New Delhi : The Hon'ble Justice Mr.Sunil Thomas, the Registrar-II, the Supreme Court of India, on Sept,19,2013, in the Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 1603/2013(Shobhana Bhartia Versus State of Bihar and Another), passed an order to list the matter before the Hon'ble Court as per rules.
The Court of the Hon'ble Registrar-II, the Supreme Court of India, on Sept, 19,2013, ordered , "In view of the urgency expressed by the parties and service being complete, list the matter before the Hon'ble Court as per rules after the expiry of three weeks."
The Hon'ble Court also mentioned in the order," The Respondent No.-02,Mantoo sharma, Party-in-Person, has filed the Counter-Affidavit.The Respondent No.01, Mr.Samir Ali Khan, Advocate, seeks three weeks' time for filing the Counter-Affidavit."
It is worth mentioning that the Respondent No.01,Mr.Samir Ali Khana, Advocate is the Hon'ble counsel for the State of Bihar. Mantoo Sharma files his counter-affidavit in Supreme Court
Mr.Mantoo Sharma, Respondent No.-02 in the Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 1603 of 2013, filed by the Shobhana Bhartia, the chairperson of M/S Hindustan Media Ventures Limited(New Delhi), has filed his counter-affidavit in 315 pages in the Supreme Court on Sept, 16 recently. Mr.Mantoo Sharma is the informant in the Munger Kotwali P.S Case No. 445/2011 in Bihar.
Before filing his counter-affidavit, Mr.Sharma sent one set of the counter-affidavit to M/S Karanjawala & Co., Advocates for the petitioner, Shobhana Bhartia, the Chairperson of M/S Hindustan Media Ventures Limited, The Hindustan Times House, 18-20, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi -110001 by the registered parcel and two sets of his counter – affidavit to the government lawyer of the Bihar government in the Supreme Court by hand.Four sets of the counter- affidavit were filed in the court of the Reistrar -II, Mr.Sunil Thomas.
The petitioner prays for the stay of investigation in the Munger Kotwali P.S Case No.445/2011(Bihar):
The petitioner, Shobhana Bhartia has filed the Special Leave Petition( Criminal) No. -1603 of 2013 in the Supreme Court and prayed for an interim ex-party stay of investigation in the Munger Kotwali P.S Case No. 445/2011, dated Nov.,18,2011 under sections 8(b)/14/15 of the Press & Registration of Books Act, 1867 read with Sections 420/471/476 of the Indian Penal Code
Named accused persons in the Munger Kotwali P.S Case No.445/2011(Bihar): In the Munger Kotwali P.S Case No.445/2011 in Bihar, the Chairperson of M/S Hindustan Media Ventures Limited (New Delhi)Shobhana Bhartia, the Chief Editor,Dainik Hindustan, Shashi Shekhar(New Delhi), the Regional Editor,Dainik Hindustan,Patna edition, Akku Srivastawa, the Regional Editor, Dainik Hindustan,Bhagalpur edition,Binod Bandhu and the Publisher, ,M/S Hindustan Media Ventures Limited( Nw Delhi), Amit Chopra, have been accused of receiving the government money to the tune of about rupees two hundred crores illegally and fraudulently by obtaining and printing the advertisements of the Union and Bihar governments in the name of illegally printed and published Munger and Bhagalpur editions of Dainik Hindustan for a decade continuously in Bihar. The Munger police ,meanwhile, have submitted the Supervision Report No.01 and the Supervision Report No.-02 and have found all allegations "prima-facie true" against all the named accused persons including the principal accused Shobhana Bhartia (New Delhi) under sections 8(b)/14/15 of the Press & Registration of Books Act, 1867 and sections 420/471/476 of the Indian Penal Code.
The historical order of the Patna High Court : The Hon'ble Justice of the Patna High Court, Justice Anjana Prakash, in her order, dated Dec 17,2012, in the Criminal Miscellaneous No. 2951 of 2012, refused to interfere in the police investigation and directed the Munger police to complete the investigation in the Kotwali P.S Case No. 445/ 2011 within the three months from the date of the order. (EOM)
Report by ShriKrishna Prasad, advocate. Mobile No.-09470400813
