Beaten up for refusing bail

He might have handed some years in jail for assault but a city magistrate recently realised the hard way how frail his own freedom — from being attacked — was.

Muruganandham was allegedly heckled and roughed up by lawyers angry at the magistrate’s refusal to grant bail to their clients — four women who stole chains.

The police’s lawyers opposed their release from custody, arguing that the quartet had a history of such offences. After Muruganandham dismissed the bail plea, the two lawyers representing the women began abusing him.

Shocked and embarrassed, the magistrate left the courtroom immediately and retired to his chamber but the advocates followed him there and beat him up, court officials said.

Muruganandham then consulted his senior colleagues and rushed to Madras High Court to file a complaint with Chief Justice A.P. Shah. But the lawyers followed suit and met Shah to explain their version of events. They denied having attacked the magistrate. The chief justice advised them to present their arguments when the magistrate’s case comes up for hearing.

Whichever side wins, the incident will go down as one of the ugliest in the recent history of the state’s judiciary.

Study on winter smog

The cloud on one of the capital’s lingering weather mysteries might be lifted if a group of researchers crack the puzzle.

The Delhi government has ordered a study to find out the reasons and, as well as the cure, for the smog that envelopes the capital during the early hours each winter.

The School of Environmental Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University has been asked to study the characteristics of the smog, the reasons for their formation and suggest ways to tackle the problem, a government official said last week after the decision was taken.

“The study will look at the pollution levels, temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction during all seasons,” he said, adding that the focus will be on the winter months. The report is expected in a year’s time.

Pachauri’s royal date

Energy economist R.K. Pachauri, who heads the Nobel Prize-winning UN Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change, recently had some unusual visitors.

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, accompanied by her son, the Prince of Orange William Alexander and his wife Princess Maxima, visited Pachauri and his team at The Energy Resource Institute (Teri) in the capital.

The queen and her family are reported to be eager environment buffs, and wanted to understand the ecological challenges India faces. Pachauri, in a presentation, explained how the rising sea levels, in Bengal’s Sunderbans area, was emerging as a major concern.

Deforestation, desertification, the lack of cheap energy for the poor, loss of biodiversity and the threat to tigers were among the concerns that Pachauri spoke about.

Congratulating the scientist and the panel for winning the Nobel Peace Prize this year, the queen underlined the need for India and the Netherlands to cooperate more in areas such as water management, environment, agriculture and food processing.

Doctor ache

Doctors in Mumbai have been hitting the warpath often.

Last week, 3500 of them in public hospitals went on a day’s strike to protest against the rule that requires them to spend at least three years in villages after getting their degrees.

The regulation, framed by the state government, sets fines of up to Rs 15 lakh if the mandatory rural service is not completed. The aim is to ensure adequate healthcare facilities in the villages. The strike was the third such protest in the past two weeks.

Delhi: Jaya Lakshmi Ishwar presents Nadopasana, a Bharatnatyam dance feature, at Kamani Auditorium this Sunday. The venue, on Copernicus Marg in the heart of the capital, is a two-minute walk from the Mandi House Metro station. The show begins at 6.30pm.