Kolkata, April 27
A flurry of libel suits have livened up the poll scene in West Bengal, where the last phase of polling is due on May 10 and counting scheduled for May 13. Not surprisingly, the suits have been filed by Trinamool Congress leaders and accuse the Left Front of both civil and criminal defamation.

Union Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy, for example, has claimed Rs 15 crore in damages from the state’s Housing Development Minister Gautam Deb for alleging that he had distributed ‘black money’ to Trinamool candidates. The high-profile playwright pitted against Deb -- Bratya Basu -- has also gone to court, aggrieved by allegations that being close to Mamata Banerjee, he had benefited financially from the Railways.

The Bengalis are touchy about money of the tainted kind. While they may not quite follow Swami Vivekananda’s guru and mentor Ramkrishna Paramhansa’s philosophy that ‘money’ and ‘maati’ (meaning dust, and not soil here) are of no consequence, they are extra sensitive about their moral superiority and the distance they maintain from ill-gotten wealth.

That is the reason why Chandigarh-based KD Singh, chairman of the Alchemist Group and owner of the Republic of Chicken chain, is no longer seen in Kolkata ever since he was detained at the New Delhi airport with Rs 57 lakh in cash. While he secured a seat in the Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand as a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha nominee, KD Singh defected to the Trinamool and is now in-charge of its North-Eastern states. Believed to be a confidante of Mamata Banerjee, Singh is believed to have interests in Bengal and is likely to be a major beneficiary as and when the Trinamool wrests power in the state. But till then his presence is clearly an embarrassment the party can do without.

Morals apart, there are tell-tale signs that big money is chasing the Trinamool, widely believed to be poised to dislodge the Left Front’s 34-year-old reign in the state. Like good investors sniffing out an opportunity, business houses are making visible efforts to build bridges with the party and it came as no surprise when industrialists like Sanjay Budhia and Harsh Neotia turned up to buy Mamata Banerjee’s paintings put up on sale, ostensibly to raise funds for contesting the election.

The tall and dapper Harsh Neotia is the most visible face of business in Bengal. He is not the richest of course in the City of Birlas, but the new-generation businessman has dominated Page 3 and Bengali TV channels for over a decade. Starting off with cement plants, he has diversified into real estate and much more. He gave Calcutta its first exclusive business club, Conclave, and is credited with inviting architects like BV Doshi and Charles Correa to create one of the first condominiums and the City Centre at Salt Lake.

He was also a regular at meetings addressed by Marxists and would often make brief appearances to touch the feet of the likes of Jyoti Basu and Somnath Chatterjee before slipping away. Die-hard Marxists, not surprisingly, therefore, deemed it a betrayal when Neotia appeared to switch his loyalties.

This week, Left Front leader and outgoing Housing Development Minister Gautam Deb submitted ‘proof’ to the Election Commission of black money used by Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress. Each one of Trinamool’s 226 candidates barring one, he claimed, had been given Rs 15 lakh by the party. He also claimed that he had details of the deposits into bank accounts of each candidate. He described it as ‘black money’ and questioned how Trinamool could have mobilised Rs 34 crore for distribution among candidates. He claimed to have details of dates and bank accounts in support of his allegation.

Lucknow, April 27
Following the Mayawati government’s admission of widespread irregularities in the state’s National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), which led to the murder of two Chief Medical Officers and the resignation the two ministers, the Congress now wants to know the exact contours of the bugling.

Putting the state government in a tight spot, a high-profile delegation of AICC president Rahul Gandhi and UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi today visited the state’s NHRM office to file two RTI applications seeking details of the NHRM and the Janani Surakshna Yojana from its inception to 2009-10.

They also paid a visit to the Gomti Nagar house of Chief Medical Officer (Family Welfare) VP Singh who was shot dead on April 2. This unscheduled visit caught the family by surprise. The leaders spent some time with the widow and other family members details of which were not available.

On the last day of his three-day visit to his constituency, Amethi, the MP drove straight to Lucknow instead of the Fursatganj airstrip from where he was to leave for Delhi.

While the media was taken by surprise by his appearance at the NRHM office next to the Akashvani Bhawan on the Vidhan Sabha Marg, Congress insiders admitted the visit was preplanned.

The RTI application filed by Bahuguna Joshi has asked 10 questions on the NHRM, including district and component-wise allocations and expenditure over the past five years. In the second RTI on the Janani Suraksha Yojana, UPCC chief has asked seven questions, including the name and addresses of the beneficiaries.

Chennai, April 27
Expressing anguish over the inclusion of DMK MP Kanimozhi's name in the second charge sheet in the spectrum allocation by the CBI, the party today said it would fight the case legally. Speaking to the media after a high level meeting of the DMK's high level committee meeting here, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M Karunanidhi, said the party would fight the case and prove the innocent of his daughter in court. “We will take legal steps to prove the truth”, he said. To a query whether Kanimozhi would appear before a CBI court at Delhi on May 6, where she had been summoned, he said "She is not Jayalalithaa to ignore court summons", indirectly referring to the AIADMK leader's appeal for exemption from personal appearance in the disproportionate wealth case against her in a Bangalore court. When asked whether Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV CEO Sarath Kumar, who had also been summoned, would seek anticipatory bail, Karunanidhi said the lawyers would decide about it. Replying to a question, he said the party did not face any embarrassment on the issue.

