Page 492 - Law Crime
I-T dept arrests man for Rs 12 cr tax default
The Income Tax Department has invoked a rarely used power and arrested a Karnataka-based businessman for alleged tax default of about Rs 12 crore, a senior official said Tuesday. The official said the man, who has not been identified, was arrested by the Tax Recovery Officer (TRO) of the I-T Department (Karnataka) from the Mumbai airport on Monday, when he was about to take a flight to a foreign destination. The man has been "detained in civil prison for a period of six months", the department said in a statement. He was wanted by the department's Karnataka and Goa region office, headquartered in Bengaluru. "He owed income tax and penalty arrears of Rs 11.94 crore plus interest," it said. "Aside from non-payment of due taxes, the defaulter was found to have illegally transferred property situated at Yeshwanthpur in Bengaluru. "As per Rule 73 of the second schedule to the Income Tax Act, if a defaulter transfers his property after the service of ITCP-l (I-T notice), the certificate may
Another held in UP, U'khand hooch tragedy; total arrested rises to five
Another man was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the hooch tragedy that claimed over 70 lives in two adjoining districts in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh last week, police said. At a joint press conference in Roorkee, Haridwar SSP Janmejay Khanduri along with his Saharanpur counterpart Dinesh Kumar said Arjun Kumar, a resident of Dadli village in Bhagwanpur area of Haridwar district, was arrested from near Tejopur by a joint police team of the two states. With Arjun's arrest, the total number of people held in connection with the spurious liquor tragedy has gone up to five. Arjun has admitted to his role in the crime and told interrogators that he was in the spurious liquor trade for the last two years, officials said. Arjun had sold 50 litres of the chemical, with which the deadly batch of spurious liquor was made, to the Saharanpur father-son duo of Hardev and Sukhwinder. Hardev and Sukhwinder had sold around 35 bottles of the spurious liquor to one Sonu of Balupur village, ...
No lesson learnt from Uphaar: Survivors on Delhi hotel blaze
After 22 years of one of the deadliest fires in the capital, the authorities have still not learnt their lesson and have shown to be committing same mistakes which had then led to choking death of 59 people at the Uphaar cinema hall in the posh south Delhi area, say survivors of that tragedy.
In case accused charged under POCSO, SC/ST acts, bail plea to be decided by POCSO court: HC
The Allahabad High Court has ruled that in a case where the accused has been charged under both under the POCSO Act and SC/ST Act, the bail application will be decided by the special POCSO court. Justice JJ Munir on Monday also held that in case a special POCSO court passes an order declining bail to the accused charged under both the acts, an application under section 439 of the CrPC would alone be maintainable before the high court. The court passed the order while hearing a bail plea filed by a man accused of rape where the government counsel raised a preliminary objection that as the accused is charged under both the acts, therefore bail application under section 439 of the CrPC was not maintainable. The applicant was required to file an appeal under section 14 A of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities ) Act, the counsel contended. The judge held that the bail application of Rinku, accused of raping a girl of Scheduled Caste community, is ...
HC seeks details from Centre on Indians 'victimised' overseas
The Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Centre to apprise it of steps taken to ensure the safety and well-being of Indians abroad and asked whether it has taken effective steps to set up an Indian maritime casualty investigation cell. The court also asked the government to find out the fate of the four men from Tamil Nadu, who were allegedly missing since September 10 last when their ship met with an accident, and file a report by February 14. The Madurai bench comprising justices N Kirubakaran and S S Sundar took note of incidents involving Indians getting stranded, exploited, cheated, jailed or even killed in various countries and asked the Centre to submit information on how many Indians were working overseas and how many received assistance from Indian missions. It also wanted to know from the External Affairs Ministry secretary and Home Secretary, among others, as how many Indians died overseas in the past decade and whether their bodies were brought to India. Having posed
Go to one corner of the court and sit down for the whole day, SC orders ex-acting CBI director Rao
In a punishment reminiscent of a classroom rebuke, the Supreme Court Tuesday ordered the former acting CBI Director M Nageswara Rao and agency's legal advisor S Bhasuram to sit in the courtroom the whole day after holding them guilty of "brazen" contempt of its orders. "Go to one corner of the court and sit down till the rising of this court," thundered Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, awarding the sentence to "maintain" the dignity and majesty of the court. Sparing the two of a possible jail term, the apex court also threatened to extend the duration of the sentence till the rising of the court Wednesday when Attorney General K K Venugopal made a request at 3.40 pm--just 20 minutes ahead of scheduled closure of court proceedings-- that the two officers be allowed to leave. The court earlier in the day gave an option to Rao and Bhasuram to say something as the sentence for them could be 30 days in jail. "Do you have to say something?" it asked. Venugopal repeatedly requested the ..
