Archives for February 2024

KHUNTI: The Income Tax department has frozen the Congress’ four main bank accounts on “flimsy grounds”, party treasurer Ajay Maken claimed on Friday and alleged that democracy was in danger in the country.

This has affected all political activity of the party, Maken said at a press conference. Sources later said nine accounts had been frozen.

The accounts were frozen on an Income Tax demand of Rs 210 crore for 2018-19, an election year, Maken said.

“For the first time in the country’s history, accounts of the principal opposition party have been frozen by the tax authorities on flimsy grounds, barely two weeks before the announcement of general elections,” Maken told reporters.

He appealed to the judiciary to save democracy as it was in danger and said the country is headed towards one-party democracy.

Maken said the party has already appealed to the Income Tax appellate authority.

SASARAM: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav joined Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, which resumed from Bihar’s Sasaram district on Friday.

Gandhi, the Congress MP, began his yatra from the party’s district office here this morning and is expected to enter Uttar Pradesh through Mohania in Kaimur district in the evening.

Yadav and Gandhi were seen sitting on the roof of a sports utility vehicle, which was slowly moving, and they waved at enthusiastic crowds that gathered along the main road of the town.

Locals queued up on both sides of the road and watched the procession.

Both leaders of the opposition ‘Mahagathbandhan’ will address a public meeting in Kaimur around 3 pm on Friday.

While addressing a rally in Bihar’s Aurangabad district on Thursday, Gandhi came out in support of the protesting farmers, likening the cultivators to soldiers who fight on the country’s borders to protect it.

The Congress leader was referring to the ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest march by farmers to put pressure on the Centre for their demands, including a law on minimum support price for crops and loan waivers.

The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, which started in Manipur on January 14, is scheduled to cover 6,713 km in 67 days, passing through 110 districts in 15 states, before culminating in Mumbai on March 20.

New Delhi: The Delhi Police has placed orders for more than 30,000 tear gas shells, an official said, as the force prepares to prevent Punjab farmers from entering the national capital under their ‘Dilli Chalo’ protest.

Hundreds of farmers marching from Punjab have been stopped at the state’s border with Haryana near Ambala, about 200 kilometers away from Delhi. Haryana security forces have used tear gas on them to try and disperse them.

A Delhi Police source said they are determined to not let the protesters enter the national capital should they advance.

As part of the preparation, the Delhi Police has already stocked up a large number of tear gas shells and ordered 30,000 more from the BSF’s Tear Smoke Unit (TSU) located at Tekanpur in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior, an official said.

The freshly ordered shells are being brought to Delhi from Gwalior, he said.

A tear gas shell is an anti-riot equipment which is used by security forces to disperse crowd. The gas brings tears by creating irritation in the eyes.

A stock of tear gas shell was also ordered before the G20 Summit held in September 2023, the officer said, adding, a fresh order has been given in the wake of farmers’ agitation.

Another officer said the age of each tear gas shell is three years after which their impact slowly weakens, but they are used upto seven years for practice purposes by the forces.

Under the Delhi Police norms, once a stock gets acquired, the shells are distributed to the district police and other units of the force.

Another officer said that in view of the farmers’ protest, the fresh stock may be distributed to the outer, outer-north and east district police — under whose jurisdiction the potential protest sites in the national capital fall.

The Delhi Police has made all logistical arrangements to stop the farmers at the Singhu (Sonipat side), Tikri (Bahadurgarh side) and Ghazipur (Ghaziabad side) borders.

Tikri comes under outer, Singhu under outer-north and Ghazipur in east district.

The security personnel deployed at these borders are already equipped with a large number of tear gas shells, water cannons and other anti-riot equipment.

The personnel deployed at the borders have been strictly asked to ensure not a single farmer or their tractor-trolley enters into the jurisdiction of the national capital.

The Delhi Police has issued prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for a month — banning an assembly of five or more people, processions or rallies and the entry of tractor-trolleys ferrying people.

On the farmers who have gathered near the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana near Ambala, the Haryana police has also used tear gas shells, some of which they air-dropped through drones on protesting farmers.

