Patna Hc Puts Cell Firms On Notice

[Arun 795]

A Division Bench of Patna High Court (coram: Nagendra Roy, acting CJ, and SN Hussain, J) today asked three cell phone companies, Reliance Infocomm, Reliance India and BSNL, to inform the court about the criteria of granting mobile connections. Taking strong exception to the extortion calls being made all too often from behind the bars, the Bench observed that it was the collective responsibility of all to make Bihar a crime-free state.

“What is the criteria for granting mobile connections? What are the methods to verify the addresses of persons applying for connections?’’ the court asked while hearing a PIL of the Indian Medical Association today. The companies were also asked to suggest to the court as to how misuse of the handsets could be checked. They were directed to submit their replies by 15 December. The court also sought detailed call printouts of the cell phones seized from the Beur Jail inmates during the recent raids.

The IG (Jail), Mr Deepak Kumar Singh, informed the court that four mobile phones, including the one that was used by the RJD MP, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, were seized. A total of 670 calls were made by Pappu. He used to make 22 calls a day, according to official reports. And the phone calls would last from 30 seconds to 15 minutes.

The Bench said there were “shady persons’’ not merely in the ruling RJD, but in the Opposition parties as well. The media, the court said, was one of the pillars of democracy. Anyone trying to gag the freedom of the Press would be sternly dealt with.

The court passed this remark with regard to the Betia police’s reported attempt to implicate a local Hindi daily reporter in a false case soon after he broke the story of extortion calls being made to a doctor by an inmate of Betia jail. Not satisfied with the reply of the Betia SP, the Bench asked the DIG, Champaran Range, to initiate a detailed probe.

CBDT defends Lalu, Rabri

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court denying that Mr Lalu Prasad or Mrs Rabri Devi were in any way “influencing” the board, and defended its decision not to appeal the decision of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Patna, to quash the huge tax demands made on the duo, SNS adds from New Delhi. “The averment made by the petitioner (Mr Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan) as regards influencing respondent 3 (CBDT) by respondent 4 (Mr Prasad) and respondent 5 (Mrs Rabri Devi) is wholly malicious and untenable,” the affidavit said.