Page 1927 - Law Crime
Vipul Ambani, four others arrested in PNB fraud case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday said it has arrested five functionaries of the companies of diamond trader Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi who are allegedly behind the Rs 11, 300 crore PNB scam after their questioning.
2 FIRs registered on complaints of Delhi CS, minister: Police
The Delhi Police today registered an FIR on a complaint by Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash who alleged that he was assaulted by a few AAP MLAs during a meeting at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence. Hours after Prakash lodged a complaint, Delhi minister Imran Hussain alleged that he was mobbed by government staff when he was waiting for an elevator at the Delhi Secretariat this morning. Prakash's case was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) pertaining to wrongful restraint, criminal intimidation, causing hurt, criminal conspiracy, insult and obstructing a public servant from discharging his duty, Special Commissioner and chief spokesperson of the Delhi Police, Dependra Pathak, said. The chief secretary was allegedly manhandled by a few AAP legislators at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence last night. The chief minister's office, however, dismissed the accusation as "bizarre and baseless". Hussain's case was registered at the IP Estate
Controversy over proposed elevation of judge as chief justice of HP HC
Fresh controversy seems to have cropped up over the January 10 recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium for elevation of a judge as the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court. Sources said the Centre was yet to take a call on the recommendation to elevate Justice Surya Kant of Punjab and Haryana High Court as the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court by superseding a judge senior to him. Justice A K Mittal, who is senior to Justice Surya Kant, has been left out of the race by the collegium which in its recommendation has said that all relevant parameters for elevation favoured the latter. "Though Justice A K Mittal is senior to Justice Surya Kant in the seniority of Judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, having regard to all relevant factors and since we consider Justice Surya Kant more suitable than Justice A K Mittal, we are not recommending name of the latter, for the present, for appointment as Chief Justice," the notification, about the January 10 ...
I-T raids 20 premises linked to Choksi; shell firms under scanner
The Income Tax Department today raided 20 premises linked to Gitanjali Gems promoter Mehul Choksi and suspected shell firms in connection with an alleged tax evasion case against them, official sources said. They said the searches, launched at about 4pm, were being conducted in Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and a few other cities against 13 companies linked to Choksi, his jewellery firm Gitanjali Gems and others. Sources said the action was being undertaken to check the activities of some shell firms allegedly routing funds in this case. PTI had first reported on February 18 that at least 200 shell firms and "benami" assets had come under the scanner of the investigative agencies probing the Rs 11,400-crore alleged fraud at the Punjab National Bank (PNB) that also involves Choksi's relative, billionaire diamond jewellery designer Nirav Modi. The I-T department has found that in the context of these entities that are being searched today, "huge investments were made in ...
BJP worker shot at in Varanasi
A 40-year-old BJP worker was injured after two unidentified men shot at him in Pilikothi area under Jaitpura Police Station here, police said today. The victim, Munil Gupta, a BJP worker was attacked while he was sitting at a tea shop here, they said. The injured was rushed to the nearby hospital in a critical situation, where he was undergoing a treatment, they said, adding the police have launched a man hunt to nab the assailants.
Woman in burqa attacked, abused in Berlin
German police say a Muslim woman wearing a veil covering her entire face and body was attacked and verbally abused inside a Berlin store. Police today said a 28-year-old woman insulted the victim and ripped the veil of the burqa from her head. The attacker then followed the 54-year-old victim out of the store and continued shouting anti-foreigner abuse at her before being detained by police. Police gave no more details of the incident. Last year the German Parliament approved a government proposal to ban the wearing of all veils that fully cover the face by public employees in schools, courts and other institutions. Anti-Islam groups have called for a total ban on the wearing of all full-face veils in Germany.
3 cops, cab-driver held for extorting money from spa owner
Three police personnel and a cab-driver, who allegedly indulged in extortion of Rs 1.35 lakh from the owner of a massage/spa centre at Banjara Hills here were today apprehended, police said. The accused were identified as Kateeb Ahmad, (57), a head constable attached to Begumpet Police Station, B Venugopal (36), constable attached to Chatrinaka Police Station, P Vijay Babu (31) constable of Langerhouz Police Station and cab-driver B Shashi Kumar (25), Hyderabad Police said in a release. The victim, owner of the spa lodged a complaint with police stating that on February 8 at about 6 pm, the accused barged into his spa saying that they are police personnel and detained four women (three therapists-cum-beauticians and one telephone caller) and the manager in one room and called the owner of the spa and demanded money from him for not registering a case, police said. After due negotiations the spa owner paid Rs 1.35 lakh to them, they added. "They (the accused) also took ..
