India News
Kalburgi murder probe to be conducted by SIT investigating Gauri Lankesh killing, orders SC

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Supreme Court today (Tuesday February 26), directed the Karnataka police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder to also take over the investigation into rationalist MM Kalburgi’s killing.
Noting the similarities in the manner in which the Kalburgi and Lankesh murders were executed, the apex court bench of Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman and Vineet Saran ordered the SIT to investigate both the cases.
The Bench also directed the Dharwad bench of Karnataka High Court to monitor the probes.
Kalburgi’s widow, Uma Mallinath Devi, had moved the top court in 2017, seeking an SIT probe into his murder. The top court had on November 26, 2018, pulled up the Karnataka Police for its tardy progress in the murder investigation. Kalburgi, former Vice-Chancellor of Hampi University and a well-regarded rationalist, who was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi award in 2006, had been gunned down at his residence in Dharwad, Karnataka, on August 30, 2015.
Uma Devi alleged that shooters from the same organisation were allegedly involved in all the three murders. Investigations by the SIT had suggested that both, Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh had been killed with the same gun.
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On Tuesday, as Uma Devi’s petition came up for hearing, the bench of Justices Nariman and Saran noted that there were similarities in the way Kalburgi, Lankesh and two other rationalists – Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare – were gunned down by alleged Hindu-right wing radicals. The court said that since all these murders followed a similar pattern, they should be investigated by a common agency.
The counsel for Karnataka government then informed the court that an SIT was already probing the Lankesh murder following which the bench directed that the Kalburgi murder investigation may also be transferred to this team. The SIT had been constituted in September 2017 by then Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah soon after Lankesh was gunned down outside her home in Bengaluru’s Rajarajeshwari Nagar locality.
The CBI is currently investigating the murder of Dabholkar, who spoke against superstition, the Indian caste system and for Dalit rights. Dabholkar was shot dead on August 20, 2013 by bike-borne assailants while he was out on a morning walk near the Omkareshwar temple in Pune.
Pansare, a political activist associated with the CPI and a rationalist was shot at by two men on a motorcycle while he and his wife were out on a morning walk in their hometown of Kolhapur on February 16, 2015. Pansare had succumbed to his injuries on February 20 after he was airlifted for treatment at a private hospital in Mumbai. The CBI has also maintained that there is a similar pattern to the four murders.
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The Supreme Court bench in December 2018 had told the CBI to find out if there was ‘any common thread’ in the alleged murders of Lankesh, activists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare and Kalburgi so that one agency could investigate all the four cases.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
India News
Justice MN Venkatachaliah to launch India Legal App tomorrow
The India Legal App will be launched by former Chief Justice of India Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, who is also the Chief Patron of India Legal magazine, in Bengaluru. Several legal luminaries of the country will attend the event online in a webinar.

The India Legal Research Foundation will on Saturday, June 10, launch the much-awaited multilingual India Legal App, a path-breaking legal helpline that allows every citizen of India to access high calibre legal help from the safety of her/his home at the touch of a button.
The India Legal App will be launched by former Chief Justice of India Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, who is also the Chief Patron of India Legal magazine, in Bengaluru. Several legal luminaries of the country will attend the event online in a webinar.
Attorney General R. Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Senior Advocate and Balaji Foundation Chairperson Pradeep Rai, National Law University Delhi Vice Chancellor Prof (Dr) GS Bajpai, Former IIM Bangalore Dean Prof Trilochan Sastry, Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association President Manoj K. Mishra and India Legal Editor-in-Chief Inderjit Badhwar will take part in the webinar. The event will be livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube on the India Legal and APN News accounts.
The India Legal App intends to change the way legal aid is made available to the people. The app gives ease of access, as a person can have a jargon-free discussion on complex matters with lawyers.
The complete assurance of privacy and easy payment methods is certain to make the legal experience of people very different from interminable hassles they may have heard about.
The app can be used in 6 Indian languages, including English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali and Punjabi.
The app is also useful in times of distress as a person sensing trouble or threat can contact a legal ‘friend’ till the time the police arrives.
Lawyers associated with the India Legal App assure to help people 24×7, ready to guide them through extremely tough situations, wherever they are in the country.
The India Legal App is an embodiment of trust and faith. Any individual can install this app on their mobile and directly communicate with a lawyer.
Slowly, this facility will extend to even those without mobile phones. They can avail of this service through their nearest common service centres, or Jan Suvidha Kendra/Setu/e-Seva Kendra/Pragya Kendra.
The service will be available at a reasonable cost, which can then also be paid at that service centre.
The India Legal App services include:
- 1. Free legal advice over the phone.
- 2. Payment of a specified amount for legal advice through audio and video calls.
- 3. Payment of a specified amount for document preparation.
- 4. Payment of annual membership fees to receive legal services.
Additionally, the India Legal App provides legal information and related videos to ensure users of the India Legal App are well-informed about legal matters.
India Legal is a respected politico-legal weekly magazine (both print and online) in the country, with complete professional journalistic and expert inputs. Its readers include lawyers, law firms and those related to the judiciary and justice system.
The India Legal Research Foundation (ILRF) is a non-profit organisation equipped with senior lawyers and devoted to bring justice to those who deserve it, but cannot afford it. ILRF provides free legal aid to the deserving and people in need.
India News
CM Eknath Shinde says Maharashtra govt will protect Sharad Pawar after NCP chief gets death threat on Twitter
Shinde said he has spoken to senior police officers and given instructions for investigation into the tweets. Shinde said Sharad Pawar’s safety will be fully taken care of by the state.

