It is alleged that several institutions submitted their fee proposals after the prescribed deadline

Mumbai: Lakhs of students and parents across Maharashtra could face an additional financial burden running into crores of rupees after the Fee Regulating Authority allegedly approved fee increases for 1,272 unaided professional colleges beyond the statutory deadline.Yuva Sena has alleged that the FRA violated provisions of the Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional Educational Institutions law by conducting 26 meetings after March 31, the deadline prescribed for deciding review applications relating to college fee proposals.The meetings were reportedly held between April 27 and July 27, 2026, and covered institutions offering medical, engineering, management, pharmacy and MCA courses.Yuva Sena joint secretary Kalpesh Yadav has submitted a detailed representation to the state govt, demanding that all approvals granted after the deadline be cancelled immediately.Under the amended law, decisions on review applications are required to be completed before the beginning of the academic year. Yuva Sena has contended that meetings conducted after March 31, and the decisions taken at these meetings, are legally unsustainable.The organisation has also alleged that several institutions submitted their fee proposals after the prescribed deadline but were nevertheless granted approvals. In some instances, fee proposals for three consecutive academic years were reportedly approved simultaneously.These decisions have raised questions about the scrutiny applied to the financial claims submitted by colleges and the mechanism used to verify expenditure, infrastructure and other factors considered while determining fees.Yuva Sena has further alleged that fee revisions were cleared even though course-wise scrutiny cells, expert inspection committees and an independent infrastructure-verification system required under the amended law were not fully operational.The impact of the decisions may extend beyond students and parents. Since government departments reimburse fees and provide scholarships to eligible students, an increase in approved fees could also raise the financial burden on the state exchequer.Yuva Sena has demanded that the government cancel the approvals within 21 days and order either a judicial inquiry or an Anti-Corruption Bureau investigation into the roles of the FRA chairperson, its members and beneficiary institutions.It has warned that if the government fails to act, complaints will be submitted to the ACB and the Enforcement Directorate and legal proceedings will be initiated.“The FRA ignored clear provisions of the law while granting fee increases to 1,272 institutions,” Yadav said. “The government must cancel these approvals, provide relief to students and parents, and take action against those responsible.”The FRA officials refused to comment.

HC set aside the state’s decision to declare lands belonging to a majority of 184 property owners as private forest lands

Mumbai: Bombay HC has pulled up the state govt for its “obstinacy” over assuming that as of Aug 30, 1975, private lands with forests automatically became private forests under Private Forests Act despite Supreme Court mandating in 2014 that proper procedure be first followed.Setting aside the state’s decision to declare lands belonging to a majority of 184 property owners as private forest lands under a 50-year-old law, thus restricting their development potential, a bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande said the case backlog was piling up due to govt’s “defiant approach” as it was still not ready to accept the law laid down by the highest court.The declaration of any land as ‘private forest’ renders it unusable for any non-forest activity. The Act allows acquisition of forests on private lands after deeming them as private forests in larger public interest. In 2014, SC ruled that Section 3 of the Act requires that a notice be first issued and a hearing conducted, and yet state officials held on to a “misconception” for over a decade that lands with forests were ‘private forests’ and lay vested with the state.Most of the plots of the 184 owners are in Shahpur, Ulhasnagar and Murbad in Thane district.Directing the state to scrutinise all cases still pending before it, HC said only after SC’s ruling is applied can the revenue department pass directions “to correct revenue entries by restoring the name of the landowners”.The state claimed it had rights over these lands but in most cases, HC found that the state had not complied with mandatory procedures before such lands could be termed ‘private forest’ and vested with govt.HC observed that it is high time that the state is “conscious of the fact that if a flaw lies at its end”, given no service as prescribed by law, on the owners and no notification published or its published without following the procedure, “there can be no declaration about any land to be ‘private forest’ and there is no question of the name of the state govt being mutated in the land records”.Justice Dangre, authoring the judgment of July 23 which was made available on Aug 1, said the state “repeatedly adopted the same stand” in 2014 and again when another judgment was delivered in a separate case in 2025. “We are surprised to note… the state continued with its obstinacy even today, which is reflected through the affidavits filed before us.”