College student gangraped in West Singhbhum district
A 20-year-old college student was allegedly raped by eight youths in West Singhbhum district, police said Tuesday. The woman was returning from Chaibasa to Jorapokhar with her boyfriend on a motorcycle when the accused stopped them near Tekrahatu on Sunday evening. . They thrashed the boyfriend and then dragged the woman towards the bushes and allegedly raped her, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Sadar), Amar Kumar Pandey said. The boyfriend of the woman informed a highway police patrolling team of Muffasil police station about the incident, the SDPO said, adding that the police team rushed to the spot but the accused ran away on seeing the approaching police vehicle. On the basis of statement given by the woman the police has registered a case, he said. On the directive of the Superintendent of Police, Chandan Kumar Jha, a special police team headed by Pandey was formed to apprehend the culprits. The police arrested two of the accused on Monday, the SDPO said, adding hunt
13 kg charas seized in HP's Chamba, 1 held
A man was arrested with over 13 kg charas in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district Tuesday, police said. A police team intercepted a car at Tunuhatti check-post on the Salooni-Pathankot road and recovered 13.434 kg of charas concealed in the vehicle's bonnet, Chamba Superintendent of Police (SP) Monika Bhutunguru said. The car was travelling towards Pathankot in Punjab from Salooni in Chamba district when it was stopped and frisked at the check-post on suspicion. The car driver Narender Singh (32) from Fagrog village in Chamba has been arrested, she added. A case has been registered against him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at Chowari police station, the SP said, adding that further investigation is on.
Delhi blaze: Hotel's general manager, another staff member arrested
The Delhi Police arrested the general manager and a manager of Hotel Arpit Palace, where a massive fire killed 17 people on Tuesday, an officer said. The hotel's general manager, Rajender, and manager, Vikas, have been arrested for culpable homicide, DCP (central) Mandeep Singh Randhawa said. The hotel owner, Shardendu Goel, is absconding after the incident, he said. Randhawa said the case has been transferred to the Crime Branch.
CBI catches IOC official red handed, arrests him for taking
The CBI has arrested Indian Oil Corporation - Assam Oil Division general manager(sales) after catching him red handed while taking Rs two takh as bribe here and registered a case against him. Dibyajyoti Datta, the IOC official, had demanded Rs five lakh from a person called Lalchand Choudhary alias Lalaram of Auto Centre Agent of IOC at Jharnapani in Nagaland for selection/allotment of petroleum retail outlet at Tuli, the CBI said in a release Tuesday. Datta was caught while accepting the first tranche of Rs two lakh of the bribe on Monday at private hotel here, it said, There were allegations against the accused of demanding and accepting illegal gratification habitually from different private businessmen, who own petrol pumps and kerosene oil dealerships. The CBI release named Dutta for his alleged "connivance with private conduits for showing them favour in allotment of new retail outlets all over North Eastern states, including Assam". The CBI release said its ...
SC posers to MP HC on plea for reinstatement by former woman trial judge
The Supreme Court Tuesday quizzed the Madhya Pradesh High Court as to why a woman judicial officer, seeking reinstatement after having resigned following inquiry into her allegations of sexual harassment against a sitting high court judge, was not allowed to meet the then Chief Justice. The judge was given a clean chit in December 2017 by a Rajya Sabha-appointed panel which had probed the allegations. A motion of impeachment was admitted against the high court judge after 58 members of the Rajya Sabha supported the woman's case. The top court told the registrar general of the high court that "there were too many strange coincidences" in the arguments put forth by him. A bench of Justices A K Sikri, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah said that the high court will have to explain the circumstances in which the trial judge was transferred to Sidhi from Gwalior on the ground of pendency of cases as the Judges Inquiry Committee (JIC) have opined that it was not the valid ground. Senior advocate ..
Trial of Catalan separatists begins in Madrid amid protests
A politically charged trial of a dozen Catalan separatist leaders got underway Tuesday in Spain's Supreme Court amid protests and the possibility of an early general election being called in the country. The defendants are being tried on rebellion and other charges stemming from their roles in pushing ahead with a unilateral independence declaration in October 2017. The declaration was based on the results of a divisive secession referendum that ignored a constitutional ban. The trial, arguably Spain's most important in four decades of democracy, began as the future of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's minority government hinges on last-minute negotiations with Catalan pro-independence parties to back his 2019 budget. Sanchez could be forced to call an early election if the Catalan separatists, whose support brought the Socialists to power last year, don't change their current position of voting against his spending plan on Wednesday. The separatists want Sanchez to agree to talks on ...
NCLAT adjourns RCom's plea for insolvency to March 6
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Tuesday adjourned the hearing over Reliance Communications' plea to proceed with insolvency process to March 6. A two-member bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya said a matter is also pending before the Supreme Court against RCom and hence adjourned it. "As the matter is pending before the Hon'ble Supreme Court, we adjourn the matter. "Post the case 'for orders' on 6th March, 2019. Parties will inform the development," the appellate tribunal said. On February 4, the NCLAT had allowed telecom gear maker Ericsson India to file its objection by February 8 over Reliance Communications' plea to proceed with insolvency process. However, it had also said that until further orders of the NCLAT or the Supreme Court, no one can sell, alienate, or create third party rights over RCom's assets. The NCLAT was hearing applications moved by three Reliance Group employees - Satish Seth, Punit Garg and Suresh Madihally Rangachar - ...
