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| Thursday, March 15, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Bangaru, Jaya Jaitley can be prosecuted:
experts Ex-BJP
president preferred dollars Who Gupta, says RSS; Samata disowns
Jain NDA must go:
Congress |
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Cong men attack
BJP office Nobody will quit: NDA Pandemonium in state assemblies Two arrested for
burning Koran PPCC chief
joins issue with CEC Centre
agrees to Punjab’s request Tripti Nath Murders on rise in
Hanumangarh Bandh against traders’ arrest
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Bangaru, Jaya Jaitley can be prosecuted:
experts New Delhi, March 14 The tapes provide evidence of prima facie cognisable offence and they could be arrested under the Prevention of Corruption Act, legal experts contacted by The Tribune said. “They should knock the doors of judiciary and secure anticipatory bail.... this would be my legal advice to them,” said Dr Surat Singh, Supreme Court advocate and president of the Harvard University Club. “The tapes are admissible evidence and the MPs are public servants. Prosecution could be initiated against a public servant, who had actually received bribe, under the Prevention of Corruption Act on the basis of this evidence. They can also be tried for abetment and criminal conspiracy. However, prior sanction needs to be secured by the investigating agency before proceeding against them”, the experts said. The lawyers said former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao had been convicted in the JMM case on the basis of hearsay. Film financier Bharat Shah had been charge-sheeted based on the audio conversation he had had with underworld don Chhota Shakeel. “The Supreme Court had given a ruling with regard to audio tapes long back and the same principles would apply to the video tapes. The court had given certain parameters for admitting such tapes as evidence”, said Mr Surat Singh. A leading advocate and Congress MP, Kapil Sibal said “the Apex Court in the JMM MPs pay-off case has ruled that MPs and MLAs are public servants. Since Laxman and Jaya Jaitley are public servants, a case should be registered against them.” Asked whether senior political figures could be convicted based on this evidence, Mr Sibal said “the tapes are the first step for the prosecution to initiate an investigation into the crime. It is up to the investigating agency to secure corroborative evidence to secure conviction of the accused.” Senior lawyer Ashok Arora said though there was no particular section in the Indian Evidence Act regarding admissibility of video pictures and photographs as evidence, Supreme Court had ruled many times that these pictures and conversation were admissible as evidence. Mr Arora said “accepting bribe is an offence but showing desire to accept bribe is not. The evidence should not leave any opportunity to say that it is a doctored one.” On the plea by former BJP chief that the money was for party fund, Supreme Court advocate Ashok Kumar Singh said: “That is a weak argument. Had it been for the party, the authorised person to collect is the treasurer or he should have given a receipt for the payment.” Mr Bangaru Laxman’s admission of accepting money for the party and not for any defence deal could also be used against him as he had made this confessional statement before the public without any pressure, experts said. Whether any legal action could be taken against the website for floating a fictitious company, the experts said it was similar to sending a decoy customer to catch a person red-handed. “Action can be taken against the website, if the allegations levelled by them are proved otherwise. Then, the tehelka.com can be prosecuted for tarnishing the image of the person,” Mr Arora said. |
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Ex-BJP
president preferred dollars New Delhi, March 14 While BJP President Bangaru Laxman’s head was the first to roll in the aftermath of the revelations, Ms Jaya Jaitley of the Samata Party has held forte. Ms Jaitley’s role in the episode has raised more eyebrows because she heads the party in which Defence Minister George Fernandes is a member. Besides, she is said to be extremely close to the Defence Minister and incidentally lives in the official residence of the minister. A close scrutiny of the transcript reveals that Ms Jaitley was careful even while being offguard. Mr Bangaru Laxman was more brazen. For instance, this is how his deliberations with the fictitious arms dealer went on: Tehelka: Today, I will give you one lakh rupees. For just the beginning. A New Year Gift. Bangaru Laxman: Hmmm, hmm Tehelka: Rupee or dollar? Bangaru Laxman: Dollars. You can give dollars....So far, we have been taking the help of Brajesh Mishra to organise this because Brajesh Mishra is there on a number of committees apart from being Principal Secretary to Prime Minister. Ms Jaya Jaitley, on other hand, was more guarded during the conversation with the representatives of the non-existent West End International. This is how the conversations took place: Jaya Jaitley: If there’s any way... if they are refusing to test it, that’s...then we can step into the picture. In another instance, the Samata Party President says: We don’t have any extra interest in anybody. We have extra interest in the good quality and price...... in the interest of the nation ........ We’ll ensure that they don’t neglect you........ After that, it’s up to you and your product. |