On Dec 29, 2017, a fire started at rooftop restaurants, 1Above and Mojo’s Bistro at Kamala Mills, where several patrons were enjoying a night out and claimed 14 lives

Mumbai: Holding that he had prima facie violated earlier travel conditions by failing to mark attendance and surrender his passport after returning to India, in a rare instance, a sessions court on Monday rejected a plea filed by the 2017 Kamala Mills fire case accused, Yug Tuli, a Mojo’s Bistro partner, seeking permission to travel to Muscat, Oman, from Aug 4 to Aug 11 for business purposes.Additional Sessions Judge Anil D Salunkhe rejected the plea after considering it and the prosecution’s reply filed through NM Joshi Marg police station.On Dec 29, 2017, a fire started at rooftop restaurants, 1Above and Mojo’s Bistro at Kamala Mills, where several patrons were enjoying a night out and claimed 14 lives. Tuli is charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder and is out on bail.Tuli had earlier sought permission to travel abroad between Aug 2 and Aug 11. On Monday a fresh application was filed requesting that, instead of the earlier travel request, he be permitted to travel to Muscat from Aug 4 to Aug 11 for business.The prosecution opposed the request, submitting that Tuli had already been granted permission on June 17 to travel abroad from June 18 to July 19 to Bangkok, China, Nepal, Muscat and Dubai, and again from Aug 12 to Aug 20 to Colombo, Sri Lanka. That permission was subject to conditions, including marking attendance and surrendering the passport at NM Joshi Marg police station within three days of returning to India. According to the prosecution, Tuli did not comply with those conditions after returning from the earlier foreign travel. It submitted that he “neither marked his attendance nor submit passport within three days after returning India on or before July 19, 2026…” and had sought fresh permission while allegedly retaining the passport.Among the 12 who are facing the culpable homicide not amounting to murder charge are 1Above’s owners Kripesh Sanghvi, Abhijeet Mankar and Jigar Sanghavi, Mojo’s Bristo partners Tuli and Yug Pathak, managers of 1Above- Kevin Bawa and Libson Lopez and Mojo’s Bistro’s waiter, Sayyed Ali. The others include fire officer Rajendra Patil and Utkarsh Pandey, who supplied hookah to 1Above and Mojo’s Bistro, Dinesh Mahale, sub-engineer, G south ward, BMC, and Sandeep Shinde, assistant divisional fire officer, Worli Division. One more accused, Vishal Kariya, will face the less serious charge of harbouring an offender. He is accused of helping the absconding Sanghvi brothers and Mankar before they were finally arrested by the police.

Siddhivinayak temple trustees said a staffer arrested for theft was affiliated with Shiv Sena (UBT)

Mumbai: The trustees of Siddhivinayak temple have refused to resign in the wake of the controversy involving alleged embezzlement of temple funds and blamed staffers appointed by the erstwhile dispensation under Uddhav Thackeray for a series of thefts. MNS chief Raj Thackeray had alleged that Rs 18 crore was being stolen from the temple’s public donations every year.Calling themselves whistleblowers, the trustees, led by chairman and senior Shiv Sena politician Sada Sarvankar, told reporters that they caught nine employees for theft in March and wrote to the law and judiciary department seeking a probe. “Once we stopped the scam, the temple’s income increased from Rs 40-45 lakh to Rs 80-90 lakh per month,” said Sarvankar.The law and judiciary department has asked the temple to furnish a report and reportedly ordered two senior accused officials, who handle the temple’s day-to-day management, to reply to its notice within seven days.Asked if the trustees would take accountability and resign, like Champat Rai and Anil Kumar Mishra did over the Ram temple donations theft, Sarvankar and another trustee, Rahul Londhe, refused. “Why should we resign? For exposing the case?” Sarvankar said.An employee, Rajendra Pendurkar, who had been working at the temple since 2009, was arrested in March for stealing cash from the donation box. Within a few days, eight staffers were arrested for stealing money through a “skimming” racket. All arrested employees were permanent staffers and Rs 80,000 was recovered from them. The sum embezzled is expected to be far higher.Sarvankar claimed that Pendurkar was affiliated to his rival Shiv Sena (UBT) shakha in Prabhadevi and was hired by former mayor Vishakha Raut of Sena (UBT).“We did not write a letter to deputy CM Shinde (as claimed by Raj) seeking an inquiry. We approached the law and judiciary department for an audit and probe,” said Londhe. Sarvankar claimed this was a plot to defame Shinde and the temple trust.Sarvankar and Londhe said shortcomings such as employees not being frisked upon exit, touts taking money to facilitate darshan, CCTV footage not being monitored will be addressed.A series of thefts and misdemeanours have plagued Siddhivinayak temple over the years. In 2021, a group of flower-sellers and shopkeepers, acting as touts, were arrested for arranging out-of-turn darshan for devotees in return for a fee. The fraud was run online by booking all available slots for darshan.

