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Impeachment Proceedings
Kapil Sibal, Virbhadra Singh among the most affluent
The Code of Conduct
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Two more Team Anna members get privilege notice
SC: In era of transparency, no place for old mindsets
Price Rise
Onion prices shoot up after heavy rains
One more fake pilot nabbed
2 lawyers shot dead as notaries open fire
Quick response saved govt the face
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Impeachment Proceedings
New Delhi, September 3 With this development, which the President’s Office confirmed, Sen automatically ceases to be a judge of the Calcutta High Court, raising a vital question: can an ex-judge be impeached? Although Attorney General of India GE Vahanvati (whose opinion the President yesterday sought after Sen faxed his resignation letter) has advised the government to go ahead with the impeachment motion which would turn infructuous unless taken up by both Houses of Parliament in the same session. Government sources today said the impeachment proceedings looked unlikely considering the judge was no longer in office. “You can only impeach someone who is in office. How can you impeach an ex-judge,” UPA sources today told The Tribune. Vahanvati on his part has forewarned the government of a prospective situation wherein an attempt might be made to challenge or withdraw the said resignation on the grounds that it was tendered under duress or coercion. The country’s top lawyer has further argued that Sen’s resignation was not bonafide as it was belated and may therefore have been tendered only to avoid the impeachment. “The conclusion of the impeachment proceedings is of paramount importance,” the AG said in his advice to the government. As of tonight, the scheduled business of the Lok Sabha for September 5 listed the consideration of impeachment motion against Sen. When asked what the fate of the motion would be, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal said a final view would have to be taken by the Speaker in consultation with the leaders of political parties and nothing definitive could be said as of now. “We cannot comment at this moment on what will happen because unlike the Bills and statements of ministers, the impeachment motion is not part of government business and the government can’t therefore decide on its fate. It’s the Speaker’s prerogative. “The motion was moved by 50 members of the Rajya Sabha following which a committee was set up to look into the charges against the said judge. “The committee held him guilty and the Rajya Sabha subsequently carried the impeachment motion against the judge and sent it to the Lok Sabha. Now the House has to take a view,” Bansal said, adding that the Speaker might hold a meeting of leaders on Monday morning to decide what to do. Justice Sen’s impeachment motion was adopted by the Rajya Sabha on August 18 with 189 members voting in its favour and 17 opposing it. Sen had been found guilty of misappropriating Rs 33.23 lakh which were under his custody when he was appointed receiver by the court. Later when he became a judge, he misrepresented this fact before the court.
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Kapil Sibal, Virbhadra Singh among the most affluent
New Delhi, September 3 However, Preneet Kaur’s details put her assets at Rs 1.89 crore but the statement does not mention the assets of her husband Capt Amarinder Singh. The real picture will emerge only if the wealth of Amarinder Singh and his ancestral property is calculated. During the 2007 assembly elections in Punjab, Amarinder Singh had put the value of assets owned by him at Rs 39 crore. In case of Virbhadra Singh, his assets include three cars - a Honda city, a Toyota and a Skoda. The list also mentions the value of 9 of his properties that include his ancestral estate in Rampur that alone is valued at Rs 10 crore.A house in Simla - Holly Lodge estate -- valued at Rs 5 crore, a flat in Delhi, besides agricultural land in Rampur. Preneet Kaur, the minister of State for External affairs has a Toyota Innova, 41 bighas of agricultural land in Simla and a 500 square yard plot in Kansal ( north of Chandigarh). Kapil Sibal, whose family hails from Chandigarh, has agricultural properties in Karnataka and Delhi besides commercial properties or shares in such properties at Ludhiana and Chandigarh. He has a 480 sq meter house in upper crust Maharani Bagh, New Delhi. He has 33 per cent share in a 4 kanal (2000 sq yards) house in sector 5 Chandigarh, a plot of 1000 sq yards at Secunderabad, a 100 sq feet flat at Patna, a 500 sq feet flat at Gurgaon. His wife Promilla has a house worth Rs 7.5 crore in New Delhi and she also owns jewellery worth 37 lakh. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pawan Bansal holds fifty per cent share in a 2 kanal (1000 sq yard ) house in sector 28, Chandigarh. His share in the house is valued at Rs 5 crore. The said plot was purchased for Rs 90,000 in 1976. He also owns 50 per cent in a one bigha plot in Mehrauli New Delhi. His wife Madhu Bansal has equity worth Rs 44 lakh in Theon Pharmaceuticals, Nalagarh, HP. She also owns jewellery worth Rs 21 lakh and the Bansal couple have invested approximately Rs 23 lakh in bank or other deposits. Kumari Selja has inherited agricultural land from her father in Hissar, says her detail on properties. Apart from that she has two residential plots in DLF Gurgaon, each valued at nearly Rs 85 lakh and also has a residential plot in Hisar. She has 37 kanals of agricultural land in Sonepat and has 50 per cent stake in 165 bighas of non agricultural land in