Archives for May 2017

Bengaluru: Crime Investigation Department (CID) gave clean chit to former Karnataka state minister, close alley of chief minister Siddaramaiah, HY Meti in an alleged sex scandal. In its eight page investigation report, CID informed the state government on May 17 that the CD which showcases HY Meti allegedly having sex with a woman is fake and there is no proof to prove the allegation except fake edited CD.

CID didn’t get true copy of the sex tape and it completed its investigation based on edited tape which contains the visuals of former minister having intercourse with a woman at a government guest house in the state. The CID also stated that there was a political motive behind the video to destroy political image of former minister.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: The Income Tax Department has issued summonses to RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s MP daughter Misa Bharti and her husband in connection with its probe in Rs 1,000 crore alleged benami land deals and a tax evasion case.

The development followed the arrest of chartered acountant Rajesh Kumar Agrawal by the Enforcement Directorate on May 22. Agrawal is alleged to have aided in llegal transactions involving Lalu’s kin.

Officials said the department has asked Bharti, a Rajya Sabha member, and her husband Shailesh Kumar to appear before the investigating officer (IO) here in the first week of June.

The department had on May 16 searched multiple premises of about two dozen entities connected to this case and seized documents and computer hardware.

They said the summonses to Bharti and Kumar are part of the investigation and their statements will be recorded.

The couple are alleged to have links with a firm– Ms Mishail Packers and Printers Private Limited– which is suspected to have entered into benami deals for purchase of a farm house in Delhi’s Bijwasan area.

Certain other property deals are also under the scanner of the taxman, they said.

I-T department officials had said they will apply provisions of the newly enacted Benami Transactions Act, 1988, which became operational from November 1 last year, in this case. The law provides for a maximum punishment of seven years in jail and a fine.

The action under this new law will be over and above the legal proceedings under the Income Tax Act, 1961, which relates to charges of domestic tax evasion.

Tax department officials had said Lalu’s kin held some of the properties under their scanner in a ‘benami’ way. Benami properties are those in which the real beneficiary is not the one in whose name the property has been purchased.

The RJD chief, however, sought to put up a brave face after the raids, saying he was “not scared at all” and will continue to fight against “fascist forces”.

“BJP mein himmat nahi hai ki Lalu ki awaz ko daba sake…

Lalu ki awaz dabayenge to desh bhar me karoron Lalu khare ho jayenge… Main gidarbhabhki se nahi darne wala hoon (BJP does not have the courage to stifle my voice… If it tries to silence one Lalu, crores of Lalu will come forward. I am not scared of empty threats),” he had said in a series of tweets after the search operation.

The BJP had also accused Prasad, Bharti and his two sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap, both Bihar government ministers, of being involved in corrupt land deals worth over Rs 1,000 crore, and asked the central government to probe one such transaction in Delhi.

Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had alleged that these transactions were a case of “quid pro quo”, suggesting that money was paid in return for favour, as they dated back to the period when Lalu was the railway minister, and dared Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to take action against him.

Lalu’s RJD is a constituent of Bihar’s ruling coalition led by Kumar.

Lalu’s official residence was the address of the owners of the firms allegedly floated by his family members, Ravi Shankar Prasad had said.

(Agencies)

Lucknow: A special CBI court in Lucknow, conducting day-to-day hearing of the 1992 Babri demolition case, on Thursday asked BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Uma Bharti and Murli Manohar Joshi to appear personally before it on May 30.

The court refused exemption from personal appearance to Advani and Union Water Resources Minister Bharti.

The BJP leaders had moved court seeking exemption from personally appearing in court for the hearing of their role in the conspiracy to raze the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.

While the conspiracy charges against the trio were dropped by a special CBI court in 2001, and later upheld by the Allahabad High Court (HC) in 2010, the apex court in April had ruled that the BJP leaders, and some Shiv Sena and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders will have to face trial for their alleged role in the conspiracy to demolish the mosque. The CBI had also pressed for the charges.

The Supreme Court had asked the Lucknow-based special court to conduct day-to-day hearing, frame fresh charges within a month, and wrap up the case within two years.

Five accused had surrendered before the court earlier this week while a Shiv Sena leader surrendered on Wednesday. All have since been granted bail.

(IANS)

Latur: A chopper with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis onboard crash landed in Latur district on Thursday. All 6 people including the CM escaped unhurt.

“Our helicopter did meet with an accident in Latur but me and my team is absolutely safe and ok. Nothing to worry,” tweeted Fadnavis.

A CMO official said that chopper carrying Maharashtra CM developed snag during take-off in Latur.

In Latur, Fadnavis launched a ‘Shivar Samwad Sabha’ to reach out to farmers in the state and address their issues. The four-day initiative is being launched amid the rising resentment among farmers across the state over delay in procurement of tur this year.

Nearly 4,000 elected representatives of the party will participate in the campaign and hold meetings with farmers at various locations.

According to a press release issued by the BJP yesterday, the party’s representatives, including MPs, MLAs, zilla parishad members and corporators, will engage in a dialogue with farmers to know about their issues and take their feedback on various decisions taken by the government in the last two-and-half years. Each leader will hold four meetings everyday.

On day one, Fadnavis met farmers in Latur district of Marathwada region, while BJP’s state unit president Raosaheb Patil will interact with the cultivators in Nandurbar district in North Maharashtra.

Other leaders like Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil will meet farmers in Kolhapur, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar in Chandrapur, Education Minister Vinod Tawde in Ratnagiri and Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde in Beed.

The chief minister, during his speech at BJP state working committee’s meeting last month in Pimpri Chinchwad near Pune, had announced that the party will hold the ‘Shivar Samwad Sabha’ in the state.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: The National Green Tribunal has directed authorities to ensure closure of 76 polluting industries around Bengaluru’s Bellandur lake.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the city’s Deputy Commissioner and the authorities concerned to ensure immediate disconnection of water and electricity supply to these industries.

