India

New Delhi, Nov 11 (IANS) The Supreme Court has issued a contempt notice to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Reliance Industries (RIL) plea alleging non-compliance of the court's August 5 order, which directed the market regulator to provide access to certain documents to the company.

A bench comprising Justices M.R. Shah and M.M. Sundresh said: "Issue notice to the respondent, making it returnable on December 2, 2022. Abhishek Singh, counsel accepts service of notice on behalf of the respondent."

Senior advocate Harish N. Salve, appearing on behalf of RIL, vehemently submitted that despite the August 5 order passed by the apex court by which the respondent (SEBI) was directed to furnish a copy of the documents, the same has not been furnished till date.

Senior advocate and former Attorney General of India K.K. Venugopal, representing SEBI, submitted that the review petition preferred by the respondent is pending before this court and, therefore, no further order be passed in the present proceedings.

The bench, in its order, noted: "We have gone through the subsequent order passed by this court dated October 12, 2022 in review petition. The pendency of an appeal and/or writ petition along with stay cannot be equated with pendency of the review petition.

I"There is a final decision by this court in an appeal. Merely because the stay application is pending in review petition cannot be a ground to grant stay by the respondent on its own and not to comply with the directions issued by this court."

The bench said it is required to be noted that the State of J&K Vs. Mohd. Yaqoob Khan and others was a case where against the ex-parte order passed by the single judge, pending writ petition, the contempt proceedings were initiated.

"Therefore, this court observed that when the stay application is yet to be heard and decided and disposed of, the contempt proceedings cannot be initiated. Under the circumstances, the said decision(s) cannot be of any assistance to the respondent," said the apex court.

The bench has scheduled the matter for further hearing on December 2.

The company had sought three documents from SEBI that it had claimed would exonerate it and its promoters from criminal prosecution initiated in a case related to the alleged irregularities in acquisition of its own shares between 1994 and 2000.

On August 5, a bench led by then Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, had said: "The approach of SEBI, in failing to disclose the documents, also raises concerns of transparency and fair trial. Opaqueness only propagates prejudice and partiality. Opaqueness is antithetical to transparency."

The top court had said the market regulator should show fairness and furnish documents sought by RIL, and SEBI has a duty to act fairly, while conducting proceedings or initiating any action against the parties.

RIL filed a contempt petition as SEBI has not shared three documents -- the two legal opinions by former Supreme Court judge B.N. Srikrishna and former ICAI President Y.H. Malegam's report which examined the irregularities.

The company claimed that SEBI cannot continue to resist the production of these documents and it had also sent a notice to the market regulator saying if documents were not received by August 18, then it will establish that SEBI does not want to comply with the apex court's judgment.

In 2002, Chartered Accountant S. Gurumurthy filed a complaint with SEBI alleging irregularities by RIL, its associate companies and their directors/promoters, including Mukesh Ambani and his wife, Nita; Anil Ambani and his wife, Tina; and 98 others.

The complaint cited the issue of two preferential placement of non-convertible debentures in 1994.

SEBI had alleged that RIL along with Reliance Petroleum had circuitously funded the acquisition of its own shares in violation of the Sections 77 and 77A of the Companies Act, 1956.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Nov 8 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha secretariat, late on Monday night, issued a notification declaring Khatauli assembly seat as vacant.

Khatauli MLA Vikram Saini was sentenced to two-year imprisonment by an MP/MLA court on October 11 for his alleged role in 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.

The notification stated that Khatauli assembly seat would be considered vacant with effect from October 11, the day MP/MLA court, Muzaffarnagar, awarded two-year imprisonment to Saini in the case.

Earlier on October 29, the assembly secretariat had declared Rampur seat as vacant, just two days after its MLA and veteran SP leader Azam Khan was awarded a three-year sentence in a hate speech case.

Immediately after this, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary wrote a letter to Vidhan Sabha speaker Satish Mahana, asking why Saini had not been disqualified after being awarded jail sentence while Rampur MLA Azam Khan was disqualified immediately after the court sentenced him.

Vidhan Sabha sources claimed that while disqualifying an MLA did not come under the Speaker's purview, Khatauli's case had been referred to the law department to check whether the Supreme Court's order of 2013 was applicable on Saini's two-year imprisonment.

--IANS
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Patna, Nov 8 (IANS) The results of the Mokama and Gopalganj by-elections have sounded an alarm bell for both the RJD and the BJP in Bihar, showing nothing can be taken for granted as the victory margins reduced in a big way.

