India

New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) The Centre has told the Supreme Court that some petitioners challenging the validity of the extension of tenure of the present Enforcement Directorate (ED) director Sanjay Kumar Mishra, have moved the court on behalf of the president and office-bearers of the Indian National Congress (INC), who are being investigated by the ED.

The affidavit filed by Sandeep Gehlot, under-secretary, Department of Revenue, said the petitioners failed to disclose serious cases of money laundering under investigation against several leaders of the party.

"The real motive of the petition is to question the investigation being carried out against the president and certain office-bearers of the INC party..instead of availing alternate remedies like filing an appropriate petition for quashing, etc., under the Code of Criminal Procedure..."

The affidavit added that one of the petitioners is the general secretary of the Madhya Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee, who moved the court under Article 32 espousing the cause of her political masters when there is nothing barring the concerned persons who are under investigation from approaching competent court for any appropriate relief.

"The present petition is the misuse of Article 32 of the Constitution, which is clearly being filed in a representative capacity for and on behalf of the president and the office-bearers of the INC, who are being investigated by the ED, and are fully competent to approach respective courts for appropriate statutory relief...therefore, the present petition is clearly motivated by an oblique personal interest rather than any public interest," added the affidavit.

The affidavit added that the petitions have been filed by leaders of certain recognised political parties and the apex court had held that PIL should not be used for political or personal interest, and should not become a tool at the hands of vested interests for their political or personal gain. The top court has scheduled the matter for hearing next week.

On Monday, the Supreme Court appointed senior advocate K.V. Viswanathan as amicus curiae in connection with a clutch of petitions challenging the validity of the extension given to the tenure of the present Enforcement Directorate (ED) director Sanjay Kumar Mishra.

The affidavit has been filed in response to the batch of eight petitions filed by Trinamool Congress and Congress leaders -- Dr. Jaya Thakur, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Saket Gokhale, Mahua Moitra -- and other petitions filed by advocate M.L. Sharma, Krishna Chander Singh, and Vineet Narain, challenging the extension of tenure of the ED director.

The petitioners have argued that the extension given to Mishra is a blatant violation of the top court's directions by promulgating an ordinance to amend the Central Vigilance Commission Act to allow an extension up to 5 years for the term of ED Director.

--IANS
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Prayagraj, Sep 6 (IANS) Taking serious note of frequent use of marriage certificates issued by the Arya Samaj societies, the Allahabad High Court has said that they are misusing beliefs in organising marriages without considering the genuineness of documents.

Hearing a habeas corpus petition, the court observed that Arya Samaj societies were issuing marriage certificates without proper solemnisation of marriages, and added that marriage could not be proved only on the basis of this certificate.

Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery said, "The court is flooded with marriage certificates issued by different Arya Samaj Societies which have been seriously questioned during different proceedings of this court as well as by other high courts. The institution has misused its beliefs in organising marriages without even considering the genuineness of documents."

The habeas corpus petition was filed by one Bhola Singh who had produced a certificate issued by Arya Samaj Mandir, Ghaziabad, to claim that he was legally married to "petitioner number 2".

"Since the marriage has not been registered, it cannot be deemed only on the basis of the said certificate that the two parties have married," the court observed in its decision.

"In the present case, the corpus is a major and an FIR has been lodged against the petitioner number 1 (husband) by the father of petitioner number 2 (wife), and investigation is undergoing. Therefore, there is no case of illegal detention," the court said.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) The row over the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy has got murkier with BJP releasing a "sting video" while alleging that the AAP government is hand in glove in the corruption.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra while playing the purported video alleged that "Kulvinder Marwah, the father of accused number 13 Sunny Marwah, admits that the money is being given to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia".

"Why the commission to the dealers were increased from 2 per cent to 12 per cent, and why without cabinet approval Rs 144 crore were waived off without cabinet approval," Patra asked.

The BJP spokesperson alleged that "Kulvinder Marwah is heard saying that a commission of was fixed for liquor suppliers to be eligible for L-1 vendor category".

"Sunny Marwah is currently associated with six companies as director," Patra said.

Reacting on the "sting video", Sisodia said, "The BJP has been shouting for a long time that there has been a scam. The CBI searched and took out the transaction between the two companies. After they didn't find anything in my locker, they made a video by sitting in a car on the road. What type of sting operation is this, I too have such videos."

Sisodia claimed that a Deputy Legal advisor of the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) committed suicide two days ago because "he was pressurised to frame him in a false case".

"A CBI officer committed suicide two days earlier. It has come to know that the officer - Jitendra Kumar - was the Deputy Legal Advisor in the Anti-Corruption Branch of the CBI. He was looking after the legality of the fake FIR against me. He was being pressurised to approve the arrest by making a case against me in an illegal way," he said during the press conference.

