Mumbai underground

Sweet wait

Corporators turned restless during the BMC general body meeting on Monday when the commencement of the meeting was delayed by almost an hour. Amidst silent curses and loud complaints, Congress corporator Dynanraj Nikam stood up and announced, "To make the wait more bearable, here are pedhas. We are distributing them to celebrate the appointment of Rahul Gandhi as Congress vice president." The meeting took another 15 minutes to begin, as boxes of pedhas were distributed across the hall, to over100 corporators.

'Upside Down' BMC

In the wake of violence in Mulund on Sunday when several illegal hutments were burnt by a mob allegedly led by some politicians, corporators vented their ire against the BMC's 'inaction' on illegal hutments in a meeting on Monday. BJP leader Dilip Patel, in an animated tirade, said, "No wonder the corporation is called ulty paalty (upside down)."

Courtroom A(u)ction

In the course of a litigation in Bombay High Court on Monday, the Slum Rehabilitation Authority decided an auction for four flats in the courtroom, in front of the judges. The authority had attached the flats after the developer had failed to pay development fees of Rs 3.2 crore due to it, as also Rs 1.5 crore to the civic body. The SRA had earlier issued an advertisement calling for bids for the flats. All the bidders were present in court on Monday.

Court 'Bonds'

Family dramas are as common in courts as they are on prime-time television. Although eloping couples land up in court every other day through habeas corpus petitions, the court once played nothing short of the father of the bride while allowing a woman from Jharkhand to live with her Maharashtrian husband. Not only did the court ask the girl whether she consents to it but also questioned her husband about his occupation, his father's occupation and whether he owns a house or not. "We have to ensure that someone [the girl] who has taken such a risk in life is protected," the court said.

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