However, both the BJP and the RJD are claiming that the margin of defeat in Mokama and Gopalganj, respectively, was smaller compared to the 2020 Assembly elections.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh said: "The victory of (RJD's) Neelam Singh in Mokama was just over by 16,000 votes against BJP candidate Sonam Devi. In the last Assembly election, Neelam's husband and 'Bahubali' leader Anant Singh won the election with a margin of more than 36,000 votes. It is a clear indication that the BJP has gained political ground in the turf of Mokama. It is a victory for Anant Singh and not RJD."

On the other hand, deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said: "The margin of defeat in Gopalganj was just 1,794 votes. In the last assembly election, the BJP candidate and late Subhash Singh defeated the RJD candidate by the margin of over 40,000 votes. RJD has emerged in a big way in Gopalganj and if others (AIMIM and Sadhu Yadav) wouldn't have played the role of 'vote-cutter', RJD would have won that seat as well."

RJD MP Ahmed Asfaq Karim blamed Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM for the defeat in Gopalganj.

"Owaisi came here in Bihar and other states to defeat Mahagathbandhan. His party AIMIM is a national 'vote-katwa' (vote-cutter) party in the country. It is a B-team of the BJP to split the votes of minority. It was a job of Owaisi to come to Bihar from Hyderabad and defeat Mahagathbandhan. It is up to minority people to realise this fact and not give votes to parties like AIMIM in Bihar and other states."

Following the result in Gopalganj, there is a ray of hope for BJP to intrude into the 'MY' (Muslim Yadav) equation in 2024 Lok Sabha and 2025 Vidhan Sabha elections.

In Gopalganj, Sadhu Yadav's wife Indira Yadav contested the election on the ticket of BSP and obtained 8,853 votes while Abdul Salam of AIMIM got 12,212 votes.

The win of BJP is a huge setback for RJD and the grand alliance comprising seven parties in Bihar. Kusum Devi of BJP managed to achieve 70,053 votes, while RJD candidate Mohan Prasad Gupta has achieved 68,259 votes.

The two candidates fought neck to neck till the last round and finally the BJP candidate succeeded in the battle. The role of BSP candidate Indira Yadav who is wife of Sadhu Yadav and AIMIM candidate Abdul Salam cannot be ruled out in the victory of BJP. These two have turned as 'vote-cutters' for the RJD candidate in this close contest. RJD has the vote bank of Muslim and Yadav (MY) and these two candidates combined have bagged over 21,000.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Nov 8 (IANS) Centre on Monday amended the electoral bonds scheme through a gazette notification, facilitating their sale for 15 extra days during the "year of general elections to the legislative assembly of states and Union territories with legislature".

Prior to the amendment, only an additional period of 30 days was allowed to be specified by the Centre in the year of general elections.

Now under the Electoral Bond Amendment Scheme 2022, which came into being after the issuance of the gazette notification, an additional period of 15 days will be allowed in those years that have state elections also.

"An additional period of fifteen days shall be specified by the Central government in the year of general elections to the legislative assembly of states and Union territories with legislature," the gazette notification stated.

These bonds are sold four times a year during January, April, July and October for 10 days as notified by the government.

Electoral bonds allow political parties to accept money from donors whose identities are kept anonymous.

They are sold in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said it has attached immovable and movable properties worth Rs 3.12 crore belonging to one Y. Ningthem Singh and his associates in connection with an investigation into a money laundering case related to massive fund embezzlement of the Manipur Development Society (MDS).

The ED initiated investigation on the basis of the FIR lodged by Imphal West Police under various sections of IPC, and section 13(2) of Prevention of Corruption against officials of MDS and other individuals in 2017.

There were allegations of misappropriation of MDS funds to the tune of more than Rs 169 Crore.

The ED learned during the investigation that huge amount of funds were embezzled and misappropriated from the MDS account by Singh, the then Project Director of MDS, in criminal connivance with his associates.

Later on, these diverted funds were transferred and laundered into various shell firms' accounts and other associates accounts.

Singh and his accomplices acquired several properties at different locations.

In this connection, six immovable properties worth Rs 3.04 crore and an amount of Rs 8,20,000 available in various bank accounts have been attached by the ED.

In this case, "ED has earlier frozen eleven different bank accounts on November 2021 related to the accused persons with a balance amount of Rs 41,53,489", an official said.

--IANS
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Kolkata, Nov 7 (IANS) Although unhappy with the functioning of some members of the special investigation team (SIT) of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the multi-crore West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) scam, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of Calcutta High Court is still expecting some "magic" on part of the central agency sleuths in the matter.