"He could not take the mental pressure and died by suicide two days ago. This is really unfortunate, I am deeply hurt," Sisodia alleged.

The CBI in August had raided Sisodia's residence after it registered an FIR to investigate alleged irregularities in the formulation and execution of the Delhi Excise Policy.

The Deputy Chief Minister also hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he only "thinks of destabilising governments in non-BJP states by poaching MLAs".

"I want to ask the Prime Minister three questions: Why is there so much pressure being put on the officers that they are forced to commit suicide? Whether the Centre's job is to run Operation Lotus only?... How many sacrifices will it take to crush the elected governments?," Sisodia said.

"It is very regrettable, my condolences to his family. I want to tell the Prime Minister that trap me. If you want to arrest, tell me where to come, I will come, but do not put any more pressure on such officers, it is ruining their life. When would you think of starting a school?," he asked.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) came down heavily on Sisodia for levelling the allegations.

The probe agency said that this is nothing but a mischievous attempt by Sisodia.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) A vehicle thief, who had been on the run for more than seven years in connection with around two hundred cases, was held by the Delhi Police.

The accused, considered as the country's biggest car thief, reportedly married three women. He was arrested twice in his 27 years of criminal history.

The accused, identified as Anil Chauhan, was reportedly involved in around 6,000 cases, however, the police have said on the record that they could find only around 200 cases against him as of now.

A senior official said that he has been stealing cars for two decades.

"Chauhan used to steal cars and would sell them in Assam and northeast India. He gave the cops a slip on many occasions. When Delhi Police started working on him, he got a whip and fled to Assam. There he started smuggling horns of rhinoceros," the official added.

The official said that the accused had acquired a lot of wealth which was seized by the ED.

In 2015, he was held by Assam Police along with a local MLA. After this, he again got indulged in vehicle stealing and also started smuggling arms.

The official said that he came to Delhi to deliver arms in a stolen car. The special staff of Central Delhi Police got a tip-off about this. They conducted a raid and held him from the Central Delhi area. The police recovered six pistols and seven live cartridges from him.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday said the state and the Central governments cannot provide security to private hospitals and nursing homes, which operate like business enterprises, during the hearing of a plea seeking directions to provide security to doctors and healthcare workers, vulnerable to attacks by patients' relatives and others.

A bench of Justices S.K. Kaul and A.S. Oka said the private hospitals charge exorbitantly and they can take care of security issues on their own, and questioned the petitioner's counsel, how will government provide security for so many private hospitals and nursing homes?

Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, representing the Delhi Medical Association, said the doctors and healthcare workers are vulnerable to attacks and emphasised on having a mechanism for their security.

The bench told Hansaria that in big cities, every lane would have a medical centre and how can it pass generic orders?

"You can't expect the government to put in place a security system for private players."

The bench sought details on complaints and representations made to the state governments as it were not included in the petition.

It observed that it is not possible for the apex court to micromanage the security and also it cannot pass directions to what kind of security should be given to the private hospitals.

The bench said the attack on doctors is unfortunate and whenever attack occurs, it is due to certain failure in system in place. It said providing security to a government hospital is again an executive decision and it is not for the court to enter into this arena.

It made it clear that it would not pass any direction to the government to provide security for private hospitals, since they are business enterprises.

Hansaria sought permission to amend the petition, which was allowed by the bench.

The DMA sought directions to ensure adequate security at hospitals and medical centres to prevent attacks on doctors and healthcare workers by relatives of patients and others. The plea was filed through advocate Sneha Kalita.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that Indias achievement of eclipsing the United Kingdom to become the fifth largest economy in the world is a pleasure of surpassing those who ruled over India for around 250 years, and which supersedes the "mere statistics of improved ranking".

Modi made these comments while interacting with teachers honoured with National Awards for Teachers.

Highlighting the appreciation received by the National Education Policy, the Prime Minister said that it is a step in the right direction.

Emphasising the need to go through the National Educational Policy more than once, he Agave the analogy of Mahatma Gandhi where he read the Bhagavad Gita again and again and each time he found a new meaning.

Modi stressed on the need to imbibe the National Educational Policy in such a way that the government document becomes the basis of the students' lives.

"Teachers played a major role in the formulation of the policy," he said, adding that teachers have a monumental role to play in the implementation of the National Educational Policy.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister paid homage to former President of India Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, whose birthday is commemorated as Teachers Day across the country.

He also reminded the teachers that it is all the more important to be felicitated by the current President of India, Draupadi Murmu, who is also a teacher and has taught in far-flung places of Odisha.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday said that they have arrested an official of the State Bank of India in Telangana for causing an alleged loss of Rs 5,22,67,760 to the bank.

