Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed its registry to place two reports in a sealed cover submitted by Mumbai Police and also the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) with respect to the probe and protection following threats to former judge, Justice Gautam Patel, to maintain confidentiality.“In order to ensure that steps being taken by Ministry of External Affairs, the High Commission in London and Mumbai police are not a matter of discussion and publicity we are placing both in a sealed cover,’’ said Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad in their order.The probe is into alleged threats received by him in connection with a legal dispute, he decided days before his April 2024 retirement. The case, which is currently under appeal before a division bench of the HC, sought to establish succession and name the Syedna, the supreme leader, of the Dawoodi Bohra community.ASG Anil Singh produced an office memorandum dated June 30, that the Centre’s counsel had received via email indicating steps taken for protection of the retired Bombay HC judge and his family members residing in the UK. State advocate general Milind Sathe, too, produced a 6-page note of additional police commissioner (crime) of Mumbai of similar protection steps taken and status update on probe into the alleged incident, the HC said. The former judge had on returning to India lodged a police complaint of threats to him and family.Singh orally submitted that the ministry took steps to ensure protection of the Judge’s family abroad.The ACJ orally at the hearing said probe confidentiality is key. He said, “Remember the Mumbai (terror) attacks (of Nov 28, 2008)? There was continuous live coverage on channels of the attack. It gave all details to the assailants. We do not want assailants in this case to know the line of investigation.”The Bombay Bar Association, Advocates Association of Western India (AAWI) and a solicitors’ body—Bombay Incorporated Law Society– had last month approached the HC for directions to protect the former Judge and sought formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the allegations.The HC placed the matter on August 7 for further status updates after senior counsel Nitin Thakker for BBA said police appeared to be making progress in the matter and can give a further update then.

Chaitanya.MarpakwarMumbai: With the city seeing two monsoon-related negligence deaths in two days, the governing BJP and Shiv Sena in the BMC passed the buck and put the blame entirely on the BMC administration led by civic chief Ashwini Bhide for the tragic incidents despite “pre-monsoon inspection tourism.” The two parties had been vying for credit for pre-monsoon works before the rains.Political observers said Bhide, who took over the reins in April, had claimed monsoon preparedness would be her key challenge, but the two incidents show she has failed to get a grip on the administration despite several site visits and review meets.The opposition said Shiv Sena and BJP have misplaced priorities and were busy chasing alleged Bangladeshi nationals, for which several meetings were held by mayor Ritu Tawde, who blamed the administration for the Chembur tree crash as well as the manhole death. SP MLA Rais Shaikh said that after holding dozens of pre- monsoon inspection visits and meetings on alleged fake birth certificates, BJP-Sena’s misplaced priorities have been exposed. “The misplaced priorities are responsible for monsoon-related deaths. The mayor should apologise to Mumbaikars for failure to focus on civic infrastructure and assure them that BMC will now focus on its core responsibilities,” Shaikh said.With BMC under BJP control and Eknath Shinde’s Sena having no real power in BMC, Sena was the first to put blame on Bhide and the administration. Deputy mayor Sanjay Ghadi of Sena sought her resignation on Thursday, saying after the Sakinaka incident, “There should have been comprehensive inspection to ensure all manholes were fitted with protective grills before monsoon. If necessary, BMC should have floated a dedicated tender for this work. If public safety demanded it, such an exercise should have been undertaken even without waiting for the tender process,” Ghadi said. “This incident reflects a serious lapse in planning and execution. Bhide must take responsibility,” he said.Sena MP Milind Deora said on X, “How many more Mumbaikars must die before basic civic safety becomes a priority? Open manholes are not “accidents”, they are the result of negligence, failed systems & a lack of accountability.”Despite having four additional commissioners and Bhide, which is a total of five IAS officers, BMC has failed to keep the city safe in the first week of monsoon, a senior bureaucrat said.Soon after taking over as municipal commissioner, Bhide had claimed her primary hurdles involved time-bound execution of critical infrastructure works, pre-monsoon readiness, and longstanding civic issues.

Mumbai: Following the death of a 55-year-old man in an open drain inSakinaka, municipal commissioner Ashwini Bhide said on Thursday that preliminaryfindings and CCTV footage pointed to serious lapses in mandatory safetymeasures at the work site. After reviewing CCTV footage, she said theseprecautions were absent.“I saw two workers attempting to warn pedestrians, but there were no properbarricades or tripod installed. People walking in a hurry cannot be expected torely only on verbal instructions. Because mandatory precautions were not taken,the pedestrian fell into the open manhole,” she said.Further, she said the incident was particularly concerning as the safety ofmanholes has been under constant scrutiny by the courts following similaraccidents in the past. “Because of the unsafe condition of manholes, suchincidents have occurred earlier as well. The high court has repeatedly soughtdetails from the BMC on measures being taken to secure manholes across thecity,” she said.The commissioner said Mumbai has 1,03,934 manholes associated with the stormwaterdrain and sewerage network. Of these, 96,383 have already been fitted withprotective safety nets. Around 1,800 manholes had been buried during previousroad works, while 4,446 had to be reopened for ongoing infrastructure projects.As these works are completed, the BMC has been reinstalling covers andprotective safety nets, she said, adding that BMC has submitted an affidavit toHC detailing these measures.Referring to the Sakinaka incident, Bhide said that in L ward, 75 manholesrequired protective nets as part of ongoing road works. As per the lateststatus, only four manholes were pending, including the one where maintenancework was underway when the accident occurred. “This was a rectangular sewagemanhole with a very heavy cover. During such operations, the contractor,supervisor and workers were required to barricade the site and install a tripodas part of the prescribed safety protocol,” she said.The civic chief said BMC had been conducting regular review meetings and fieldinspections over the past three months, with ensuring protective grills onmanholes emerging as one of its top priorities, particularly at locations whereroad construction required manhole covers to be removed.(Ends)

