Archives for 2022

New Delhi: Mere delay in intimating an insurance company about theft of an insured vehicle cannot be a ground to deny the claim if an FIR about the incident has been lodged, the Supreme Court said on Friday.

The significant verdict came on an appeal of a company whose insured truck was robbed on November 4, 2007 and the police, acting on the FIR which was lodged next day, arrested the accused but could not recover the insured vehicle.

Oriental Insurance Company Ltd repudiated the claim on the ground that it was informed about the loss of vehicle belatedly and won the case at the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC).

The NCDRC, in 2016, had set aside the findings of the District Consumer Forum and the Haryana State Consumer Disputes Commission holding that the insurance firm rightly repudiated the claim on the ground of delayed intimation.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M Trivedi set aside the NCDRC judgement and held that the mere delay in intimating the insurer was not fatal to the claim when an FIR had been registered promptly.

The precise question that falls for consideration before this Court is – whether the insurance company can repudiate the claim in toto, made by the owner of the vehicle which was duly insured with the insurance company, in case of loss of the vehicle due to theft, merely on the ground that there was a delay in informing the company regarding the theft of vehicle, the bench said.

Justice Trivedi, writing the judgement, referred to an apex court verdict in which it was held that when an insured has lodged the FIR immediately after the theft of a vehicle occurred and when the police after investigation have lodged a final report after the vehicle was not traced and when the surveyors/investigators appointed by the insurance company have found the claim of the theft to be genuine, then mere delay in intimating the insurance company about the occurrence of the theft cannot be a ground to deny the claim of the insured.

Dealing with the facts of the case, the judgement said in the instant matter, the FIR was lodged immediately on the next day of the occurrence of theft by Aina Construction Company and the accused were also arrested and chargesheeted.

However, the vehicle could not be traced out. Of course, it is true that there was a delay of about five months on the part of the complainant in informing and lodging its claim before the Insurance Company, nonetheless, it is pertinent to note that the Insurance Company has not repudiated the claim on the ground that it was not genuine, it said.

The verdict said the claim has been repudiated only on the ground of delay and when the complainant had lodged the FIR immediately and law was set in motion, the insurance firm could not have repudiated the claim merely on the ground that there was a delay in intimating about the theft.

Palakkad: Young trekker R Babu, who was trapped in the face of a mountain cleft and was rescued by the Indian Army through a breathtaking operation recently, said on Friday that trekking was his passion and he was sure that someone would come to rescue him from the steep gorge.

“I was not afraid. The cleft was like a tiny cave. When it was too cold and too hot outside, I used to crawl into the gorge and came outside whenever I heard anyone calling my name,” he told reporters here.

The 23-year-old youth was discharged from the district hospital here this morning as the doctors certified that his health condition was stable. However, they advised him to take rest at least for one week.

When asked whether he realised that his rescue was breaking news in channels, the trekker said he was not aware about it but he was sure that someone would come to lift him to safety.

“The mobile phone lost its charge by the evening. Before that, I managed to click some selfies and sent to my friends to inform them that I was stranded there. I also tried to convey the message to the Fire and Rescue personnel,” he detailed.

Babu said besides the severe climate, the lack of food and water was also an issue as he developed difficulties with the time running out.

On the failed mission of airlifting him from the cleft initially, the youth said it was not possible as its rotors would hit the rock.

Stating that he would like to continue his passion for travelling and trekking, Babu also said his present priority was to take proper rest and have good food.

After being trapped in a cleft on a mountain face in Malampuzha area of Palakkad district in Kerala for nearly two days, rescue teams of the Army were able to reach Babu, provide him food and water and then haul him to safety on Wednesday morning.

A specialist mountaineering team of the Madras Regimental Centre (MRC) rescued him from the cleft.

The Army deployed two teams consisting of qualified mountaineers and rock climbing experts from Parachute Regimental Centre, Bangalore and Madras Regimental Centre, Wellington.

