- Searches continue, Yes Bank founder questioned over loan to scam-hit DHFL
- The Enforcement Directorate is investigating whether Doit Urban Ventures received Rs 600 crore as kickbacks from the scam-hit Dewan Housing Financial Corporation Ltd (DHFL) for loans worth Rs 4,450 crore granted by the bank.
- Doit Urban Ventures is a dummy company allegedly controlled by the Yes Bank founder and two of his daughters.
- Asthana clean chit accepted
- A special CBI court in Delhi observed there wasn’t sufficient ground to proceed against CBI former special director Rakesh Asthana in a bribery case.
- The court observed so while taking cognizance of a recent chargesheet filed by the CBI, which gave Asthana a clean chit.
- The court made a similar observation in case of CBI’s DSP Devender Kumar, who was arrested in 2018 and later granted bail.
- As PM ‘expresses concern’, I&B min revokes ban on channels, orders probe
- The government revoked the 48-hour telecast ban it had imposed on two Malayalam language channels, Media One and Asianet News.
- Ban was imposed upon them for “biased” reporting of the Delhi riots.
- It was revoked after Prime Minister Narendra Modi “expressed concern” over the turn of events.
- HC takes suo moto cognizance of ‘recovery hoardings’
- The Allahabad HC took suo moto cognizance of hoardings put up by the Lucknow district administration.
- The hoardings contained the names, photos and addresses of 57 people accused of destroying properties during anti-CAA violence.
- The case will be heard on 8th March, 2020.
- HC upholds new evaluation system for bureaucrats
- The Delhi high court refused to strike Narendra Modi government’s 360-degree evaluation system for senior bureaucrats down in a recent case.
- The HC also dismissed in end-February a review plea moved by the officer urging it to reconsider the decision.
- The HC dismissed the plea saying “no grounds are made out for review”.
- HC: ‘Unjust’ to put up photos of protesters
- The Allahabad high court termed the putting up of hoardings containing photos of protesters as “highly unjust”.
- It contained the photographs and information of people asked to pay compensation for damage to property during anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests.
- The HC hoped that they would be removed.
- The Uttar Pradesh government asserted that it was a “deterrent” action and the court should not interfere in such a matter.
- ED arrests Kapoor over Rs 600 cr ‘Kickback’
- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested the 62-year-old founder of Yes Bank, Rana Kapoor, early Sunday morning after 30 hours of questioning.
- It capped two days of action that began with raids on the banker’s Samudra Mahal residence in Worli and curbs being imposed on withdrawals from the bank.
- Judge hearing final arguments in Naroda riots case transferred
- Eleven years after trial began in the 2002 Naroda Gam massacre case, the Gujarat high court has transferred SIT court judge M K Dave.
- The development, which comes at a time when the trial was on the verge of completion, may delay the verdict.
- Former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani is an accused in the said case.
- HC slams recovery hoardings, tells UP govt to remove them instantly
- The Allahabad high court on Monday ordered immediate removal of hoardings carrying details of anti-CAA protesters.
- Recovery notices had earlier been served for allegedly damaging private and public properties against those protesters.
- The HC called the state government’s action an “unwarranted interference in the privacy of people”.
- A division bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Ramesh Sinha said: “The same hence is in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution, which clearly provides that no person shall be deprived of his life and personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.”
- Deepak Nitrite drags ex-employee to court
- Chemical major Deepak Nitrite has dragged its former manager to court.
- It has sought Rs 370 crore damages from her.
- The chemical major has alleged that she had stolen all confidential data of the company before joining its rival company in Gurugram.
- The Vadodara-based company has filed a civil suit against the executive.
- The ex-employee had resigned on January 10 as the assistant manager of the fine and speciality chemical business.
- Weinstein gets 23 yrs in prison for sex crimes
- Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison by a New York judge Wednesday for rape and sexual assault in a landmark case for the #MeToo movement.
- The sentencing capped a sensational downfall for the 67-year-old, three years after allegations made him a pariah and ended his career.
- ‘Name & shame’: UP govt in SC against HC order
- The UP government moved the Supreme Court challenging an Allahabad High Court order.
- The HC order had directed it to take down ‘name and shame’ hoardings in Lucknow against 57 people for “vandalising public properties” during anti-CAA protests last December.
- 7 arrested for cop’s murder, 1 for IB man’s brutal killing
- Delhi Police has made 12 fresh arrests in the killings of head constable Ratan Lal and Intelligence Bureau official Ankit Sharma during the northeast Delhi riots and in other riot cases.
- Seven people have been arrested for Lal’s murder.
- A 20-year-old man has been arrested in Sharma’s case.
