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Sahara chief Subrata Roy arrested in Lucknow

LUCKNOW: Sahara Chief Subrata Roy was arrested in Lucknow on Friday, after evading for two days a non-bailable warrant issued by the Supreme Court for his failure to appear before it in a case of non-refund of Rs 20,000 crore to investors.

Capping a day of dramatic developments, 65-year-old Roy surrendered before police this morning after calling them to Sahara Shaher. “Roy has been arrested and will be produced in court later today,” SP Trans-Gomti Habibul Hasan said.

Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani told a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice K S Radhakrishnan that Roy is in police custody in Lucknow and pleaded for recall of NBW issued on February 26. He submitted that the special bench, which is hearing the case, should take up the application today itself. But, his plea was turned down as the judge said it is not possible for the special bench to assemble today.

The day started with Subrata Roy issuing a signed two-page statement, claiming he was not absconding and was ready to“unconditionally follow” Supreme Court’s direction. Minutes after his arrest in Lucknow, son Seemanto addressed a hurriedly called press conference in Delhi and said his father was cooperating with the authorities and he had wilfully submitted before the police.

There were initially conflicting reports with speculation that Roy could himself be present at the press meet in Delhi. A team of Delhi police at the hotel venue added to the suspense. Another report said that he may still be in Lucknow. Seemanto Roy also said that arrest would not impact the business of the group, which claims to have a networth of over Rs 68,000 crore with lakhs of employees.

Seemanto said that Sahara chief had come to Delhi on February 24 to appear before the Supreme Court on February 26. “He is very attached to his mother and had to go back to Lucknow due to her illness. He had only sought exemption only for a day from personal appearance before the Supreme Court.

But he was not granted a short relief,” he said.

“The condition of mother continues to remain fragile and he was hoping for a relief from Supreme Court,” he said while trying to explain the delay in his submission before police. 

SC declines urgent hearing on Subrata Roy's plea

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday denied an immediate hearing on Sahara India chief Subrata Roy's plea to recall a non-bailable warrant issued against him for not appearing before the court in person on Feb 26.

An apex court bench comprising Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice J.S. Khehar said that it was not possible for it to hear the plea Friday as other matters were pending.

Appearing for the Sahara chief, senior counsel Ram Jethamalani mentioned the application for an urgent hearing.- PTI

Kejriwal summoned as accused in criminal defamation case 

NEW DELHI: Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was today summoned as an accused in a criminal defamation complaint filed against him by BJP leader Nitin Gadkari.

Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha issued summon for April 7 against Kejriwal on the complaint in which Gadkari had alleged that he was defamed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, who had included his name in the party's list of "India's most corrupt".

Senior advocate Pinki Anand and advocate Ajay Digpaul, who had appeared for Gadkari, had argued that Kejriwal had made the statement against the BJP leader with a "malafide intention" to tarnish the image and lower the dignity of their client.

The counsel had contended that Kejriwal had made "baseless and false allegation" against 57-year-old Gadkari.

The court had on February 18 recorded statements of Gadkari and advocate Neeraj as complainant witnesses in the complaint.

Gadkari in his statement had claimed the former Delhi Chief Minister had included his name in the list of alleged corrupt politician to tarnish his public image.

"The accused (Kejriwal) is in the habit of making false and defamatory statements without any basis. The statements made by the accused and his party members have damaged and tarnished my image in the eyes of the people.

"The said statements have been made maliciously by the accused person and his party people with the knowledge that the same are false, without any basis and with the malafide intention to defame and tarnish my reputation," he had said.

The former BJP President had said that on January 31, Kejriwal had issued a list of alleged "India's most corrupt" in which he had named various politicians, including him.

Kejriwal had accused several politicians of being "corrupt" and had said AAP will field candidates against them in coming Lok Sabha polls. - PTI

Cabinet recommends President’s rule in Andhra Pradesh

NEW DELHI: The government on Friday decided to impose President’s rule in Andhra Pradesh and keep the Assembly in suspended animation.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet while taking up an agenda item “political situation in Andhra Pradesh” and “proclamation under Article 356 (1)”, sources said.

The move comes in the wake of the resignation of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy following the government’s decision to bifurcate the state.

Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan will hold the charge during the period of President’s rule.

The term of the 294-member current Andhra Pradesh Assembly expires on June 2, 2014 before which elections are to be held. The Election Commission is set to declare Assembly polls alongwith the Lok Sabha elections in the next few days.

Ruling Congress in the state did not propose another candidate to succeed Reddy, who quit as an MLA as well as from the party protesting against the decision to create Telangana.

The bill to create the country’s 29th state, by splitting Andhra Pradesh, was passed by Parliament in the just-concluded Winter Session. - PTI

Normal life disrupted in Kashmir Valley due to strike 

SRINAGAR: Normal life was today disrupted in Kashmir Valley due to a strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference to protest the encounter killing of seven men by the Army in Kupwara district.

