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The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to grant bail to former AAP MLA Naresh Balyan in a case under the stringent law against organised crime. "We are dismissing it," Justice Manoj Jain said while pronouncing the verdict on Balyan's bail plea. The ex-lawmaker was arrested in the case under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) on December 4, 2024, the same day a trial court granted him bail in an alleged extortion case. Seeking bail, he had contended that there was "no shred of evidence" against him and the case against him was "completely frivolous". Balyan is accused of being a "facilitator" in an organised crime syndicate. On January 15, 2025, a trial court had denied bail to Balyan in the case. The prosecutor had then cited 16 FIRs lodged against the alleged syndicate members in various parts of Delhi, claiming the syndicate had created havoc in society and amassed huge illegal wealth.
Rise in expenses triggered by lower fuel efficiency and uncertainty over vehicle compatibility were among the concerns voiced by participants at a town hall against E20 fuel organised here on Saturday by the Aam Aadmi Party. The event at the Constitution Club began with a street play by students, featuring satirical performances inspired by 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' and other characters to highlight concerns surrounding E20. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal was also present at the event. Addressing the townhall, the former Delhi chief minister demanded that consumers should have the option to choose between regular petrol and E20 at fuel stations. A resident of Bihar, Chandan, said his petrol car, purchased in 2021, and after E20 became common, "I found myself refuelling much more frequently" Owners of older vehicles remained uncertain about compatibility and wanted fuel stations to specify clearly the petrol being dispensed, he said, adding that a modest drop in fuel efficiency increases .
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement on setting up fast-track courts for paper leak cases did not address the protesting students' primary demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. In a video message on X, Kejriwal said this is not what the students had demanded. Referring to Modi's remarks made earlier in the day, the former Delhi chief minister said, "This morning, the prime minister announced that fast-track courts will be established for paper leak cases. What happened to Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation?" The country already has fast-track courts for several matters, he said, and questioned their effectiveness. Kejriwal said Modi did not mention incidents of students being injured during the protest march on Monday in his message to the youth. Earlier in the day, Modi said the welfare of the country's youth is the top priority of his government and asserted that anyone trying to harm their futu
The AAP government in Punjab, which had been opposing the Viksit Bharat Guarantee Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission Gramin (VB-G RAM G), has notified the rural employment scheme, which will come into force from July 1 in the state. The Bhagwant Mann government had convened a special session of the Punjab Assembly last December which had unanimously passed a resolution against the VB-G RAM G Act. "In order to align the rural development framework with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 by providing an enhanced statutory wage employment guarantee of one hundred and twenty five (125) days in each financial year to such rural households whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work; "And to focus on employment, growth, convergence and saturation, the government of Punjab is pleased to notify the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) [VB-G RAM G] Scheme, Punjab 2026, under the provisions of the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevik
Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP and Uttar Pradesh in-charge Sanjay Singh has said that he has been called by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing allegations related to donations and land transactions linked to the Ram temple in Ayodhya and will submit documents to it on Thursday. Singh said the SIT chief, Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, had called him at 11 am on Thursday in connection with the ongoing inquiry. "I had sought time from the SIT and have now been called. I will appear before the SIT tomorrow and submit documents related to the alleged theft of offerings, misappropriation of donations and the alleged land scam," the AAP leader said on Wednesday. He claimed that he possesses several documents connected to the allegations being examined by the SIT and would hand them over to the probe panel. Singh had earlier alleged irregularities in land deals and the handling of donations and offerings linked to the Ram temple, and had sought an independent
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the city police's stand on a plea by former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain seeking regular bail in a 2020 Delhi riots case pertaining to the alleged larger conspiracy behind the violence. A vacation bench of Justices Neena Bansal Krishna and Madhu Jain asked Delhi Police to respond within four weeks to Hussain's appeal challenging a trial court's January 29 order that refused him relief. Additional Solicitor General S V Raju urged the court to grant time to the agency to file its reply. Listing the matter for hearing on July 14, the bench also gave time to the police to file to Hussain's application seeking to condone a delay of 87 days in filing the appeal. Hussain and others were booked under the anti-terror law -- Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) -- in the case for being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 riots, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. The violence erupted during the protests against the Citizensh
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the stand of AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Durgesh Pathak, Sanjay Singh, Saurabh Bhardwaj and others in a criminal contempt case initiated against them for their "vilifying" social media posts against Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma. A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja issued notice to the politicians on the suo motu contempt case initiated against them by Justice Sharma and granted them four-week time to file their response. "Issue notice. The alleged contemnors will file their response within a period of four weeks from the receipt of notice," the bench stated, as it listed the case for next hearing on August 4. Justice Sharma had on May 14 initiated criminal contempt proceedings against Kejriwal, Sisodia and other AAP leaders over their "vilifying" social media posts against her in relation to the excise policy case. Justice Sharma had asserted that the former Delhi chief minister "orchestrated a calculated ...
