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Special to
The Tribune
Court-monitored cases
Keep political parties out
of RTI, says House panel
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Congress teams up with Anna to build ‘Brand Rahul’
Social activist Anna Hazare during his indefinite hunger strike in Ralegan Siddhi, Ahmednagar, on Tuesday. PTI
1997 blasts: LeT bomb expert Tunda seeks bail
Worsening law & order
Securitymen in front of the Assembly in Hyderabad on Tuesday. PTI
PM releases stamp in Beant Singh’s memory
PM Manmohan Singh releases a postage stamp of Beant Singh, former CM, Punjab, in New Delhi on Tuesday. On his right is Beant Singh’s son Tej Parkash Singh. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal
Centre mulls fresh SC probe in Ganguly case
UP riots: BSP MP surrenders, remanded in judicial custody
Armaan Kohli gets bail,
returns to Bigg Boss house
Lalu backs Cong on PM candidate Lok Sabha adjourned amid ruckus 1 killed, 17 injured in Assam blast Joshi’s bail plea rejected Taslima case: SC restrains UP
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Special
to The Tribune
The US State Department insists the diplomatic immunity of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobradade was not violated and that "standard procedures" were followed during her arrest in New York last week, an incident that has strained ties between New Delhi and Washington.
"Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Indian Deputy Consul General enjoys immunity from the jurisdiction of US courts only with respect to acts performed in the exercise of consular functions," State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said on Monday. "There's a different kind of immunity. This isn't just in the US; it's all around the world. So in this case, she fell under that specific kind of immunity, and would be liable to arrest pending trial pursuant a felony arrest warrant," she added. The Indian Government says Khobragade's arrest violates the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, but Harf said the State Department's bureau of diplomatic security had "followed standard procedures during the arrest". "After her arrest, she was passed on to the US Marshals for intake and processing," Harf said. A spokeswoman for the US Marshals Service in Washington told The Tribune on Tuesday that her office was still gathering details of the case. Khobragade was arrested on the allegation that she provided "false and fraudulent" documents to support the US visa application for Indian employee Sangeeta Richard, who worked as babysitter and housekeeper. Khobragade paid Richard $3.31 per hour, less than the $9.75 an hour she had promised in the visa application submitted to the State Department, according to the allegations brought by Preet Bharara, Indian-American US attorney for southern district of New York. Richard was employed by Khobragade in New York from November of 2012 until June of this year. She went "absconding" in June, according to a statement from the Indian Embassy in Washington. Indian diplomats often pay their employees salaries that are well below the minimum wage in the US, according to multiple sources. "Most of us pay less than declared," an Indian diplomat, who served in New York and knew the community well, said on condition of anonymity. "The problem is when the domestic assistant is not treated well, they seek advice of people and then the trouble starts," the diplomat said.
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Govt nod not must to try officials: SC to CBI
R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, December 17 A three-member Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice RM Lodha had asked Centre as to whether this provision was applicable to the case related to the coal block allocation scam being investigated by the CBI under the monitoring of the Bench. As the government insisted on prior approval in the coal scam to protect high officials against frivolous inquiry and the CBI complained of impediments in its probe on this score, the Bench went into the Constitutional validity of the provision even in court-monitored cases. The Bench ruled that while monitoring the probe, a constitutional court "acts as a guardian and protector" of the rights of officials under the CBI scanner. "Section 6A cannot be put at a level which impedes the exercise of constitutional power by the Supreme Court under Articles 32, 136 and 142 of the Constitution. Any other view in this regard will be directly inconsistent with the power conferred on the highest constitutional court," it held. A constitutional Bench of the apex court had already done away with Section 6 of the DSPE Act under which the state governments' approval was necessary to order a CBI probe into the state-related matters, if such orders were passed by any high court or the apex court. "There is no reason why such a principle is not extended in holding that the approval of the central government is not necessary under Section 6A of the DSPE Act in a matter where the inquiry/investigation into the crime under the PC Act is being monitored by the Court," the bench held. In a concurrent but separate verdict, Justice Madan B Lokur said: "It is not possible to assume that in a constitutional court-monitored investigation, the CBI will, in a trigger-happy manner, ride roughshod and target senior government officers only because they are empowered to do so."
