Bhopal gas case: Justice has been done, says judge
BHOPAL: "Surely justice has been done." This was how the Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohan P Tiwari responded to queries by newsmen when asked whether justice has been done in the Bhopal Gas disaster case after eight accused including former Union Carbide India Chairman Keshub Mahindra were let off lightly on Monday.
Incidentally, it was the last working day for Tiwari as CJM since he has been promoted as the Additional District Judge and will assume the new office on Tuesday.
Tiwari declined answer question on how bail was granted to the eight persons immediately after they were convicted and sentenced to a two-year jail term.
"I can't say anything. These are the provisions of the law," he said.
Judge Tiwari pronounced the verdict in a packed court room convicting 85-year-old Mahindra, the non-executive former Chairman of UCIL, and seven others in the case relating to leakage of deadly methyl isocyanate gas in the night intervening Dec 2 and 3, 1984.
They were held guilty under Sections 304-A (causing death by negligence) and 336, 337 and 338 (gross negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.(
Others sentenced were Vijay Gokhle, the then Managing Director of UCIL, Kishore Kamdar, the then Vice President, J N Mukund, the then Works Manager, S P Choudhary, the then Production Manager, K V Shetty, the then Plant Superintendent and S I Quereshi, the then Production Assistant.
All the convicts applied for bail immediately after the sentencing and were granted relief on a surety of Rs 25,000 each.
Sachin Tendulkar opts out of Asia cup, Yuvraj axed
NEW DELHI: India's cricket chiefs on Monday allowed veteran Sachin Tendulkar to skip the upcoming Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, while Yuvraj Singh was dropped from the 15-man squad.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will captain India in the four-nation limited-overs tournament against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, in Dambulla from June 15 to 24.
Tendulkar, 37, has not played for India since February 24, when he hit an unprecedented double-century in a one-day international against South Africa in Gwalior.
The world's most prolific Test and one-day batsman turned out for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League in March-April, before being rested for a tri-series in Zimbabwe also featuring Sri Lanka.
"Tendulkar requested the board not to consider him for the Asia Cup as he wanted to spend time with his children in view of the hectic cricket season ahead," BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement.
Left-hander Yuvraj was axed after scoring just 74 runs in five matches in the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean in April-May, where India failed to make the semi-finals.
In five one-day internationals this year, Yuvraj has managed only 96 runs, 74 of them coming in one match against Sri Lanka in Dhaka.
Six players who were rested for the Zimbabwe tri-series -- Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra -- are back for the Asia Cup.
The second-string Indian team did not qualify for the final in Zimbabwe after losing twice to the hosts and once to Sri Lanka.
Attacking left-hand batsman Saurabh Tiwary, 20, who plays for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, is the only new face in the squad.
Indian squad:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag (vice-capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Pragyan Ojha, Ashok Dinda, Ravichandran Ashwin, Saurabh Tiwary.
Zimbabwe beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets
HARARE: Continuing their giant-killing spree, hosts Zimbabwe rode on Brendan Taylor's second ODI ton to pull off a spectacular eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka in an inconsequential match of the cricket tri-series on Thursday.
With both the teams having already made it to the summit clash, today's match was of merely academic interest but Zimbabwe proved that their back-to-back wins against India was no fluke as they upstaged Sri Lanka in the dress-rehearsal for Wednesday's final.
Put into bat, Sri Lanka got off to a flier, courtesy the 122-run stand between captain Tillakaratne Dilshan (78) and Upul Tharanga (69) but the Zimbabwe bowlers showed tremendous resilience to eventually bowl out the visitors for a modest 236 in 47.5 overs at the Harare Sports Club.
And with Taylor (119 not out) extending his sensational form in the tournament, Zimbabwe cruised to 240 for two in 47.5 overs to clinch the match.
Taylor's sterling unbeaten 137-ball knock was studded with nine fours and a six.
Taylor got good support from Chamu Chibhaba (58) with whom he shared 134 runs for the second wicket and then completed the chase in Tatenda Taibu's (42 not out) company with the duo putting on an unbeaten 92-run stand.
Earlier, Sri Lanka could not make the most of a flying start and folded for 236 inside 48 overs.
Sri Lanka were off to a brilliant start with Dilshan (78 off 66 balls) and Tharanga (69 off 97 balls) adding 122 runs for the opening stand at a run-a-ball rate.
The Zimbabwean bowlers, however, made a spirited comeback after the initial thrashing and ran through the middle and lower order to bowl out the Lankans in 47.5 overs.
For the hosts, Chris Mpofu, Prosper Utseya and Graeme Cremer scalped two wickets apiece.
Apart from the openers, only three other Lankan batsman reached double digit scores.
Dilshan wasted no time in asserting himself and thrived in Tharanga's company as the duo took the Zimbabwean attack by the scruff of its neck.
Zimbabwe looked in for a leather-hunt as the Lankan openers took the score past the 100-mark without showing any signs of a let-up.
Finally, Utseya not only broke the stand but also triggered a mid-innings collapse when he removed Dilshan and last match's centurion Dinesh Chandimal in quick successions to bring some relief to the Zimbabwean camp.
Sri Lanka suddenly started losing wickets at regular intervals, courtesy some tidy work by the Zimbabwean bowlers as they brought down the Lankan innings with 2.1 overs to spare.
Everybody up for sale in Jharkhand, says Sahai
New Delhi:Senior Congress leader from Jharkhand and Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahai said his party has not held any parleys for forming a government in the state, where 'everybody is up for sale'.
Sahai, the Union Minister for Food Processing, said that Congress has not held any talks in an attempt to form a government in a hurry in the state.
On charges of horse-trading in the state, which was put under President's Rule on June 2, Sahai said, "in Jharkhand, everybody is up for sale. Let's see who buys whom."
Talking to media on the sidelines of a function here, Sahai said now that the state is under President's Rule, the priority should be to streamline and tone up the administration.
"An initiative can be taken for a clean administration," he said.
Asked whether JMM leader Shibu Soren was in touch with Congress, Sahai said, "when he left the NDA, Shibu had himself said that he was doing it in favour of UPA."
The Minister, who is an MP from Ranchi, said, "whatever has happened in Jharkhand is not good."
The state has been brought under President's rule after BJP withdrew support to the Shibu Soren government. The 81-member assembly was put under suspended animation.
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