News Analysis India

Tag: Nawab Malik

  • Ranaut’s comments on freedom struggle: Take back actor’s Padma Shri, says NCP

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The NCP on Friday demanded the revocation of Padma Shri conferred on actor Kangana Ranaut for her controversial remarks on Independence and said she should be booked for insulting freedom fighters.

    Taking a dig, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said the actor is talking too much after an excess dose of “Malana cream”, a type of hashish that draws its name from Malana valley in Himachal Pradesh.

    “We strongly condemn this statement, which has insulted lakhs of freedom fighters, those who have sacrificed their lives. From Gandhiji to other freedom fighters who waged a long battle for freedom, all have been insulted. We demand that her Padma Shri be revoked. She should be booked for insulting freedom fighters,” Malik said.

    Ranaut, at a recent event, said the Independence India obtained in 1947 was “bheek” (alms) and that the country truly became free in 2014, a reference to the BJP coming to power at the Centre under Narendra Modi.

  • Withdraw Kangana Ranaut’s Padma Shri, arrest her: Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Maharashtra Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik on Friday demanded that the Centre must withdraw the Padma Shri award from Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut for her controversial remarks on the country’s Independence and sought her immediate arrest.

    Addressing a press conference, NCP leader condemned Ranaut’s statement that India got real freedom in 2014 and said it seems the Bollywood actor is on a heavy dose of Malana cream, a particular variety of hashish which grows specifically in Himachal Pradesh.

    “We strongly condemn actress Kangana Ranaut’s statement. She insulted freedom fighters. The Centre must take back the Padma Shri from Kangana and arrest her. Looks like Kangana Ranaut took a heavy dose of Malana Cream before making such a statement,” said the Maharastra minister.

    ALSO READ| ‘Not scared by you’: Nawab Malik ‘welcomes’ ED raids  in connection with Waqf board scam

    Earlier on Thursday, BJP leader Varun Gandhi also criticised the actor for her comment.

    He shared the viral video of the actor and said, “Sometimes an insult to Mahatma Gandhi’s sacrifice and penance, sometimes respect to his [Mahatma Gandhi’s] killer, and now an insult to the sacrifices of lakhs of freedom fighters — from Shaheed Mangal Pandey to Rani Laxmibai, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and more. Should I call this madness or treason?”

    The controversy began after Ranaut on Thursday said that India attained freedom in 2014 when the Modi-led government came to power and described the country’s Independence in 1947 as “bheek”, or alms. Kangana received the prestigious award by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony hosted at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the capital on November 8.

  • ‘Not scared by you’: Nawab Malik ‘welcomes’ ED raids  in connection with Waqf board scam 

    By Express News Service

    MUMBAI:   NCP leader and Maharashtra minority development minister Nawab Malik on Thursday said he welcomed the Enforcement Directorate’s raids in connection with the alleged land scam involving Pune Waqf Board as his ministry, under which the Waqf Board falls, had already started a clean-up action.

    “I want to say to the ED and its officers that I welcome their action as long as they want to clean the system. But if there is a campaign to malign my image because of the fight that we have started against the Central agencies, then I would say Maharashtra government does not get scared by them,” the outspoken minister said.

    He said the ED should clarify whether Devendra Fadnavis or any other BJP leader asked it to conduct the raids.

    Seven places in Pune and one place in Aurangabad were raided by the ED in connection with the case which involved irregularities to the tune of Rs 10 crore. 

    Addressing a news conference here, Malik took a dig at the central agency and said it is welcome to probe 30,000 entities under the Waqf Board.

    The Waqf Board will extend all the necessary cooperation to the ED, he said.

    However, it should show the same interest in probing the complaints made by the Shia Waqf Board, Lucknow, as well, the minister said.

    “If the ED thinks such actions (searches) will scare me, then it is under the wrong impression. Such acts will not deter me in continuing our clean-up operation under which central agencies are misused,” Malik said.

    In an apparent reference to the BJP, the NCP minister said he, along with his senior leaders, will send a list of documents of “some leaders” to the ED and urge the agency to probe them.

    Malik has been attacking the Modi government for allegedly misusing the central agencies, particularly the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), against BJP’s political opponents.

    Earlier in the day, the ED searched multiple premises in Pune and adjoining areas in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal sale of Waqf properties in Maharashtra.

    ED officials said at least seven premises have been covered and the action is being undertaken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

    The money laundering case is based on a Maharashtra Police FIR and the subsequent chargesheet, and the agency is collecting more information as part of the raids.

