Court order rejecting a plea by Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant N Nagrale seeking quashing of an application moved by his wife under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

A bench of Justice U U Lalit and S Ravindra Bhat instead transferred the proceedings from a Pune court to the Bombay High Court where her appeal against the divorce granted to them by a family court is pending and asked the high court to dispose it as early as possible. Read more

The Bombay High Court on Monday refused bail to actor Armaan Kohli, arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for alleged possession and consumption of drugs. A single bench of Justice N W Sambre rejected Kohli’s application seeking bail. The court will pass a detailed order giving its reasons later.
        
Kohli was arrested in August this year for possession of 1.2 grams of cocaine, a quantity falling under ‘small category meant for consumption’. Later, the NCB arrested the drug peddler from whom commercial quantity was recovered. Kohli approached HC after a special court rejected his bail plea.
        
Kohli’s advocate Aabad Ponda had argued the offences against the actor were bailable considering he had been allegedly found with a small quantity of drugs. He also contended that except for statements and panchnamas, there was nothing to justify why sections 27A (illicit trafficking) and 29 (conspiracy) of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act were invoked. (PTI)

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday urged the Bombay High Court to direct poet-activist Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, to surrender before the Taloja prison authorities, saying that several “other old people” in need of medical treatment were also in prisons.
         
The NIA made the submission as a bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and S V Kotwal extended the time for 83-year-old Rao to surrender till January 7, 2022. Rao was granted temporary medical bail for six months by the HC in February this year and was supposed to surrender on September 5, but he applied for the extension of such bail, stating that he continued to suffer from several ailments. 
        
The HC has extended his bail multiple times due to reasons like the need for further medical care, and time sought by the NIA to get him medically examined. On Monday, as Rao’s counsel Anand Grover sought time to file an affidavit responding to his medical examination reports submitted by the Nanavati Hospital here, the NIA opposed any further extension of time for surrender. (PTI)

The Mumbai crime branch arrested a 20-year-old man from suburban Dahisar and seized four country-made pistols and two cartridges from his possession, an official said on Monday.
          
The man, identified as Aditya Thavkar, is a resident of Nagpur in east Maharashtra. He was arrested on Sunday afternoon following a tip-off that he was coming to Kundan Nagar area in Dahisar to deliver the pistols, he said. 
        
A case was registered under various sections of the Arms Act. (PTI)

The Bombay High Court on Monday asked the Maharashtra government to come up with a short term plan to address the issue of deaths due to malnutrition in the tribal belt of the state.
          
The court was hearing a bunch of public interest litigations filed in 2007 highlighting the high numbers of deaths of children, pregnant women and lactating mothers in Melghat region due to malnutrition.
        
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik also noted that the tribal population has to join the mainstream when their health is in question. As per earlier orders of the court, senior IPS officer Dr Chhering Dorje, also Special Inspector General, submitted his report on Monday on the problems faced by the people living in these areas. (PTI)

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Monday dared BJP MLA Ashish Shelar to prove his statement that a Maha Vikas Aghadi minister was present in a party thrown by renowned filmmaker Karan Johar or tender a public apology.
          
A recent party thrown by the filmmaker had come under the scanner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation after two actors tested positive for COVID-19, while it soon turned into a political tussle with Shelar claiming that a state minister was also one of the attendees.
        
Speaking to reporters at her official residence in Byculla, Pednekar, who is also a Shiv Sena spokesperson, asked Shelar to give proof to back his claim and also hit out at the BJP for creating unnecessary controversies through baseless allegations. The BMC, which is ruled by the Shiv Sena, has taken necessary action in connection with the party, she added. (PTI)

After more than a dozen cancellations across the country, stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui was able to hold a show, in Mumbai’s Y B Chavan Auditorium, Sunday as the Congress’s All India Professional Congress (AIPC) wing extended him its support.

AIPC president Mathew Anthony said there was no disturbance at all during the show. “We sincerely thank all the torchbearers who believe in the values of the Constitution, freedom of expression of an individual, and freedom of choice to decide the entertainment one would like to consume,” Anthony said, adding that the local deputy commissioner, Hari Balaji N, and the team of Cuffe Parade Police Station provided the show security.

The Congress is part of the ruling coalition in Maharashtra. In October, three shows to be held by Faruqui in Mumbai were cancelled after Bajrang Dal members threatened the owners of the venue where they were to be held. Police reportedly did not assure adequate security.

Businessman Raj Kundra, who was arrested in a pornography case earlier this year and later granted bail, claimed he has never been involved in the production and distribution of pornographic content in his life. 

Kundra said the entire episode was nothing but a “witch hunt”. The businessman also said has already been pronounced guilty by the media, and he wishes his privacy is not intruded anymore with this continued “media trial”. 

The Supreme Court last week granted protection from arrest to Kundra in connection with an FIR registered against him for allegedly distributing pornographic videos.

In July this year, Kundra was arrested by the Mumbai Police in another case where he was accused of distributing porn films through an app. He was granted bail in September. (PTI)

Amid the fear of spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal has appealed to citizens to avoid gatherings and parties during the upcoming Christmas festival and New Year, and warned of stringent action against those who flout rules.

Chahal said due to the new virus variant Omicron, the situation at many countries in the world has once again gone out of control and has created a lockdown-like situation. He also asked citizens to strictly adhere to rules regarding attendance at weddings and other functions.

Six persons tested positive for the Omicron variant of coronavirus in Maharashtra on Sunday, raising the state’s tally of such cases to 54, the health department said. Out of 54 cases in the state, 22 have been found in Mumbai.

While two of these patients had a history of travel to Tanzania, two others had returned from England and one from the Middle East. All five of them are fully vaccinated.

Another patient is a five-year-old boy from Junnar in Pune who is a close contact of Dubai travellers from Junnar, it said in a statement.