New Delhi: In a big relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered him to be released on interim bail in connection with the money laundering case linked to the excise policy case.
Pronouncing its verdict, a bench, headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, referred to a larger bench CM Kejriwal’s plea against his arrest and subsequent remand by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for an authoritative pronouncement on the questions of law involved.
However, CM Kejriwal will not be able to walk out of jail since he was arrested by the CBI on June 26.
The bench, also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, on May 17, had reserved its verdict on CM Kejriwal’s petition contending that the ED is required to demonstrate the “necessity to arrest” on the “materials available” with a “reason to believe” that he has been guilty of an offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
During the hearing, the apex court had ordered the AAP supremo to be released on 21-day interim bail till June 1 in view of the Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Tuesday took cognizance of the supplementary prosecution complaint filed by the ED against CM Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Taking cognizance, special judge Kaveri Baweja issued a production warrant for CM Kejriwal for July 12.
Recently, the Delhi High Court stayed a trial court’s order granting bail to CM Kejriwal in the money laundering case, saying that the documents and arguments were not appreciated by the trial court.
CM Kejriwal’s distinct petitions seeking bail and challenging his arrest by CBI in the corruption case linked to the alleged liquor policy scam are pending before the Delhi High Court.
Andhra Pradesh Police registered an “attempt to murder” case against former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, two senior IPS officers and two retired officials, following a complaint lodged by a TDP MLA, an official said on Friday.
The complaint was lodged by the ruling party’s Undi MLA K Raghurama Krishna Raju.
Besides Reddy, police booked senior IPS officers PV Sunil Kumar and PSR Sitaramanjaneyulu and retired police officer R Vijay Paul and former Guntur Government General Hospital superintendent G Prabhavati, the official said.
Vijay Paul and Prabhavati have superannuated.
“Raju sent his police complaint through mail one month ago and after taking legal opinion, I registered a case at 7 pm on Thursday against the former CM and others,” the official told PTI.
Raju, a former MP, also alleged that he was subjected to “custodial torture,” the official added.
Police booked the five accused under Sections 120 B, 166, 167, 197, 307, 326, 465 and 506 read with 34 of the IPC as the case is three years old.
The case was booked at Nagarampalem police station in Guntur.
TDP leader Raju’s 2021 arrest case came to the fore in Andhra Pradesh after he lodged a complaint against Reddy and some officials over it on June 10.
He accused the former CM and the senior officials of “plotting” a criminal “conspiracy” against him.
Raju, 62, alleged in his complaint that senior IPS officers Sunil Kumar and Sitaramanjaneyulu, police officer Vijaya Paul and government doctor Prabhavathi were part of that “conspiracy”.
He was arrested in May 2021 in the middle of the Covid-19 second wave.
“A false case was registered against me by the CB-CID of the Andhra Pradesh government. On May 14, 2021, I was arrested without due process, I was bullied, unlawfully physically pulled inside the police vehicle, and forcibly taken to Guntur the same night,” Raju alleged in the complaint.
When Raju was arrested, Kumar was heading the CID, Sitaramanjaneyulu the Intelligence wing, Paul was ASP CID and Reddy was the CM.
The MLA said though he had undergone an open heart surgery “some weeks” before his arrest, he claimed he was abused. Also, he alleged there were threats to kill him for “criticising the chief minister (Jagan)”.
“I was arrested without due process, including the absence of a medical examination or adherence to proper legal procedures…I was kept in the CB-CID office, Guntur from 9.30 pm onwards (May 14, 2021). I was not given my medicine despite having had an open heart bypass surgery,” Raju, who was an YSRCP MP from Narasapuram, claimed.
Raju also alleged that when the magistrate had sent him to Guntur Government General Hospital, the then superintendent of the hospital, Prabhavathi, had colluded with Sunil Kumar to create false medical reports that no injuries were inflicted on his person.
“Due to police brutality, I was shifted from Guntur to Secunderabad Army Hospital by the orders of the Supreme Court and thereafter I was granted bail by the Supreme Court,” said Raju. The bail came a week later.
Among other allegations, he demanded that a case be registered against all the accused persons and said in his complaint that “these criminal offences must be addressed promptly and justice be done”.
For several months preceding his arrest, Raju was accused of abusing the then CM Jagan Mohan Reddy on a daily basis through select media houses from Delhi and Hyderabad.
Reacting to the FIR filed against him, Sunil Kumar wondered how a “new FIR” can be filed in a three-year-old case “rejected” by the Supreme Court.
“I leave it to your wisdom to understand how an FIR can be filed anew in a case that has already been dismissed by the Supreme Court after three years of proceedings,” Sunil Kumar said in a social media post.