On Monday morning, Justice Gangopadhyay expressed displeasure over the functioning of some members of the SIT, and observed that for sake of a speedy investigation, some of them might be replaced.

However, on Monday afternoon, he said that he is eagerly waiting for some "magic" from CBI on the matter.

"I have faith on CBI... (however) sometimes, I do make some comments. I ordered for a CBI probe in the matter so that corruption in the recruitment process is revealed. Today, I talked to their officers and after that I feel that the central agency officers are investigating through lots of obstacles. So, I express my confidence in CBI and I wait for the 'CBI magic'," Justice Gangopadhyay said.

His comments within the court were preceded by a long discussion with the central agency sleuths investigating the matter.

Commenting on the irregularities in the recruitment process, Justice Gangopadhyay observed that it is extremely necessary to reveal why the genuine and eligible candidates did not get the appointment letter.

"Unless it is revealed, there will be a negative impact on society. The candidates will lose faith in the entire system which also includes the judiciary. The judicial system is concerned about the future of the state and hence it is standing by the genuine candidates," Gangopadhyay observed.

On June 17 this year, Justice Gangopadhyay ordered the CBI to form a special investigation team to probe the WBSSC scam.

He also ordered that the SIT will function under the monitoring of the Calcutta High Court and also directed that none of the members of the SIT can be transferred before the investigation is over without the permission of the court.

Recently, Justice Gangopadhyay observed in the court that at times he wondered whether the real masterminds behind the teacher recruitment scam will be nabbed during their lifetime.

After that, his observations on Monday about the functioning of some members of the SIT has created further ripples.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) The Enforcement Enforcement (ED) on Monday filed a charge sheet against AGS Infotech Private Limited and its director G. Dhananjaya Reddy before a special PMLA court in Bengaluru in a bank loan fraud case of Rs 23.73 crore allegedly committed by the company and its directors.

The court has taken cognisance of the prosecution complaint and fixed the matter for hearing at a latter date.

The ED initiated the money laundering investigation on the basis of a criminal case registered by the CBI against the director of AGS Infotech Ltd and others for cheating the United Bank of India to the tune of Rs 23.73 crore by fraudulent means in the matter of sanctioning and availing of credit facilities in the name of AGS lnfotech Ltd.

The ED has learnt that Reddy and the other accused persons cheated then United Bank of India and availed loan of Rs 23.73 crore by creating collateral security on the basis of fabricated documents, diverted the loan proceeds for the purposes other than for which they were sanctioned and thus committed the offence of money laundering.

"Reddy is a habitual offender and is the mastermind behind two other bank frauds committed through his two companies, namely Nexxoft Infotel Ltd and Ignis Technology Solutions Pvt Ltd," the ED mentioned in the charge sheet.

Reddy was arrested by the ED earlier for his alleged involvement in two other PMLA cases.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday acquitted three men on death row in the 2012 murder and gangrape of a 19-year-old woman in Delhi's Chhawla area.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and comprising Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and Bela. M Trivedi said: "The prosecution has to bring home the charges levelled against them beyond reasonable doubt, which the prosecution has failed to do in the instant case, resultantly, the court is left with no alternative but to acquit the accused, though involved in a very heinous crime."

"The judgments and orders of conviction and sentence passed by the trial court and the High Court are set aside. The appellants-accused are acquitted from the charges levelled against them by giving them a benefit of doubt, and they are directed to be set free forthwith if not required in any other case. The appeals deserve to be allowed accordingly," it added.

The top court set aside the Delhi High Court judgment, which upheld the conviction of the three men for rape and murder of the victim. The trial court, in 2014, while sentencing the accused to death had termed the case rarest-of-rare and the high court upheld this judgment. The accused moved the apex court challenging the high court judgment.

Justice Trivedi, writing the judgment on behalf of the bench, said the evidence with regard to the arrest of the appellants-accused, their identification, discoveries and recoveries of the incriminating articles, identity of the Indica car, the seizures and sealing of the articles and collection of samples, the medical and scientific evidence, the report of DNA profiling, the evidence with regard to the CDRs etc. were not proved by the prosecution by leading, cogent, clinching and clear evidence much less unerringly pointing the guilt of the accused.

"The court is constrained to make these observations as the court has noticed many glaring lapses having occurred during the course of the trial. It has been noticed from the record that out of the 49 witnesses examined by the prosecution, 10 material witnesses were not cross-examined and many other important witnesses were not adequately cross-examined by the defence counsel," it said.