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Who Gupta, says RSS; Samata disowns Jain
New Delhi March 14 In a statement, RSS General Secretary Mohan Bhagwat clarified that the RSS was not a trust and hence neither Gupta nor anybody else could be its trustee. Gupta, though known to some of the RSS workers in Delhi, had no position in the sangh. “He is neither a member of any central or provincial organisational unit nor is he a office bearer in the RSS,’’ Mr Bhagwat said. About the charge that Gupta spent more than Rs 50 lakh to build the RSS headquarters in Delhi in 1967, Mr Bhagwat said it was true that he was a contractor when some portion of the RSS headquarters was constructed in 1967, but at that time, the cost of construction was no where near Rs 50 lakh. The cost, at the most, was only about Rs 5 lakh and the entire amount was spent by the RSS from its funds. Meanwhile, the Samata Party today disowned R.K. Jain’s statement on theexpose of corruption in defence deals, saying that he was no longer party’s treasurer. We have done nothing wrong,” she said adding that Jain was removed from the treasurer’s post in the party’s Mysore convention in January this year,” she said. PTI, UNI |
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NDA must go:
Congress New Delhi, March 14 The Congress Working Committee, which met in the AICC office here to discuss the fallout of the video tapes expose by a portal, said the NDA government “has lost its moral right to continue in office.” The CWC meeting was chaired by Ms Sonia Gandhi. In a resolution passed at the meeting, the Congress said that “the CWC shares with the people of India their shock and anguish at the immense threat to national security from the vanality of the NDA government as has emerged from the revelations of the last two days. The future of the nation is not safe in the hands of a government which is so ridden with corruption.” Meanwhile, former Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has sought the dismissal of the BJP-led coalition government by president K R Narayanan if Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee does not resign in the wake of alleged defence scam. He said it was not the question of the alleged involvement of BJP President Bangaru Laxman but of the whole party to which Mr Vajpayee belonged. He described the expose as the biggest after the Bofors and the security scams in the country. He said it was surprising that the party stooped so low as accepting a bribe of Rs one lakh. Asked if the opposition was one on the issue, Mr Singh said all Opposition parties were concerned about the nation which was being sold off by the NDA government. NCP leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A Sangma has said that the defence scam exposed by tehelka.com, involving several politicians and bureaucrats, has weakened parliamentary democracy. Asked for his reaction to the expose, Mr Sangma said: “This is deepest crisis of Indian democracy”. The National Conference pledged total support to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the wake of the alleged corruption charges saying the government’s prompt action of suspending some army and senior officials was a show of its commitment to weeding out corruption. Dismissing the Opposition demand, Minister of State for Commerce and Industries Omar Abdullah said there was no need for anyone to resign. The Samata Party today clarified that party leader and Defence Minister George Fernandes had not resigned in the wake of the defence deals scam unearthed by a portal. |
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Cong men attack
BJP office New Delhi, March 14 At least 150 Congress activists came in six vehicles at the BJP headquarters and allegedly started indulging in arson while central office-bearers of the BJP were at an emergency meeting considering the resignation of party president Bangaru Laxman, the police said. The police said Congress workers were so unruly that the police had to use mild lathi-charge to disrupt them during which a few Congress workers were injured. The AIR correspondent, Sudershanam, who was injured in
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Nobody will quit: NDA New Delhi, March 14 The NDA meeting, which was held this evening at the Prime Minister’s residence without the participation of the Trinamool Congress, whose leader Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had demanded the resignation of the Defence Minister in her letter to Mr Vajpayee, was presided by Mr Fernandes. Talking to newspersons after the meeting, Industry Minister Murasoli Maran said the NDA partners, while extending total support to the leadership of Mr Vajpayee, felt that there was no need for any minister or anybody to resign. The meeting contended that Parliament was the right forum to decide on the nature of the probe or the kind of debate to be taken up on the allegations for which “all of us are prepared,” Mr Maran said. Mr Maran said the meeting also decided that the NDA should not allow the Opposition to tarnish the image by making character assassination of any leader. At the same time, it would not spare the guilty. He said that the Trinamool Congress had written a letter in which it had sought three things which included a thorough probe and appropriate action against the people involved in the scam. The government, he