It also directed that housing societies and residential complexes near the lake will have STPs working within the prescribed parameters, failing which their power and water supply will be snapped too.

The Tribunal’s attention was drawn to the issue in February when reports and photographs appeared of a fire in a mound of garbage near the Bengaluru lake.

“The state pollution control board shall exercise its power vested under Section 33A of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 read with Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and to seize the industries, if the need arise,” the bench said.

The green panel directed the joint inspection team comprising officials from Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board and the state pollution control board to jointly inspect all sewage treatment plants (STPs) that have been installed by housing societies and residential complexes near the lake.

“The STPs which are not operating, they shall give a time bound programme to bring the parameters within the prescribed limit, failing which the electricity and water supply should be disconnected to such complexes. However, reasonable time should be granted to them to comply with the prescribed parameters,” the bench said.

It directed immediate removal of municipal solid waste and construction debris, which has been dumped into the lake, under the supervision of the Committee appointed by the tribunal.

“The report also be submitted in regard to the middle scale industries where they are involved in any polluting activity,” the bench said while fixing the case for hearing on July 13.

Slamming the local civic bodies for inaction, the bench had banned dumping of any kind of municipal solid waste around the lake and announced an environment compensation of Rs 5 lakh on anyone found dumping waste in and around the lake.

Earlier, the NGT had lashed out at the Karnataka government and its agencies responsible for maintenance of the Bellandur lake, asking them why they should not be prosecuted for negligence.

It had earlier issued notice to the Union Environment Ministry, the Karnataka government, Lake Authority of Bangalore, state pollution control board and Central Pollution Control Board in the case.

On February 20, the NGT had taken suo motu cognisance of media reports and photographs of the incident in which a fire broke out in the Bengaluru lake.

“It is reported that there were thick clouds of smoke which severely hit traffic and people living around the lake.

It is also reported that usually a pile of garbage around the lake is set on fire and there was total panic.

“Undoubtedly, such emissions are bound to be have an adverse impact on environment, ecology and human health. It is a matter which requires serious investigation, remedial measures and restoration of the lake to its original wholesome status,” it had said.

Thick clouds of white smoke persisted in the air around Bellandur Lake after the blaze.

(Agencies)

Mumbai: Singer Sonu Nigam, who found himself in the eye of a Twitter storm last month for his comments on azaan, the Islamic call to prayer, Tuesday announced his intention to quit the microblogging site in a series of 24 tweets.

“I bid adieu to Twitter and my close to 7 Million followers today, leaving most Disappointed and angry at me, and some Sadists Happy,” he tweeted at 10.13 am Tuesday, the first of a volley of tweets that lasted over half an hour.

The singer, who had expressed his annoyance over being woken up by azaan every morning, accused the microblogging site of conducting a “one sided sham” after its decision to suspend singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya’s account following his “offensive” tweets, especially against women.

Nigam also warned his followers and the media to take screenshots of his tweets as he intended to delete his account soon.

“I have come to understand that You can wake up someone who’s sleeping, but can not wake up one who’s pretending to sleep when he’s awake. Media, is divided. Some Nationalists, some just Cold blooded Pseudos not ready to learn from our History of Traitors. Hv (Have) seen Love Pouring in from Most Quarters 4 (for) my Balanced approach; & unreasonable, illogical, ruthless, Profanities being hurled frm (from) other,” said the singer.

Defending Abhijeet’s comments on JNU student-activist Shehla Rashid, Nigam said, “One Could disagree wth Abhijeetda’s language but isn’t Shehla’s accusation that BJP has a Sex Racket, Provocation enough to Supporters?

“If his account is deleted, why not Her? And the other Morons who hurl Mother Sister abuses to every Achiever?”

“Where’s the Balance? How is it all so one sided? Why is everyone so Angry here on Twitter? Why can’t there be a Sensible discussion?”

The singer also supported BJP MP-actor Paresh Rawal, who kicked up a row with his remark that author Arundhati Roy should be tied to an Army jeep instead of a stone pelter, a reference to an incident in Kashmir where an officer used a protester as a “human shield”.

“A woman can endorse a picture of Gautam Gambhir in the front of the Army Jeep, & Paresh Rawal, Criticized for doing the same to someone else.

“Accepted Arundhati has the right to her opinion about Kashmir, but then the other billion Indians have the right to feel Let Down too right?”

Nigam, who saw the fallout of his azaan tweets rage on for days, even becoming a political issue, tweeted, “People blessing you on one hand; and some wishing Death upon you.”

Dwelling at length on what he said exposes the hypocrisy of Indian society, he said people had stopped being humans.

He appealed for people to have sensible discussions.

Twitter was a “game changer”, he said, but had been reduced to “Porn, shown in Theatres.”

Obviously hurt over being called anti-Muslim after his azaan comments, Nigam said he had no religion and followed a religion of his own choosing.

“I don’t belong to a place whr(where) sm (some) Pseudo Intellectuals actually turn a Blind Eye to d Unprecedented slap I gave 2 d Fatva proclaimers on me,” he tweeted.

“I am no Right Wing, No Left Wing. I respect everyone’s Opinion but I guess Here, you have to Belong Somewhere. I hope I never need to return here to Clarify, but I never say Never! At this point, my Pious life, needs to Declutter.”

On a lighter note, Nigam also told his followers who were planning to get married to scan their to-be-partners profiles on Twitter to get a handle on their psyche.

“People getting married? You can actually know the entire Psychology & Class of a Partner by just going through his Twitter Time line,” Nigam said, before signing off.

(PTI)