Top officials from the Border Security Force (BSF), the Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab police, and representatives from Central agencies convened on Thursday in Kathua for the Inter-State Coordination Conference. The aim of the meeting was to strengthen the security grid and prevent infiltration across the border.
The meeting follows the ambush in Kathua on July 8, where five Indian Army soldiers lost their lives. It is believed that the attackers, suspected to be foreign terrorists, infiltrated Indian territory via the International Border.
The Kathua-Billawar-Badnota-Basantgarh-Bhaderwah-Kishtwar axis has historically been a common infiltration route for terrorists entering the Kashmir Valley during peak terrorism periods.
The high-level security review meeting focused on enhancing border security and improving synergy between the state police forces and the BSF. The conference was attended by Spl DG BSF Western Command YB Khurana, DGP J&K RR Swain, DGP Punjab Gaurav Yadav, ADGP (Law and Order) J&K Vijay Kumar, ADG (Law and Order) Punjab Arpit Shukla, and IG-rank BSF officers from Punjab and Jammu.
Discussions centered on improving intelligence gathering, monitoring suspicious movements, and exposing sleeper cells of overground workers in the border areas of Kathua and Punjab. Security agencies revealed that local overground workers provided shelter, logistics, and crucial information to terrorists, sometimes escorting them to safe hideouts undetected.
Security forces have been deployed in the hilly areas of Kathua, Udhampur, and Doda to eliminate the fleeing terrorists. Forces are proceeding cautiously to avoid potential IEDs planted by the terrorists in and around their hideouts.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has established a seven-member committee tasked with identifying and deporting foreign nationals who have been illegally residing in the region since 2011.
Chaired by the administrative secretary of the Home Department, the panel includes top officials such as the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer of Punjab, members of the Criminal Investigation Department (Special Branch) at Jammu and Srinagar headquarters, all district Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs), Superintendents of Police (SPs) for Foreigners Registration, and the state coordinator of the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
The committee is responsible for collecting and maintaining biographic and biometric details of these migrants, ensuring that this information is regularly updated in a digital record.
Principal Secretary to the Home Department, Chandraker Bharti, confirmed the re-constitution of the committee, emphasizing its role in identifying foreign nationals overstaying in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Home Department has instructed the panel to coordinate and oversee efforts to trace and deport these illegal residents. A monthly report detailing the committee’s progress will be submitted to the Union Home Ministry by the fifth day of each month.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday hold a meeting with leading economists to discuss the Union Budget 2024-25.
The budget will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on July 23. The Budget Session will start on July 22 and conclude on August 12.
Economists, industry experts and Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery will discuss the fiscal situation and strategies, and also present views and recommendations to the Prime Minister at the meeting, according to sources.
This will be the first Budget of the Modi-led government in its third term at the Centre.
PM Modi returned to the national capital on Thursday morning after concluding his two-nation visit to Russia and Austria.
Last month during her address to a joint session of Parliament, President Droupadi Murmu indicated that the government would come out with historic steps to accelerate the pace of reforms.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has held discussions with various stakeholders, including economists and captains of industry on the forthcoming Budget.
New Delhi: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi has criticised the Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi for his remarks over the prices of pulses in the state, which have sparked a controversy.
Priyanka has hit out at the Minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government by sharing a post on social media platform X that states, “Quoting a media news report that after the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the Ram temple in Ayodhya in 2019, more than 2, 500 plots in 25 villages adjacent to the temple site were bought and sold. Several people who bought this land were named, who were either politicians, government officials, or local leaders.”
Along with this post on X, the Congress leader said, ” Uttar Pradesh Minister Surya Pratap Shahi, who is laughing at the price of pulses by quoting it at Rs 100 per kg, should see this rate list of pulses.”
“It is written that the market price of Arhar dal is Rs 180 per kg, red kidney bean is Rs 170 per kg, Black Urad is Rs 130 per kg, Moong dal is Rs 120 per kg, Urad Dhuli is Rs 130 per kg.”
The State Agriculture Minister had said on Wednesday during a press conference that the prices of pulses was not more than Rs 100 per kg sold in the state.
New Delhi : The Congress have expressed grave concern over the increased number of terror attacks in the Jammu region of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which otherwise has remained, by and large, peaceful so far.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here today, party MP and CWC member Deepender Singh Hooda referred to the latest terror attack in Kathua district of Jammu region in which five soldiers were martyred and five others were injured. He observed that the government was not taking the matter as seriously as it needs to be taken. “As a responsible Opposition, we want to remind the government to take it seriously”, the Congress spokesperson said.
