HC bins Padma sati plea

• NEW DELHI: Delhi High Court on Thursday rejected a plea seeking action against the producers and director of Padmaavat for the alleged glorification of the practice of sati. A bench dismissed the plea saying the petitioner should have approached the Central Board of Film Certification earlier. "The film stands released without any complaints and it is already in public domain. If the petitioner was having any complaint with regard to the issue raised in his writ petition, he should have made a complaint before the CBFC at an appropriate time." the court said. PTI

Officials booked

• MUMBAI: Bombay High Court on Thursday directed Maharashtra police to book two corporators for encroaching on mangroves. A bench directed the police to book BJP's Parshuram Mhatre and Shiv Sena's Anita Patil for violations under the Environment Protection Act, within a week. PTI

Dog bite

• JAISALMER: Two foreign tourists are among three persons who suffered dog bites over the last few days, prompting the civic body here to launch a campaign against strays in the city, an official said. PTI

Temple bail

• CHENNAI: Madras High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to M. Muthaiah, chief temple architect of the Tamil Nadu government, in a theft case in Kancheepuram. Muthaiah, chief shtapathi of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department, had last month moved an anticipatory plea apprehending arrest by the CID for the 5.75kg of gold missing from the idol at Lord Ekambaranathar Temple. PTI

Flasher held

• THANE: A 28-year-old man was arrested for flashing a woman here, police said on Thursday. Cops said the man, Ajay Wahe, was arrested on Wednesday night. PTI

Salary accounts

• MUMBAI: Bombay High Court on Thursday set aside a government resolution asking teaching and non-teaching staff of government schools in Thane to shift their salary accounts to a particular cooperative bank. PTI

Rajasthan 'haunted' House

• JAIPUR: The deaths of two sitting MLAs within six months have made legislators wary as they fear that the Rajasthan Assembly building may have come under the influence of so-called evil spirits. A ruling BJP MLA even suggested that chief minister Vasundhara Raje perform a yajna to rid the House of the influence of "ghosts". Government chief whip Kalulal Gurjar admitted that some members were uneasy ever since the deaths of Kalyan Singh Chauhan and Kirti Kumari. Chauhan died on Wednesday while undergoing treatment at a hospital while Kumari died because of swine flu in August 2017. PTI

Building ruling

• THANE: The builder and the architect of a building that collapsed in 1998 killing 18 persons, were sentenced to three years in jail by a court here on Thursday. Builder Sharad Bhai Mansingh Pawar and architect Anand Ashtaputre were convicted for using sub-standard construction material for the Sairaj building in Wagle Estate. PTI

Injured jawan dies

• SRINAGAR: A BSF jawan, injured in firing by Pakistani troops in Tangdhar sector along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, succumbed to injuries at a hospital here, officials said on Thursday. PTI

Five held for default

• THANE: Five persons, including two couples, have been booked here for allegedly defaulting on loans of over Rs 4.55 crore they had taken from Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited, police said on Thursday. The accused were identified as Marpat Bhokadia, Kalpesh Bhokadia, Manjula Bhokadia, Rajesh Mevavala and Rakhi Rajesh Mevavala, police said. "According to the complaint lodged by an official of Indiabulls, the Bhokadias approached the firm in March 2011 and sought a housing loan of Rs 4,55,00,000. They told the company that they were into production and export, cops added. PTI

Parrikar home

• PANAJI: Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar was discharged on Thursday from Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, where he was undergoing treatment for a pancreatic ailment. Parrikar arrived in Goa later in the day. PTI

Poppy smuggler

• RAJGARH (MP): A special court here awarded a 10-year jail term to a man convicted of smuggling poppy husk. The court of special judge Rajesh Kumar Gupta on Wednesday sentenced Rajasthan resident Vishnu Kumar Mali for smuggling poppy husk, a public prosecutor said on Thursday. Mali was nabbed in June last year from Ghoghatpur. The contraband was seized from his vehicles. PTI

VC bail blow

• COIMBATORE: A Special court here on Thursday dismissed the bail petition of suspended Bharathiar University vice-chancellor, A. Ganapathy, for the second time in two weeks. Ganapathy was arrested and jailed on charges of demanding and accepting Rs 30 lakh from a professorial aspirant on February 3. PTI

Gutkha seized

• PALGHAR: Palghar police have confiscated gutkha, banned in Maharashtra, from a tempo that was entering the state from the neighbouring Gujarat, police officials said. PTI

Heroin arrest

• JAMMU: Police on Thursday arrested a man on the charge of drug peddling and seized two grams of heroin from him, an official said. Joginder Paul alias Rockey was arrested at Kathua district. PTI