Kobad Gandhy discharged in unlawful activities case

New Delhi:  A Delhi court today put on trial top Naxal leader Kobad Gandhy for alleged cheating, forgery and impersonation while discharging him on charges under stringent anti-terror law.

Paving the way for the trial, Additional Sessions Judge Pawan Kumar Jain framed charges against 65-year-old Gandhy under various provisions of the IPC relating to cheating, forgery and impersonation in the case in which he is accused of trying to set up a base for banned outfit CPI (Maoist).

The court, however, discharged Gandhy of the charges under the Unlawful Activities  Prevention) Act due to improper sanction from the authorities.

"In my opinion, case is made out against Gandhy under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act but I am discharging (of the charges under UAP Act) him for want of proper sanction," the judge said.

The Maoist leader earlier had opposed filing of a supplementary charge sheet against him saying the police has filed the charge sheet despite there being no fresh material against him.

The Special Cell of Delhi Police, in its main charge sheet, had slapped charges under the UAP Act, besides booking him for various offences under the IPC relating to cheating, forgery and  impersonation.

An alumni of the prestigious Doon School, Ghandy was said to be part of the top leadership of erstwhile CPI-ML (People's War Group) from 1981 and continued as a Central Committee member in CPI (Maoist). He was elected to its Politburo in 2007.

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Sharad Pawar faints in Lok Sabha, discharged from hospital

New Delhi:  Senior union minister Sharad Pawar fainted this morning in the Lok Sabha.  Mr Pawar, who is the country's Agriculture Minister, was admitted to the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital and was later discharged in the evening.

Mr Pawar underwent several medical tests at the hospital following which doctors advised him rest. "It is a protocol in a government hospital, they do not want to take a chance so they asked him to take some rest. There is nothing serious," PTI quoted an aide of Mr Pawar saying .

Mr Pawar refused to go in an ambulance and opted for a check-up in his own car, news agency ANI reported. Mr Pawar  was accompanied by his daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule and Union Minister Praful Patel. Mr  Patel later said Mr Pawar's blood-sugar level dropped and he felt dizzy.

Mr Pawar had answered a number of supplementaries on questions related to agriculture during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha. The 71-year-old leader was in the Lok Sabha lobby when he felt a bit uneasy.He had returned to the capital from Mumbai late last night.

His Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is a member of the UPA coalition at the centre. Mr Pawar will not be attending the swearing-in ceremony later this week of Parkash Singh Badal as the chief minister of Punjab.

The Congress, which is the fulcrum of the UPA, had said that allies are expected not to cross the lakshman rekha by keeping company with political rivals. That statement was made after Mamata Banerjee's party, the Trinamool Congress, said she had accepted invites to the oath-taking ceremonies for both Mr Badal and the new chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav.

After the Congress made its displeasure cleat, Ms Banerjee's party said she would stay in Bengal to attend the assembly session there, and depute representatives to Punjab and Lucknow.

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