Judge opts out of Kunal Saha case

New Delhi: The Anuradha Saha medical negligence case has been referred to a new bench after Justice Ruma Pal of the Supreme Court on Monday chose not to hear the case, reports our legal correspondent.

At the start of hearings, Avik Datta, the advocate on record for Anuradha’s husband Kunal Saha, pointed out that Justice Pal’s husband had earlier defended the West Bengal Medical Council. He said it was his “duty” to point out “this fact” to the division bench of Justices Pal and Arun Kumar, presided over by the former.

This led Justice Pal to dictate an order in the open court that the case should not be placed before her.

Anuradha died in May 1998 at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital after a few days of treatment at the Advanced Medical Research Institute in Calcutta, the couple’s hometown.

Kunal Saha, a US-based medical practitioner like his wife, accused the state medical council and its chairman of “bias” towards doctors Baidyanath Haldar and Sukumar Mukherjee whom he blamed for Anuradha’s death.

Haldar and Mukherjee were found guilty by an Alipur trial court in May 2002 after Kunal slapped legal cases against them. But Calcutta High Court quashed their conviction last March.

Court orders talaq relook

Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Tuesday quashed a lower court order rejecting the maintenance claim of a Muslim woman and directed it to ascertain whether the separation was in accordance with the Shariat.

Allowing a revision petition filed by her against a Sitapur court order, Justice I.M. Quddusi ordered it to record the findings after hearing both parties and advance evidence from their statements whether talaq was effected according to the Shariat.

Sadiqunnissa has said she was thrown out of her husband’s house for failing to fulfil his dowry demand. She claimed she was also tortured.

Later, when she and her two-year-old son moved an application under Section 125 of the CrPC for maintenance, her husband Wasi Khan filed an objection, saying he had divorced her and talaq nama (divorce paper) was sent to her through registered post.

Militants kill govt official

Srinagar (PTI): Militants on Tuesday dragged a government employee out of his house in Badgam and shot him dead, official sources said.

The assailants intruded into the house of Abdul Samad Malik, an employee of the public health engineering department, at Goharpora village in the wee hours, the sources said.

The militants then dragged him out and pumped bullets into his body. A massive manhunt has been launched to arrest the militants.

School mishap

Kozhikode (PTI): Thirteen students and a teacher were injured when a coconut tree, uprooted due to heavy winds, fell on their school at Beypore near here on Tuesday, police said. The injured, all studying in Class I in the government school, have been hospitalised.

Indians killed

Melbourne (AFP): Two Indian students were killed when their car hit a power pole in this southern Australian city, police said. Victoria state police said the two, aged 29 and 24, died on the spot in Melbourne’s northeastern suburbs on Tuesday.

Civil service

New Delhi (PTI): The Union Public Service Commission has declared the results of the civil services preliminary examination with 5,562 candidates qualifying for the main exam. Applications for the examination — to be held from October 15 — will have to be submitted separately and the forms will be supplied to the candidates by the commission, an official release said.

Battered to death

Ahmedabad (PTI): A man allegedly beat his wife to death with a cricket bat on Tuesday morning and later committed suicide, police said. Preliminary probe revealed a domestic tiff was the cause of the murder. Prahlad Dagar, 42, an advocate, allegedly hit his 35-year-old wife Sushila on her head and hanged himself in their flat.

The South Gloucestershire Asian Project, a Bristol-based voluntary group, has won the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. Chairman Jitesh Mistry received the award on Monday.