Delhi High Court judge Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on Thursday initiated criminal contempt proceedings against AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Durgesh Pathak, Sanjay Singh, Saurabh Bhardwaj and others over their "vilifying" social media posts against her in relation to the excise policy case. Justice Sharma said the former Delhi chief minister "orchestrated a calculated campaign" of vilification against her on social media instead of pursuing his legal remedies and clarified that the CBI's petition against the discharge of all accused persons would now be taken up by another bench. The judge took exception to several social media posts by the proposed contemnors that attributed "political allegiance" to her and allegedly targeted her by posting a misleading "edited" video of a speech given by her at an educational institution in Varanasi. "Arvind Kejriwal sought to destroy my reputation instead of availing legal remedies after I refused to recuse and a deliberate attem
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday urged Gen Z to ensure that those behind the alleged NEET paper leak are brought to justice, saying that if the youth in Bangladesh and Nepal could bring political change, Indian students could also force accountability. Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said recurring paper leak incidents had shaken the confidence of aspirants. He also wondered whether investigations in the past by the Central Bureau of Investigation had led to strict punishment for those responsible. "If Gen Z in countries like Bangladesh and Nepal could change the government, then Indian youth could also ensure accountability in cases of paper leaks," the former Delhi chief minister said. He also alleged that the CBI probe into the NEET paper leak would achieve nothing and that the agency had failed to do anything in previous leaks. Kejriwal cited paper leak incidents since 2014 and said the lapses affected the future of crores of students. He alleged that
The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday conducted fresh searches against Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora and some others allegedly linked to him as part of a money laundering investigation, officials said. Arora's official residence in Chandigarh and a real estate company in Gurugram (Haryana) were among the five premises that were raided, they said. The action was taken under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said. In April, the ED had raided Arora and entities linked to him under the civil provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Arora had then said that he would fully cooperate with the probe agencies and that he was confident that the truth will prevail. The MLA from Ludhiana West was raided by the ED in 2024 too in a money laundering case linked to alleged misuse of industrial land for residential projects. Arora was then a Rajya Sabha MP.
The ED on Thursday conducted searches at multiple locations in Punjab and Chandigarh, including the premises of an alleged associate of Punjab Aam Aadmi Party functionary, as part of a money laundering probe against two realty groups on charges of fraudulent change of land use and duping investors, officials said. The agency searched about a dozen locations in Mohali (SAS Nagar) and Chandigarh linked to the Suntec City project (developed by ICHBS or Indian Cooperative Housing Building Society), its promoter Ajay Sehgal, ABS Townships, Altus Space Builders, Dhir Constructions and associates under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). By late evening, the ED search teams seized about Rs 1 crore in cash. This included Rs 21 lakh kept in two bags that were flung onto the ground from a window of the Western Towers, a high-rise residential building in Mohali's Kharar area. Officials said the search parties recovered the scattered cash, which was in the ...
Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Tuesday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab government of indulging in "vendetta politics" and misusing the state machinery to target the MPs who recently quit the party and merged with the BJP in the Rajya Sabha. Chadha, along with three other MPs, met President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday and submitted a representation alleging harassment and "politically motivated" action against them following their exit from AAP. "All those MPs who exercised their constitutional right to express disagreement with the Aam Aadmi Party and chose to leave it, and all these incidents and developments, have been presented today before the President of India. I also want to tell the Aam Aadmi Party that as long as we were obedient, we were considered cultured. The moment we left, we were branded corrupt," Chadha told reporters here after the meeting. He alleged that several former AAP MPs who have joined the BJP are facing intimidation and coercive actions from .
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, accompanied by party MLAs, departed for Delhi on Tuesday morning to meet President Droupadi Murmu regarding the recent defection of seven Rajya Sabha MPs to the BJP. On April 24, the Aam Aadmi Party suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs -- Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal -- quit and merged with the BJP, alleging that the party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals. Six of the seven MPs who left AAP were from Punjab. Mann is scheduled to meet the President at 12 noon at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday. While departing for Delhi, Mann affirmed that all AAP MLAs stand united with the party. "Only I have been given time for the meeting," Mann said while speaking to reporters here. "The President is the guardian of the Constitution. She is the constitutional head of the country," he added. The MLAs and ministers gathered at the chief .
Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan on Monday officially accepted the merger of seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MPs with the BJP, reducing the strength of Arvind Kejriwal's party in the Upper House to three. After this transition, the BJP's strength in the Upper House has increased to 113. Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Vikramjit Sahney, Swati Maliwal, and Rajinder Gupta are the seven MPs who have merged. The Rajya Sabha website now shows that the seven MPs are part of the BJP list of members. The seven MPs had on Friday petitioned the Rajya Sabha Chairman to be treated as BJP MPs after the merger and the same has been accepted, sources said. The AAP had on Sunday moved a petition before the RS Chairman seeking the termination of the membership of the seven MPs, who had switched sides. Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh said he has submitted a petition to Chairman Radhakrishnan seeking the disqualification of the seven party MPs in the Upper House, who
Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal has written to Delhi High Court Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, saying he will not appear in the excise case personally or through a lawyer before her, the party said on Monday. "My hope of getting justice from Justice Swarana Kanta has been broken. Therefore, I have decided to follow Mahatma Gandhi's path of Satyagraha," Kejriwal wrote in the letter. He further said he has made the decision by listening to the voice of his conscience. The former Delhi chief minister added that he will reserve the right to approach the Supreme Court to appeal against Justice Sharma's decision.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh on Saturday said that the party will write to the Rajya Sabha chairman to seek the disqualification of seven of its MPs, who quit the party a day ago, from the Upper House. "Anti-defection law clearly states that any type of split or faction cannot happen in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. It does not carry any legal recognition, even if it's a two-thirds majority," Singh said. The AAP leader said that neither the anti-defection law nor the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution recognises any kind of split, breakaway faction, or group in the Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha, two-thirds majority notwithstanding. The seven MPs who have announced joining the BJP are completely "unconstitutional" and "illegal," he said. "I am writing to the vice president of India, and chairman of Rajya Sabha, to disqualify the seven MPs," Singh added. AAP Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak on Friday announced that they are joining the BJP along with five other MPs of the ...
Defected AAP MP Swati Maliwal on Saturday alleged that her former party had "strayed far" from its original principles, and its leader Arvind Kejriwal is no longer the same. Barely a year after losing power to the BJP in Delhi, AAP suffered its greatest jolt on Friday when seven of its Rajya Sabha MPs, including Raghav Chadha and Maliwal, quit the party. The other defectors were Sandeep Pathak, a key face of the party organisation, former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Ashok Mittal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahney. Maliwal, who joined the BJP after defecting, praised the "decisive and strong leadership" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I left my home, lived in slums for seven years, quit my job and supported every movement. But when I tried to file an FIR after being assaulted, I was beaten up at Kejriwal's residence by his aide," Maliwal told PTI Videos. She claimed that when she tried to pursue the complaint, she was "threatened and pressured" to withdraw it. "For two years, I wa