    Malik said the ED was welcome to probe any case it wants, but it appears that the entire purpose of its current action is to malign his image.

    He said ever since he took over as the Minister for Minority Affairs, the Waqf Board is functioning at its full strength with a full-time Chief Executive Officer.

    Malik said seven FIRs, too, have been registered by the Waqf Board since he took over to probe alleged irregularities.

    “We have launched a clean-up operation in the Waqf Board under which past members of the board and some officials may also face action,” he said, noting all businesses of the board are planned to be conducted online.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Drug busts: After verbal feud, Maharashtra leaders begin legal fight

    By Express News Service

    MUMBAI:  Family members of Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis are busy sending defamation notices against each other as the senior leaders have been engaged in a bitter war of words over recent drug busts. 

    Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan has sent a legal notice to Fadnavis, seeking a compensation of Rs 5 crore for defaming his family.  

    The NCB had arrested Sameer Khan on January 13 in connection with an alleged drug case. He was released on bail later.

    Fadnavis had earlier said,  “…Now Malik’s son-in-law was found with drugs in his possession”, adding that “if narcotics are found in the house of a person, then what will their party be”.

    Challenging Fadnavis’ charges, the legal notice said the charge sheet filed by the NCB does not support even a single allegation levelled by the BJP leader.

    “The panchnama clearly says the house was searched and no contraband was found. But from which source you obtained such frivolous and baseless report is better known to you,” said the legal notice.

    Amruta Devendra Fadnavis, wife of the BJP leader, immediately sent a legal notice to Malik for “tarnishing the image of her family” through his alleged defamatory tweets.

    “Mr Nawab Malik shared a series of defamatory tweets including some pictures! Here is the Notice of Defamation,” Amruta tweeted.

    The notice from the side of Fadnavis came after certain tweets of Malik had claimed connection between Amruta and alleged drug peddler Jagdeep Rana.

  • Mumbai Police record Sameer Wankhede’s statement in caste certificate case

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Mumbai police has recorded the statement of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede in connection with an allegation of forgery of caste certificate against him, an official said on Thursday.

    An Assistant Commissioner of Police recorded Wankhede’s statement recently and is conducting further probe, he said.

    Wankhede submitted relevant documents to the ACP and recorded his statement in detail, the official added.

    Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik had alleged that Wankhede’s father had converted to Islam, but Wankhede got a government job under the Scheduled Caste quota which a Muslim person can not get.

    Wankhede and his father refuted Malik’s claims.

    Wankhede’s father Dnyandev Wankhede has also filed a defamation suit against the NCP leader.

    On Monday, Dnyandev Wankhede filed a police complaint against Malik under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

    Malik leveled several allegations against Sameer Wankhede after the NCB arrested Aryan Khan, actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son, and 19 others in an alleged drug seizure case last month.

  • BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis’ wife Amruta seeks apology from Nawab Malik for defamatory tweets

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis’ wife Amruta Fadnavis on Thursday sent a legal notice to Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, seeking apology for trying to link her with an alleged drug peddler by tweeting certain pictures.

    Malik, the chief spokesperson of the NCP, should tender unconditional apology within 48 hours and delete his “defamatory tweets”, the notice said.

    If he didn’t, she will initiate proceedings against him under section 499 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code and also file a civil suit for damages, it said.

    The notice, sent through Parinam Law Associates, claimed that Malik tarnished Amruta Fadnavis and her family’s image.

    The intention was “to portray and suggest that our client has connection with drug peddlers, more particularly one along with whom, the images of our client are shared in the said defamatory tweets,” the notice said.

    ALSO READ: Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik’s son-in-law sends Rs 5 crore defamation notice to ex-CM Fadnavis

    The NCP leader also held a press conference and levelled “false and baseless allegations” as he wanted to gain “cheap political mileage” and divert the attention of the public “from the misrule and failure of the ruling government (in Maharashtra) and the action taken by central agencies against the drug menace,” the notice claimed.

    The pictures tweeted by Malik had been clicked during an event organized in Mumbai for the conservation of rivers four years ago by a group called ‘River March’, it said.

    The alleged drug peddler seen in the pictures with Amruta had been hired by the River March, and she and her family had no link with him, the notice said.

    On Wednesday, Malik accused Devendra Fadnavis of sweeping under the carpet a case of seized fake notes and appointing people with criminal background to government boards when the latter was Maharashtra chief minister.