Babu, along with two others, had on Monday decided to climb to the top of Cherad hill there, but the other two abandoned the effort halfway.

However, Babu continued to climb to the hilltop, and after reaching there, slipped and fell and got trapped between rocks on the mountain face.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi(PTI): Faced with criticism for her latest Budget not doing enough for the poor, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday mocked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s 2013 comment of poverty being a state of mind, and asked if this is the poverty she was supposed to address.

Replying to the discussion on Budget 2022-23 in the Rajya Sabha, she said her Budget brings stability to the economy and has measures to create jobs.

Without naming Gandhi, she referred to the Congress leader’s remarks on poverty to counter the criticism from Opposition leaders, including former finance minister P Chidambaram of the Budget leaving out the poor.

“Please be clear, is this the poverty that you wanted me to address, the poverty of mind?” she said.

As Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi protested that she was mocking the poor, Sitharaman said, “I am not mocking the poor people. The person who had mocked the poor people, you are in alliance with his party.”

Amid repeated interruptions, she took Congress leaders to the cleaners for the poverty comment.

“What is the poor that you are talking about?,” she asked. “Your former (Congress) president said the poverty does not mean scarcity of food, money or material things. If one possesses self-confidence, then one can overcome it. He said it’s a state of mind. I’ve not named the person but we know who it is.”

As protests broke out, she said the comment was reported in the media and she was just quoting the Congress leader.

Taking the help of a Tamil proverb, Sitharaman said she did not take any name but everybody started defending. “If you want a rough translation of the Tamil proverb, it is — during rainy seasons no one knows where the frog is, but you know where it is when it makes the croak-croak.”

Sitharaman took strong exception to senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal’s remark that ‘India is not in Amrit Kaal but in Rahu Kaal since 2014’.

‘Rahu Kaal’ was then, when an ordinance brought by the Prime Minister of their own party was torn in front of the media, she said referring to the 2013 incident of Rahul Gandhi.

“That was the Rahu Kaal”, she said. “Rahu Kaal is what produces G-23”

G-23 is a grouping of 23 Congress leaders including Sibal who have voiced concerns over the party’s leadership style.

“Senior leaders of the party are leaving the party. That is Rahu Kaal,” she said. “No wonder Congress party which is facing the ‘Rahul Kaal’ is getting 44 seats and remaining there and is not able to come out. Where Rahu Kaal is where the Congress is in power”.

On Priyanka Gandhi’s slogan of ‘Ladki hoon lad sakti hoon’, the finance minister cited incidents against women to mock the Congress party.

On charges that she did not know the ground reality as she was not an elected member, Sitharaman said, “Did the honourable member imply that all Rajya Sabha members of their time, including the former Prime Minister were disconnected from the reality?” 

Rampur (UP): Taking a swipe at the ruling BJP, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said while Azam Khan is in jail for building a university, a Union minister’s son is out on bail in a case pertaining to the killing of farmers, and mockingly said this is the “new India” of the saffron party.

He also claimed that the voting in the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls has given enough indications that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be wiped out from the state.

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday granted bail to Ashish Mishra, the son of Union minister Ajay Mishra, in a case of violence in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed.

Addressing an election meeting here in favour of Khan and other SP candidates, Yadav said, “Even if the BJP performs 700 squats, the farmers will not forgive the party.”

He said Khan’s son Abdullah Azam had to languish in jail for two years on false cases.

“Azam Khan was also sent to jail on false charges. Cases of buffalo theft, chicken theft and theft of books were lodged against him. But the man who crushed farmers under the wheels of a jeep has come out of jail. This is the new India of the BJP,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister added.

“The man who built a university for you, fought for your rights and honour, was sent to jail. And the man who crushed farmers using a jeep has been sent out of jail. Nowhere in the world, farmers have been crushed by a jeep. But since the Uttar Pradesh polls are here, he has got bail and is out,” he said.

