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HC refuses ‘maintenance’ to foreigner couple stuck in India

The Bombay High Court has said foreigners stranded in India due to pending criminal cases cannot seek maintenance to sustain themselves. As reported by DNA

Singapore national Zainab Yousuf (57) and her Japanese husband Teytsyo Hiryama (62) had sought maintenance from the state government.

Yousuf and Hiryama found themselves in an unusual predicamment: acquitted and set free by High Court, although not having permission to leave country since the appeal is pending.

Advocate Ayaz Khan, their advocate, argued that they had no source of livelihood here. Relying on article 21 of Constitution (right to life), Khan moved High Court for maintenance.

The two of them were arrested at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here for possession of Hashish and were convicted and sentenced to ten years imprisonment in 2006.

But in January 2009, they were acquitted from the High Court. However, customs appealed it in the Supreme Court, and authorities didn’t issue them ‘exit visa’.

Yesterday, rejecting their plea, division bench of justice PB Majmudar and justice RG Ketkar said that “even for citizens of this country (India) who cannot maintain themselves, there isn’t any policy to offer shelter and maintenance. At the most the petitioners may obtain a work permit.”

HC refuses ‘maintenance’ to foreigner couple stuck in India

The Bombay High Court has said foreigners stranded in India due to pending criminal cases cannot seek maintenance to sustain themselves.

Singapore national Zainab Yousuf (57) and her Japanese husband Teytsyo Hiryama (62) had sought maintenance from the state government.

Yousuf and Hiryama found themselves in an unusual predicamment: acquitted and set free by High Court, although not having permission to leave country because the appeal is pending.

Advocate Ayaz Khan, their advocate, argued that they had no source of livelihood here. Relying on article 21 of Constitution (right to life), Khan moved High Court for maintenance.

The two of them were arrested at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here for possession of Hashish and were convicted and sentenced to ten years imprisonment in 2006.

But in January 2009, they were acquitted by the High Court. However, customs appealed it in the Supreme Court, and authorities didn’t issue them ‘exit visa’.

Yesterday, rejecting their plea, division bench of justice PB Majmudar and justice RG Ketkar said that “even for citizens of this country (India) who cannot maintain themselves, there is no policy to offer shelter and maintenance. At the most the petitioners may apply for a work permit.”

Mumbai Forest Land get SC nod

Mumbai: The long disputed issue of construction on forest land in Mumbai finally seems near to a resolution after a recent Supreme Court ruling. outcome might not bode well for the already fragile environment of the city. As reported by IBN7.

Couple of years after silence descended inside illegal construction sites in Mumbai, a Supreme Court order could now restart the job.

The projects declared illegal in 2006, as they were situated on forest land.

But the apex court now says work can go on if the Environment Ministry clears it.

Developers are a happy lot however the court order has come like a blow to green activists like Debi Goenka.

Goenka was one of several original petitioners who fought to conserve the city’s dwindling forest cover.

There are approximately 150 such projects being constructed on 200 acres of forest land.

In 2001, Goenka’s Bombay Environment Action group approached the Bombay High Court saying the state government wasn’t acting against developers building illegally on forest land.

After five long years, in 2006, the BMC ordered the constructions stopped.

“These buildings are essentially illegal, they’ve got no permits. They go against the original SC ruling,” says Goenka.

It’s not only} the environmentalists anxious. Also keeping their fingers crossed are people like Saji Mathews whose dream homes were to be built on the plots.

“We just learnt about this through the papers. The builders haven’t told us anything,” says Mathews, who booked a flat here five years ago.

Now Matthews is hoping he can take possession of his new home soon.

Mumbai, July 5 (IANS) The Bombay High Court Thursday said it would give its final order on July 12 on the issue of restraining Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) from selling gas produced from one of its prime blocks in the Krishna-Godavari basin to a third party.

The high court, which had passed an interim order on June 22 on a petition filed by Anil Ambani owned Reliance Natural Resources Ltd. (RNRL) and state-owned NTPC Ltd., was hearing a review petition filed by the Mukesh Ambani owned RIL Thursday.

The court had stated in its interim order that 81.6 million cubic meters of gas per day (mmscmd) was earmarked for RNRL, NTPC or for RIL’s captive use for the next eight years.

RIL filed a petition seeking an injunction on the order and argued Thursday that since there was no power project at the blocks and the gas was lying unused it should be permitted to sell the gas to other companies.

The country needs natural gas for its energy requirement and the gas in the Krishna-Godavari basin in eastern India should not be allowed to lie idle at a time when we are paying heavily to meet our energy requirements, said RIL counsel Harish Salve.

“We told the court that since the proposed work on the project has not yet started and production of gas will not commence before 2012, what is the point of keeping the gas underground. We have requested the court to review its order,” Salve told reporters after the hearing.

RIL had in the June called for competitive bids for selling the 80 mmscmd of gas and received price bids from various power and fertiliser companies.

“RIL’s deal with RNRL was confined to only 40 mmscmd. We should be free to sell the remaining 40 mmscmd to third parties as the volumes being referred to are only on discoveries made before the agreement before June 2005,” he said, referring to the settlement between the two Ambani brothers.

According to the settlement, RIL agreed to supply 28 mmscmd of gas to Reliance Energy at $2.34 per mmbtu (million British thermal units).

It also agreed to sell the 12 mmscmd of gas earmarked for NTPC if its agreement with the power major collapsed.

Both RNRL and NTPC have accused RIL of going back on its word to sell gas at the stipulated price. The June bids had generated a price of $4.58 per mmbtu that is nearly double the price at which RIL had originally agreed to sell to RNRL and NTPC.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group owned by Anil Ambani also accused the Mukesh Ambani group of violating the June 2005 deal between the brothers.

Sources here said that the union ministry of petroleum and natural gas, which has till now played the role of an adjudicator in the RIL versus RNRL case, may soon enter the fray.

“In its bid to make gas available to power and fertiliser companies, the government may soon take a more active role in the dispute,” sources here said.

“The government earns a part of the revenue from sale of gas as profit petroleum. Any delay in sales will hit government’s earnings and it is sure to enter the fray to settle the dispute.”