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Keep political parties out
of RTI, says House panel
New Delhi, December 17 “The committee is of the strong view that laws should not be laid down through a process of misinterpretation of clear provisions of law,” the report said. The panel said that various provisions in other existing laws would ensure transparency in the financial matters of political parties and their candidates. Under the Representation of the People Act 1951, parties were required to declare all contributions in excess of Rs 20,000, while elected members disclose their assets and liabilities and their election expenses. The Election Commission collects the accounts of political parties within 90 days of the Lok Sabha election and 75 days of Assembly elections, it explained. There were about 1,450 political parties in the country, including 52 national and state parties. All the six national parties, except CPI, which were parties to the case before the Central Information Commission (CIC) “were categorical in their assertion that political parties are not public authority,” the panel noted. The government had introduced the amendment Bill 2013 in the Rajya Sabha after evolving political consensus against the June 3, 2013 order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) holding that political parties were covered under the definition of public authority and the RTI Act as they enjoyed income tax exemption and government accommodation, besides wielding controlling influence over governance. The Bill was subsequently referred to the committee for assessing the views of all stakeholders. Rajya Sabha MP Anu Aga, a member of the committee, gave a dissenting view as she agreed with the CIC ruling. Rejecting Attorney General GE Vahanvati’s view that the amendment would not stand judicial scrutiny, the panel, headed by Shantaram Naik, noted that the Law Secretary had maintained that the exclusion of political parties “was quite sustainable since Parliament has legislative competence to override the CIC decision. The committee subscribes to the opinion expressed by the Law Secretary,” it said.
Need for the Bill
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Congress teams up with Anna to build ‘Brand Rahul’
New Delhi, December 17 “Today is a happy day for us. The Lokpal Bill has been passed by the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha will take it up tomorrow. This is happening due to single-minded determination of Rahul Gandhi who promised this country a strong anti-corruption law,” senior Congress leader PC Chacko said today.
He acknowledged only in passing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s early morning efforts to get a reluctant Samajwadi Party to walk out from the House. Chacko and other senior Congress leaders, including party’s communication in charge Ajay Maken, justified the credits by recalling Rahul’s three-day old appeal to parties to “set aside differences in the interest of a law that India needed”. “Rahul spoke to all political parties and reasoned with them about the necessity of the Lokpal Bill. He has always said the UPA is committed to building a strong anti-corruption framework in which Lokpal Bill is one block,” Chacko said. Outside Parliament, however, the newfound warmth between Rahul and Anna remained the topic of discussion with the Congress openly flaunting the letters exchanged between the two. The party released the letter wherein Anna thanked Rahul for his commitment to Lokpal Bill and the one where the latter thanked him back. “Your letter has encouraged me deeply. We respect your role in the anti-corruption movement and we are grateful for your support,” Rahul wrote to Anna, signaling the beginning of a relationship that could prove politically precious to the Congress in the run-up to the Lok Sabha poll next year. “We are proud to have Anna on our side. People associate the anti-graft movement with him,” said a senior Congress leader in the wake of AAP’s aggressive stand against the version of the Bill which the Rajya Sabha passed.
