Disproportionate assets per se not crime: SC

NEW DELHI, Jun 02, 2016, DHNS

State assails Jaya's acquital by Karnataka High Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said disproportionate assets per se is not a crime unless it is proved that such wealth was acquired through illicit means.
“Disproportionate assets per se is not a crime. If some of the income cannot be proved, then the offence is complete. Otherwise, it will only be an inference,” a bench of Justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy said.

The court's observation came as special public prosecutor B V Acharya, representing the Karnataka government, assailed the May 11 judgment of the Karnataka High Court, acquitting Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and three others in the disproportionate assets case.

The counsel submitted that the HC as well as trial court had considered assets, expenditure and income of all the accused jointly along with that of firms by accepting the case of the prosecution. So, the accused cannot now make out a case for considering the assets of the four accused, including the AIADMK chief, separately, he contended.  

To this, the bench asked, “Even if we assume that all the accused are together, will it per se lead to the conclusion that the money in circulation belonged to Accused 1 (Jayalalithaa) and it is not accounted for?”

“Suppose you prove that all the accused are together and it is the same money of Accused no 1 that was being circulated. Does it lead to conviction? Will it mean that the money being pumped into those companies was from an income obtained from unknown sources?” the bench asked.

Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, also appearing for Karnataka, called the HC verdict “perverse” since it “committed massive error” in calculating the total income of the AIADMK chief and others between 1991 and 1996 as 8.12% when it actually worked out to 76.7%. 

DMK leader K Anbazhagan and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy also challenged the acquittal of the AIADMK chief, her former aide Sasikala and two of her relatives, V N Sudhakaran and Elavarasi. 

Damania begins fast to seek Khadse's ouster

Mumbai, Jun 2, 2016 (PTI)

Former AAP leader Anjali Damania today launched a hunger strike demanding an inquiry into allegations of corruption against Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse and sought his ouster from the state cabinet.
Damania, who met social activist Anna Hazare yesterday, to seek his blessings before beginning with the hunger strike, reached Azad Maidan for the fast here.

She also demanded that the inquiry be completed within six months and the case be heard by a fast-track court.

"There are so many corruption allegations against Khadse and the government should take action regarding this. I met Anna and showed him all the documents against Khadse. Anna said it is a grave issue and assured me that he will call the chief minister and bring it to his notice. I also sought blessings from him before beginning the fast," Damania said.

"I won't give up my fast till the chief minister gives me a written assurance that the probe against Khadse will be completed in six months," she said.

The activist had alleged that Khadse's son-in-law had been flouting norms while modifying his car Limousine without seeking proper permission from the Regional Transport Office (RTO).

There were also allegations that Khadse had received calls from underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's residence, she said.

Damania claimed that she wanted to hold the hunger strike near Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' official bungalow but was denied permission by the police.

The former AAP leader said this time she wanted the government to take action against the minister and withdraw all the departmental responsibilities from him.

"Whenever we bring corruption cases to the notice, we are told to go to the court. I have already filed PILs in the court on various issues. But then what is the government doing? It should act on the corruption cases. The court will do its duty. But the government should take action against Khadse," she said.

Asked what action she expects to be taken against Khadse, Damania said the government should conduct an inquiry.

"The government should conduct an inquiry into all the allegations against Khadse within six months. It has to be time-bound else it will never reach any conclusion. Also, the cases should be heard by the fast track court," she said.

Meanwhile, AAP today announced its activists will hold protests against Khadse at five places in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) this evening, including Dadar and Parel.

Vadra-Bhandari email trails under scanner

NEW DELHI, Jun 02, 2016, DHNS

Investigative agencies are looking at whether Robert Vadra had close relationship with controversial arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari after the latter is said to have admitted to an email exchange between the two.

The enquiry has also been expanded to British Virgin Islands and the UAE after investigators reported to the Finance Ministry about the possibility of a London property of Bhandari having links with Vadra.

The recent developments came after Income Tax Department got hold of documents that included email trails when they raided Bhandari’s residence last month. Bhandari has been summoned by the I-T Department.

Meanwhile, more names tumbled out on who have contacts with Bhandari. The name revealed on Wednesday was that of Appa Rao, the Officer on Special Duty to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju. TV news channel NDTV reported that he spoke to Bhandari 355 times. Rao has denied any wrongdoing.

Earlier, BJP leader Siddharth Singh's name also cropped up besides a Delhi-based senior journalist. He also denied any improper links with the arms dealer.

Official sources said Bhandari had email interactions with Vadra and that he had admitted it.

 Vadra’s lawyers had earlier denied any link to a property mentioned in the emails between him and Bhandari that were quoted in reports filed before the Finance Ministry by agencies.

Agencies are now investigating whether the London property, which was linked to Vadra, was bought by a shell company incorporated in British Virgin Islands by Bhandari.

Two other properties in Dubai were also under scanner. Investigators are trying to ascertain who paid the money.

The I-T Department has already requested some countries, including some tax havens, in connection with its probe against Bhandari. 

The department has approached the British Virgin Islands, the United Kingdom, UAE, Switzerland and a few other countries.

Official sources said the probe is still on and they initiated it after receiving inputs about Bhandari’s tax evasion. The I-T Department also approached Financial Intelligence Unit seeking help to ascertain details of bank accounts and transactions  which involve Bhandari and a few prominent names. 

