|
|
|
|
|
Babri MASJID demolition case
2G JPC is on; motion likely on February 22
SC seeks status report on complaint against former CJI
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Talks only way out to resolve conflicts: PM
DMK-PMK seal poll deal in Tamil Nadu
CBI raids premises of 5 OC officials
|
|
CBI moves SC against Advani, Joshi
‘Dropping conspiracy charges against 21 of the 47 accused unjustified, untenable’ Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, February 18 In the nearly 100-page appeal against the May 20, 2010 judgment of the Allahabad High Court, the CBI contended that the dropping of criminal conspiracy charges under Section 120B IPC against 21 of the 47 accused persons was “entirely unjustified and untenable”. The High Court had upheld the May 4, 2001 decision of the Special Judge, who was holding trial at Rae Bareilly, to drop the conspiracy charges against Advani and 20 others, including Vinay Katiyar (BJP), Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharati and Mahant Avaidyanath (all former BJP leaders) and VHP leaders Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya, Ram Vilas Vedanti and Paramhans Ramachandra Das. “The offence of instigation, facilitation, the actual demolition of the disputed structure, the continuous assault on mediapersons, all form a single connected transaction and may also be a concerted conspiracy under Section 120B of the IPC. Under these circumstances, the approach of the trial as well as the High Court in attempting to bifurcate the cases… and discharge 21 persons on the ground that the said persons could not be tried under Crime Case No. 197/1992 (conspiracy) but should be tried under Crime Case217 of 2001” only for instigation and other allied offences was erroneous in law, the CBI contended. Among the other accused who were discharged from the conspiracy charges were Ram Janmabhoomi Movement leaders Mahant Nritya Gopal Das and Dharam Das and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray. In the appeal, the CBI has raised as many as 10 questions of law, the first being whether the judgment of the High Court “is plainly erroneous and is liable to be set aside” as it did not have jurisdiction to drop proceedings. It also questioned the jurisdiction of the Special Judge for entertaining an application by the accused seeking dropping of proceedings against them. The Special Judge and the HC could not have gone into the evidence and interpreted the materials at the pre-trial stage to come to their conclusions. The CBI also wanted the SC to go into the question of “whether the offence of criminal conspiracy is independent of other offences and runs like a common thread against all the accused”. The CBI appeal has come at a time when the Manmohan Singh government is finding itself in a tight spot over a plethora of scams, including the 2G Spectrum, in which former telecom minister A Raja is being subject to custodial interrogation by the CBI.
|
|
2G JPC is on; motion likely on February 22
New Delhi, February 18 The developments follow from the government’s sense of urgency to transact the pending financial business in the forthcoming session, which will see the presentation of the Railway Budget and the Economic Survey on February 25, followed by the General Budget on February 28. The session will have 29 sittings (17 in the first half and 12 in the second). In between, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will break for a recess on March 16 and reassemble on April 4. Budget Session will end on April 21. Veering towards the idea of a JPC on a specific issue, the government today categorically ruled out a probe into the Commonwealth and Adarsh Housing Society scams. “A JPC is always constituted to address a specific issue. This has been the case with all the past four JPCs,” Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pawan Bansal said. He added that the government was engaged with political parties to decide on the modalities of a JPC. A final decision on the JPC was likely on February 20 when political party leaders meet Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. In a JPC, the most critical job for the government is to determine terms of reference. “We are waiting for the Leader of Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee to return from the G-20 summit to take a final decision on the matter,” Bansal said, indicating that the terms of reference would be hotly debated. Politically, the government wants to embarrass the BJP in the forthcoming session as it has listed for introduction (in all, 32 Bills are listed for introduction) the Constitutional amendments to the goods and service tax regime, which the BJP-ruled states have been opposing on grounds of erosion of fiscal autonomy.