Ballabhgarh, Faridabad. The minister also has personal savings of approximately Rs 26 lakh. She has also invested in leading blue chip mutual funds. Another Minister from Punjab, Ashwani Kumar, a Rajya Sabha MP, has a 790 sq yard house in New Friends Colony, New Delhi. It is valued at Rs 10 crore and has been inherited from his father. He has been gifted from his maternal side 50 per cent stake in a house in Jangpura, New Delhi, valued at Rs 3 crore. He owns commercial property in South Mumbai valued at Rs 1.5 crore and another office space in Gurgaon valued at Rs 2.25 crore. His wife is a home maker. Ambika Soni and her husband UC Soni own properties in Friends colony ( Rs 1.20 crore) and Panchsheel park in New Delhi besides a farm land in Gurgaon, Haryana. The couple has invested in Mutual Funds and earn interest on long term saving plans besides getting rental income from their commercial and residential properties. Anand Sharma has Rs 1.65 crore in various bank deposits and FD’s. He has a residential house in Gurgaon and a plot in Nebsarai Delhi. He has three LIC policies and has also invested in RBI relief bonds.
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The Code of Conduct
In June the then Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar had written to the Ministers, “... in terms of the Code of Conduct, details in respect of assets, liabilities, business interests, conduct and management of any other business and employment of spouse and dependents under a foreign government or organisation are required to be disclosed by the Members of the Union Council of Ministers."
"The details to be disclosed shall consist of particulars of all immovable property and the total approximate value of
(i) shares and debentures, (ii) cash holdings and (iii) jewellery. Such a statement of assets and liabilities could be in respect of the financial year for which the income tax return has already been filed by the Minister". According to paragraph 3.2 of the Code of Conduct, “A Minister, including Union Ministers, Chief Ministers and other Ministers of State Governments/Union Territories, should not permit their spouse and dependents to accept employment under a foreign government, in India or abroad, or in a foreign organisation (including commercial concerns) without prior approval of the Prime Minister. "Where the wife or a dependent of a Minister is already in such employment, the matter should be reported to the Prime Minister for decision whether the employment should or should not continue. "As a general rule, there should be total prohibition on employment with a Foreign Mission".
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Two more Team Anna members get privilege notice
New Delhi, September 3 They were accused of using derogatory words against MPs and have been asked to file a reply. Terming the notice as "totally unjustified", Bhushan told PTI that "speaking the truth in public interest does not amount to breach of privilege". "If speaking truth in public interest amounts to breach of privilege, then time has come for the country to review the whole notion of Parliamentary privileges," he said. Kejriwal has confirmed that the letter has been received at his residence in Ghaziabad but he has not seen it. Yesterday, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi had received breach of privilege notice for her remarks against Parliamentarians. "Received Breach of Privilege. Shall respond appropriately recording the distrust 'we the people' were suffering," Bedi had tweeted. — PTI
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SC: In era of transparency, no place for old mindsets
New Delhi, September 3 “Public authorities should realise that in an era of transparency, previous practices of unwarranted secrecy have no longer a place. Accountability and Prevention of corruption is possible only through transparency,” a Bench comprising Justices RV Raveendran and AK Patnaik ruled in a verdict yesterday. The Bench expressed the sentiment while rejecting the plea of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) that an “enormous workload” arising from RTI applications was adding to the pressure of conducting examinations for lakhs of candidates. “Examining bodies like the ICAI should change their old mindsets and tune them to the new regime of disclosure of maximum information,” the Bench admonished the institute. The apex court, however, acknowledged that “attaining transparency no doubt would involve additional work” of maintaining records and furnishing information. But Parliament had enacted the RTI Act providing access to information after great debate and deliberations by the civil society and the MPs. In its wisdom, the Parliament had chosen to exempt only certain categories of information from disclosure and certain organisations from the applicability of the Act. As the examining bodies were not exempted, they “will have to gear themselves” to comply with the provisions of the RTI Act, the SC said. “Additional workload is not a defence. If there are practical insurmountable difficulties, it is open to the examining bodies to bring them to the notice of the government for consideration so that any changes to the Act can be deliberated upon,” the apex court ruled. Further, the SC asked the competent authorities under the RTI Act to ensure that while achieving transparency the demand for information “does not reach unmanageable proportions affecting other public interests, which include efficient operation of public authorities and government, preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information and optimum use of limited fiscal resources.”
