Delhi Confidential: Ray of Hope

SC allowed shifting Subrata Roy from a prison cell to a conference room for 10 days to facilitate business negotiations.

August 15 had a reference during the Supreme Court hearing of the Sahara case Friday. The court allowed shifting Subrata Roy from a prison cell to a conference room in Delhi’s Tihar Jail complex for 10 days to facilitate business negotiations so as to arrange Rs 10,000 crore for bail. As the deadline of this limited freedom expires around August 15, the Independence Day, the bench casually remarked if the date may bring independence for Roy as well. “Let us see if they can also earn their freedom by August 15,” said the bench in a lighter vein.

Business law
A peculiar legal tussle has reached the Supreme Court. The court is set to adjudicate a petition by a lawyer, who has lost his office, allotted in the New Lawyers’ Chamber Block. The Chamber Block is situated opposite the Supreme Court complex across the road. The charge against the lawyer is that he allegedly rented out his chamber to a company. While he worked from another office, this chamber was allegedly used extensively by the company and its staff. The lawyer has however denied it, prompting the court to inquire if he was issued a show-cause notice for allegedly lending his chamber to the firm.

Hygiene conscious
Till the other day, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien used to have a rice thali (platter) as lunch from the Parliament canteen. Not any more. Ever since MPs complained about the quality of the food served by the canteen and claimed that some of them had fallen ill, Kurien has started bringing lunch from home. And he is not alone. Several MPs have stopped eating at the Parliament canteen. One gets to hear that the Northern Railway, which runs the canteen, has now roped in three top private caterers — ITC, Haldiram and MTR — to provide quality food.

Gaza Casulaity
IF the power shift in Delhi and the continuing conflict in Gaza had taken a toll on political iftars this Ramzan season, Eid milans, too, seem to be getting hit. Prominent Muslim outfit Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind is the latest to cancel the Eid Milan that was to be hosted by its president Maulana Qari Syed Mohammad Usman next week. The outfit cancelled the programme due to the tragic circumstances of the Palestinian people.

Visa Woes
Somerailway officials are facing a peculiar problem with the US Embassy. They are to participate in a seminar in the US for which they require official visa. But, for the past few days, their visa applications are not being processed because, they are being told by the embassy, the central servers are down. With tickets already booked and leaves sanctioned, the last thing they thought would be a hurdle was the visa.

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