Navi Mumbai: The family of a 23-year-old pregnant woman has alleged negligence at NMMC’s Rajmata Jijau Hospital, Airoli, after she and her unborn child died due to complications she developed after getting a standard pre-delivery injection on July 1.Sonam Dongre, who was eight months pregnant, wasn’t the only critical case at the Airoli hospital on that day. Another eight-month pregnant woman, Richa Mishra, was administered two pre-delivery injections before becoming so critical that she was shifted to Fortis Hospital, Vashi, for ventilatory support.Due to separate sit-in protests by MNS, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena in the cabin of NMMC commissioner Dr Kailas Shinde, the NMMC on Thursday announced that the gynaecologist at its Airoli hospital has been suspended and an inquiry, including doctors from state-run JJ Hospital, has been instituted. Mishra’s condition has, meanwhile, improved.Sonam’s husband, Karan Dongre, told reporters that the Airoli hospital staff’s negligence resulted in the death of his wife and unborn child. He alleged that the on-duty doctors and nursing staff kept his wife at the Airoli hospital for three hours despite her worsening health after the injection. He was kept in the dark about the developments till they transferred her to the NMMC Hospital in Vashi on Wednesday, where she died during further treatment.Dr Rajesh Mhatre, medical officer of health (MOH) at NMMC, said, “Patient Sonam Dongre went to NMMC’s hospital in Airoli on June 30 after she developed cramps in the eighth month of her pregnancy. She was admitted for pre-mature delivery .”Around 3 pm on July 1, Dr Mhatre said, Sonam was administered a dexamethasone (steroid) injection to aid the baby’s lung development and reduce the risk of breathing problems if born prematurely. “But soon thereafter, her health deteriorated and she fell unconscious. The doctors continued to treat her and, as she was becoming critical, around 5.40 pm, she was admitted at NMMC hospital, Vashi ,” he said. However, she did not respond to medication and was declared dead around 6.15 pm.The second pregnant patient, Richa Mishra, was also administered injections of dexamethasone as well as duvadilan (to prevent premature labour by relaxing uterine muscles). “Mishra’s condition is stable and off the ventilator. She is responding correctly to orientation of time, place and person,” added Dr Mhatre.NMMC commissioner Dr Kailas Shinde announced a high-level inquiry committee under the chairmanship of the Thane district surgeon to investigate the cases. “The committee includes JJ Hospital’s department head, members of the Navi Mumbai Gynecology and Obstetrics Society, and NMMC’s medical officer of health ,” he said.“The inquiry committee will require at least 15 days to complete the investigation procedure,” Shinde added.The use of both injections administered to the two pregnant women has been stopped immediately and the entire batch of the procured injections have been sealed and their samples sent to the Food and Drug Administration, Thane.The gynaecologist at the Airoli hospital, Dr Bhawana Pagare, was suspended by the civic chief Shinde with immediate effect for “neglect” from July 2 till the inquiry committee’s report. “She is suspended till the inquiry committee submits its report and the commissioner issues further orders ,” said an NMMC official.

Bhiwandi/Patna: Thane police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the state Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) paper leak case, arrested three more accused on Thursday, including the alleged close aide of absconding mastermind Bijendra Gupta, taking the total number of arrests in the case to seven.The prime accused, Kapil Dahiya (30), was picked up from his native village in Sonipat, Haryana. The other two, identified as Mithun Kumar Singh (33), and Sonu Kumar Singh (34), were arrested from Bihar for allegedly helping Gupta evade arrest by preparing forged identity documents.Police produced all three before a Bhiwandi court, which remanded them to police custody till July 9.According to the SIT, Dahiya was present in Bhiwandi on the day the police arrested the three accused while they were allegedly negotiating the sale of the leaked TET question paper a day before the examination.However, investigators said Dahiya left for Pune to allegedly deliver or sell the leaked paper to another prospective buyer.Defence counsel Narendra Gupta argued that Dahiya merely came to Mumbai as a tourist and was arrested only on suspicion without any direct evidence linking him to the crime. Police told the court that Sonu Kumar Singh allegedly arranged a vehicle belonging to Mithun Kumar Singh to facilitate Gupta’s escape after the case came to light. During a raid at Sonu’s Quick Enterprises, investigators allegedly recovered a computer containing scanned copies of forged identity documents bearing Gupta’s photograph but prepared in the fake name of Abhishek Mahto. The documents included an Aadhaar card, PAN card and driving licence, which police believe were created to help the absconding accused conceal his identity.Investigators also seized several question papers from the shop, which are suspected to be related to the leaked TET examination. The documents have been sent for forensic examination to determine whether they match the leaked paper circulated before the exam.Sonu’s brother said, “When we reached the cyber cafe, we found that a raid was under way. The investigation team told us Sonu was arrested in connection with the Maharashtra TET paper leak case. They are also searching for my younger brother Vikas, who lives in Patna,” he said. (Inputs by Kshitiz)