Bhiwandi: Police probing the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) paper leak said that the accused stole defective copies from a disposal box and concealed them inside their shoes before passing them on to the alleged kingpin of the racket.Investigators said question papers with minor printing defects or ink marks were discarded in a disposal box inside the printing press. During the investigation, police found that the disposal area lacked adequate surveillance, enabling two workers to allegedly retrieve the rejected papers before they were destroyed.According to police sources, Babulal Kushwaha, a printing press employee for nearly 20 years, allegedly stole the defective question papers from the disposal box during the printing process. He allegedly took the help of Naresh Kumar Mahaur alias Niki, a temporary worker employed on an hourly basis, to conceal the papers beneath the soles of their shoes and smuggle them out of the premises.Investigators said that the papers were then handed over to former printing press employee Sonu Diwakar, who passed them on to Sanjay Sharma before they finally reached the alleged mastermind, Bijendra Gupta.Police sources said Bijendra had earlier tasked Sonu with monitoring the printing press and alerting him whenever confidential examination papers were printed. Sonu allegedly maintained contact with Kushwaha and Niki, who informed him once TET paper printing began.Investigators further claimed that Kushwaha, who reportedly earned around Rs 15,000 a month, and Niki, who was paid Rs 45 per hour and earned about Rs 400-500 a day during peak work periods, were allegedly promised financial rewards for their role.Police alleged that Bijendra initially paid the two around Rs 8,000 to facilitate the theft and assured them that he would buy them plots from the proceeds earned after selling the leaked papers.Meanwhile, after completing 15 days of police custody, all 15 accused were produced before a Bhiwandi court on Monday. The court remanded them in judicial custody.DCP Pawan Bansod dismissed news reports that said the accused were planning to leak examination papers for recruitment of assistant professors in colleges and universities.

Mumbai: An estate agent’s house was burgled and gold ornaments and other valuables worth Rs 16 lakh were stolen in Sion when he, along with his family members, left for a relative’s house. This is the second burglary in a year. Police suspect involvement of some known person as the burglary took place exactly 15 minutes after the victim’s family left the house.The complainant, Nikhil Joshi (36), who is into real estate, said on Saturday he had left his residence around noon along with his parents, wife and two children in their car to visit his aunt in Chakala, Andheri. Around 6.30 pm, his neighbour informed his mother on the phone that the safety door and main door of their house were open and the latch appeared to have been broken.The Sion police are scanning the CCTV footage to identify the biker and a pillion rider who came wearing helmets and broke the doors.Joshi immediately alerted the police and returned home around 7.15 pm. On entering the house, he found the cupboards in his parents’ and his own bedrooms open. Clothes and belongings were scattered on beds and the floor, while the cupboards appeared to have been forcibly opened using a tool.The family subsequently checked their valuables and found gold and silver ornaments, silver utensils, cash and foreign currency missing. The stolen property included Rs 1.2 lakh in cash, Dubai currency worth around Rs 1.3 lakh, seven pairs of gold earrings, two pairs of gold mangalsutras, a gold kada, a gold chain with two lockets, gold rings, bangles and a Rudraksha gold chain. The complainant’s family is still estimating the valuables and the figure could go up.The thieves also allegedly took several silver articles, including plates, glasses, lotas, bowls, a silver set, jewellery and a silver coin, besides a Rado wristwatch.The complainant told police that CCTV footage from the building showed two unidentified persons wearing helmets and black raincoats entering the premises around 12.18 pm. The duo were allegedly seen emerging from his residence, with one of them changing the direction of the CCTV camera before both left the building around 12.31 pm.Sion Police have registered a case against two unidentified persons and are examining the CCTV footage to identify the suspects. The total value of the stolen property has been estimated at Rs 16 lakh.

Mumbai: Vector-borne diseases surged across the city in July, with malaria and dengue cases more than doubling and a spike recorded in leptospirosis and gastrointestinal infections compared with the previous month.In June, cases stood at 655 for malaria, 266 for dengue, 7 for chikungunya, 33 for leptospirosis and 603 for gastro. In July, the reported cases increased to 1,380 for malaria, 466 for dengue, 7 for chikungunya, 78 for leptospirosis, 851 for gastro, 58 for COVID-19 and 105 for H1N1.Malaria followed a similar trend as last year, while there has been a fall in reported dengue cases. An increase in malaria cases is being observed in the following wards: E Ward (Byculla, Madanpura, Mazgaon), K-West Ward (Andheri, Nehru Nagar, Amboli), G-South Ward (BDD Chawl, Sasmira), F-South Ward (Parel, Bhoiwada, Sewri) and H-West Ward (Hill Road, Turner Road, Perry Cross Road).Meanwhile, an increase in lepto cases is seen in the F-North Ward (Bharatiya Kamla Nagar, Sangam Nagar, GTB Nagar), M-East Ward (Bharat Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Shivaji Nagar), T Ward (Gautam Nagar, Dargah Road, Ambika Nagar), K-East Ward (Nani Mamoo Chawl, Saki Naka, Chakala MIDC) and G-North Ward (Dharavi).BMC health department officials said surveillance teams surveyed over 6.5 lakh households in July, provided preventive antibiotic treatment for lepto to 51,000 residents and carried out vector and rodent control operations, tracing and destroying mosquito breeding sources. A total of 42,284 buildings were fogged for mosquito control and 3,406 rats were caught.