1984 Riots: Delhi police did not record witnesses' statement correctly, CBI to court
The CBI today told a city court that Delhi Police did not correctly record the statement of the witnesses in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case allegedly involving Congress leader Sajjan Kumar. The CBI also claimed that during its investigation, it found that the statements of key prosecution witness Sheela Kaur, recorded by police officials in 1985, were forged. The agency made the statement during the trial of a riot case in Sultanpuri area of west Delhi in which Kumar along with two others are facing prosecution. The proceedings in the case, which is being video recorded, was held before District Judge Poonam A Bamba. Senior advocate H S Phoolka, appearing for the victims, said the agency made the statement when Kumar's lawyer, during the cross-examination of Kaur, wanted to confront her with her statement recorded by the police under section 161 of CrPC during the investigation of the case in the 1985. "Our investigation has found that police did not record the statement of the witnesses
State cannot sit in judgement on identity of citizens, SC told
The State cannot sit in judgement and rely only on biometric details to establish the identity of its citizens, a former High Court Judge who has challenged the Aadhaar scheme, told the Supreme Court today. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra is hearing a clutch of petitions including one filed by former High Court judge Justice K S Puttaswamy challenging the constitutional validity of the Centre's flagship Aadhaar scheme and its enabling 2016 Act. Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for the former judge, said the State cannot sit in "judgement" and rely on some numbers and biometric details of a person to establish his or her constitutional identity. "Virtual person cannot reduce the real personhood," the senior lawyer told the bench which also comprised Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan. Terming the Aadhaar Act as "unconstitutional", he said it has been held in several judgements that the individual's ...
Hashimpura: HC asks UP Govt to lead evidence before trial court
The Delhi High Court today asked the Uttar Pradesh government to approach a trial court here, which had acquitted 16 policemen in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case relating to the killing of 42 persons in Meerut, for recording of evidence to prove documents relating to the identity of PAC personnel. The high court, which is hearing several appeals in the case against the acquittal, said the process of recording of secondary evidence, based on documentary proof, must be done in a time-bound manner to avoid any unnecessary delay. A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and I S Mehta said the case should be taken up by the trial court on a day-to-day basis and the evidence completed in three months. The bench said it was conscious of the fact that the trial stretched for eight years before the Tis Hazari district court here and the appeals were pending in the high court for three years. The high court passed the order on a plea by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking that ...
PNB scam: CBI arrests 5
In a major development in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) - Nirav Modi fraud case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday arrested president, finance, Firestar International Pvt Ltd, Vipul Ambani.The law enforcement body also arrested Kavita Mankikar, executive assistant and authorised signatory of the three accused firms.Arjun Patil, senior executive, Firestar group; Kapil Khandelwal, CFO, Nakshatra group, and Niten Shahi, manager, Gitanjali have also been detained.Mumbai's Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court earlier sent Bechu Tiwari, Yashwant Joshi, and Praful Sawant to police custody till March 3.Bechhu Tiwari, the then chief manager in the Forex department; Yashwant Joshi, Scale-II Manager in the Forex department; and Praful Sawant, Scale-I officer handling the exports section, were arrested on Monday.The CBI insisted that the present accused were not cooperating in the investigation and were shifting all the blame on Gokulnath Shetty, the retired ...
VC facility in jail should be used in exceptional cases: HC
The Bombay High Court today said it was the Maharashtra government's prime duty to ensure the accused were produced in court for trial and that video conference facilities should be used only in exceptional cases. A division bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and Bharti Dangre was hearing a PIL filed by one Shaikh Abdul Naeem, an accused in the Aurangabad arms haul case, claiming that he was not being produced in court due to lack of escort police. In December 2016, the high court had directed the state government's home department to ensure that all courts and jails in the state have video conference facility by March 2017. The state government today informed the court that the process was on. The bench then said that video conference was to be used only in exceptional cases. "Your (government) prime duty is to ensure that the accused is produced before the trial court. This is what law says," the court said. The bench has now posted the petition for a further hearing on March 14.
SC pulls up Kerala govt for poor condition of kids in orphanages
The Supreme Court today pulled up the Kerala government for not ensuring adequate facilities to children living in orphanages and child care institutions there as mandated under the law. The court said that according to the affidavit filed by the state's chief secretary, several such institutions have stated that they cannot provide proper infrastructure to children living there. "If these institutions are saying that they cannot provide proper infrastructure, food, clothes to the children, then is it okay for you? You are saying the same to us. What is this?" a bench of justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta asked the counsel representing Kerala. The bench said it would hear the state on the issue and "if we find that you are mistreating the children, we will see". It also termed it as "amazing" that the state was unable to provide proper facilities to children living in orphanages and child care institutions. "We have told Kerala that you cannot look after the children as per the .