|
|
SC seeks status report on complaint against former CJI
New Delhi, February 18 A three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia told the AG that the complaint was made to the Vice-President, who forwarded it to the Home Ministry. “Thereafter, we don’t know what happened,” the Bench told the AG and asked him to ascertain its status. The Bench, which included Justices KSP Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar, was making the remarks while considering a PIL by an advocate, Manohar Lal Sharma, seeking a judicial inquiry into the allegations against the former CJI. The NHRC Chairman should be restrained from discharging his function while the inquiry was on, the petition said. The apex court said the PIL would be heard after the status of the complaint was known. Though the Bench said the complaint had been submitted to the Vice-President, a photocopy of the document showed that it had in fact been made to the President, urging her not to appoint then CJI Balakrishnan as the NHRC chief in view of the allegations against him. It was submitted days ahead of the CJI demitted office on May 13, 2010. The PIL referred to the assets amassed by Justice Balakrishnan’s kin during his tenure as the CJI, from January 2007 to May 2010.
|
|
Talks only way out to resolve conflicts: PM
Guwahati, February 18 Addressing the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Memorial Award presentation ceremony here today, the Prime Minister said: “As you know Assam has witnessed turbulent times in the recent past. It goes without saying that peace and harmony are a prerequisite for meaningful development.” Regarding the recent initial round of talks with ULFA leaders, the Prime Minister said: “I was happy to meet ULFA representatives recently at Delhi. The discussions were a good beginning and give me hope for the future. It is my firm belief that the process of dialogue is the only method for fostering greater understanding and resolving vexed economic and political problems.” “The establishment of territorial/hill councils has provided a forum to address genuine needs. However, we must help these councils to build capacities to ensure that they are able to fulfil their responsibilities in a manner which is responsive, transparent, transparent and accountable,” Manmohan Singh regarding the tribal autonomous councils in the region. Conferring the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Memorial Award for National Integration to veteran journalist MJ Akbar and noted freedom fighter and social worker Hema Bharali here, the Prime Minister said: “Our society and country have a glorious tradition of tolerance and secularism. India has ever been ready to accommodate newer ways of thinking and living. The liberal outlook that defines our multi-religious and multi-cultural society needs to be nurtured and strengthened.”
|
|
Honour for Neerja Bhanot
Chandigarh, February 18 Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs & Civil Aviation Vayalar Ravi presented a plaque, a shawl and a citation to Aneesh Bhanot, brother of Neerja Bhanot. The other illustrious persons to be honoured were JRD Tata, Marshal Arjan Singh, Sarla Thukral, Air Marshal Aspy Merwan Engineer, Biju Patnaik, Capt Rakesh Sharma, Saudamini Deshmukh and Vijaypat Singhania.
Neerja was the senior purser aboard Pan Am 73, which was hijacked by terrorists at Karachi Airport on September 5, 1986. Setting aside all concern for her personal safety and wellbeing, Neerja stood as a symbol of leadership throughout the ordeal.
— PTI
|
Hasan Ali appears before I-T officials
Mumbai, February 18 The department had sent a show-cause notice on December 31, 2008 to Khan, demanding Rs 40,000 crore in taxes from him for not disclosing funds in several foreign bank accounts, including $8 billion in an account in the Zurich branch of UBS Bank.
— PTI
|
|
DMK-PMK seal poll deal in Tamil Nadu
Chennai, February 18 PMK leader S Ramadoss met Karunanidhi and signed a pact accepting the allotment of 31 seats for the PMK. The timing of the agreement is considered very significant. It comes on the same day the CBI raided the TV channel owned by the DMK leader’s family and following reports that the investigation agency was preparing to question the Chief Minister’s daughter, Kanimozhi. Karunanidhi’s move to allocate 31 seats for the PMK is being considered as a master stroke by the 86-year-old patriarch, since it will pre-empt the possibility of any move by the Congress to ditch his party.
|
|
CBI raids premises of 5 OC officials
New Delhi, February 18 A CBI spokesperson confirmed the raids but declined to reveal the identity of the suspects. Sources, however, named the five officials as AK Saxena, Nikesh Jain, RP Gupta, KUK Reddy and Sujith Lal, all of whom are middle-rung officials at the OC. The raids were also carried out at the premises of Praveen Bakshi, who was one of the suppliers of the overlays works. An official source said they could make some key arrests in the coming days and added that the probe into the CWG scams was slow-paced because of its links with firms based outside India. The overlays works included supply of tents, ACs, athletic and other equipments etc.
— TNS
|
MLAs suspended Bird flu in Tripura HC on Netai killings SC raps R’sthan
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