Shops, business establishments and petrol pumps were closed in and around the commercial hub of Lal Chowk here, while government offices and banks witnessed thin attendance, officials said.

Schools remained closed on account of the on-going winter vacations.

Public transport was off the roads while private vehicles, cabs and auto rickshaws plied normally, they said.

Reports of a shutdown being observed were also received from other districts of the Valley, officials said, adding police and paramilitary CRPF were deployed at sensitive places across the Valley to prevent law and order problems.

Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani had called for a complete shutdown and peaceful demonstration after Friday prayers against the "mysterious killings of seven youth" in Kupwara by the Army.

Geelani had also demanded an independent investigation into the incident.

Seven unidentified militants, all believed to be foreigners, were killed in an encounter with army and police in Dardpora forests of Lolab on Monday.

Following the encounter, protests broke out in the area as locals demanded that they be shown the bodies to ascertain if there were any locals among the slain militants.

Authorities have imposed prohibitory orders in Lolab area of Kupwara district. - PTI

'Satyameva Jayate' is for all those who love India: Aamir Khan

MUMBAI: Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan returns with the second edition of his much appreciated talk show "Satyamev Jayate" and says it is for "those who love their nation". Since it has all the ingredients to keep his audiences interested, he is not worried about TRPs.

The second edition has got the same slot as the previous season - it will go live March 2 at 11 a.m. on various channels of Star in six languages.

Tell him that Sundays are usually for movie viewing by families and he tells IANS: "Whoever is concerned about their nation will watch the show. An unbelievable number of viewers had seen the show last season. It's the right time for the show."

"I would say our show is very entertaining. It has a love story, an epic love story between the country and its people. We also have villains in it and music towards the end. What more can you ask for in terms of entertainment? It's a Sunday matinee show," added the 48-year-old. "Satyamev Jayate" comes at a time when the country is gearing up for the general elections in April-May.

The success of TV shows is measured by ratings, but Aamir has no faith in the system.

"The TRP game doesn't make any sense at all. The Indian population is around 120 crore (1.2 billion) and you have just 7,000 sets (to record the ratings). On that basis you will tell me what people are watching, then tell me how funny it is... So I have detached myself from TRPs," he said.

"I don't believe in 7,000 boxes. I am just not interested in TRPs, so I am not rating the success or failure of my show on the basis of TRPs. We have based the success of our show on ground reactions," he added.

Aamir made his TV debut with "Sataymev Jayate" in May 2012 and the show, dealing with sensitive social issues like female foeticide, domestic violence and child abuse received a warm welcome from the TV viewers after it went on air on Star Plus. Some of the episodes recorded the highest ratings.

However, the format of the show will be slightly different this time, being divided into three parts.

"The format is the same, but the only difference is that we have divided the show into three parts. We will have 13 to 14 episodes but it will be divided into 3 parts. We are taking three months in a year. It will be a month of 'Satyameva Jayate' (at a time). Now we have made our website more vibrant and dynamic. For e.g. if there are five Sundays in March, on all Sundays you can see the show."

"We are giving time to the audiences to digest the topics."

Aamir will dedicate the first episode of Season 2 to Dashrath Manjhi, who single-handedly carved out a road by cutting through a hill in Bihar.

"We thought we should start Season 2 from where we left Season 1. It's also that we get so much inspiration from Dashrath Manjhi's story that we thought we will start the show with it. Let people criticise us, laugh at us or say I am doing it for publicity, we will stick to our thoughts," said Aamir who went and met Manjhi's family in Gahlaur village.

But he is not ready to talk about the other issues that he will highlight on his show.

"The idea of keeping it hidden is that we don't have an agenda or something because these are strong social political topics. If I would tell you what the topic is before the show comes, you may not watch it. You may think it's boring. Because you don't know what the topic is, you all will sit and watch and then you will feel, 'Thank god I saw it'," Aamir said.- IANS

Rs 74 lakh worth gold seized at Hyderabad airport

HYDERABAD: A man from Karnataka was arrested at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad in Hyderabad after 2.4 kg gold worth over Rs 74 lakh was seized from his possession, custom officials said on Friday.

Based on intelligent profiling, the officers of Customs Air Intelligence Unit intercepted one passenger Mir Mohamed Hussain of Karnataka, who arrived from Singapore by Silk Air Flight at the airport on Thursday night, the officials said. The passenger had not declared any dutiable goods in his possession and tried to escape checking of personal baggage too.

On questioning by the officers, about possession of any dutiable/prohibited goods, the passenger denied, they said. However, after detailed examination, the officers recovered 2 gold bars weighing 1 kg each and one armlet weighing 0.449 kg, (total 2.449 kg) which were deftly concealed beneath his trousers and shirt, they said.

The total value of seized goods is Rs 74.43 lakhs.The passenger was interrogated and he admitted the offence and was subsequently arrested, they said.

Follow-up investigations are underway to nab the kingpin behind the smuggling, the officials said. - PTI