Khan got the Jauhar University built in Rampur. He is currently lodged in the Sitapur jail on various charges.

The SP has fielded Khan from the Rampur Assembly segment and his son from the Suar constituency in the district. Rampur will vote on February 14.

“People were waiting for March 10 for the election results, but the way voting took place in the first phase (on Thursday), it seems that the results were out by yesterday evening.

“In the first phase of polling, people from different sections of the society including farmers, have wiped out the BJP and whatever is left (of the party), will be wiped out in the second phase from Saharanpur to Rampur,” Yadav said.

He also claimed that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been saying that he has distributed laptops among youngsters, but not a single laptop has been given to anyone in Rampur.

“BJP leaders lie a lot. The first time they had lied was during demonetisation, when they had said the move will curtail corruption. Corruption could not be curtailed, but it doubled during the double-engine government,” he said in a reference to the saffron party being in power both at the Centre and in the state, and urged people to vote for the SP-RLD alliance.

Vijay Mallya

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday gave a final opportunity to fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, accused in bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines, to appear before it personally or through his lawyer in a contempt case where he has been found guilty.

The top court said it has given multiple opportunities to Mallya to appear either personally or through a lawyer and had even given specific directions in its last order dated November 30, 2021.

A bench of justices U U Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and P S Narasimha posted the contempt case for further hearing after two weeks, saying that respondent contemnor (Mallya) is at liberty to act as per direction given in order dated November 30 last year, failing which the matter shall be taken to its “logical conclusion”.

At the outset, the bench told senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, who has been appointed amicus curiae in the matter, that it has found the contemnor guilty of contempt of court, and now, punishment has to be imposed.

“Going by normal logic, the contemnor has to be heard but from that stage he has not appeared before the court. What course should the court adopt,” the bench asked Gupta, adding that ministry officials say some proceedings are going on but the court does not know what.

Gupta said that the contemnor does not need to be physically present, and he can appear through his counsel, and the court may clarify this further in its order.

Justice Bhat said that the case has different colours, and the contemnor has abstained from the proceedings.

“Next hearing, the same thing will happen. We will have to pronounce the sentence in absentia. In this situation, in other countries courts are not powerless. We want assistance in that regard,” Justice Bhat said.

The bench said this problem should not become a gateway for courts of first instance to adopt this course.

“We will have to say that this is in extraordinary circumstances in which he has been found guilty and is on the run. We need to have appropriate safeguards,” it said.

Gupta said the court would have to make it clear what would happen and what consequences would follow, if Mallya does not appear either personally or through his lawyer.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said the court has inherent jurisdiction in contempt cases and that it has given enough opportunity to Mallya, which he has not taken.

He said it is not the government’s stand that something confidential is going on, rather the government of India has been informed by UK officials that there is some confidential proceeding going on which cannot be shared.

The bench asked Gupta, “What should the court do? Should we appoint an amicus for the contemnor or do we proceed ahead? Normally, in criminal matters, we appoint an amicus to represent the accused.”

Gupta said that if no lawyer appears for him or makes submissions on behalf of him, then the court should appoint an amicus curiae to represent the accused.

The bench then noted in its order that responding to its request in the order dated November 30, 2021, senior advocate Jaideep Gupta has accepted to assist the court as amicus curiae and submits that on issue of sentence, this court had granted liberty to the contemnor to advance submissions as deemed appropriate.

It said the amicus has submitted that in his opinion, the matter may be adjourned for short time while clarifying that this would be the final opportunity and in case he chooses to not remain personally present or advance submissions through his counsel, the court may proceed further with the matter.

The bench said with regard to the solicitor general’s submission that the court must clarify that it is not the government of India’s stand that a confidential proceeding is going on, this matter does not require elaboration as the position is clear from the November 30, 2021, order.

On November 30 last year, the top court had said it cannot wait any longer and the sentencing aspect in the contempt matter against Mallya would be dealt with finally.