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Price Rise
Kolkata, September 3 The Finance Minister said both his ministry and the RBI were aware of price rise and accordingly, necessary steps had been taken. But the problem cannot be resolved overnight, he clarified. But like the CPM leadership, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also criticised the UPA government for adopting a wrong economic policy which has led to the skyrocketing of prices of all essential commodities. However, she hoped the prices of some commodities like mustard oil, pulses, fish and meat and vegetables like potatoes, onions and several other items could be lowered if hoarding and black marketeering were stopped. Mamata visited some wholesale and retail markets in the city in the past two days. She has set up a task force to monitor the demand and supply of all commodities on a daily basis. The force had been empowered to take action against corrupt middlemen and traders. CPM state secretary Biman Bose alleged that the UPA had yielded to the US pressure and that the foreign business lobby had been dictating the country’s economic policy. He held Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi responsible for price rise. Bose gave a call to all political parties to jointly launch a massive agitation against price rise. The CPM has already started a month-long protest and demonstration programme against the UPA and the state government against price rise and other issues.
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Onion prices shoot up after heavy rains
Mumbai, September 3 “Onion prices are around Rs 1200-1500 per quintal in the wholesale markets after heavy rains damaged the stocks,” says Ganpat Mohile, an agent at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee at Lasalgaon. This is India's biggest market for onions in the country with bulbs from Nashik and surrounding regions being sold here. Mohile maintained that heavy rains had increased moisture in the atmosphere which had damaged onion stocks. “The amount of onions arriving in the markets has decreased and the quality too is not good.” Retail prices in Mumbai and other places have crossed Rs 30 and are expected to increase further as the festival season nears. Onion wholesalers in Mumbai also agree that onion stocks from the rabi crop have been damaged due to the rains. "The supply had improved in early August as it did not rain much, but after the recent spell of heavy rains, the quality of the crop will be poor till the next harvest in October-November,” says Srikant Gupta, a trader at the Navi Mumbai wholesale market. Anticipating a shortage of onions in the domestic market, the Centre has already increased the minimum export price to US to $300 per tonne. The Maharashtra Government had also taken up programmes to encourage more farmers to take up onion cultivation. Officials in the agricultural department say onion is cultivated across six lakh hectares and is expected to increase slightly this year.
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One more fake pilot nabbed
New Delhi, September 3 The arrested person has been identified as Dipak Daulat Asatkar (25), who was absconding for the past six months, Ashok Chand, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), said. He was apprehended from Mumbai yesterday. He allegedly obtained commercial flying licence by using forged mark sheets and later acted as a middleman between agents and pilots who wanted to acquire licence using the same method. With this, the Delhi Police has arrested 21 persons in the case - 13 pilots, three DGCA officials and five middlemen. Jaipur Police has arrested two fake pilots since March 7, after the fake pilot scam was unearthed by the DGCA. The previous arrest by Delhi Police was made on August 10 when they apprehended a pilot Gaurav Jain. — PTI
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2 lawyers shot dead as notaries open fire
Lucknow, September 3 The firing that occurred in the Mohammadi tehsil compound this afternoon was the outcome of several days of sporadic quarrelling between the lekhpals and the lawyers. Two lawyers, Pradeep Dixit and Mukul Tiwari, were killed in the firing and six lawyers have been injured. The injured have been admitted to the district hospital. The police has arrested 35 people, including lekhpals, typists and peons of the tehsil office. A 315-bore rifle and 20 live cartridges have been seized from the lekhpals. Commissioner Lucknow Division Prashant Trivedi and IG Lucknow Range S K Singh immediately air dashed to the district, neighbouring Nepal, to monitor the situation.