Mentally challenged woman gangraped, two arrested
A tribal mentally challenged woman was gangraped in West Bengal's South Dinajpur district and tortured by her tormentors, who inserted an iron rod into her private parts before escaping, police said today. Two persons aged 50 years and 45 years have been arrested from Itahar in neighbouring North Dinajpur district in connection with the crime today, the superintendent of police Prasun Bandopadhyay said. The 27-year-old has been operated upon and is in the critical care unit in Malda Medical College Hospital where doctors said she is responding to treatment. The two were produced before the Gangarampur subdivisional court during the day and remanded to police custody for 11 days. Police said the woman has no family as her parents are dead and she had been tortured and thrown out of her marital home in Bihar. She had gone to a fair at Patirajpur on the inter-district border on Saturday eveining from where she was taken away by several persons and gangraped in an ...
Man gets 1-year jail for beating two villagers in Maharashtra
A local court here awarded one year's rigorous imprisonment to a 35-year-old man from Talsarai tehsil for beating up two villagers over a petty reason. Dahanu First Class Judicial Magistrate S A Mulik also slapped a fine of Rs 1,000 on Sanjay Urhale for the assault. The prosecution told the court that on January 20, 2015, Urhale thrashed two villagers and injured them during an argument. A case under Section 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against Urhale.
IT Department raids 20 premises linked to Gitanjali Group
The Income Tax Department on Tuesday raided 20 premises and associated firms in connection with Gitanjali Group in a tax evasion case.
ED attaches assets of J'khand IAS officer under PMLA
The ED today said it has attached assets worth Rs 1.80 crore, including flats, plots and bank deposits, in connection with its money laundering probe against senior IAS officer Pradeep Kumar, currently posted in Jharkhand. The agency said it has issued a provisional order for attachment of assets under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Kumar who is at present the Divisional Commissioner of Santhal Pargana of the state. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said it registered a criminal case against Kumar, a former district magistrate of Patna, after taking cognisance of a CBI FIR and charge sheet against him for alleged possession of disproportionate assets. The attached assets include a flat each in Ranchi, Udaipur, Bangalore and Kolkata; another house in Udaipur; fixed deposits worth Rs 42.97 lakh and bank deposits to the tune of Rs 39.85 lakh. During investigation, the ED said in a statement that it was found that Kumar "has amassed huge properties since his posting .
Man kills married daughter, her paramour in Punjab
A man killed his married daughter and her paramour, while they were asleep, and threw their bodies near a road in Diana Bhaini village here, police said today. The accused, Gurmail Singh, hacked his daughter Barinder Kaur (35) and her paramour Kuldip Kumar Chabra (45) to death with a sharp edged weapon athis residence yesterday night and later, he threw the bodies on the road of the village. Barinder Kaur was married in Ladhowal and had two children, while Chabra was unmarried, the police said, adding as per preliminary investigations, the woman had developed illicit relations with Chabra. The accused is absconding, the police said.
After pub brawl involving Cong MLA's son, another leader lands
Days after a ruling Congress MLA's son allegedly assaulted a man in a brawl, another party local leader has courted trouble for splashing a combustible liquid in a city corporation office and threatening to set it afire. In the video which has gone viral on the social media, local Congress leader Narayanaswamy is seen purportedly splashing the liquid filled in a plastic bottle twice inside a city corporation office after the official there allegedly refused to provide a fake land document. The officer is seen pleading with Narayanswamy, who is clad in all-white dress. KPCC President G Parameshwara said in a tweet, "I have instructed our Bengaluru District North District Congress Committee (DCC) to immediately suspend Narayanswamy." Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy also condemned the incident on the floor of the state assembly earlier today. "It is unfortunate that the incident has taken place. The government has initiated necessary action against the (Congress) leader," he ..
Katara case: HC declines early hearing of Vikas Yadav plea for furlough
The Delhi High Court today declined to entertain a plea of Vikas Yadav, who is in jail for life for the murder of Nitish Katara, for an early hearing of his petition seeking furlough. Yadav had sought early hearing on the ground that his mother was unwell but Justice Indermeet Kaur declined the relief and said the matter would be taken up on the date already fixed on April 10. The plea was opposed by the state, represented by Additional Criminal Standing counsel Rajesh Mahajan, saying no medical records of his mother have been placed on record to show there was any urgency. Yadav had sought furlough, a leave from jail for a certain period of time in a year for inmates serving sentences, for 21 days by claiming that he was being arbitrarily denied the relief by the authorities. The court had earlier asked why the relief be not granted to him if there was no apprehension of a threat to the witnesses, including the victim's mother, in the case. However, the victim's mother, Neelam ...