?Frivolous? PIL draws court fine

Mumbai (PTI): Bombay High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on three petitioners who had filed a PIL urging a judicial probe into the police firing following the collapse of the Damanganga bridge in 2003.

Describing the PIL as ?false and frivolous?, a bench of Chief Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice S. A. Bobade asked the petitioners ? Mahesh Patel, Ibrahim Parker and Ramzan Parker ? on Wednesday to pay the fine within six weeks to the Centre.

The high court said filing of such petitions should be discouraged as they spoil the very purpose and spirit of a PIL.

The Centre?s counsel, Dipesh Mehta, told the court that a magisterial inquiry had already been conducted by the collector of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

He also said the petitioners have been chargesheeted by the police for rioting in the same incident. Besides, if the police had not fired, there would have been more damage to government property and loss of life, Mehta said.

The Damanganga bridge connecting the Moti Daman with the Nani Daman collapsed on August 28, 2003, killing 30 people.

Riot bodies to be exhumed

Ahmedabad (PTI): The bodies of two Muslim youths, slain in the Gujarat riots, will be exhumed to ascertain the role played by BJP MLA Shankar Chaudhary in the killing, director-general of police A.K. Bhargava said on Wednesday.

Bhargava said the bodies will be exhumed to procure the bullets which were believed to have killed them.

?We have to conduct detailed investigations before we take any action against the MLA, who is the prime accused,? he said. If the allegations levelled against the MLA are true, then the bullets will have marks which will match with his licensed weapon, Bhargava added.

Chaudhary, along with 10 others, has been charged in a case of double murder, arson, rioting and loot that took place during the post-Godhra riots in the state.

Ladakh fee for foreigners

Jammu (PTI): Foreigners visiting Ladakh will be charged a fee from April.

The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council in Jammu and Kashmir has decided to charge Rs 400 each from tourists visiting general areas. An inner line permit fee of Rs 800 each has been fixed for other areas. The money will be used to promote tourism, ecology and environment in Ladakh, the chief executive councillor of the council said.

Correa selection

New Delhi (PTI): Architect Charles Correa was on Wednesday appointed chairman of the Delhi Urban Arts Commission, which is responsible for the planning and development of the capital. The commission also includes architect Jasbir Sawhney and urban historian Narayani Gupta.

Businessman bail

Mumbai (PTI): A sessions court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to a businessman charged with threatening an editor allegedly at the behest of Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh. Chaaru Anand, the editor of the tabloid Page 3, had filed a complaint alleging that Basab Paul had threatened her over phone to retract an article on the ?bonding? between Amitabh Bachchan and Singh.

Cartoonist dead

Hyderabad (PTI): Cartoonist O.V. Vijayan died on Wednesday following a multiple-organ failure. Ootupulackal Velukutty Vijayan was also an accomplished Malayam writer and awarded Padma Shri in 2001. He was ailing for a long time. Vijayan, 75, is survived by his wife Teresa Gabriel and a son. A political cartoonist, Vijayan had joined the now-defunct Shankar?s Weekly and later The Patriot. He had also worked for The Hindu and The Statesman.

Killer father

Dindigul (PTI): A man, suspecting his wife?s fidelity, smothered his three children to death with a pillow before committing suicide at Virupatchi in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will release a stamp on Thursday to mark the centenary of the miracle year of 1905 when Albert Einstein?s ground-breaking scientific theories were published.