Kolkata top cop Kumar influencing probe, says ex-MP
Former Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh, who was interrogated along with Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar by the CBI in Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams, said on Tuesday he has lodged an "official complaint" against the top cop for allegedly influencing the ongoing probe.
Delhi court to pronounce order on Rajeev Saxena's bail plea on Wednesday
A Delhi court on Tuesday said it would pronounce the order on the bail plea of Rajeev Saxena, arrested in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland money-laundering case, after perusing his medical report on Wednesday. Special Judge Arvind Kumar, who sent Saxena to jail till February 18, ordered the AIIMS director to file a report regarding the medical condition of the accused by 2 pm on Wednesday. Saxena sought bail on medical grounds and told the court that he was suffering from a "heart disease" and "advanced-stage leukaemia". The Enforcement Directorate (ED) did not oppose Saxena's bail plea provided he did not leave Delhi. Saxena, a director of two Dubai-based firms -- UHY Saxena and Matrix Holdings -- said in his bail application that he was an extremely sick person with advanced terminal diseases and had coronary heart disease with four stents in his heart and hypertension. "The present application is being filed in grave urgency, keeping in mind the medical condition of the applicant .
NGT raps AAP govt over noise pollution in West Delhi, slaps fine of Rs 5L
The National Green Tribunal Tuesday rapped the Delhi government for its failure to check noise pollution in West Delhi and slapped a fine of Rs 5 lakh on it for non-compliance of its order. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel noted that more than four months have passed since its September 27, 2018 order and none of its directions have been complied. The tribunal directed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to deposit the fine amount with the Central Pollution Control Board within a week. "We are satisfied that the authorities failed to comply with the orders of the tribunal," the bench said after perusing a quarterly report on the noise pollution in Rajouri Garden area here. The green panel said that neither a dedicated 24 hour helpline nor a public redressal mechanism has been devised for receiving complaints by SMS, telephone or e-mails. It also noted that even the DCP and the SDM have not held joint weekly meeting to review the situation. The green panel ..
Jigisha murder case convict suffering from HIV, seeks parole
Ravi Kapoor, convicted in the 2009 IT executive Jigisha Ghosh murder case and facing trial for the murder of TV journalist Soumya Viswanathan, on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that he is suffering from HIV and other ailments and needs three months' parole for treatment.
UP encounters: SC asks PUCL to prepare well before arguing
The Supreme Court Tuesday expressed displeasure over a civil rights group, which has sought probe into incidents of alleged police encounters and killings in Uttar Pradesh, saying it has come unprepared to argue its case. The apex court, which dubbed the PIL filed by People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) on the alleged encounter killings as a "serious matter", was not happy as it did not get satisfactory answers on some of the questions from its counsel. "Please get yourself better arranged. How to present the case is not our business. It is your business. Prepare yourself better and organise yourself better," said a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. PUCL has sought a court-monitored CBI or SIT probe into incidents of alleged police encounters and killings in Uttar Pradesh. The remarks by the bench came as PUCL's counsel Sanjay Parikh faced some difficulty in locating some submissions from the documents and affidavit about the cases in which the FIRs have been registered
Talathi from Kolhapur village held by Maha ACB for bribery
A village-level government revenue official and his private assistant were Tuesday arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau in Kolhapur for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000, an official said. Shivaji Chandar Koli (53), a talathi posted at Kaneri village of Panhala tehsil here, had demanded money from a person to have the latter's name included in the 7/12 land record extract, an ACB official said. "Koli first demanded Rs 10,000 and then brought it down to Rs 5,000 following negotiations. The victim then approached the ACB and a trap was laid," Girish Gode, ACB Deputy Superintendent of Police, said. "Koli and his private assistant Sushant Bajirao Lavate (23) were caught red-handed in the trap while accepting Rs 5,000 from the complainant. Incidentally, it was Lavate's first day at work," Gode informed. He said a case had been registered and further probe was underway.
Bombay HC raps NIA for employing 'delay tactics' in Malegaon blast case
The Bombay High Court Tuesday pulled up the National Investigating Agency (NIA) for employing "delay tactics" on a bunch of appeals filed by the accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. A bench of justices AS Oka and AS Gadkari cautioned the agency that if it didn't change its conduct, the high court will be forced to stay the trial in the case before the special court. "You realise that a stay on the trial will end up benefiting the accused. However, if you continue your delay tactics, this court will be left with no choice," the bench said. The observations came after NIA repeatedly justified the use of photocopies of some statements of witnesses and confessions of accused persons in the case. On the previous hearing, the bench had observed that the special court should not have allowed the use of photocopies since there was no evidence to prove that the photocopied documents were authentic copies of the original, certified statements. It had told NIA counsel Sandesh Patil that the .