Backing his daughter Kanimozhi, Karunanidhi said her growth in the party had nothing to do with the 'daughter tag' and only he was aware of what “she is going through now”.

“I view Kanimozhi as a party worker. None should consider that she grew (in the party) just because she is my daughter”, the veteran politician said. The meeting also adopted a resolution blaming some parties for trying to create lack of confidence among UPA allies and break the alliance. It said the 2G case was being used to defame the DMK.

In a resolution, the committee described as 'surprising' Kanimozhi's inclusion in the charge sheet despite providing relevant documents on receipt and repayment of Rs 200-crore loan to Kalaignar TV.

New Delhi, April 27
The Supreme Court today made it clear that it was for the trial court and special Public Prosecutor UU Lalit to assess evidence available against Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) chairman Anil Ambani in the 2G scam.

A Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly made the remark in response to counsel Prashant Bhushan’s contention that the CBI had shielded the ADAG chairman while prosecuting three executives of the company.

It was the chairman who stood to benefit from the scam, not the employees, and as such he should have been chargesheeted, Bhushan argued on behalf of the PIL petitioner - Centre for PIL. The Bench, however, said the trial court and the Public Prosecutor were in a better position to appreciate evidence in the case.

Senior counsel KK Venugopal, appearing for the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate, informed the Bench that the ED was moving to attach properties worth Rs 10,000 crore - Rs 2,000 each of five companies - involved in the scam.

The attachment would be completed in about two months, while confiscation would be done only after the conviction of the accused facing trial. The CBI has estimated the amount involved in the scam at Rs 30,984 crore against Rs 1.76 lakh crore mentioned in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

Venugopal said the CBI would take more time to complete the investigations into the alleged irregularities pertaining to the period 2001-07. The CBI has filed two chargesheets in the case so far.

The Bench appreciated the “commendable” work done by the investigating officers of the CBI and the ED in a short span of time in the case involving such a colossal amount, so many accused and innumerable documents.

The case is expected to come up for next hearing only after the SC reopens in July after the summer break.

Mumbai, April 27
The Bombay HC today directed the CBI, probing the Adarsh Housing Society scam, to look into allegations of the involvement of Union ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushil Kumar Shinde. It also asked the agency to probe whether the wife of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar owns two flats in the controversial building.

Deshmukh, Union Minister for Rural Development and Shinde, Union Power Minister, were CMs of Maharashtra when the files related to the high-rise Adarsh building in upscale Colaba were processed. The HC directed CBI to submit a progress report by next week after noting that the investigating agency should make efforts to look into the involvement of everybody concerned, irrespective of who he is and what position he holds.

The directions were given by a division bench of Justices Ranjana Desai and RG Ketkar while hearing a bunch of petitions related to the scam, including the one filed by Adarsh Society challenging the demolition order and activist Simpreet Singh's petition seeking monitoring of the probe by the court.

New Delhi, April 27
Amidst opposition demand for his removal, Puducherry Lt-Governor Iqbal Singh today met Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and apprised him of his questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over his recommendation for issuing a passport to alleged tax evader Hasan Ali Khan.

The 20-minute meeting at the North Block came a day after Iqbal Singh was questioned by ED officials at Puducherry Raj Niwas for two consecutive days. “The ED has questioned me. The SC is monitoring the case,” a visibly upset Iqbal Singh told reporters when asked as to what transpired in the meeting.

Asked whether he was going to resign from the post following the controversy and the demand of the opposition parties in Puducherry, he said: “I will not reply to any question.” On what was the need for him to meet Chidambaram for the third time in 10 days, Iqbal Singh shot back saying: “I can meet the Home Minister any number of times, you cannot question me.” The Puducherry Lt-Governor has been in the eye of a storm for his action in 1997 as a Congress member of Rajya Sabha member in recommending expeditious issue of passport to Khan, a Pune-based stud farm owner and suspected money launderer. Iqbal Singh has admitted that he did make such recommendation on humanitarian grounds as he was told that Khan needed to travel abroad to visit his ailing brother. He, however, claimed he did not know Khan. Iqbal Singh’s name surfaced during questioning of Bihar Congress leader Amlendu Pandey. The ED action followed clearance from the Prime Minister's Office last week to record his statement on the issue. 

New Delhi, April 27
The Supreme Court today reserved its judgement on the plea of the CBI for prosecuting Bhopal gas tragedy case accused, who have escaped with lighter punishment of two-year jail term, under the stringent penal provision attracting maximum 10 years of imprisonment.

The Bench headed by the Chief Justice SH Kapadia will pass its verdict over the petition seeking to recall the apex court’s 14-year-old judgment that had diluted the charges against the accused who were prosecuted just for the offence of being negligent.