    The BJP leader had earlier alleged that Malik’s family had had a dubious land deal with two convicts of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

  • Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik’s son-in-law sends Rs 5 crore defamation notice to ex-CM Fadnavis

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan has sent a Rs five crore defamation notice to former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for making “baseless allegations against him without any merit”, and also demanded written apology from him.

    A state BJP spokesperson, however, said they will respond to the notice legally.

    Nawab Malik’s daughter Nilofer Malik Khan posted a snapshot of the legal notice, dated November 10, on her Twitter handle on Thursday.

    “False accusations ruin lives. Before one accuses or condemns they must know what they are talking about. This defamation notice is for the false claims & statements which Mr. @Dev_Fadnavis has put on my family. We will not back down,” she tweeted.

    Sameer Khan was arrested in an alleged drugs case by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in January this year.

    He was granted bail in September by a court, citing lack of evidence.

    In the legal notice to Fadnavis, Sameer Khan’s lawyer mentioned that his client was “falsely implicated” in a case lodged by the NCB, which had alleged that he was involved in a drug syndicate.

    ALSO READ | Devendra Fadnavis shielded fake currency business: Nawab Malik

    After filing of the charge sheet in July, Khan was released on bail, it said.

    But, Fadnavis in a statement to a news channel on November 1 said Malik’s son-in-law was “found with drugs in his possession” and that “in whose house drugs were found then what their party will be”, it said.

    The allegations were “baseless and without any merits”, Sameer Khan said in the notice.

    The NCB’s panchanama clearly says that Khan’s house was searched and “no contraband/suspicious substance was found in the house or under his possession”, the notice said.

    “But from which source you obtained such false, frivolous and baseless report?” Sameer Khan asked.

    The notice said Khan was facing continuous mental torture and harassment and not only was he defamed, but his entire family, including wife and children, were equally affected.

    Hence, he was demanding Rs five crore as damages for the mental torture, agony, financial loss and injury inflicted to his reputation due to Fadnavis’ statements, and also a written apology from the BJP leader over his remarks, as per the notice.

    Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP’s chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said, “Devendra Fadnavis has levelled allegations against Malik’s son-in-law based on an ongoing case against him. He was behind bars for eight months.”

    “However, we have decided to respond to his notice legally,” Upadhye said.

    Nawab Malik had last week sought to link Fadnavis with an alleged narcotics dealer by tweeting the latter’s photograph with the former CM and his wife.

    Fadnavis later alleged that there was a dubious land deal involving the NCP leader, his family members and two convicts of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

    The minister had refuted the allegations.

  • Devendra Fadnavis shielded fake currency business: Nawab Malik

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI: A day after he threatened to drop a ‘hydrogen bomb’, Maharashtra minister and NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik alleged that BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis patronised people involved in fake currency business when he was chief minister and appointed persons with criminal background to various posts.

    At a press conference, Malik said that after the demonetisation in 2016, fake currencies were detected and seized everywhere, but in Maharashtra there was no seizure, hinting that the then CM Fadnavis shielded the fake currency racket. Malik went on to claim that on October 8, 2017, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had seized fake bank notes worth Rs 14.80 crore and a case was registered at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, “but Fadnavis helped sweep the case under the carpet”. 

    Two people named Imran Alam Sheikh and Riyaz Sheikh, who had links with Pakistan’s ISI and Bangladesh, were arrested in the case. However, they were released within two days and the seized amount was shown to be only Rs 8.80 lakh, Malik alleged. 

    Not just that, Fadnavis later appointed Imran Alam Sheikh’s brother Haji Arafat Sheikh as chairman of the state minority commission, a post that has cabinet rank, Malik said. Malik further said that the Fadnavis government had appointed Haidar Alam as chairman of another key board with cabinet rank status. Alam’s second wife was a Bangladeshi illegal staying in Mumbai.

    A case was registered against her at Malad police station but the CM’s office put pressure on police not to pursue this case, Malik alleged. Munna Yadav, a hardcore criminal facing murder and other serious charges, was made chairman of construction board, he added.

    Sharing photographs of one Riyaz Bhatt with Fadnavis and some other BJP leaders, the NCP minister alleged that the person had connections with the underworld and was caught at Mumbai airport with a double passport. He even attended PM Narendra Modi’s event. Malik alleged that Bhatt used to extort money as part of a nexus among the underworld, police and Fadnavis. 

