News Analysis India

Tag: Court

  • ED Summons Arvind Kejriwal In Another Money Laundering Case Linked To DJB |

    New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a second money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), official sources said Sunday.

    He has been asked to depose before the central agency at its office at A P J Abdul Kalam Road on March 18 and record his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

    This is the second case registered under the anti-money laundering law in which the 55-year-old politician, also the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has been summoned.

    He is already facing summons for questioning in the Delhi excise policy linked money laundering case. Kejriwal has skipped eight summons in this case till now, terming them illegal. A fresh and ninth such notice in the excise policy case stipulates him to appear before the ED investigating officer on March 21.

    Reacting to the summons in the second case, Delhi minister Atishi told reporters on Sunday that, “Nobody knows what this DJB case is about. This seems to be a backup plan to arrest Kejriwal anyhow and stop him from campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls”.

    The ED, in the DJB case, has alleged that bribe money generated from corruption in a contract issued by this Delhi government department was “passed on” as election funds to the AAP that currently rules the national capital.

    The ED raided the premises of Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar, AAP Rajya Sabha MP N D Gupta, former DJB member Shalabh Kumar, chartered accountant Pankaj Mangal and some others as part of this investigation in February.

    A CBI FIR which alleges that former chief engineer of DJB Jagdish Kumar Arora awarded a contract of the DJB to a company NKG Infrastructure Ltd for a total cost of Rs 38 crore despite the fact that the company “did not meet” the technical eligibility criteria, is the basis of the ED case.

    The ED arrested Arora and a contractor named Anil Kumar Aggarwal in this case on January 31.

    NKG Infrastructure Ltd obtained the bid by submitting “forged” documents and Arora “was aware of the fact that the company does not meet the technical eligibility,” the agency claimed.

    An ED statement alleged that Arora “received” bribe in cash and in bank accounts after awarding the contract to NKG Infrastructure Ltd. And that he “passed on” this money to various persons managing the affairs at DJB, including “persons connected with AAP”.

    “Bribe amounts were also passed on as election funds to AAP,” it claimed.

    This is the second case where the federal agency has charged the AAP with taking kickbacks. It has claimed that bribe money from the scrapped excise policy of 2021-22 was used by the Arvind Kejriwal-led party for campaigning in Goa assembly elections.

    The agency said that the DJB contract was awarded at “highly inflated rates” so that the bribes could be collected from the contractors.

    “As against the contract value of Rs 38 crore, only about Rs 17 crore was spent towards the contract and the remaining amounts were siphoned off in guise of various fake expenses.” “Such fake expenses were booked for bribes and election funds,” the ED claimed.

    Delhi minister Atishi had claimed in a press briefing after the raids that the officials of the agency just sat in the living room of Bibhav Kumar and took with them only two Gmail account downloads and three family phones.

     

  • Sanjay Singh: Delhi excise policy case: Court allows AAP MP Sanjay Singh to take oath in custody

    The Rouse Avenue court on Saturday allowed AAP MP Sanjay Singh to take oath as MP Rajya Sabha on February 5, 2024, in custody. He has been arrested and charge-sheeted in the Delhi Excise Policy money laundering case.Meanwhile, the court extended the judicial custody of Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and AAP MP Sanjay Singh till February 17. Both were produced physically before the court.Special Judge M. K. Nagpal allowed Sanjay Singh’s request to allow him to take oath in judicial custody.He withdrew the plea, seeking interim bail to attend the ongoing Parliament session and to take the oath. It was submitted that he has to appear before a court in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on February 7.

    Advocates Rajat Bhardwaj, Dr Farrukh Khan and Prakash Priydarshi appeared for Sanjay Singh.