In the 40-page judgment, Justice Trivedi said: "We find that the appellants-accused were deprived of their rights to have a fair trial, apart from the fact that the truth also could not be elicited by the trial court. We leave it to the wisdom and discretion of the trial courts to exercise their powers under Section 165 of the Indian Evidence Act for eliciting the truth in the cases before them, howsoever heinous or otherwise they may be."

The autopsy of the victim revealed that she was attacked with car tools, glass bottles, metal objects, and other weapons.

Police said one of the accused allegedly took revenge after the woman turned down his proposal. The prosecution had submitted that the woman, who belonged to Uttarakhand and worked in Gurugram's Cyber City area, was abducted by the three accused from near her home while she was returning from her workplace. According to the prosecution, the woman's mutilated and decomposing body was found in a village in Haryana's Rewari. The woman's parents filed a missing person report when she did not return home.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) Supreme Court judge Dinesh Maheshwari -- while upholding the constitutional validity of the 103rd Constitution amendment providing 10 per cent reservation to economically weaker sections (EWS) persons in admissions and government jobs -- said EWS reservation does not cause any damage to the basic structure of the Constitution on account of breach of the ceiling limit of 50 per cent for reservation.

Justice Maheshwari said reservation for economically weaker sections of citizens up to 10 per cent in addition to the existing reservations does not result in violation of any essential feature of the Constitution and does not cause any damage to the basic structure of the Constitution on account of breach of the ceiling limit of 50 per cent. "Because, that ceiling limit itself is not inflexible and in any case, applies only to the reservations envisaged by Articles 15(4), 15(5) and 16(4) of the Constitution," he added.

Justice Maheshwari said this ceiling limit, though held attached to the constitutional requirements, has not been held to be inflexible and inviolable for all times to come.

"Reasons for this are not far... to seek reservation by affirmative action is not having trappings of any such essential feature of the Constitution, collectively enumerated by Kesavananda (case) and successive decisions, that its modulation with reference to any particular compelling reason or requirement could damage the basic structure of the Constitution," he said.

Justice Maheshwari said the prescription of ceiling limit of 50 per cent, being apparently for the benefit of general merit candidates, does not provide any justified cause to the candidates standing in the bracket of already available reservation to raise any grievance about extra 10 per cent reservation for the benefit of another section of society in need of affirmative action.

"In any case, there is no question of violation of any such basic feature of the Constitution that the entire structure of equality of opportunity in Article 16 would collapse by this EWS reservation," he added.

He further added that if at all the cap of 50 per cent is the final and inviolable rule, the classes already standing in the enabled bracket of 50 per cent cannot justifiably claim their share in the extra 10 per cent, which is meant for a separate class and section, i.e., economically weaker section.

He noted that in Indra Sawhney (case), Justice Jeevan Reddy, speaking for the majority, though made it clear that reservation contemplated by Article 16(4) should not exceed 50 per cent, yet left that small window open where some relaxation to the strict rule may become imperative in view of the extraordinary situations inherent in the great diversity of our country.

"As an example, it was pointed out that the population inhabiting farflung and remote areas might, on account of their being out of the mainstream of national life and in view of the conditions peculiar to them, need to be treated in a different way," Justice Maheshwari said.

He added that the argument regarding the cap of 50 per cent is based on all those decisions by this court which were rendered with reference to the reservations existing before the advent of the amendment in question. "The 50 per cent ceiling proposition would obviously be applied only to those reservations which were in place before the amendment in question. No decision of this court could be read to mean that even if the Parliament finds the necessity of another affirmative action by the State in the form of reservation for a section or class in need, it could never be provided," he said.

He added against the above backdrop, the relevant decisions of this court in regard to this 50 per cent ceiling limit could be referred but, while reiterating that these decisions are applicable essentially to the class/classes who are to avail the benefits envisaged by Articles 15(4), 15(5) and 16(4) of the Constitution.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) President Droupadi Murmu on Monday presented the National Florence Nightingale Awards for 2021 to the nursing professionals.

This year, the awards have been given to 51 health professionals from across the states for their contributions.

"Today Hon'ble President Mrs. Droupadi Murmu presented the National Florence Nightingale Awards to the nurses at an event held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. They have made our country praiseworthy by serving in challenging situations", Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharti Pravin Pawar said in a tweet in Hindi.

The National Florence Nightingale Awards were instituted in 1973 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as a mark of recognition for the meritorious services rendered by the nurses and nursing professionals to the society.

--IANS
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