 

Rahul under pressure to take over Cong reins

New Delhi, Jun 02, 2016, DHNS:

Sonia still has much to deliver, feel party veterans

Rahul Gandhi seems to be under immense pressure from his followers to take over as Congress president “as soon as possible”. 

However, party veterans feel that Sonia Gandhi still has much to deliver.Several Congress leaders Deccan Herald spoke to said that Rahul, who would turn 46 on June 19, has been the de facto president for quite some time now and the first family of the party has to decide on the timing for his formal elevation.

After the defeat of the Congress in the recent Assembly elections, voices have grown within the party for Rahul to take over as president and to remove the ambiguity over dual power centres once and for all. “We all want Rahul to take over, as and when (it will happen) we will make a proper statement,” AICC spokesperson Sushmita Dev said in response to questions over reports in a section of the media that Rahul’s elevation was expected this month itself.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is on a visit to her Raebareli constituency, evaded questions about the demand for Rahul’s elevation. “Wait for a day or two. Let the Congress president return to Delhi,” a senior party leader said when asked whether a reshuffle or a Congress Working Committee meeting or a ‘chintan shivir’ was being planned.

Asked about the change of guard in the Congress, a senior leader remarked that the 70-year-old Sonia still had “much to deliver”. “The priority for the party is to keep its flock united,” he said, suggesting that any change at the helm at this moment could upset the party’s applecart.

Jat group challenges HC order on quota

NEW DELHI, Jun 02, 2016, DHNS

A Jat community group on Wednesday approached the Supreme Court challenging an interim order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court staying the operation of a Haryana law granting quota to Jats.

Reservation was granted to five other castes in jobs and admission to educational institutes under the newly-carved Backward Classes (C) category.

Hawa Singh Sangwan, a former commandant of CRPF and President of Akhil Bhartiya Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (ABJASS) contended the HC should not have stayed the provision while hearing a writ petition.

Writ petition“The operation of a legislation passed by a state legislature cannot be stayed during the pendency of a writ petition under which the said legislation is assailed,” his petition said. The petition also contended that it amounted to granting final relief which was not permissible under the law.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court, on May 26, had stayed the reservation for Jats and five other communities while hearing a plea challenging the constitutional validity of the Haryana Backward Classes (reservation in services and admission in educational institutions) Act 2016 that was passed unanimously by the state Assembly on March 29.

"The HC has failed to appreciate that the admissions in the educational institutes are likely to take place in the coming months and there are a many students who would have taken admission under the reserved category but deprived of the same due to the interim stay order," it said.

Tailor surrenders free power in TN

Chennai, Jun 02, 2016, DHNS:

In what can be a lesson to the upper echelons of society who avail free schemes meant for the poor, a tailor from Tamil Nadu on Wednesday refused to accept the government's offer of 100 units of free electricity.
Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had promised 100 units of free electricity if elected to power.

S Muthukumarasamy (45), who has a tailoring unit at Chinniampalayam in Coimbatore district, wrote to District Collector Archana Patnaik, saying though the scheme will benefit people, it would have an impact on the economy of the state if those who can afford to pay for power avail the offer. 

Accordingly, Muthukumarasamy's petition was submitted to Tamil Nadu Electricity Board officials. "We will forward his request to the chief minister's cell. They will take a call on this,” a senior board official said. 

"I welcome the AIADMK government’s decision to provide 100 units of free electricity. However, as a tailor, I earn enough and don’t need free power,” Muthukumarasamy told DH. 

Man ends marriage after wife fails virginity test in Nashik

MUMBAI, Jun 02, 2016, DHNS

A 20-year-old girl was abandoned by her husband at the insistence of a Jat-panchayat within 48 hours after marriage because she failed to pass a virginity test. 
However, hours after the news spread and there was pressure from all quarters and intervention by police, the 25-year-old man, for whom this was the second marriage, took her as his wife again. 

The incident was reported in Nashik, where the boy hails from and in Ahmednagar district, where the girl hails from. On Wednesday morning, Vidya Thakur, the Minister of State for Women and Child Development and Vijaya Rahatkar, the Chairperson of Maharashtra State Commission for Women took cognizance of the reports and asked the police and local administration to intervene. 

The Jat panchayat in Nashik district had advised the boy to annul the marriage because she did not bleed. The couple got married on May 22 and the marriage ended within 48 hours. The girl, however, had pleaded that she was a virgin, which was not accepted by the jat-panchayat and she was sent to her parents in Ahmednagar district. 

Social workers Ranjana Gavande and Krishna Chandgude, who exposed the incident, said that the 20-year-old girl had been preparing for physical tests for recruitment in the police and was involved in running, long jump, cycling and other exercises. “It’s a serious issue and we have taken a cognizance of it,” said Thakur assuring that the case would be monitored by the police. Rahatkar said that the commission would extend all help to the girl. 

Earlier in the day, the boy claimed that the “virginity test” was done at the insistence of the parents and relatives of the girl. However, he was called to the Sangamner police station and the police explained the consequences and the law against such rulings of the jat-panchayats. The girl was also called to the police station. Later, emerging out of the police station, the boy said that there were some domestic issues, which have been sorted out.