    During the hearing, advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir, counsel for Amandeep Singh Dhall, submitted that he had received CCTV footage without audio supplied.It was also submitted that the footage contains a confrontation between Dinesh Arora and Amandeep Singh Dhall in March 2023 but it is without audio. Tanveer Ahmed Mir has again submitted that the CCTV footage with audio be provided.He also submitted that some allegations were levelled by Dinesh Arora on April 23, 2023, three days before the filing of the prosecution complaint against Dhall. These allegations were not made in March 2023.

    He also referred to the Supreme Court judgement in Paramveer Saini, where it was directed that all investigation agencies shall have CCTV cameras with video and audio facilities installed.

    Advocate Rajat Bhardwaj moved an application seeking a supply of statements recorded before the court, including those of Raghav Magunta and P Sharat Reddy. Their statements were recorded and given a pardon; now their statements are under unrelied documents.

    The court noted that an application seeking CCTV footage of Dinesh Arora and Sharat Reddy was also filed, but reply not filed.

    An application seeking a direction to place a record of the emails written by accused Dhall to ED is also filed. All these applications will be heard on the next date of hearing.

    The court, on December 19, took cognizance of the supplementary prosecution complaint (charge sheet) filed against AAP MP Sanjay Singh and his Associate Sarvesh Mishra.

    The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on December 2, filed a supplementary prosecution complaint (charge sheet) against Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh and his alleged associate Sarvesh Mishra in a money laundering case related to the Excise policy case.

    On October 4, AAP MP Sanjay Singh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate.

    Earlier, a charge sheet was filed against Manish Sisodia. According to the Enforcement Directorate, it’s a fifth supplementary chargesheet in the case. This case is presently at the stage of scrutiny of documents.

    ED earlier told the court that Sanjay Singh was part of the conspiracy to collect kickbacks from liquor groups in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

    Sanjay Singh allegedly had close relations with now approver Dinesh Arora, who allegedly introduced accused Amit Arora to Sanjay Singh

    Dinesh Arora was in regular touch with Sanjay Singh. This has been proven by an analysis of Call Detail Records. Singh allegedly received proceeds of crime of Rs 2 crore, stated the ED.

    ED earlier claimed that Singh and his associates played a part in the Delhi government’s decision to give licenses to alcohol shops and merchants in 2020, causing losses to the state exchequer and violating anti-corruption laws

    ED had previously searched a number of locations, including the homes and offices of Sanjay Singh’s close associate, Ajit Tyagi and other contractors and businessmen who allegedly benefited from the policy. In its nearly 270-page supplementary charge sheet, the ED has called Sisodia a key conspirator in the case.

    The Delhi liquor scam case or the excise policy case pertains to allegations that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 allowed cartelization and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge that has been strongly refuted by the AAP.

    Last year, ED filed its first chargesheet in the case. The agency said it has so far undertaken over 200 search operations in this case after filing an FIR after taking cognizance of a CBI case that was registered on the recommendation of the Delhi lieutenant governor.

    The CBI inquiry was recommended based on the findings of the Delhi chief secretary’s report filed in July showing prima facie violations of the GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR)-1993, Delhi Excise Act-2009, and Delhi Excise Rules-2010.

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  • Police urges court to frame charges against ex-WFI chief

    Delhi Police on Saturday urged a court here to frame charges against BJP MP and former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a case of alleged sexual harassment of women wrestlers.

    The police opposed the contention of the accused that since some of the alleged incidents took place overseas, they do not fall in the jurisdiction of courts in Delhi, as it concluded arguments on framing charges against Singh. The police submitted before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate that the incidents of sexual harassment, allegedly committed by Singh, overseas and inside India, including Delhi, are part of the same offence.

  • Need to change image of judiciary, CJI DY Chandrachud urges courts to dispose of oldest cases 

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Stressing the need to change the image of the judiciary which is based on the classical movie phrase, “tareekh pe tareekh”, CJI DY Chandrachud on Friday urged the court establishments to identify and target disposing of oldest cases in the next few months. 

