New Delhi, October 20
Home Minister P Chidambaram succeeded today in seeking the approval of Union Cabinet for the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Second Bill, 2010, to amend the Enemy Property Act, 1968.

He failed twice in Parliament and at least once to carry along his Cabinet colleagues in his attempt to push through the Bill which seeks to curb the powers of the courts to arbitrate on enemy property. Since the majority of those affected happen to be Muslims, there was stiff opposition to this from the Muslim community and secular parties.

The Bill may now be introduced in the Winter session of Parliament, but its passage is doubtful because it fails to meet fully the demands of either the Muslims represented by the “secular” block or the BJP and Shiv Sena.

It seeks to put the action of the custodian beyond the jurisdiction of the courts. The Bill is not likely to satisfy the BJP and Shiv Sena because the current occupants of the enemy property whom the BJP is backing may feel insecure. The proposed amendments vest the power of divesting the custodian of the enemy property in Central Government and lays down that it could be divested only to the legal owner or his lawful heir and to no one else.

But it expressly declares that “no court shall order divestment from the custodian or direct the Central Government to divest enemy property.”

The UPA Government promulgated the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 2010, on July 2 to undo the Supreme Court order restoring 2186 “enemy properties” worth Rs 1,100 crore to Raja of Mehmoodabad M.A. Mohammad Khan, finding him a bona fide citizen of India.

The present amendment states that if the custodian was divested of the enemy property before July 2, 2010, it shall stand transferred to and vest or continue to vest in the custodian. It, however, adds a rider which says that if the custodian was divested of the enemy property by a valid order made under Section 18 prior to July 2, 2010, or where the property had been returned to the owner or his lawful heir by an order of the court; and if the lawful heir is a citizen of India by birth, such enemy property will continue to remain with such a person.

Thus the Raja can get his properties only when and if Parliament passes this Bill. Till then all his properties shall continue to vest in the custodian. As for the others, with the courts out of the purview, they will be left to the mercy of the custodian, without the right to appeal against it in any court.

And even here the proposed amendment lays down that “the transfer of any enemy property shall not include any transfer or any claim of transfer made through oral will or oral gift or if it has been done without the permission of the competent authority.”

Patna, October 20
The first phase of polls for the month-long and six-phased Assembly election in Bihar will be held tomorrow.

The administrative machinery claimed to have made elaborate security arrangements for the polling in 47 of the 243 constituencies located in Kosi belt, Seemanchal and Mithila. Chief Electoral Officer Sudhir Kumar Rakesh and Bihar DGP Neelmani made a joint press briefing today to say that Central Para Military Force had been deployed on all the polling stations (around 10,000 polling booths) spread in eight districts.

Some of these districts have a common border with West Bengal and Nepal. The stakes of ruling NDA is quite high on the seats that are going to polls tomorrow. Therefore, both the constituents -- JD(U) and BJP -- would try to retain their seats while the RJD and LJP would work hard to regain their lost seats.

The Congress also has a lot of hopes on these seats as a majority of them have a predominant population of minority community. Prominent candidates in the electoral arena for the battle tomorrow are Bihar Congress chief Chaudhary Mehboob Ali Kaisar, four Ministers of JD(U) -- Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Narendra Nrayan Yadav, Renu Devi Kushwaha and Hari Prasad Sah.

The new entrants to Congress Ranjit Ranjan and Lovely Anand whose husbands Pappu Yadav and Anand Mohan, respectively, have been dons of their respective area and are now languishing behind the bars facing life term imprisonment are also trying their luck to enter the state Assembly. Both these women have earlier been Members of the Lok Sabha, courtesy the muscle power of their spouse.

While Congress stalwarts Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have all held election meetings in this area seeking peoples mandate for their party candidates, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had pitched his tent for six days in the Kosi belt trying to cover a majority of the constituencies.

Chennai, October 20
A former MLA was arrested here today for robbing two local women of cash and gold by posing as an income tax official.

The police said that DMK ex-MLA K Ravishankar, who represented the Vilathikulam constituency in South Tamil Nadu from 1996 to 2001, and his brother entered the house of Venkat Raghavan, 83, a retired official of the Central Public Works Department.

His wife 77-year-old Vedavalli and daughter-in-law Radha, 38, were also present.

The duo showed fake ID cards to the family and started making a list of jewellery and cash in the house. They seized 25 sovereigns and Rs 20,000 and tried to leave the house and asked the Raghavan family to collect them later from the I-T department.

