Archives for 2022

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut walked out of Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail on Wednesday evening, hours after a special court granted him bail in a money laundering case.

He was arrested on August 1 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the money laundering case related to a housing project in suburban Goregaon.

At around 5 pm, Raut’s legal team dropped his bail order into the Arthur Road jail box and at about 6.50 pm, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader stepped out of the prison, where he had spent more than three months.

A large number of supporters of the Rajya Sabha member, who had assembled outside the jail, burst into celebration as soon as he walked out of the jail and raised slogans hailing him. Firecrackers were set off near the jail in central Mumbai by Raut’s supporters.

The arrest of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut in a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was “illegal” and a “witch-hunt”, a special court here said on Wednesday while granting him bail in the Patra Chawl redevelopment matter.

It also questioned why the main accused in the case, Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan of real estate firm HDIL, were never arrested by the ED.

Further, the reason the agency did not arrest concerned officials of MHADA and other government departments was “nothing, but conveying a message to then Union agriculture minister and then (Maharashtra) chief minister, creating a fear psyche in their mind that they are the next in this queue,” the judge said.

It was an “astonishing admitted fact that main accused Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan of HDIL, who had not only generated over Rs 1,000 crore, but also allegedly placed, layered and integrated the same, were never arrested by the ED,” it said.

The special judge for cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, M G Deshpande, granted bail to Sanjay Raut, arrested on August 1, and his aide Praveen Raut, arrested in February 2022.

The Wadhawans were arrested and could not secure bail to date in many other cases filed by the ED.

“However, in the instant case considering the major role attributed to them which they have also admitted, yet ED has not arrested and allowed them to be scot free, for the reason best known to them(probe agency),” the judge said.

The ED arrested Pravin Raut purely for a “civil dispute” and Sanjay Raut for “no reasons”, it said.

“Basically, there was no reason nor any occasion to arrest both of them under section 19 of the PMLA for the allegations which are basically nothing but a civil dispute,” the court said.

Section 19 of PMLA grants power to arrest any person to the concerned government officials.

There is absolutely nothing to show that right from the inception in 2006 -2007 Pravin Raut and Sanjay Raut entered the redevelopment project “with an intention to fraudulently induce and cheat MHADA and 672 occupants thereof,” the court said.

Wadhawans and their firm, HDIL, had clearly admitted that their misdeeds caused delay and the same was acknowledged by the High Court when the MHADA too consented, said the judge.

All this has been ignored by ED, it said.

Sanjay Raut had sought time to appear before the ED when it summoned him, but this could not be the reason to arrest him, said the court.

“Therefore, I am of the firm opinion that the arrest of both accused is basically illegal without any qualifications required under the provisions of PML Act,” it said.

It also referred to Sanjay Raut’s plea that he had undergone angioplasty twice and he was kept in a room where there was no ventilation.

“It is only then due to the court intervention he could get a room with some ventilation in ED custody. All this prima- facie indicates that his arrest is nothing but a witch- hunt and annihilation of his valuable rights,” the judge said.

The court referred to the statement of a witness Chandan Kelekar who alleged there were two meetings regarding the redevelopment which were attended by then Union Agriculture Minister (Sharad Pawar) and then Maharashtra Chief Minister; and this formed the basis for a supplementary complaint.

“Skipping all MHADA and government officials (from arrest) is nothing, but conveying a message to the then Union agriculture minister and then chief minister, creating a fear psyche in their mind that they are the next in this queue,” the court held.

The court also said there were no `proceeds of crime’ in the case that could have attracted PMLA, nor was there any evidence that whatever received by Sanjay Raut was proceeds of crime.

The ED had not concluded “even a single trial right from the establishment of this designated court by leading evidence and the court could not give a single judgment right from the last decade,” the judge observed.

“…the extra ordinary pace with which ED arrests accused becomes not even a snail speed in conducting trials,” the court added.

The ED’s probe pertained to alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl, row tenement in suburban Goregaon, and related financial transactions involving Sanjay Raut’s wife and associates.

In 2008, MHADA, a government agency, assigned a redevelopment contract for the Chawl to Guru Ashish Construction Private Limited (GACPL), a sister company of the Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL).

The GACPL was supposed to build 672 flats for the tenants and also give some flats to MHADA. It was free to sell the remaining land to private developers.

But the tenants did not get a single flat in the last 14 years as the company did not redevelop the Patra Chawl and sold land parcels and Floor Space Index (FSI) to other builders for Rs 1,034 crore, as per the ED.

London: The High Court in London on Wednesday ordered diamond merchant Nirav Modi’s extradition to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering, amounting to an estimated USD 2 billion in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan scam case.

Lord Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith and Justice Robert Jay, who presided over the appeal hearing earlier this year, delivered the verdict.

The 51-year-old businessman, who remains behind bars at Wandsworth prison in south-east London, had been granted permission to appeal against District Judge Sam Goozee’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court ruling in favour of extradition last February.

The leave to appeal in the High Court was granted on two grounds under Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) to hear arguments if it would unjust or oppressive to extradite Modi due to his mental state and Section 91 of the Extradition Act 2003, also related to mental ill health.

Modi is the subject of two sets of criminal proceedings, with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case relating to a large-scale fraud upon PNB through the fraudulent obtaining of letters of undertaking (LoUs) or loan agreements, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case relating to the laundering of the proceeds of that fraud.