    Speaking at the inauguration of the Andhra Pradesh Judicial Academy, CJI said, “As we think about the access of justice, we need to change the image of the judiciary which is based on the classical movie phrase, “tareekh pe tareekh”. A starting point can be for all of us in each court establishment, be it high court or district court to identify the oldest case and the number of cases in the 10-year period after that and target the oldest cases in the next few months.”

    “I request all of you to instrumentalise information and technology tools to monitor the pendency and disposal of cases. If we use simple tools which are now available you will find that we will be able to do justice and revolutionize the image of the judiciary in India.” 

    Terming district courts as the backbone judiciary and the first judicial institutions for interaction by many, he also said that people must get rid of the colonial mindset of referring to and treating district courts as the subordinate judiciary in hierarchy and in practice. 

    ALSO READ | SC disposes of 6,844 cases since Chandrachud took over as CJI

    Underscoring the reasons for the delay in the disposal of cases by referring to the data available at the National Judicial Data Grid, the CJI further said reasons for delay are not attributable to judges and this is what we need to understand and portray across society.

    “Across the country, almost 14 lakh cases have been delayed for some kind of record or document is being awaited which is beyond the control of the court. Similarly, 63 lakh cases have been considered to be delayed as per NGDG data due to the non-availability of counsel. We really need the support of the bar to ensure that our courts are functioning at optimum capacity. I must also note that our current data is based on inputs from the court so it is possible that the number of cases which are delayed due to these reasons is much higher or much lower as we have not received full data from all the courts,” he added. The judge further said that to enable court establishment to monitor the progress justice clocks will be established in every court establishment. 

    Coining the rule of bail but not jail as one of the most fundamental rules of the criminal justice system, the CJI said that in practice the number of undertrials languishing in prisons in India reflects a paradoxical situation. He also said that deprivation of liberty, even for a single day is a day too many.

    “While speaking in the state which has a history of legendary lawyers pursuing the cause of civil rights, I would be remiss if I did not share a few thoughts on one of the potent criticisms that have been levelled against the judiciary. It’s a track record in upholding the constitutional principles of personal liberty. The often cited rule is bail but not jail is one of the most fundamental rules of the criminal justice system. Yet in practice the number of undertrials languishing in prisons in India reflects a paradoxical situation, deprivation of liberty, even for a single day is a day too many,” he said.

    CJI further said that the provisions of bail must not be meaningless and mechanical. Laying emphasis on the brooding sense of fear amongst the courts of the first instance with regards to the manner in which the grant of bail will be perceived, CJI while terming such fear as purely irrational said that he has called upon Chief Justices to ensure that the practice is done away with. 

    “There have been multiple cases where trial court judges have been pulled up for grant of bail in certain High Courts. The performance of judges has been analyzed on the basis of their conviction rate. At the chief justices’ conference, I have specifically called upon the chief justices to ensure that such practices are done away with,” he said. Additionally, he also urged the judicial officers who have limitations in mingling freely in society to focus on the situation in the outside world and also have a sense of emotional stability while discharging their functions. 

    NEW DELHI: Stressing the need to change the image of the judiciary which is based on the classical movie phrase, “tareekh pe tareekh”, CJI DY Chandrachud on Friday urged the court establishments to identify and target disposing of oldest cases in the next few months. 

    Speaking at the inauguration of the Andhra Pradesh Judicial Academy, CJI said, “As we think about the access of justice, we need to change the image of the judiciary which is based on the classical movie phrase, “tareekh pe tareekh”. A starting point can be for all of us in each court establishment, be it high court or district court to identify the oldest case and the number of cases in the 10-year period after that and target the oldest cases in the next few months.”

    “I request all of you to instrumentalise information and technology tools to monitor the pendency and disposal of cases. If we use simple tools which are now available you will find that we will be able to do justice and revolutionize the image of the judiciary in India.” 

    Terming district courts as the backbone judiciary and the first judicial institutions for interaction by many, he also said that people must get rid of the colonial mindset of referring to and treating district courts as the subordinate judiciary in hierarchy and in practice. 