A senior CBI official said that a case was registered on the complaint from the SBI's AGM, Telangana, that accused A. Nagendet, Senior Associate & Cash In-charge, SBI, Narsapur Branch in Medak district, misappropriated cash of Rs 2.32 crore, and gold ornaments valuing Rs 0.72 crore which were under his control and also cash amounting to Rs 2.19 crore from three ATMs.

The official said that searches were conducted at the premises of Nagendet at Narsapur which led to the recovery of incriminating documents.

The accused was produced before the Special CBI Judge which sent him to judicial custody till September 17.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena has sent a legal notice to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leaders Atishi, Durgesh Pathak, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Sanjay Singh, Jasmine Shah and others for levelling 'false allegations' against him and spreading 'fake news' and a 'motivated propaganda' to malign his image.

These leaders of AAP had recently claimed that the L-G was involved in a scam during demonetisation in 2016 in a purported ‘scam' of Rs 1400 crore by KVIC under Saxena's chairmanship.

The legal notice reads, "It may be known, that the total Khadi sale across the country during 2016-17 was Rs 2146.60 crore as per KVIC Annual Report 2016-17. There were only 7 Department Store Outlets (DSOs) of KVIC, sale from which was Rs 173.58 crore during the entire year of 2016-17, while the remaining was sale done through independent Khadi Institution stores and franchisees. Out of sale of Rs 173.58 crore from these 7 DSOs during the year, Rs 99.35 crore was through retail sales and the remaining was through whole sale and government supplies.

"Since the period under demonetisation was from 9.11.2016 to 31.12.2016, therefore on a pro-rata basis, retails sales worth approximately only Rs 14.43 crore (actual may vary) took place through these 7 DSOs during the period of demonetisation. Hence, by any stretch of imagination, whatsoever, the figure of Rs 1400 crore is not only incompatible with real and unquestionable figures duly recorded in the books of accounts but also an incomprehensible mathematical impossibility even if one were to take into account, the actual sales of the entire year which amounted to just Rs 173.58 crore, from 7 DSOs. (All figures are from the KVIC Annual Report 2016-17, available on KVIC's Website)."

The notice said that the indulgence of AAP and its leaders in such a scandalous smear campaign against Saxena, is solely with the aim of deflecting and diverting attention of the people from the gross failure of the AAP Government in Delhi, their expose in the recently unearthed excise and classroom scam coupled with the appreciation gained by the Lt. Governor for the ‘extraordinary work done by him in the past three months serving as the LG of Delhi'.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) India's external debt rose by 8.2 per cent to stand at $620.7 billion on March 31, 2022, compared to $573.7 billon on March 31, 2021.

Out of this, 53.2 per cent of external debt was denominated in US dollars, the Indian rupee denominated debt was estimated at 31.2 per cent and was the second largest, according to the status report on India's external debt 2021-22, released by the Finance Ministry on Monday.

According to the report, external debt, as a ratio to GDP, fell marginally to 19.9 per cent as on March 2022 compared to 21.2 per cent of the year ago period. Foreign currency reserves, as a ratio to external debt, stood slightly lower at 97.8 per cent as on March 2022, compared to 100.6 per cent of the year- ago period.

The long-term debt estimated at $499.1 billion, formed the largest chunk of 80.4 per cent, while the short-term debt, at $ 121.7 billion, accounted for 19.6 per cent of the total external debt amount. The short-term trade credit was predominantly in the form of trade credit (96 per cent) financing imports, the report added further.

Commercial borrowings, NRIs deposits, short-term trade credit and multilateral loans, all accounted for 90 per cent of the total external debt. While NRI deposits marginally contracted during end-March 2021 and end-March 2022, commercial borrowings, short-term trade credit and multilateral loans, on the other hand, expanded during the same period.

The rise in commercial borrowings, short-term trade credit and multilateral loans together was significantly larger than the contraction in NRI deposits, the report further said.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Sep 5 (IANS) The owners and the manager of Lucknow's Hotel Levana, where a major fire broke out on Monday morning and left four persons dead and seven seriously injured, have been detained, police said.

The owners, Rohit Agarwal and Rahul Agarwal, along with the manager, Sagar Srivastava, have been taken into custody.

The police spokesman said that an FIR was being registered in the case.

A Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) official said that several by-laws had been broken in the construction of the hotel which did not even have an emergency exit.

"We are going through the documents and strict action will be initiated at the earliest, said the official.

A major fire had broken out at the Levana hotel on Monday morning and about two dozen guests were trapped in the second and third floor of the hotel.

The fire personnel had to break the glass panes to bring out those trapped inside.

Four persons died in the incident while seven others have been hospitalised in critical condition.

Some fire personnel have also been injured.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has already ordered a probe into the incident and has directed officials to take strict action if any lapses are found.

--IANS
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