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1997 blasts: LeT bomb expert Tunda seeks bail
New Delhi, December 17 Tunda, against whom a supplementary charge sheet was recently filed by the special cell of the Delhi Police in connection with the case, moved the bail plea which will come up for hearing before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Amit Bansal on December 20. In his plea, Tunda, who was arrested from the Nepal border on August 16, said he had been chargesheeted by the police only on the basis of “disclosure statements” made by two accused persons, who were arrested earlier in connection with the case. Tunda was chargesheeted for offences under Sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and the police had claimed that he was part of the conspiracy which led to two bomb blasts, one in Sadar Bazar and other in Qutab Road here, on October 1, 1997 in which several people were injured. Earlier two persons - Mohd Shakil alias Hamza and Mohd Amir - were arrested in the case but Shakil was discharged by the court on April 17, 1999 while Amir was acquitted in the case on April 26, 2001. In his bail plea, 72-year-old Tunda said “the only material on the basis of which the applicant (Tunda) was arrested and being prosecuted is the disclosure statements of the above two persons (Shakil and Amir) as well as of the applicant accused”.
— PTI
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Oppn walks out of Assam Assembly
Tribune News Service
Guwahati, December 17 Moving the adjournment motion, several MLAs of the regional AGP accused the Congress government in the state of failing to protect the lives and property of the people. They alleged that the Centre had recently extended the imposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, by another year while Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh also expressed concern over the worsening law and order situation in the state. Drawing the attention of the House to the December 11 killings of two school students by security forces in a “fake encounter” in the name of counter-insurgency operation, the AGP MLAs criticised the Congress government in the state for killing schoolchildren and demanded that the House should be allowed to discuss such grave development by the chair through an adjournment motion. One of the AGP legislators, Padma Hazarika, raised the alarm over the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants going on rampage in Sonitpur district and other parts of North Assam and demanded immediate action on part of the government to check the menace before it went out of control. BJP legislator Manoranjan Das alleged that the situation in Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District Council (BTC) was much worse with gun-toting militants forcing even school teachers to pay money in the name of “tax”.
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AP to debate Telangana Bill from today
Hyderabad, December 17 The Assembly will meet again in the first week of January to continue the debate and its schedule will be fixed by Speaker Nadendla Manohar and Legislative Affairs Minister Sridhar Babu after the Christmas recess. This was decided at a stormy meeting of the BAC chaired by the Speaker in the Assembly. The BAC was vertically divided on regional lines with members from Telangana region insisting on the continuation of the debate without any further delay while the Seemandhra members opposed the Bill for the creation of separate Telangana state. The representatives of YSR Congress Party, headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, walked out of the meeting after their request for introduction of a resolution in favour of keeping the state united was rejected by the government. A Seemandhra representative of the main Opposition TDP, G Muddukrishnama Naidu, also stormed out of the meeting. While referring the AP Reorganisation Bill, 2013 to the state Assembly on December 12, President Pranab Mukherjee had given time till January 23 for the House to return the Bill along with its opinions. The 65-page draft Bill was tabled in the Assembly yesterday amid unprecedented ruckus within and outside the House.
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PM releases stamp in Beant Singh’s memory
New Delhi, December 17 Recalling Beant Singh’s “strong and determined” leadership to the state during its turbulent times, he said as the Chief Minister, he brought the state to normalcy after years of terrorist violence. “Restoring peace in Punjab during those difficult days was no easy task and it is a tribute to the extraordinary leadership qualities of Sardar Beant Singh that he succeeded in doing so. “If our society is largely peaceful and secular today, it is only because of the courage and patriotism of people like Sardar Beant Singh,” the Prime Minister said. Beant Singh was assassinated in a car bomb
attack in secretariat complex in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. He said Beant Singh is best remembered for providing strong and determined leadership to Punjab in very troubled times. "As Chief Minister of Punjab, he brought the state to normalcy after years of terrorist violence. Our freedoms are built on the foundation of their hard work and sacrifices. It is, therefore, our duty as citizens to contribute our bit in the fight against the divisive forces that still pose a threat to our country," he said. He also recalled Beant Singh's long innings in public life, spanning over four decades when left a job in the army at the age of 23 to serve the people and went on to hold several important positions. A public career which started with helping those whose life had been disrupted because of partition in 1947, culminated in the Chief Ministership of Punjab in 1992. In the intervening years came a range of public positions - chairman block samiti, five-term member of the Punjab Assembly and minister in the Punjab government. He was also the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee during the very difficult years from 1986 to 1995.
