Despite the fact that the Maharashtra government called actor Salman Khan's acquittal in the 2002 hit-and-run case "a travesty of justice", a Supreme Court bench said it is still deliberating over whether to reopen the case at all, reports The Indian Express. "We are still making up our minds.

We must remember it is an appeal against an acquittal," said Justices J S Khehar and C Nagappan, after hearing Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi arguing on behalf of the Maharashtra government which believes that the Bombay High Court's decision to acquit the actor in the hit-and-run case was erroneous.

Saritha S Nair, one of the chief accused in Kerala's solar scam case, said on Friday that she met Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy several times and was close to his family, reports The Indian Express. This belies Chandy's deposition to a judicial commission investigating the case that he had met Saritha only three times.

Saritha said: "I was never a stranger to him or his family. I had the freedom to enter his house anytime. the kind of freedom to enter another person's kitchen, I was that close. I was a frequent visitor." In response, Chandy said: "These are all false claims."

An Australian national of Malaysian origin was deported by India on Thursday due to "strong indications" that he was a sympathiser of Islamic State (IS), reports The Indian Express. Ahmad Fahim Bin Hamad Awang arrived at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport from Perth, Australia, on Thursday night, and was detained for questioning after a tip-off.

Officials searching his luggage found jihadi literature and IS propaganda on his laptop, as well as photographs of him posing with firearms. A security official said: "After scouring through the contents of his laptop, a call was taken that it was too dangerous to allow him to enter India, and he was sent back to Perth."

After North Korea defied international warnings and launched a long-range rocket, Japan, China and US approached United Nations seeking an urgent meeting to debate on the 'controversial' issue.

The launch, which South Korean officials confirmed about two hours after an eight-day launch window opened this morning, follows North Korea's widely disputed claim last month to have tested a hydrogen bomb. North Korea says its nuclear and missile programs are necessary to defend itself against what it calls decades of US hostility.

After Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan claimed that PM Narendra Modi had met underworld don Dawood Ibrahim during his recent visit to Pakistan to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif, the government on Sunday rubbished the claims as 'false and baseless'.

"There are certain statements in a section of press that prime accused in serial blasts in Mumbai, Dawood Ibrahim, was also present during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore on December 25, 2015. These statements are baseless, unfounded and totally false," an official spokesman said reacting to Khan's claim.