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Ramdev sceptical of govt’s word on Lokpal
New Delhi, September 3 “Tell me one thing, which demand of Anna Hazare has been accepted by the government?” Ramdev quipped. “Hazare had demanded to bring Prime Minister, judiciary and Members of Parliament in the ambit of Lokpal... Hazare termed the achievement as half victory but I would say this is just the first step towards victory,” he said, addressing a press conference here to announce his second round of yatra against black money, which he will be starting from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh from September 20. On whether Hazare should have continued his fast, Ramdev evaded a direct reply but expressed his support for a strong Lokpal Bill. “I cannot disrespect Hazare's decision (to end his fast), but whatever has happened is now in front of the nation. The proposal is now with the Standing Committee (of Parliament). I hope something good will come out of it,” he said. — PTI
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CBI to handle Masood murder case
New Delhi, September 3 The case has been registered against unnamed persons by the Bhopal unit of the agency, CBI sources said here. The Centre had received a letter from the Madhya Pradesh Government requesting for a CBI probe into the murder of Shehla Masood in Bhopal. Official sources said the letter was received last week by the Department of Personnel from the state government. Shehla was shot dead when she was going towards her car outside the residence in posh Koh-e-Fiza locality in Bhopal. The Madhya Pradesh Police, probing the case, is likely to question BJP leader Tarun Vijay. The police could not figure out the motive but suspected she was eliminated by some powerful persons against whom she had filed RTI applications. Her father Sultan Masood had said he did not expect justice as he was a “lower middle-class person” . He alleged that in January this year, Shehla had filed a complaint with the Lokayukta that she feared threat to her life from senior IPS officer Pawan Shrivastava. — PTI
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Quick response saved govt the face
New Delhi, September 3 The response prevented masses from giving it a communal colour and stalled any damage that could accrued ahead of the Assembly elections slated in February 2012. In the past three decades, various governments at the Centre have failed to read the situation ‘correctly’ and have either delayed a solution or have had a wrong answer to it. Former Joint Director of IB, MK Dhar sums this up in his book ‘Open Secrets’ saying “…Punjab (days of terrorism) happened because India had faltered.” He had termed it as “a self created fault-line”. This time there was no faltering. The response was quick and acceptable, leaving virtually no scope for the Akalis to drub the Congress Central leadership as “anti-Sikh”. Rather senior Akali leader SS Dhindsa and Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal carefully avoided blaming the Manmohan Singh-led Central government. Dhindsa was categorical that the matter was resolved due to efforts of the Central government. It also sent a strong message to some foreign-based radicalised elements who wish to foment trouble in Punjab by issuing inflammatory statements and fan negative sentiments by calling every thing as a ‘conspiracy’ against the Sikh community. The crisis arose from a controversial statement by senior advocate Harbhagwan Singh in Punjab and Haryana High Court on September 1, claiming that the Central Government was withdrawing a October 2003 notification and it will allow Sehajdhari Sikhs to cast their vote in the SGPC elections scheduled on September 18. Nearly 24 hours later both Houses of Parliament were assured that nothing of the sort will happen. Parliamentary Affairs minister Pawan Bansal and Union Home Minister P Chidamabaram were quick to dispel any ambiguity. It was stated clearly that the senior advocate was not given a vakalatnama and no one from the government had briefed him and he had no authority to make the statement. Once it was clear that Harbhagwan Singh was not given any vakalatnama either by the Ministry of Law or by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the government responded with confidence. Minutes after the government response, Bansal was visibly relieved. Yesterday’s reaction is in sharp contrast to the crisis some 30 years ago. In 1981 three Congress Chief Ministers - Punjab's Darbara Singh, Haryana's Bhajan Lal and Rajasthan's S.C. Mathur - along with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi signed the agreement on river water sharing - an issue that led to several killings and snowballed into major rallying point during days of terrorism. Years latter, the Punjab Assembly annulled the agreement in 2004. Two states protested and the then President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam referred it to the Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court where it is still pending. Any decision on the matter has the potential to send temperatures soaring.
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Mumbai airport ops still affected
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New Delhi, September 3
