Telangana: Relief for government officials in Raheja case

ACB proceedings against officers quashed.

 B.P. Acharya, Ratna Prabha and Subrahmanyam

By S A Ishaqui

Hyderabad, June 21: In a major relief to several IAS officers, including L.V. Subrahmanyam, B.P. Acharya and K. Ratna Prabha, the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday quashed an order passed by the Special ACB Court of the city to prosecute them for their involvement in the Raheja Mindspace-APIIC joint venture project.
Justice B. Siva Sankar Rao was hearing petitions by Mr Subrahmanyam and Mr Acharya, managing directors of APIIC, and Ms Ratna Prabha, Mr Gopi Krishna IPS and Mr P.S. Murthy from the Information Technology and Communications department, and Neel Raheja of Raheja Corporation, urging the court to quash proceedings against them initiated by the Anti-Corruption Bureau. The ACB has charged these officials with “playing mischief” and “generating” an idea of giving alternative land at Nanakramguda by not paying cash to the JV company which resulted in decreasing APIIC’s share from 11 per cent to just 0.55 per cent. The case was lodged by T.Sriranga Rao, a city-based advocate.
He had moved a private complaint before the ACB court after which investigations were ordered.
Justice Siva Sankar Rao held that the trial judge has no power to review a previous dismissal or closed order.
ACB didn’t produce proof: HC
Justice Siva Sankar Rao held that the trial judge has no power to review a previous dismissal or closed order in view of the specific bar under Section 362 of the Cr PC and thereby the order of the special judge of December 28, 2015 in suo moto reopening the matter was unsustainable.
Maintaining that prior sanction to prosecute government servants is mandatory under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corrup-tion Act, and Section 196 of the CrPC, the judge held that in view of the rejection of the sanction by the Union of India, the proceedings against the petitioners are unsustainable and are liable to be quashed.
The judge held that there was nothing to attribute any criminal common intention, breach of trust or cheating against the petitioners and they have committed no criminal misconduct as public servants and there was no wilful acts on their part to cause any loss to the government or to benefit Raheja or its officials and nothing to show that they were involved in any agreement with Raheja Corporation to cheat the government.
The judge ruled that none of the offences with which the petitioners are charged have been proved against them either under sections 420 & 209 r/w. 34 or even under section 13 (1)(d) r/w 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The judge also held that the ACB had not produced evidence to show that the APIIC had abetted the petitioners to accept bribes.

Ramzan: People debate start of fasting

Stretching the meal can put fast at risk

 “Some people now argue there is nothing wrong in eating sehri till the completion of morning Azaan. This is not a good practice,” he said. The Moulana, who advocates forbearance in sehri, said that modern technology ensures we can get the exact daybreak time.

By S A Ishaqui

Hyderabad,June12: Of late, there has been serious discussions every Ramzan over when exactly does the time to stop eating sehri starts and the day’s fast begins. Similar discussions also take place over iftar timings.
While some Muslims feel that traditionalists are too particular about the start of fast and end of sehri, most Muslims say that stretching the sehri time too much can risk the fast itself.
The late Israr Ahmed, a renowned Muslim scholar, had quoted verses from the Quran in one of his sermons: “And eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), then complete your Saum (fast) till the nightfall.”
Scholars say that this means that there should be enough light in the sky to differentiate between the colours in the night.
“With artificial lights, this would be extremely difficult for people, especially those living in the city. The ambient lights would make it impossible,” says Maulana Afzal Barkati, head, Madarsa-e-Barkatiya.
Moulana Shaiykh Ismail of Hyderabad says that  traditionalists put too much emphasis on the timing. He quoted a Hadith wherein the Prophet instructed his companions: “The Azaan (call to prayer) of Bilâl should not prevent you from eating Sahûr (predawn meal) because he gives Azaan at night, therefore keep eating and drinking until you hear the Azaan of Abdullah b. Umm Makktum. He (Abdullah b. Umm Makktum) gives Azaan when Fajr comes.”
He argues that according to this Hadith, one can eat sehri till the call for morning prayers is heard. Moulana Mohammed Farooq Quadri, Khatib of Masjid-e-Noor, said that there was nothing wrong in being careful about the timings.
“Some people now argue there is nothing wrong in eating sehri till the completion of morning Azaan. This is not a good practice,” he said. The Moulana, who advocates forbearance in sehri, said that modern technology ensures we can get the exact daybreak time. “It is safer to end sehri a few minutes before this time,” he said.
Maulana Afzal Barkati said that in countries like Saudi Arabia, Azaan is said at the point of daybreak. “In India, we use sirens to signal the end of sehri time, while they say Azaan. People who lean towards the Saudi Wahhabi ideology blindly try to follow that system, not remembering that the system is different,” he says.
Mansoor Ali Ishaq, an IT professional, said in the olden days, timings for sehri and iftar was followed on the presumption that there was no equipment available for accuracy. “These days we can get the actual timings for sehri and iftar from information available with various sources, including the Met department which can give accurate sunrise and sunset timings, so one does not have to depend on sirens to begin and break the fast,” he says.