Live: SC to hear PIL against suspension of Durga Nagpal

10.50 am: SC to hear PIL against suspension of Durga Nagpal The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a PIL that was filed against the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal. The PIL was filed on Tuesday seeking an ex parte stay on all proceedings against her. The PIL comes even as the Samajwadi Party digs in its heels over the suspension, refusing to revoke it despite overwhelming evidence that the action was both unwarranted and unjust. 9.45 am: Sand mafia attacks batchmate of Durga Nagpal News just coming in states that Yunus Khan an IAS officer from the same batch as suspended Durga Shakti Nagpal has been attacked by members of the sand mafia in Himachal Pradesh. Speaking to CNN-IBN, Khan said, “We were on a raid yesterday at 4:45pm, when a few tractors hit me. The tractor guys were finally caught and an FIR has been registered”. He also told the channel, that he had never felt pressurised by the Himachal Pradesh government to protect the sand mafia in the state. “I’m protected by the government. That’s why i’m here from the last 7 months. From the government’s part, nobody has pressurised me not to work against mining mafia. I am free to work here”, he said. 9.00 am: Why Narendra Bhati may well have achieved his objective Samajwadi Party leader Narendra Bhati, the architect behind the grant design to dislodge IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal belongs to a dangerous breed of politicians, says Firspost reporter Pallavi Polanki. Despite the public outrage over the suspension of the sub-divisional magistrate, who had earned a reputation of taking on politically well-connected players of the sand mafia, Bhati seems to have achieved what he set out to. She says: The SP leader is acutely aware that his chances of becoming an MP from Gautam Budh Nagar depends on how the constituency’s 3 lakh Muslims vote. And in his cynical and dangerous brand of vote-banks politics communities and individuals are mere pawns to be used and abused in the pursuit of political power. Read the full story here Updates from 7 August 2013: [caption id=“attachment_1019259” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Image from Ibnlive[/caption] SP threatens Nagpal’s family Ever since the controversy over the suspension of IAS official Durga Shakti Nagpal erupted, the Samajwadi Party has been taking pot shots at the officer, but even they perhaps hit a new low with a minister threatening to expose the truth about the officer’s family. While attending an event with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Minister for Health Ahmed Hasan hit out at the IAS official’s family. “Which family does Nagpal belong to? You will come to know when we will expose it… then you will regret. Whom are you encouraging? She has destroyed the credibility of IAS cadre,” Hasan was quoted as saying in an India Today report . “She should apologize. She did not do her duty… she destroyed the credibility of the cadre,” Hasan was reported as saying in an NDTV report. The minister also claimed that the IAS officer was a ‘liar’ for claiming that the villagers of Kadalpur had demolished the wall of their own accord. Hasan, who joins the ranks of top Samajwadi Party leadership that has strongly criticised the IAS official’s actions and while refusing to reinstate her, said that her actions had almost incited communal violence in the village. Read more Gautam Budh Nagar DM leads raid against sand mafia Several persons were arrested and vehicles seized in fresh raids against illegal sand mining operations in Greater Noida with District Magistrate Kumar Ravikant Singh and SSP Preetinder Singh themselves leading the crackdown. Some of those arrested following the raids yesterday have been identified as Jai Kishan, Mukram, Rahees and Daulat Singh. Six dumper trucks and equipment used in the illegal mining of sand was seized from them. Meanwhile, a team from the Indian Bureau of Mines and Environment visited the Noida Khadar area and collected photographic evidence of illegal mining. Exclusive: Durga Shakti Nagpal was present when the mosque wall was demolished A leaked local intelligence report that claims IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal was not present in Kadalpur village on the day that a wall of an under-construction mosque, that did not have legal sanction, was demolished, has been shown to be erroneous by photos accessed by Firstpost. Residents of Kadalpur, when confronted by news reports of the leaked local intelligence report that claims that it had been sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Bachchu Singh and not Nagpal who had visited Kadalpur to stop the illegal construction of the mosque, showed Firstpost photos that show Nagpal in Kadalpur village accompanied by senior police officers on the day she was suspended by the Samajwadi Party government. Read more Durga Nagpal case: Dalit writer arrested for FB post criticising UP govt The standoff over the reinstatement of suspended IAS official Durga Shakti Nagpal has caused collateral damage, with prominent Dalit writer Kanwal Bharti being arrested in Rampur for a Facebook post criticising the state government. Bharti, who strongly criticised the Uttar Pradesh government over its handling of the issue, was arrested and was is presently out on bail for now. According to a CNN-IBN report, Azam Khan, a senior leader of the Samajwadi Party was miffed by the post written by Bharti. Subsequently, the Samajwadi Party leader aide Shanu Khan filed an FIR in which Bharti was accused of trying to incite communal strife in the region. So what did the offending post say? In his post written on Facebook in Hindi, Bharti said: Akhilesh Yadav‘s government has completely failed on the issue of reservation and Durga Shakti Nagpal. Akhilesh, Shivpal, Azam Khan and Mulayam Singh Yadav might pat each other and their government’s back on the Durga Shakti Nagpal issue but they are unable to see the reality in the state. The public is criticising them and mocking them (Bharti used the harsher Hindi phrase thu thu in his original post) and according to the people these four are unfit for democracy. The confidence of criminals is at an all time high while ministers consider themselves to be god. They are themselves writing the chapter that will end their political careers. Power has made them blind and to try and understand such people is futile. The original post in Hindi is rather damning and uses much stronger words to criticise the UP government and in particular the SP’s top four leaders, a fact that clearly didn’t go down well with Azam Khan.