    ALSO READ | SC disposes of 6,844 cases since Chandrachud took over as CJI

    Underscoring the reasons for the delay in the disposal of cases by referring to the data available at the National Judicial Data Grid, the CJI further said reasons for delay are not attributable to judges and this is what we need to understand and portray across society.

    “Across the country, almost 14 lakh cases have been delayed for some kind of record or document is being awaited which is beyond the control of the court. Similarly, 63 lakh cases have been considered to be delayed as per NGDG data due to the non-availability of counsel. We really need the support of the bar to ensure that our courts are functioning at optimum capacity. I must also note that our current data is based on inputs from the court so it is possible that the number of cases which are delayed due to these reasons is much higher or much lower as we have not received full data from all the courts,” he added. The judge further said that to enable court establishment to monitor the progress justice clocks will be established in every court establishment. 

    Coining the rule of bail but not jail as one of the most fundamental rules of the criminal justice system, the CJI said that in practice the number of undertrials languishing in prisons in India reflects a paradoxical situation. He also said that deprivation of liberty, even for a single day is a day too many.

    “While speaking in the state which has a history of legendary lawyers pursuing the cause of civil rights, I would be remiss if I did not share a few thoughts on one of the potent criticisms that have been levelled against the judiciary. It’s a track record in upholding the constitutional principles of personal liberty. The often cited rule is bail but not jail is one of the most fundamental rules of the criminal justice system. Yet in practice the number of undertrials languishing in prisons in India reflects a paradoxical situation, deprivation of liberty, even for a single day is a day too many,” he said.

    CJI further said that the provisions of bail must not be meaningless and mechanical. Laying emphasis on the brooding sense of fear amongst the courts of the first instance with regards to the manner in which the grant of bail will be perceived, CJI while terming such fear as purely irrational said that he has called upon Chief Justices to ensure that the practice is done away with. 

    “There have been multiple cases where trial court judges have been pulled up for grant of bail in certain High Courts. The performance of judges has been analyzed on the basis of their conviction rate. At the chief justices’ conference, I have specifically called upon the chief justices to ensure that such practices are done away with,” he said. Additionally, he also urged the judicial officers who have limitations in mingling freely in society to focus on the situation in the outside world and also have a sense of emotional stability while discharging their functions. 

  • Prioritise use of local languages in courts: Rijiju

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday stressed the need to prioritise the use of regional languages in the curricular activities of courts across the country to make justice accessible to the common man. He added that court orders should be published in the local language.

    Delivering his speech at the 12th convocation ceremony of Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University here, the Union Minister said he is against the imposition of only one language. “I have already spoken to the Chief Justice of India, senior judges of the Supreme Court, and all the Chief Justices of the High Courts, that in the future we must give priority to the regional languages,” he said.

    Speaking at the event, Rijiju showered praises on the Tamil language. “We all will be proud to see that the Tamil language takes centre stage in the high court, as well as district and subordinate courts,” he added.

    According to the minister, the Union government is working to create a common vocabulary, in all Indian regional languages, for words utilised in legal documents and legal glossaries would be digitised. With this technological advancement, instant translation of court proceedings to local languages would be possible, he further said.

    Rijiju expressed concern over pending cases in courts across the country. The Centre is taking measures to ensure the availability of all infrastructure in courts, he said. Meanwhile, on the occasion, Governor RN Ravi —also chancellor of the varsity — called upon the law students to help the society. 

    NEW DELHI: Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday stressed the need to prioritise the use of regional languages in the curricular activities of courts across the country to make justice accessible to the common man. He added that court orders should be published in the local language.

    Delivering his speech at the 12th convocation ceremony of Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University here, the Union Minister said he is against the imposition of only one language. “I have already spoken to the Chief Justice of India, senior judges of the Supreme Court, and all the Chief Justices of the High Courts, that in the future we must give priority to the regional languages,” he said.