  • Nawab Malik tarnishing image of budding leaders from minority community: BJP leader Ashish Shelar

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: BJP leader Ashish Shelar on Wednesday defended the appointments of certain individuals made by former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to government boards, hours after state minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik accused Fadnavis of appointing people with “criminal” background during his tenure.

    Speaking to reporters, Shelar said the decision to appoint Haji Arafat Sheikh and Haji Haider, whose names were referred to by Malik in his presser, was taken by the previous government because their inquiry reports were clean.

    “It is true that Haji Arafat, Haji Haider and Munna Yadav were appointed to some government boards by the previous government led by Devendra Fadnavis. Haji Arafat and Haji Haider’s appointments were cleared after the inquiry reports against them came clean,” the former state minister said.

    He said there was one allegation against Munna Yadav which he will clarify.

    “There might be some charges against Arafat and Haider but they must be regarding political rallies and public events,” he claimed.

    Earlier in the day, Malik had accused Fadnavis of suppressing the October 8, 2017 seizure of fake notes with the face value of Rs 14.56 crore by the DRI from the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai.

    Malik had claimed that one Imran Alam Sheikh who was arrested in this case is the brother of Haji Arfat Sheikh, who was made the chairman of the state minority commission.

    The minister had also claimed that Munna Yadav from Nagpur was made the chairman of the Maharashtra Construction Workers Welfare Board despite criminal charges like murder registered against him.

    Hitting back, Shelar said, “If these people were involved in some wrongdoings then why the incumbent MVA government has not taken any action against them? The home ministry is with NCP. Why is the NCP making accusations and running away?” Shelar claimed Imran Alam Shaikh was the then secretary of the Congress party.

    “He is now with the NCP. What explanation will the party give now? Malik is tarnishing the image of all the budding minority leaders in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. The question is why is he doing so?” he asked.

  • Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik​ claims Devendra Fadnavis appointed ‘criminals’ to govt posts; Ex-CM draws pig analogy

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik on Wednesday accused former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of sweeping under the carpet a case of seized fake notes and appointing people with criminal background to government boards.

    Continuing his tirade against the leader of the opposition, Malik in a press conference said there are ‘more bombs to be dropped’ in coming days and he will make more revelations against the BJP.

    Soon after Malik’s press conference, Fadnavis posted a cryptic tweet, quoting famous playwright George Bernard Shaw.

    “I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it!” it read.

    Malik on Tuesday said he would drop a ‘hydrogen bomb’ and reveal Fadnavis’ alleged underworld links, while Fadnavis had alleged a dubious land deal involving Malik, his family members and two convicts of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case over a decade ago, a charge refuted by the minister.

    On Wednesday, Malik said while fake notes were seized in other states after demonetisation in 2016, there was not a single such instance in Maharashtra, when Fadnavis was the chief minister of the state.

    Malik said on October 8, 2017, the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized fake notes worth Rs 14.56 crore from the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai.

    “But Fadnavis helped sweep the case under the carpet. The seized amount was later shown with a value of Rs 8. 8 lakhs,” Malik alleged, questioning why the case was not handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

    “Incidentally, Sameer Wankhade (the Narcotics Control Bureau officer against whom Malik has levelled several serious allegations) was the DRI’s joint director at that time,” he added.

    Malik said one Imran Alam Sheikh was arrested in this case.

    Later, his brother Haji Arfat Sheikh was made the chairman of the state minority commission, the minister claimed.

    He alleged that Fadnavis appointed people with criminal background on several state boards.

    The NCP minister said one Munna Yadav from Nagpur was made the chairman of the Maharashtra Construction Workers Welfare Board despite criminal charges like murder registered against him.

    Malik alleged that Fadnavis sheltered an individual whose second wife was a Bangladeshi.

    When the Malad police tried investigating the case, they were pressured, he added.

    “Fadnavis resorted to criminalisation of politics by appointing people with criminal background on government posts,” the minister alleged.

    Malik and Fadnavis have been targeting each other with charges of underworld links.

    Both have denied any links with the underworld.

    Malik had last week sought to link the BJP with an alleged narcotics dealer by tweeting the latter’s photograph with the former chief minister and his wife Amruta Fadnavis.

    Devendra Fadnavis had then said he will make revelations about Malik’s “underworld links” after Diwali and also share the “documents and proofs” of the same with NCP president Sharad Pawar.