He also faces two additional charges of “causing the disappearance of evidence” and intimidating witnesses or criminal intimidation to cause death , which were added to the CBI case.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday was once again trolled for allegedly setting up a ploy to pull public attention after a video of him stopping his convoy to let an ambulance pass went viral across social media platforms.

PM Modi was in Chambi of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday when he reportedly stopped his convoy to let an ambulance pass.

In the video, PM Modi can be seen sitting in the front seat when the ambulance pass and the video is being shot from the back seat. The video of the ambulance passing was also shot from several angles outside PM Modi’s car.

Users took note of the video soon after it went viral on social media platforms and trolled PM Modi and called it another of his gimmick to pull attention. They alleged that the passing of the ambulance was staged and asked who shoots PM Modi all the time from the backseat of the car.

Some of the users also accused PM Modi of repeating the same “script” of a similar previous incident wherein he had stopped his convoy to let an ambulance pass.

Pune: There are 2.49 lakh voters aged above 100 in India, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Wednesday.

Besides, 1.80 crore voters are over 80 years of age, Kumar said after flagging off a bicycle rally in Maharashtra’s Pune city on Wednesday to create an awareness about voter registration as part of the national level launch of a special summary revision of the voters’ list.

The Election Commission of India’s initiative is aimed at increasing the electoral rolls in urban areas.

Explaining the robustness and beauty of the Indian electoral rolls, Kumar said the country has voters from the highest peaks of Himalayas, from the 6,000-km coastline in south, deserts in the west and regions from the east.

“You will be happy to know we have close to 2.49 lakh voters in our rolls who are (aged) 100 plus and what a relief and ecstasy it gives when you interact with them and find that they have been voting all through their lives,” he said.

Besides, there are 1.80 crore voters who are above 80 years of age, he told reporters after the rally.

The CEC said India’s first voter Shyam Saran Negi, who recently died, was 106 years old and voted through postal ballot just three days before his death. “That is the spirit,” he added.

Kumar said the summary revision takes place every year, but this year they are doing a very focused activity and starting it all over the country from Pune with a specific purpose to increase the participation of citizens from urban areas.

“What does it mean? Everywhere in the country and the farthest possible states, be it hills, coastal lines, everywhere, inaccessible terrains, deserts, everywhere every single citizen gets enlisted as a voter and strengthens the democracy by not only getting registered but also casting his/her vote,” the CEC said.

Kumar said they want to request all voters in the urban areas, all the youth to come participate, get registered and vote.

“It is only through your voting that the democratic traditions become absolutely robust and strong,” the CEC said.

“Some of the cities, I am not naming them, do not really do that kind of voting and there is a whole lot of ground which we have to cover in urban areas, that is why this rally was organised to create awareness,” he said.

Kumar flagged off the bicycle rally at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune’s Balewadi area.

He later told reporters that there are some advanced, big metro cities where apathy is seen among the urban voters, but it is expected that these cities should also participate in voting whole-heartedly and help strengthen the democracy.

“The same applies to the youth also. If they can put forth their views on WhatsApp, they can very well put forth their opinion on casting votes,” he said.

Kumar said Pune has been chosen for the national launch of the special summary revision of the voters’ list as it is the “city of knowledge” and the message gets spread faster from here.

When pointed out that Pune had recorded a low voting percentage, the CEC said, “Yes, there is little apathy.”

Notably, in the 2019 general elections, the overall voting percentage for the Pune Lok Sabha constituency was 49.84 per cent.

Kumar said on the day of voting, a holiday is declared as per the Negotiable Instruments Act and some people think “let’s enjoy the holiday instead of going and casting vote”, but they should go and vote as holidays are always there.

Kumar said the importance of special summary revision is that if anyone is left and not included as a voter, he or she will be included through this initiative.

“Also, young voters who are turning 18 on qualifying dates have a chance to get enrolled,” he added.

Mangaluru: The Third Additional Civil Court on Wednesday dismissed the petition put forth by the administrative board of the Malali Masjid with regard to the ongoing controversy in relation to the mosque.

The administrative board had reportedly insisted that, since the mosque belonged to the Wakf Board, the case regarding the mosque would not be under the jurisdiction of a civil court. A court handling Wakf-related matters should judge the case, the board members had added. 

They had filed a petition requesting a dismissal of the petition regarding the Malali Masjid.

The Civil Court here, however, turned down the request by the administrative board and dismissed the petition it filed.

It also carried out the hearing of the case on the mosque following the petition filed by Dhananjay and five others.

Parmesh S Jain

The Northeast division police arrested five robbers in three separate cases recently.These robbers used to waylay lonely commuters during night, threaten and assault them with knives and snatched whatever valuables were on them, especially mobile phones, said the police.

The arrested have been identified as Vishnu,21, and Mahesh,20, from Thanisandra,Imtiaz Khan,33,from Hennur,Rehaman, 34,from R.T.Nagar and Sanjeev Kumar, 19,from Yelahanka New Town. 

Senior officer told reporters,Vishnu and Mahesh had attacked a man relieving himself from behind, stabbed him in the neck and made away with his

mobile phone and other valuables in Sampigehalli. In another case in Sampigehalli, Imtiaz Khan and Rehaman were arrested for robberies of lonely commuters and snatching their mobile phones. Sanjeev Kumar has also been arrested for snatching mobile phones in the area in multiple cases.