1. Disqualification Plea: Guj HC Directs Ex-Cong MLAs' Lawyers to File Replies
The Gujarat High Court on Monday, 19 August, directed lawyers of former Congress MLAs Alpesh Thakor and Dhavalsinh Zala to file their replies through affidavits within two weeks on the petitions by the Congress seeking disqualification of the duo under the anti-defection law.
Thakor and Zala had cross-voted for BJP candidates -- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Jugalji Thakor -- in the Rajya Sabha polls held in July, before resigning as legislators and joining the ruling BJP.
In his petitions filed before the high court, Congress chief whip Ashvin Kotwal sought disqualification of Zala and Thakor so that they are not able to contest by-elections and become ministers in the current (BJP) government.
A division bench of justices S R Brahmbhatt and A P Thaker on Monday directed the lawyers of Thakor and Zala to file their replies through affidavits in response to the petitions.
The bench also directed them to serve prior copies of the affidavits to the lawyer of the petitioner by 27 August.
(Source: PTI)
2. ‘Food ATM’ Caters to the Hungry and Poor in Surat
The hungry and the poor in Surat have been thronging outside an “ATM” outside a restaurant near Surat railway station for the past one week. This “ATM”, which is a freezer, doesn’t give them money but feeds them with unused food from functions.
The brainchild of city resident Priyanka Rawal who is a member of the Lions Club International Association, Surat, the “food ATM” outside Rupa Hotel offers vegetarian food. She plans to install such food ATMs in two more locations of the city soon and gradually increase it to 10.
The food ATM, launched around a week ago, runs using unused food collected from restaurants and functions, as well as donated food. The food is stocked for around six to seven hours in the freezer.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Gujarat High Court Tells Govt to Clarify Parallel Probe Against Suspended IAS Gaurav Dahiya
The Gujarat High Court on Monday, 19 August, directed the state government to clarify how the Gandhinagar police can initiate parallel proceedings in the complaint filed by a Delhi-based woman against suspended IAS Gaurav Dahiya, when the matter is already being probed by Delhi police.
The query came in response to a petition filed by Dahiya demanding that the court should quash the proceedings initiated by the police inspector of Gandhinagar's Sector 7 police station on the basis of the complaint filed by the woman. Following the court's query, the counsel for the state government sought time to clarify the same. The matter was posted for further hearing on Thursday.
During the hearing on Monday, senior advocate SV Raju along with advocate Ashish Dagli appeared for Dahiya. Raju contended that the incidents, as alleged by the woman against Dahiya in her complaint, had occurred either in Delhi or at other places apart from Gandhinagar; therefore, the Gandhinagar police does not have the jurisdiction to probe the matter.
(Source: DNA)
4. Six Injured as Pump House Slab Collapses in City
Six workers were injured on Monday afternoon when a slab kept on an under-construction water pump house collapsed at an underground site in Nikol area of the city.
According to officials, the incident occurred around 3:30 pm when eight labourers were working at an under-construction site of an underground water pump house at Bhojaldham Residency society in Nikol. While two workers managed to escape the collapse, six others came directly under the rubble of the slab and fell into the basement of the site.
“The slab of an under construction pump house collapsed due to dislocation of sagging support during work. Six persons were injured and rushed to Civil Hospital for immediate medical relief,” said Paresh Patel, Additional City Engineer (Water Works), Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).
According to officials, the construction of the pump house was undertaken by a contractor hired by the Water Works Department of AMC.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5, Notice to VMC Over Non-Compliance of Waste Management Rules
The Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) has served a legal notice to the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC), the Municipal Commissioner, as well as the Additional City Engineer for non-compliance with the Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste Management Rules, 2016, which the board had reminded the civic body of during its inspection in April this year, after receiving a complaint from Rohit Prajapati of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti.
The notice dated August 6, days after Vadodara witnessed intense waterlogging in various areas following heavy rains on July 31, states, “Collectively as well as individually, you are (legally) bound to comply with the C&D Waste Management Rules, 2016.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
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