- Police have made four more arrests in other murders during the riots.
- No law allows posting protesters’ photos: SC
- SC questioned the UP government for putting up posters to name and shame anti-CAA protesters who allegedly indulged in violence and destruction of public property.
- The Supreme Court said that there was no law to back such action and referred the issue to a three-judge bench to study it next week.
- SC bench refuses stay on HC order on ‘name and shame’ hoardings.
- Zero tolerance on child porn: Govt notifies new Pocso rules
- The government has notified the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Rules 2020.
- It enabled implementation of recent amendments to the Act that made punishment provisions more stringent.
- For the first-time child pornography has been defined and it also provided for crackdown for possession of pornographic material involving children.
- The Pocso rules became effective from March 9, 2020.
- Amendments to IBC, coal sector bills get house nod
- Parliament on Thursday passed amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) as well as the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill.
- Both bills were passed by Rajya Sabha after being okayed in the lower House earlier.
- The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill was passed by voice vote in Rajya Sabha.
- IBC (Amendment) Bill will help ring-fence successful bidders of insolvent companies from risk of criminal proceedings for offences committed by previous promoters
- The Coal sector bill replaces an ordinance.
- The Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill was passed in Rajya Sabha with 83 MPs voting in its favour and 12 against. Lok Sabha had passed the bill already.
- New Draft tweaks rules to expedite green nod
- The environment ministry released a draft making certain changes in the existing rules which were notified in 2006 and had since seen several amendments.
- The changes sought to expedite green clearances through implementation of online system, decentralisation and standardisation of approval processes.
- Procedure for judges’ appointment still pending with SC: Govt in LS
- Since 2016, the government has notified appointment of 459 judges for various high courts and 27 in the Supreme Court, yet the high courts continue to have nearly 400 judges position vacant against a sanctioned strength of 1,079.
- A lot has to do with pending finalisation of memorandum of procedure (MoP) that provides for eligibility criteria and guidelines for appointment to the higher judiciary.
- Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Thursday, said that the government has conveyed the need to make improvement on the draft MoP to the secretary general of the Supreme Court.
- These suggestions are pending with the apex court since July 2017.
- Though there is no final guideline at present, the government has been notifying appointments as per recommendations of the apex court collegium, except in cases where it has strong reservations over the choices.
- NCLAT seeks resolution of IL&FS cases in 90 days
- The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) approved resolution framework for troubled IL&FS Group.
- It sought the conclusion of resolution of all the entities, preferably within 90 days, while also clearing the formula for distribution of the sale proceeds to clear liabilities that add up to Rs 91,000 crore.
- In a 101-page order, NCLAT chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya set aside the question of jurisdiction and asserted that the cases will be decided by appellate tribunal.
- UP govt brings ordinance to recover dues from protesters
- The UP government empowered itself to recover the cost of property damaged during protests, riots and rallies from the accused by promulgating the ‘UP Recovery of Public and Private Property Ordinance’.
- The ordinance was cleared by the state cabinet even as the SC is slated to hear a special leave petition next week challenging the HC order to remove the hoardings.
- Farooq freed after 7 mths, hopes rise for Omar, Mufti
- National Conference patriarch and Srinagar MP Farooq Abdullah on Friday stepped out of his Gupkar Road home after seven months.
- Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister had been kept in detention since the nullification of Article 370.
- Abdullah, 82, was booked under the Public Safety Act, on grounds that he had made speeches that could inflame public sentiment.
- For now, SC to hear urgent matters only
- The Supreme Court on Friday decided to drastically limit its functioning from Monday, when it reopens after a week-long Holi break.
- It also sets up a limited number of benches to hear only urgent matters to prevent possible spread of coronavirus.
- Parliament nod for ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ Bill
- Parliament has approved the Direct Tax (Vivad Se Vishwas) Bill 2020 that provides an opportunity to taxpayers to settle disputes by paying the tax dues with a complete waiver of interest and penalty till March 31.
- The bill was passed by voice vote on Friday and returned to Lok Sabha which had approved it on March 4.
- CBI books Rana Kapoor, wife in fresh corruption case over purchase of Lutyens’ zone bungalow
- The CBI registered a fresh cheating case on Thursday against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, his wife Bindu, businessman Gautam Thapar of Avantha Group and their companies.
- On next day, it searched their premises in Mumbai and Delhi along with the offices of a few other private firms, reports Vijay V. Singh.
- Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Friday, Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd denied that CBI searched any of its premises.
- CBI officials alleged that Kapoor had conspired with the other accused for illegal gratification of Rs 307 crore when he purchased a bungalow at Amrita Shergill Marg in Delhi from Thapar’s Avantha Reality for Rs 378 crore.