Maharahstra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday took serious note of the death threat issued to Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar earlier today by unknown persons.
Shinde said he has spoken to senior police officers and given instructions for investigation into the tweets. Shinde said Sharad Pawar’s safety will be fully taken care of by the state.
A Twitter user posted saying the NCP chief will meet the same fate as rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar, who was shot dead in Pune on August 20, 2013.
In his reaction, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said threatening any leader or overstepping the bounds of civility while expressing oneself on social media will not be tolerated.
Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, the Baramati Member of Parliament, met Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar and demanded immediate action. She submitted printouts of the death threat to the police. Earlier on Friday, Sule told media that Sharad Pawar has received threats through a website. Claiming such actions as “low-level politics”, Sule urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Maharashtra Home Minister to look into the matter.
Sharad Pawar is a critical leader for the Opposition formation in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The veteran leader has been a bridge for several regional parties in their interaction with former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.
Pawar had himself outed the challenge within the NCP posed by several people, including nephew Ajit Pawar, by threatening to resign as NCP president. Grassroots leaders of the NCP prevailed upon Pawar not to resign from the party leadership, thereby stalemating potential plans for the NCP to bail out of the Maha Vikas Aghadi and ally itself with the BJP.
Pawar will be attending the Opposition jamboree in Patna, Bihar on June 23 where senior opposition leaders from a range of parties will be attending. The meet which was initially slated for June 12 had to be called off since Rahul Gandhi was away on his US trip.
India News
Navjot Sidhu’s wife says her husband gifted Punjab CM post to Bhagwant Mann, claiming Arvind Kejriwal wanted Sidhu to lead
She claimed Kejriwal had approached Navjot Singh Sidhu through various channels for CM’s position.

Congress Leader Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu on Friday, claimed that her husband and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu had gifted the Punjab Chief Minister’s position to Bhagwant Mann claiming AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal had offered him the position but Sidhu declined it since he did not wanted to betray his party, Congress.
She claimed Kejriwal had approached Navjot Singh Sidhu through various channels for CM’s position. She further added, her husband’s only concern was the welfare of Punjab and he has sacrificed everything for it. She added, Sidhu believes two strong-headed men cannot work together hence, he turned down Kejriwal’s offer.
Punjab went to polls in February 2022, that marked AAP’s power debut in the state with Bhagwant Mann becoming the CM.
She said, Mann would walk on the path of truth then Sidhu would support him and if Mann deviates from the truth then his husband is encircle him from all the sides. Mann had slammed the opposition for their gathering in Jalandhar to support the Editor of Punjab Daily, who is under a vigilance scanner.
Responding to which Kaur said, Mann is running Punjab as pawns being remote controlled from Delhi(referring to AAP high command) and should stop moral lecturing the people.
On June 1, several leaders had gathered at the office of the Punjabi Newspaper Ajit in Jalandhar in support of its Editor-In-Chief Barjinder Singh Hamdard who is under the scanner of Vigilance Bureau over alleged misuse of funds in the construction of Rs 315 crore Jang-e-Azadi memorial in Jalandhar.
Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who has been battling with Cancer lately, is a former MLA in the Punjab Legislative Assembly and a former Minister. While, Navjot Singh Sidhu, now a Congress leader is a former Indian cricketer. The husband Sidhu made his political debut in 2004 wining the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat in a BJP ticket. He also served as a Minister in then Amarinder Singh government in Punjab.
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