said, had already taken action against some officials and already expressed its readiness to order any inquiry into the alleged payoffs from a fictitious company regarding some defence deal. Akali Dal leader and Fertiliser Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said that they had decided to unitedly face the challenge thrown by the Opposition. “We are ready to discuss the issue in Parliament in any form”, he said. Emerging out of the meeting, a former BJP president, Mr Kushabhau Thakre, said that notwithstanding the video tape exposure, the NDA was united and there is “no reason” for anybody in the government to resign. “The NDA is united and the tehelka tapes are only a destabilising factor. There is no reason for anybody in the government to step down”, Mr Thakre said. On the Trinamool Congress staying away from the meeting, Mr Thakre said, “She had demanded an inquiry into the controversy and it will be done”. On the party chief, Mr Bangaru Laxman, being involved in the controversy, he said, “It is a party problem and not a government problem. Party problems are dealt on a plane different than that of the government”, he said. National Conference leader and the Minister of State for Commerce Omar Abdullah, said all NDA constituents were prepared for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe or any inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court Judge or by the CBI. Meanwhile, the Samata Party president, Ms Jaya Jaitley, who has been in the eye of the storm in the fictitious defence deal expose, today ruled out stepping down from the presidentship of the party, claiming she had done “no wrong”. In her first comment since airing of the secretly-filmed video footage by a portal, Ms Jaitley said, “I have said nothing which I will not say in public. I do not see any need to resign, I have done no wrong”. She told reporters here “I have not taken any money personally. I had asked those who had visited me to hand over the donation to the party officials” concerned. Ms Jaitley claimed her party had never interfered with the working of any department or with the government at any level, including the Defence Ministry. “No defence deal was discussed. When they (portal team) touched on the subject for promoting their armament firm, I fobbed them off,” Ms Jaitley said, adding that from the transcript itself, it was evident that she had made clear to them that if they felt any injustice had been done to them, she would take it up, provided it was not against national interest. Ms Jaitley said the team had met her through an acquaintance and that it wanted to donate money for the fund. “I told them that if somebody wants to give a donation, the contribution would be used for organising the party national convention”, she said. |
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Pandemonium in state assemblies Patna, March 14 The House was adjourned thrice over the issue. As soon as the House assembled members of the RJD and Left parties shouted slogans against the Centre waving cardboards and copies of newspapers carrying the news item of revelations of the tehelka.com. The members even threw newspapers on the members of the BJP. The RJD members and the members of Left parties trooped into the well and demanded immediate resignation of Mr Vajpayee and Mr George Fernandes. BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa Assembly today witnessed pandemonium over the defence deal scam exposed by tehelka.Com forcing Speaker S.K. Kar to adjourn the House thrice for 35 minutes and finally for lunch till 2.30 p.m. The entire Opposition stalled the question hour proceedings from the very beginning, demanding resignation of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee over the revelation of corruption in the defence deal and sat on dharna inside the well of the House shouting slogans. MUMBAI: Pandemonium over the arms bribery scandal today forced adjournment of both houses of the Maharashtra legislature. The three adjournments of 20 minutes, 25 minutes and 10 minutes failed to calm down the ruling Democratic Front members following which the Speaker adjourned the assembly for the day. In the legislative council too, the vociferous demand by some ruling front members for a discussion on the scandal and slogan shouting forced the Chairman N.S. Pharnde to adjourn the Upper House for the day. In the Lower House, the entire ruling Democratic Front (DF) members were on their feet, flaunting banners and shouting slogans condemning the Atal Behari Vajpayee-led NDA government. BANGALORE: The defence scam involving former BJP President Bangaru Laxman had its echo in the Karnataka Legislature today with both the Houses adjourned amidst acrimonious scenes. Both the Houses could not transact any business after Question Hour as the ruling Congress and the BJP members hurled accusations and the Congress demanded a debate on the shady deal. RAIPUR: The expose of shady defence deals by tehelka.com rocked the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha today with the ruling party members stalling proceedings evoking loud protests from the Opposition leading to adjournment of the house for the day. Even Question Hour could not be transacted as Speaker Rajendra Prasad Shukla’s repeated requests to restore order went unheeded. Before adjourning the House for the entire day, the Speaker had initially adjourned proceedings for half an hour and later for an hour.