Noting that Mallya, who is presently in the United Kingdom (UK), was held guilty of contempt in 2017, and the matter was thereafter to be listed to hear him on the proposed punishment to be awarded to him, it had said that the apex court has waited sufficiently long .

The top court had in 2020 dismissed Mallya’s plea seeking a review of its 2017 verdict which held him guilty of contempt for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violation of court orders.

The apex court noted that as per an office memorandum, under the signature of the deputy secretary (extradition) of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the proceedings for extradition have attained finality and Mallya has exhausted all avenues for appeal in the UK.

It had noted that the November 30, 2021 office memorandum also refers to proceedings pending in the UK which are stated to be confidential and as such no details are getting disclosed .

The top court had requested senior advocate Jaideep Gupta to assist it as an amicus curiae in the matter.

On January 18 last year, the Centre had told the top court that the government is making all efforts to extradite Mallya from the UK but the process is being delayed due to some legal issues involved in the matter.

Mallya has been in the UK since March 2016. He is on bail on an extradition warrant executed three years ago by the Scotland Yard on April 18, 2017.

Journalist Rana Ayyub |

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has attached over Rs 1.77 crore worth bank deposits of journalist Rana Ayyub in connection with a money laundering probe against her linked to alleged irregularities in charitable funds raised from public donors, agency sources said on Thursday.

The federal investigation agency had issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach a Rs 50 lakh worth fixed deposit and the rest amount kept as bank deposits and held in two accounts of a private bank in Navi Mumbai.

Ayyub is the account holder and deposits totalling Rs 1,77,27,704 have been attached by the ED.

The money laundering case against Ayyub was filed after taking cognisance of a September, 2021 FIR of Ghaziabad Police (Uttar Pradesh) related to alleged irregularities in donor funds of over Rs 2.69 crore raised by her through an online crowd funding platform called ‘Ketto’.

The police lodged the case on a complaint made by Vikas Sankrityayan, founder of an NGO called “Hindu IT Cell” and a resident of Indirapuram in Ghaziabad.

Ayyub had then stated that the “entire donation received through Ketto is accounted for and not a single paisa has been misused”.

According to the FIR, the funds were raised as part of three campaigns: funds for slum dwellers and farmers during April-May 2020; relief work for Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra during June-September 2020; and help for COVID-19 impacted people in India during May-June 2021.

“Funds totalling Rs 2,69,44,680 were raised on Ketto by Rana Ayyub. These funds were withdrawn in the bank accounts of her sister and father,” the agency said.

Out of this amount, Rs 72,01,786 was withdrawn in her own bank account, Rs 37,15,072 withdrawn in her sister Iffat Shaikh’s account, and Rs 1,60,27,822 was withdrawn in her father Mohd Ayyub Waquif’s bank account, it said.

All these funds, the ED found, were subsequently “transferred” in Ayyub’s own account.

Ayyub submitted documents of expense for Rs 31,16,770 to the ED, however, after verification of the claimed expenses, the agency found that the actual expenses were to the tune of Rs 17,66,970, the agency stated.

“Fake bills were found to have been prepared by Rana Ayyub in the name of some entities to claim expenses on relief work. Expenses made for personal travel by air were claimed as expense for relief work,” it alleged.

The ED said its probe “makes it abundantly clear that the funds were raised in the name of charity in a completely pre-planned and systematic manner, and the funds were not utilised completely for the purpose of which the funds were raised”.

“Instead of utilising the funds for the relief work, Rana Ayyub parked some of the funds by opening a separate current bank account,” it said.

Ayyub, it added, created the fixed deposit of Rs 50 lakh from the funds raised on the online platform and subsequently “did not utilise” these for relief work.

The agency found Ayyub “deposited a total of Rs 74.50 lakh in PM Cares fund and CM Relief Fund.”

The attachment order of the ED can be challenged before the Adjudicating Authority of PMLA.