    Speaking at the event, Rijiju showered praises on the Tamil language. “We all will be proud to see that the Tamil language takes centre stage in the high court, as well as district and subordinate courts,” he added.

    According to the minister, the Union government is working to create a common vocabulary, in all Indian regional languages, for words utilised in legal documents and legal glossaries would be digitised. With this technological advancement, instant translation of court proceedings to local languages would be possible, he further said.

    Rijiju expressed concern over pending cases in courts across the country. The Centre is taking measures to ensure the availability of all infrastructure in courts, he said. Meanwhile, on the occasion, Governor RN Ravi —also chancellor of the varsity — called upon the law students to help the society. 

  • Justice Gautam Chowdarya inaugurates Family Court

    On the direction of Hon’ble Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court Bilaspur, Mr. PR Ramchandra Menon, the newly constructed Family Court was launched in the district court premises of the headquarters from Karkamlo of Hon’ble Mr. Gautam Chowdarya, Judge GG High Court. On this occasion, MLA of the area Mr. Mohan Markam, Collector Mr. Pushpendra Kumar Meena, District Judge Mr. Suresh Kumar Soni, Superintendent of Police Siddharth Tiwari, Judge Family Court Mr. Jitendra Kumar Jain, Chairman, Advocate Association JP Yadav, and members of Barconsil were present.
    On this occasion, Justice Chauradia while congratulating the inauguration of Family Court said that the main objective of this Court is to provide an opportunity to common parties, explaining the importance of mutual love, harmony and peaceful living. Because children are affected by the breakdown of a family, many families are also affected along with it. Whether it is a woman’s family or a man, and ultimately it also has a detrimental effect on society. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the Family Courts to motivate the parties to commit to family life values ​​to avoid such unpleasant situations. District Judge Mr. Soni while expressing his views said that the need of Family Court was being felt in Kondagaon district for which initiative was taken by Chhattisgarh High Court in this regard and everyone is grateful for it. Family Counseling is necessary for a mobilization in the society and the Family Court will play its role with full potential in it. At the end of the program, a memento was also presented to the Honorable Justice by Advocate Saghan.

  • Court sends son of former BSP MP Ashish Pandey to 14 day judicial custody

    A Delhi court on Monday sent son of former BSP MP Ashish Pandey, who was arrested for brandishing pistol at a five-star hotel, to 14-day judicial custody.

    Metropolitan Magistrate Dharmendra Singh sent the accused to jail till November 5 after the police said that he was not required for further custodial interrogation.

    The court had earlier rejected his bail plea and issued a non-bailable warrant against him.

    Pandey had allegedly brandished a pistol at guests of a five-star hotel here threatening them in the foyer, a video of which went viral on the social media.

    He hails from Lucknow and is the son of former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Rakesh Pandey. His brother, Ritesh Pandey, is an MLA in Uttar Pradesh. A plea was filed by Delhi Police which had registered an FIR on the complaint of the assistant security manager of The Hyatt Regency alleging that one person was flagging pistol in his hand in the porch area of the hotel after a tiff with a guest.

    A video of the incident, which occurred early on October 14, went viral on social media resulting in public outrage. It prompted the police to step in and launch a hunt for the accused who had gone missing after the incident.

    An FIR was filed on October 16 at R K Puram police station under various provisions of the IPC and the Arms Act relating to criminal intimidation and misuse of fire arms.

    Pandey was booked under Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act and Sections 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

    If convicted, Pandey may be awarded maximum seven years jail term along with fine for offences under the Arms Act.

    He can also be given maximum sentence of one month’s jail along with fine and a maximum jail term of seven years for the offences of wrongful restraint and criminal intimidation, respectively, under the IPC.

    Pandey who had been dodging the arrest despite joint efforts by Delhi and Uttar Pradesh police, had on October 18 surrendered before a Delhi court.