UNI, PTI |
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Two arrested for burning Koran New Delhi, March 14 Mr Kamal Faruqi, a member of the delegation which met Mr Vajpayee yesterday, said the Delhi Police Commissioner Ajai Raj Sharma telephoned him this morning to inform him about arrest of Robin alias Rohit and Jagdeep Sharma of Bajrang Dal. Both were produced before the metropolitan Magistrate Rajnish Kumar and remanded in one day police custody. The VHP Delhi unit president Om Prakash Singhal, who was detained yesterday in connection with the abortive attempt to organise a “dev mukti yagna” at the Quwat-ul-Islam mosque near Mehrauli, is also being charged in the March 5 incident, Mr Faruqi claimed.
UNI |
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PPCC chief
joins issue with CEC New Delhi, March 14 Mr Amarinder Singh said here today that developed countries like the UK, France and Germany, which had introduced
electronic system, had gone back to the manual ballet. Responding to the questions raised by Mr Gill, the PPCC chief said that every micro-controller always had an embedded software to perform the necessary functions. He said only one or two components needed to be replaced or reprogrammed. This could be done without much difficulty. Mr Amarinder Singh said that even if the software was frozen into firmware, the chip containing software could still be replaced. He said if EVMs used by the Election Commission were not fully protected from interference, it would lead to total subversion of democracy. Reacting to yesterday’s suspension of 21 Opposition members, including 15 Congress MLAs from the Punjab Assembly, Mr Amarinder Singh said they would go to the people to highlight “discrimination” by the Badal government in the issue of development grants. |
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Centre
agrees to Punjab’s request Tripti Nath New Delhi, March 14 A three-member team comprising experts from the Centre, World Health Organsiation and the state government is scheduled to visit Patiala this weekend to assess its preparedness in taking up the revised strategy. The ministry has set a target for March 24, the World Tuberculosis Day for starting the RNTCP in Patiala. The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr C.P. Thakur, told TNS that the Punjab CM made the aforesaid request during the minister’s visit to the state last month. Mr Badal reportedly told the Health Minister that the incidence of TB infections in the state was high due to migrant labour. Sources in the ministry said the extension of the scheme to five more districts in the state was estimated to cost Rs 2 crore. Dr Thakur said the Punjab Government had taken a rare initiative to start Directly Observed Treatment Short course (DOTS) by encouraging government organisations and community leaders to adopt a patient. |
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Murders on rise in
Hanumangarh Hanumangarh, March 14 In 1998, 47 cases of murder were reported, in 1999 there were 52 such cases and during last year, 66 cases were registered. Regarding the incidence of thefts in the district, 346 cases of theft were reported in 1998. The number dropped to 334 in 1999 and during 2000, the figure came down to 315. The number of rape cases registered has remained almost the same over the past three years. As many as 39 rape incidents were reported in 1998, against 36 in 1999 and 39 in 2000. Twenty cases of dowry deaths were registered in 1998, against 16 in 1999 and 20 in 2000. While 117 cases were registered under the Arms Act in 2000, there were 81 such cases reported in 1999. |
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Bandh against traders’ arrest Sriganganagar March 14 According to Mr Satinder Ranka, president of the mandal, the arrested shopkeepers had assembled at a shop before proceeding for a marriage function when a police party led by DSP Ganpati Mahaver arrested them on the charges of gambling. A sum of Rs 48,000 was also seized from them, he added. Refuting the charges, Mr RP Singh, SP, said the DSP had specific information that many prominent traders of the city used a particular shop for gambling. “He had sought an advance search warrant from me that day on the basis of specific information. I too was in the city that day,” he added. |
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Lions Club meeting Sriganganagar, March 14 |
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ANOTHER BUILDER DETAINED 10 OF MARRIAGE PARTY DIE IN MISHAP NAXALITES GUN DOWN TWO COPS CRIME AGAINST WOMEN ON THE RISE KALAM SEES INDIA
AMONG TOP 5 BY 2020 DENTAL CAMP GRAIN
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