However, the two women got suspicious and raised the alarm. Passersby and drivers of the nearby autorickshaw stand caught hold of Ravishankar but his brother fled with the cash and gold.

Ravishankar was also arrested in 2003 on charges of possessing narcotics when the AIADMK was in power. He had escaped from police custody in 2004 and is no longer in active politics.

Chandigarh, October 20
Controversial BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal may cry himself hoarse over income tax raids and claim to be a victim of a “political conspiracy”, but his relative and IREO Group managing director Lalit Goyal may have to do a lot of explaining to do. Documents revealing the purchase of over 1,050 acres of land across Punjab and Haryana worth several hundred crores have been recovered from his offices here.

Offices of the IREO Group were raided in Ludhiana and Chandigarh yesterday after the income tax department hastened the pace of the ongoing multi-agency probe into the alleged Commonwealth Games scam. Searches at the IREO offices continued through the day today as well with officials seizing several documents showing transactions of several hundred crores.

Seizure of land deal documents, indicating underhand transactions worth crores, strengthen the suspicions of the I-T officials that “ill-gotten” wealth from the CWG scam may have been invested through the company. While documents were being scrutinised for details of the investments, officials revealed that these may run into “many-many” crores as land prices were “sky-high” in these areas. Officials suspect that a significant amount of “black money” could have been used to finalise these deals. Prima facie documents indicate under-pricing.

Income tax department sources claimed that besides land deal documents, hard disks of some computers had also been seized and data was now being retrieved.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the IREO Group said in a written statement that all its land deals were clean but they could not immediately provide dates of the land deals. He further said that the group had a 3,000-acre land bank in the country, which included 1,100 acres in the Punjab and Haryana region. This land is legitimately purchased in full compliance of the FDI and state regulatory norms and has all requisite licenses for development, he added.

New Delhi, October 20
Pointing out that the tiger, the mascot of the just-concluded Commonwealth Games, and several other endangered species were on the brink of extinction in India, the Supreme Court today asked the Centre and states to crack down on poachers responsible for the $20 billion international trade in wildlife products.

Dismissing an appeal filed by notorious poacher Sansar Chand, the Bench observed that the case revealed how “avaricious and rapacious persons have by organised crime destroyed large parts of the wildlife of India and brought many animals like tigers, leopards and bison almost to the brink of extinction, thereby seriously jeopardising and destroying the ecological chain and ecological balance in our environment.”

“Shera was the symbol of the recent Commonwealth Games but, ironically, Shera has been almost exterminated in our country. The Sher Khan of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book, which once abounded in India, is rarely to be seen today,” a Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and TS Thakur began the judgment.

“We would like to request the Central and state governments and their agencies to make all efforts to preserve the wildlife of the country and take stringent actions against those who are violating the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, as this is necessary for maintaining the ecological balance in our country,” the Judges said.

At one time, India had one of the richest and most varied fauna in the world. However, over the last several decades there has been a rapid decline of India’s wild animals and birds “which is a cause of grave concern.” “Some wild animals and birds such as cheetah had already become extinct,” Justice Katju noted while writing the verdict.

Many sanctuaries and parks “are empty or almost empty of animals and birds. Thus, the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan and the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh today have no tigers. One of the main causes for this depredation of the wildlife is organised poaching which yields enormous profits by exports to China and other countries,” the apex court noted. The Bench also pointed out that poaching also had grave consequences on farming.

Bangalore, October 20
Political instability in Karnataka is turning out to be a festival bonanza for hoteliers!

Bollywood actor Sanjay Khan’s sprawling resort and spa at the outskirts of Bangalore is being used by JD(S) for safekeeping of the 11 disqualified BJP MLAs. More than 20 JD(S) MLAs are also staying at the resort.

BJP had crossed swords with the actor on the issue of the Tipu Sultan TV serial in the 90s. But since then Khan had not faced any trouble from BJP.

The saffron party used his resort for the safe custody of its loyal MLAs recently when trouble broke out in Karnataka over withdrawal of support to Chief Minister Yeddyurappa by 19 MLAs, including 14 from the ruling BJP.

But now the BJP is planning to hold a demonstration outside the resort where it claimed the disqualified MLAs were being kept hostage by the JD(S). Karnataka Home minister R Ashok today threatened to hold a demonstration outside Khan’s resort where stay for one night in a single room costs a minimum of Rs 12000.

