Under the world: Breaking bread

There may be many reasons that accused persons cite for leniency from the judges to avoid harsh terms. But this one is clearly amusing. Many of the 10 accused in the murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar in March 2007 cited their single marital status as the reason for requesting leniency from the special MCOCA court. While don-turned-politician Arun Gawli claimed he had a family to fend for,the others – one after the other – said,“I am yet to be married.”At the end of the hearing,the court held all 11 responsible for the murder and ordered them life terms.

Bonding in jail

It was a reunion of sorts when some of the 1993 bomb blast accused facing trial before the special Tada court met their temporary cell-mates on the court premises last week. After having spent a fortnight with them in the jail,some of the bureaucrats and army officials accused in the Adarsh housing scam (who shall go unnamed),did not shy away from exchanging pleasantries with the likes of gangster Mustafa Dossa. In fact,one of the Adarsh accused said,“At a time when we had no one to seek solace from,we turned to these men languishing in the jails for years. They still manage to have such a positive outlook towards life.”

Private bias

The recent mishap on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro resulted in the Reliance Infrastructure-led Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd receiving a lot of flak for ignoring safety measures at construction sites. Referring to the accident at the Airport Road Metro station,a senior executive with a private infrastructure company rued that profits are always seen as evil in India. “This is a public private partnership where the private company and government body are working together and one is not working under the other. But still,the private company is bad because profit is seen as an evil concept,while the government is the beautiful white lily.”

Taking guard for Bihar

It appears to be a case of once bitten,twice shy for the Mumbai Police. After it arrested a man from near the Nepal border in Bihar in connection with the Azad Maidan riots probe,the Bihar DGP sent a letter to the Mumbai Police warning of legal action if they acted without informing it in the future. This created a furore in the state with MNS chief Raj Thackeray terming all Bihari residents as “infiltrators’’. Earlier this week,following the interrogation of two men arrested in Goregaon with a carbine stashed in their car,a Crime Branch team was sent to Siwan to pick up a third suspect in the case. Keen to avoid any controversy this time,the Crime Branch secured an arrest warrant from a local court before heading to Bihar,and informed the Siwan police in advance. The local police even assisted in the arrest,and a transit remand of the suspect was secured from a court in Siwan before he was brought back to the city.

Raj in a spot

MNS president Raj Thackeray was,for once,at a loss of words. As a leader who takes aggressive stand for the rights of locals,Thackeray ended up sharing the dias at an event with builder Niranjan Hiranandani,who is facing allegations of land grab. The Bombay High Court had recently asked the builder to ensure construction of houses for poor,which it had failed to while constructing a colony in Powai. When questioned about it,Raj did not know how to respond and finally said he realised only after getting on the dias that he was to felicitate Niranjan Hiranandani.

New record

Last week,BJP broke its own record of holding press conferences. Usually known to hold one media briefing a week by a Central or a state leader,the party set a new record by holding one every day.