The farmers seek to march to the national capital to press the Centre to agree to their various demands including a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price of crops, implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report, loan waiver among others.

Duing their protest in 2020, farmers from different states, mainly Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, had staged a sit-in at the Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri borders. They sat there from August 2020 to December 2021.

Police had to rush logistics in 2020 to check the entry of the farmers moving in a procession of tractors.

New Delhi: In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has ruled the electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional, citing violations of the right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The scheme, which allowed for anonymous donations to political parties, was deemed to be in conflict with principles of transparency and fair elections.

The constitution bench, comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, delivered a unanimous verdict after hearing arguments challenging the scheme over three days. Chief Justice Chandrachud, delivering the lead judgement, stated that the scheme failed to pass the restrictive means test and that alternative measures could have been used to prevent black money from entering politics.

The court emphasised the importance of the right to information and privacy, stating that financial contributions are a form of political affiliation and are protected under the right to informational privacy. The court rejected the government’s argument that certain provisions of the scheme balanced the right to information with privacy, noting that these provisions favoured privacy over transparency.

As a result, the court declared several related provisions unconstitutional, including amendments to the Income Tax Act, the Representation of Peoples Act, and the Companies Act. The court ordered the issuing bank to cease the issuance of electoral bonds immediately and directed the State Bank of India to disclose details of donations made through electoral bonds and the political parties that received them.

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict  the electoral bond scheme, and said it will reinforce the power of votes over notes.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “The Supreme Court has held the much-touted Electoral Bonds scheme of the Modi Sarkar as violative of both laws passed by Parliament as well as the Constitution of India.”

“The long-awaited verdict is hugely welcome and will reinforce the power of votes over notes,” he said.

“The Modi Sarkar has been inflicting ANYAY upon ANYAY on the Annadatas while privileging the Chandadatas,” Ramesh said.

“We also hope that the Supreme Court will take note that Election Commission has been consistently refusing to even meet political parties on the issue of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). If everything is transparent in the voting process then why this obstinacy?” he said.

The Supreme Court struck down the electoral bond scheme, saying it violates the right to information and the freedom of speech and expression under the Constitution.

RANCHI: The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), in order to seek justice for former Chief Minister Hemant Soren, has decided to go on a statewide ‘Nyay Yatra’ which is to be launched on Thursday. In order to reach out to each and every household against BJP’s conspiracy, the ‘Nyay Yatra’ will be conducted in every nook and corner of the state.

According to JMM, people will be made aware about the BJP conspiracy and explained why and under what circumstances Soren was sent to jail.

The deep conspiracy behind his arrest will also be exposed during the ‘Nyay Yatra,’ they said. District wise fasting has also been planned near the statues of freedom fighters in Ranchi, praying for the release of their top leader. ‘Nyay Yatra’ will start from February 15 in Ranchi, while other districts in the state have been asked to fix dates on or before February 20 as per their convenience.

JMM General Secretary and Spokesperson Vinod Pandey. yatra will try to convince people how the BJP are targeting the CMs and governments in non-BJP ruled states.

KOZHIKODE : All that the Sangh Parivar have spread about the Gyanvapi Mosque are fabricated things, the imam of the mosque — Abdul Batin Nomani — said in Kozhikode on Wednesday.

At the fraternity conference organised by Jama’at-e-Islami, Nomani said nowhere in the history of Varanasi could one find mention about a temple that was situated at the place where the mosque now stands.

“What is now propagated as the area where pooja was performed is actually a place near the mosque where the properties of the temple were stored,” he said.

In his inaugural speech, Jama’at-e-Islami national amir Syed Sadathullah Hussaini said the aggression on mosques in the country will destroy not merely Muslims but the nation as a whole. “The chief ministers of the BJP-ruled states are competing with one another in spreading hate. There are thousands of acres of land that have been encroached but mosques are being demolished at night alleging that they are built on encroached land,” he said.

The conference is a declaration that people are not ready to surrender, he said.