Even as the Karnataka High Court here examines the case regarding the disqualification of the BJP MLAs from the Assembly on the ground of defection, the MLAs under the scanner are staying at the Golden Palm resort with their counterparts from JD(S).

Sanjay Khan’s is not the only resort that is being used for herding MLAs to keep them under watch and insulate them against lucrative offers made by rival political parties.

The political parties were so paranoid about “poaching” of their MLAs by rivals on the eve of the trust vote on October 11, that all three major players - ruling BJP and opposition Congress and JD(S) - had locked up their respective flocks at various resorts.

BJP kept its more than 100 MLAs at Golden Palm, JD(S) at a golfing resort at the outskirts of Bangalore and Congress packed off more than half of its 73 MLAs to a resort at Maharashtra. The rebel MLAs were hosted at a Goa resort by JD(S).

BJP still managed to win over the only Independent MLA who was ignored by JD(S). It also could influence a JD(S) MLA who did not turn up in the Assembly during the crucial trust vote.

Yesterday a Congress MLA resigned from the Assembly presumably to join the BJP. The Congress, which held a protest demonstration outside Yeddyurappa’s residence last night, is contemplating sending its MLAs to some resort once again and wait for the situation to stabilize.

The BJP, which won 110 seats and was three short of getting simple majority in the Assembly, could increase its strength to 117 by having MLAs from Congress and JD(S) to resign their seats and win from these seats again as BJP candidates.

The party got a taste of its own medicine when 19 MLAs (14 BJP and five Independents) aligned with the JD(S) and withdrew support to Yeddyurappa.

New Delhi, October 20
Foreign Minister SM Krishna today avoided commenting on what could be the impact of terror suspect David Coleman Headley on Indo-US ties, but made it amply clear that information provided by the USA in the days ahead of the Mumbai attacks was "general and not specific".

Krishna, who talked to the media along with visiting Foreign Minister of Oman Yousuf Bin Alwai Bin Abdullah tonight, said, "We had some general and not specific information which we got from the US…. It was not specific." He was responding to the question if the incident had cast a shadow on Indo-US relations and if India would flag it to the USA when President Barack Obama came visiting. Krishna said the two countries were strategic partners and "our ties are multi-faceted. … we share a common outlook, including one on terrorism,….we have excellent cooperation in matters of security".

The issue of Headley has rocked the world after a US newspaper reported that his wives had told the US authorities about his Laskhar-e-Toiba links. The US authorities had failed to act on the leads and not informed India about the impending Mumbai attacks.

New Delhi, October 20
The Union Cabinet today witnessed a clash between Home Minister P Chidambaram and Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed during the discussion on the new Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Second Bill, which was eventually approved for introduction in the winter session of Parliament.

Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had to intervene to put an end to the prolonged wordy duel over the fresh amendments to the Bill which places conditions before allowing India-born legal heirs to claim property left behind by their ancestors who migrated to Pakistan.

It is learnt that Khursheed raised objections to the proposed legislation after the Home Minister placed the Bill for discussion before the Cabinet. The Minority Affairs Minister, who has been battling Chidambaram over this legislation since the last Parliament session, was apparently unhappy as the fresh Bill would not allow legal heirs of Raja Mahmudabad to claim their properties although the Supreme Court had ruled in their favour way back in 2005.

Khursheed, who was counsel to the Raja’s heirs, wanted the latter’s properties to be restored to him immediately in view of the apex court’s ruling. Chidambaram, however, argued that this was only possible after the passage of the Bill. Besides, it was pointed out, that Attorney General GN Vahanvati has said that the enemy properties would remain under the control of the Custodian till the Centre decided on the matter.

Khursheed charged that Chidambaram had been a counsel for the opposite party in the Raja Mahmudabad case. This was refuted strongly by Chidambaram. It was at this point that the Prime Minister stepped in to put an end to the arguments. Pranab Mukherjee said that the amended Bill was drafted after he held several rounds of discussions with Chidambaram and Khursheed. He said all doubts had already been cleared and “nobody should see shadows where there are none”.

New Delhi, October 20
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is likely to get an extension of seven months, in line with the government’s decision to give a fixed term of at least two years to top civil servants in key positions.

Nirupama, who became the Foreign Secretary in August last year, is due to retire in December. Once she gets a seven-month extension, she would remain the country’s top diplomat until July 2011.