Hooda pointed out, this was the fifth such attack in the last one month in the Jammu region, which so far had remained mostly peaceful as compared to Kashmir region. He said, similar attack took place in Rajouri in December 2023 in which four soldiers were martyred. Besides, a bus carrying pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine was attacked in which 9 pilgrims were killed on June 9. He also referred to the terror attack in Kulgam in Kashmir region, in which 8 people, including two soldiers, were killed.
Quoting the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi saying that terror attacks can only be dealt with firm action and not just hollow words and speeches, Hooda said, the terrorists needed to be answered in their own language. He said, whatever steps need to be taken to deal with the situation, the Congress, as a responsible Opposition, was ready to support and cooperate with the government in every way.
The Congress spokesperson said that what was more concerning was that the terrorists had extended their area of activities from Kashmir to Jammu region. Quoting different reports in public domain, he said, since January 2023, the proportion of the number of civilians and security personnel killed in terror-related incidents had almost doubled and was higher than what it was 20 years ago in 2004.
Blaming Pakistan for orchestrating such attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, Hooda said, it (Pakistan) was trying to divert the attention of its people from its own failures like unemployment and bankruptcy.
Replying to a question, he observed, the government should take whatever measures it thinks are appropriate. He assured Congress party’s support and cooperation in the interest of national security. He said it was the right time to give the befitting reply to Pakistan.
A massive joint search operation was launched on Tuesday in response to a deadly attack on an army patrol party in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district. The attack resulted in the deaths of five personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer, and left five others injured.
Officials have reported that the search teams on the ground are being supported by helicopter and UAV surveillance. Sniffer dogs and metal detectors are also being employed, with a focus on dense forest areas in the region.
The joint cordon and search operation involves the army, police, and CRPF, covering areas such as Machedi, Badnote, Kindli, and Lohai Malhar, with a large area placed under cordon.
Sources indicate that three to four terrorists, mostly foreigners, are believed to have carried out the ambush in the remote Machedi area. The group is also suspected of involvement in the Basangarh attack, where village defence guard Mohd Sharief was killed in an encounter on April 28 in Panara village.
Lucknow : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will undertake a day’s visit to Raebareli on Tuesday, party sources said.
This will be his first visit to his constituency since assuming office as the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha.
According to party sources, Rahul Gandhi will reach Fursatganj airport and proceed directly to Bhuemau Guest House.
He will meet various delegations of different sections of society, besides people and party leaders there.
“Besides meeting delegations, partymen and the people, he may undertake a surprise visit in the constituency, ” said district Congress committee Rae Bareli president Pankaj Tiwari.
A senior party leader said there was also a proposal to meet district officials in Raebareli but it was yet to be confirmed.
Rahul Gandhi is also scheduled to meet family of the late Captain Anshuman Singh who died in the July 2023 Siachen fire, showing exceptional bravery and saving three lives.
Captain Anshuman Singh was given Kirti Chakra posthumously by President Droupadi Murmu recently.
Prayagraj (UP) : For the second time in three years, the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP) — the apex decision-making body of the ancient Hindu monastic orders — is gearing up to weed out “black sheep” among saints.
In 2021, following the suicide of Mahant Narendra Giri, ABAP had resolved that to identify fake saints and seers. Some members of the community, including his own disciples, were allegedly involved in the suicide of Narendra Giri.
Akhara Parishad president Mahant Ravindra Puri told IANS on Sunday: “ABAP has convened a meeting here on July 17 and 18 to discuss the preparations for the forthcoming mega religious fair of Maha Kumbh, 2025. In the meeting, the body also plans to issue guidelines and could even come out with a list of fake saints and seers.”
“A call would also be given that such fake and self-styled seers may not be allowed to demand land and other facilities to set up camps during the once-in-12-year fair on Sangam banks, ” he added.
Acharya Devendra Shastri, a member of the executive committee of the Akhara Parishad and of Nirmal Anand Akhara, said that such incidents like the one that took place in Hathras affect the reputation of all saints and seers. “All 13 akharas will have to come forward unitedly on the issue and take a stand against fake saints, ” he said.
Shastri said the government should also have a discussion on the issue because the saints at their front do not have any agency through which they can identify such fake babas and take action against them.
“A few years ago also, we had prepared guidelines and identified fake saints under the aegis of Akhara Parishad but after releasing the list of fake saints a few times, no further action was taken on it, ” he added.
Shri Mahant Durgadas of Shri Panchayati Akhara Bada Udasin is also upset over the Hathras incident. He said that many people have come out as self-styled saints by adding ‘baba’ before their names with an aim to mislead the common man and get a crowd of followers.
He wants that there should be a debate and discussion on the issue in Parliament too.