— PTI
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Centre mulls fresh SC probe in Ganguly case
New Delhi/Kolkata, Dec 17 Sources said the Home Ministry had sought the opinion of the Law Ministry after President Pranab Mukherjee sent to it two letters written by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who wanted "urgent appropriate action" against the judge.
The government is also exploring whether a criminal case can be filed by the Delhi Police against Justice Ganguly, they said. In Kolkata, Justice Ganguly, who retired from the Supreme Court on February 3, 2012, showed no signs of heeding to mounting pressure to step down and instead stuck to his version, refuting the intern's allegation. “I have denied it, what more will I say,” Ganguly told PTI over the phone. In her affidavit to a three-judge panel, set up by Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam to go into her allegation that Justice Ganguly had sexually harassed her in a hotel room on December 24, the intern has described in detail his alleged behaviour when she had gone to assist him in his work. The panel had indicted him by holding that the statement of the intern, both written and oral, had prima facie disclosed "an act of unwelcome behaviour (unwelcome verbal/non-verbal conduct of sexual nature)" by Justice Ganguly with her in the Le Meridien hotel room approximately between 8 pm and 10.30 pm. The Chairman of State Human Rights Commission can only be removed on the orders of the President following the receipt of the Supreme Court's inquiry report that would be vetted by the Union Cabinet. According to Section 23 of the Human Rights Act, the Chairperson or any other member of the State Commission shall only be removed from his office by order of the President on the ground of "proved misbehaviour or incapacity" after the Supreme Court inquiry. The apex court will carry out the inquiry on a reference being made to it by the President in accordance with the laid down procedure. If the court reports that the Chairperson or such other Member, as the case may be, ought on any such ground to be removed, the report would be sent to Cabinet which would advice the President accordingly. — PTI
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UP riots: BSP MP surrenders, remanded in judicial custody
Lucknow, December 17 Rana was booked for his alleged hate speech in the Khalapar area of the city on August 30, when public gatherings were banned by the authorities after three young men were killed due to a communal dispute in Kawal village in the district on August 27. Earlier, the court had issued non-bailable warrants against 16 politicians, including Rana. He was among the politicians facing arrest for inciting communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas in September that claimed more than 60 lives and displaced over 40,000 people. While the BJP MLAs Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana were arrested and released for their reported involvement in the riots, the Muzaffarnagar MP had gone virtually disappeared since September 7 when riots first broke out. He was accompanied to the court by his brother Noor Salim Rana who is also an accused in the
riots and is currently out on bail. He had been arrested along with the BJP leaders. Rana left the Samajwadi Party in 2007 to join the Rashtriya Lok Dal and then switched to the BSP in 2009. There are a total of four criminal cases against him, including murder, attempt to murder and robbery.
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Armaan Kohli gets bail,
returns to Bigg Boss house
Mumbai, December 17 Hayat had filed a complaint against Kohli at the Santa Cruz police station in suburban Mumbai on December 11 after she was evicted from the Bigg Boss House. Kohli was released on bail of Rs 50,000 and two solvent sureties of like amount. He was not produced before any court since the provisions applied to him were bailable, police said. Kohli returned to the sets later today. He was booed by women activists of the NCP outside the sets of the show at Lonavla. He was arrested on Monday night after Hayat, a British singer-actress, had accused him of assaulting her. The decision to arrest Kohli was taken after police confirmed allegations of assault after viewing the unedited footage of the show, sources said.
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After the Rajya Sabha cleared the Lokpal Bill today, the Congress and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare teamed up to credit Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi for the proposed legislation.
While Anna hailed Rahul’s “commitment” to the Bill, the party used the occasion to build “Brand Rahul”. Its leaders linked the law’s smooth run in the Upper House of Parliament today to “single-minded determination of their vice-president”.
New Delhi, December 17
