The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain the bail plea of DMK minister V Senthil Balaji, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. Balaji was seeking the bail on health grounds.The top court was hearing an appeal against an order of the Madras High Court which dismissed his bail plea on October 19, saying he was likely to influence witnesses if enlarged on bail. An apex court bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and SC Sharma, after perusing the health reports, said there was nothing serious in his health condition and granted liberty to Balaji to approach the trial court to seek regular bail. "Any observation made in the interim order against the petitioner on merits shall not come in the way of the petitioner in filing regular bail application," the bench said. As the bench expressed disinclination to entertain the matter, the plea was withdrawn and the matter was dismissed as withdrawn. The top court had earlier directed Balaji to place o
Targeting Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Chief Minister and DMK President M K Stalin on Friday said true devotees will laud the DMK regime but not the deceitful who attempt to hoodwink the people. Stalin, referring to the DMK youth wing conference slated to be held in Salem next month, said some people, unable to tolerate the party's growth were trying to confuse the people through disinformation campaign in the social media. In his address at a function here, the DMK chief said he will not be concerned even if BJP state unit chief K Annamalai was to confuse people. However, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has alleged in an interview that "we are looting temples." Under the DMK regime, Rs 5,500 crore worth properties belonging to temples have been retrieved. "If they really have devotion, they should laud the DMK regime," he said. However, they do not have devotion and only try to hoodwink people through their deceitfulness. A senior, retired police officer has made
A parliamentary panel has held that the Hindi names given to the three proposed criminal laws is not unconstitutional, dismissing criticism against the move by some political parties and their leaders. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by BJP MP Brijlal has taken note of the wording of Article 348 of the Constitution, which says that the language to be used in the Supreme Court and in the high courts, as well as for Acts, Bills and other legal documents shall be in English language. "The committee finds that as the text of the Sanhita is in English, it does not violate the provisions of Article 348 of the Constitution. The committee is satisfied with the response of the Ministry of Home Affairs and holds that the name given to the proposed legislation is not in violation of Article 348 of the Constitution of India," the panel said in its report submitted to Rajya Sabha. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS-2023), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS-2023) a
The Tamil Nadu government accused Raj Bhavan of 'sitting on' 12 bills and causing deliberate delays
Meanwhile, IT raids continued for the fourth consecutive day in the premises linked to Tamil Nadu, Public Works and Highways Department Minister EV Velu at Tiruvannamalai
A man was arrested for throwing molotov cocktails at Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Wednesday
A plea against his holding of public office in the light of his alleged anti-Sanatana Dharma remarks was due to ideological differences, with the petitioner being a Hindu right wing outfit, DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin has told the Madras High Court. Senior counsel P Wilson, representing Udhayanidhi, also said Article 25 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to practice and propagate religion, also "gives the right to people to practice and propagate atheism." Article 25 read with Article 19(1)(A) (freedom of expression) clearly protects the Minister's speech, Wilson submitted before Justice Anita Sumanth on Monday. Right wing outfit Hindu Munnani had filed a quo warranto, challenging Udhayanidhi's holding of public office in view of his alleged remarks against Sanatana Dharma at an event last month. Wilson further submitted that the petitioners have filed this case because DMK is antithetical to their ideology and stands for Dravidian ideology an
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said it has taken possession of 15 immovable "benami" properties, worth about Rs 55 crore, alleged to be belonging to DMK MP A Raja as part of a money laundering probe against the former Union telecom minister. In a statement, the ED said it has "taken possession of 15 immovable properties owned by A Raja in the name of his benami company Kovai Shelters Promoters India Pvt Ltd, under the PMLA, in the matter of a disproportionate assets case of A Raja, former Union cabinet minister of environment and forest, subsequent to confirmation of the provisional attachment order by the Hon'ble Adjudicating Authority". The assets, measuring about 45 acres of land in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), were attached by the central agency in December last year and the Adjudicating Authority of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) approved this order on June 1. Benami means 'no name' or 'without name' and such properties are those in which the real beneficiary
Facility will house over 2,500 technologists specialising in transformers and grid automation
"We want only water for the farmers in Tamil Nadu not any dispute with any other state," Siva said
"If the river starts and stops within that state, they can take the water. But if it starts from that one area and flows through other states, the water has to be divided," he added
A plea has been filed seeking an FIR and a restraining order on Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin for his remarks to 'eradicate' Sanatan Dharma
Sonia Gandhi leads the debate, parties try to claim credit for Bill, MPs call for caste census and question role of delimitation
The women's reservation bill is not about reservation but an "act of removing bias and injustice," DMK leader Kanimozhi said in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday while asserting that women want to be respected as equals. Participating in the discussion on the constitutional amendment bill 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam', she said the clause pertaining to 'after delimitation' in the bill should be removed as there could be an inordinate delay in the implementation of the reservation for women. The 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, as proposed in the bill, will come into effect only after census and the delimitation exercise. "How long should we wait to see this bill implemented? It can be easily implemented in the coming Parliamentary elections. This bill, you should understand, is not a reservation but an act of removing bias and injustice," she said. She stressed that the politics of tokenism must evolve into politics of ideas. "This bill is called
Amid this political slugfest, the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Aam Aadmi Party, which are part of the Opposition INDIA bloc, distanced themselves from the DMK leader
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Amid a raging row over DMK leaders' remarks on Sanatan Dharma, some Congress leaders on Saturday called for a cautious approach on the matter and the party not getting drawn into the BJP's agenda. Sources said some leaders, including Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh, said at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting that the party should stay away from such issues and not be drawn into it. Rahul Gandhi said that instead of getting involved in the Sanatan Dharma row, the leaders should focus on the poor and their issues as they have been the party's traditional vote bank, the sources said. He said the party should raise the issues of the poor, irrespective of their caste, according to sources. The sources said that during the CWC meeting, both Baghel and Singh pointed out that speaking on the Sanatan Dharma row would hurt the party and will help the BJP. When asked about the matter at a party briefing, senior par
According to reports, the INDIA alliance can hold discussions on seat sharing, and a joint campaign plan is also on the table
Addressing a press conference at party headquarters in the national capital, the BJP leader accused the Opposition alliance of vote bank politics.
The BJP Tamil Nadu unit has slammed State Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy for his remarks that the opposition INDIA alliance was forged as an "opposition to Sanatan ideology," saying the DMK was trying to divide people on religious lines for electoral gains. Parties like the Congress and Left were aiding DMK, the BJP alleged. Ponmudy's remarks show the "cat is out of the bag," the saffron party's TN Vice-President Narayanan Thirupathy said in a social media post. He was responding to a viral video of Ponmudy, a senior DMK leader, at a recent anti-Sanatan Dharma conference here that the multi-party INDIA bloc has been created against Sanatan ideology. "This INDIA (bloc) is an alliance created in opposition to Sanatan ideology. There may be differences of opinion (among its constituents) but there is no divergence in opposing Sanatan. Those (parties) in this (grouping) want to create equality, safeguard minorities, protect gender equality," Ponmudy was heard saying in the ...