The Bench, which also consisted of Justices Altamas Kabir, RV Raveendran, B Sudershan Reddy and Aftab Alam, asked the concerned parties to file their written submissions within a week in this case.

In its plea, the CBI has sought restoration of stringent charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder instead of death caused due to negligence against the accused in the world’s worst industrial disaster that left over 15,000 persons dead and thousands maimed.

The apex court has heard the case on a day-to-day basis and it would now hear the plea for enhancement of compensation from Rs 750 crore to Rs 7,700 crore for the victims. — PTI

Chandigarh, April 27
In a ruling that has wide ramifications on adjudication of service disputes pertaining to the Armed Forces personnel, the Delhi High Court has ruled that the High Courts are constitutionally empowered to review decisions by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT).

The Armed Forces Tribunal Act 2007 had stipulated that appeals against AFT orders would lie directly with the Supreme Court. “The AFT, being manned by personnel appointed by the Executive, albeit in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, cannot be said to be truly a judicial review forum as a substitute to HCs that are constitutional courts and the power of judicial review, being a basic feature of the Constitution, under Article 226 and Article 227 of the Constitution is unaffected by the constitution of the AFT,” a division bench, comprising Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Suresh Kait ruled yesterday.

“Further, Article 227(4) of the Constitution takes away only the administrative supervisory jurisdiction of the HCs over the AFT and does not impact their judicial supervisory jurisdiction. Thus, decisions by the AFT would be amenable to judicial review by HC under the Article 226 as also the Article 227 of the Constitution,” the bench further ruled. Tribunals can perform a “supplemental as opposed to a substitutional” role vis-a-vis the HCs, the bench held.

The AFT was set up to exercise an appellate jurisdiction with respect to orders, findings or sentences of court martial and exercises original jurisdiction with respect to service disputes. The purpose behind it was to provide a dedicated forum for quick redressal of grievances to the armed forces personnel as disposal of cases in the high court took a long time.

The bench held that the right to file an appeal before the SC created as mentioned in the Act meant that the right to appeal to the Supreme Court is not a matter of right, but a matter of discretion to be exercised by the AFT. Further, the discretion of the AFT is limited only to a point of law of general public importance and not every point of law that may have arisen during proceedings.

The HC’s order has also kicked up a debate in legal circles. Some lawyers say that it would be easier for litigants to file appeals against the AFT orders, as it was procedurally, psychologically, financially and physically easier and faster to approach a HC than the SC. Others are of the opinion that if appeals against the AFT orders lie with the HC, then the very purpose of setting up the Tribunal is negated as the HC would again be burdened with additional cases, besides further lengthening the judicial process and disposal time.

Lucknow, April 27
Clearly meant to scuttle Gandhian activist Anna Hazare’s proposed public meetings in the state from April 29 to May 1, the Mayawati government today issued a government order which makes holding of such meetings cumbersome. Blowing a dent into the democratic process, the government order introduced from immediate effect makes it mandatory for the organisers of dharna, demonstrations, strike and processions to finalise their venue, route, and time parking arrangements in consultation with the administration.

Sharing the details of the order this evening, Principal Secretary, Home, Kunwar Fateh Bahadur Singh, said the organisers would have to furnish an undertaking in a prescribed format regarding the peaceful protest.

The national, state or district president of political parties would be responsible for political protests while the office-bearers of social, religious and other organisations would be held personally responsible for any damage to public property.

In case of damage not being paid or recovered in case of violence and damage of public property, recovery would be made from the key functionary on the lines of revenue recovery, the order said.

While refusing to admit that the order had been introduced today to stall Hazare’s programme, the Principal Secretary confirmed that it would now take at least 10 days for getting the clearances for holding any public meeting, which virtually rules out the chances of Hazare’s public meetings in the state starting on Friday.

Jaipur, April 27
In 12-year-old Kumar Padmanabh Singh, the adopted grandson of the late Sawai Bhawani Singh, Jaipur got its new maharaja today with a 'coronation' ceremony held at the Royal Palace.

The ‘raj tilak’ took place on the 12th day of mourning following the demise of Bhawai Singh on April 16 at the age of 80 at a hospital in Gurgaon.

According to traditions of the royal family, the solemn yet elegant ceremony was attended by members of the former princely states besides prominent citizens of Jaipur.

Bhawani Singh, who had no son, had adopted his daughter’s elder son Padmanabh in 2002, when he was a five years old. After the ‘coronation’ the young maharaja also took a guard of honour. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Sanjiv Bhatt summoned
AHMEDABAD: Nanavati Commission, probing post-Godhra communal riots, has summoned senior IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court implicating Gujarat CM Narendra Modi. The Commission has asked Bhatt to appear before it on May 16. — PTI

1-yr jail for Pacheco
PANAJI: Former Goa Tourism Minister Fransisco Mickey Pacheco was sentenced to one-year imprisonment on Wednesday for assaulting junior engineer Kapil Natekar of the state electricity department. Judicial Magistrate First Class in Margao town ordered the imprisonment, which was suspended for 30 days, allowing Pacheco to appeal in the higher court. — PTI