Special PMLA court sends Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik to Enforcement Directorate custody till 3rd March, in connection with Dawood Ibrahim money laundering case

By India.com News Desk-Mumbai: 

Hours after being arrested by the ED, Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik was on Wednesday produced before a special court in Mumbai. Earlier in the day, Malik was taken to the ED’s office in south Mumbai for questioning and he was later arrested. The 62-year-old NCP leader, who was vocal against the Central government, was arrested in a money-laundering case linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.

Why was Malik arrested?

The ED officials said his statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and he was arrested under the same provisions as he was “evasive” in his replies. Malik’s alleged links to some property deals with those convicted for the Mumbai blasts are said to be under the radar of the federal probe agency and hence his questioning was necessitated. Notably, Mallik had been in the news for the last few months after he made a number of personal and service-related allegations of wrongdoings against former Mumbai NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede, who has denied the claims. Earlier, Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan was also arrested in a drugs case by the Narcotics Control Bureau’s Mumbai unit last year. The move from the ED comes after the registration of a new case and raids conducted by it on February 15 in Mumbai in connection with the operations of the underworld including alleged illegal property deals and hawala transactions linked to Dawood Ibrahim’s aides. The searches were conducted at 10 locations, including premises linked to 1993 Mumbai blasts mastermind Dawood Ibrahim’s late sister.

Maharashtra News: महाराष्ट्र सरकार में मंत्री और NCP नेता नवाब मलिक (Nawab Malik) को प्रवर्तन निदेशालय (ED) ने मनी लॉन्ड्रिंग (Money Laundering) मामले में गिरफ्तारी के बाद विशेष पीएमएलए कोर्ट में पेश किया. कोर्ट ने नवाब मलिक को 3 मार्च तक प्रवर्तन निदेशालय (ED) की हिरासत में भेज दिया है. कोर्ट ने महाराष्ट्र के मंत्री और राकांपा नेता नवाब मलिक को अपनी हिरासत की अवधि में दवाएं ले जाने और घर का खाना प्राप्त करने की इजाजत भी दे दी है. इससे पहले मेडिकल जांच के लिए जाते समय नवाब मलिक ने कहा कि वह झुकेंगे नहीं और अपनी लड़ाई जारी रखेंगे. दक्षिण मुंबई स्थित ED कार्यालय से बाहर निकलते समय कहा, ‘हम लड़ेंगे और जीतेंगे. हम झुकेंगे नहीं.’ मालूम हो कि ED ने अल्पसंख्यक मामलों के मंत्री मलिक से मुंबई अंडरवर्ल्ड से जुड़े धन शोधन के एक मामले में पूछताछ की है. अंडरवर्ल्ड संबंधी गतिविधियों, सम्पत्ति की अवैध रूप से कथित खरीद-फरोख्त तथा हवाला लेनदेन के संबंध में ईडी ने 15 फरवरी को मुंबई में छापेमारी की थी और एक नया मामला दर्ज किया था, जिसके बाद मलिक से पूछताछ की गई.

Mamata calls NCP chief after Nawab Malik’s arrest, extends support: Reports

No end to Lalu’s troubles, ED may confiscate assets created by husbandry scam

The trial in the case, which had commenced in 1996, was completed on January 29 this year and Prasad was convicted on February 15. The quamtum of punishment was read out by the court on February 21.

Ranchi,-PTI

More troubles are likely for the ailing RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, incarcerated in the Rs 950 crore fodder scam and now undergoing treatment in Rajendra Prasad Institute of Medical Science here, as the Enforcement Directorate may confiscate assets created by those convicted in the scandal in line with the directions to CBI by a special court. The former Bihar chief minister was earlier this week sentenced to five years in prison and slapped a fine of Rs 60 lakh by a special CBI court here in connection with the fifth fodder scam case involving embezzlement of over Rs 139 crore from Doranda treasury. The special court directed CBI to provide a copy of the judgment, the FIR and the charge sheet of the fodder scam case to the ED for necessary action. In the judgment delivered on February 21, CBI special judge Sudhanshu Kumar Shashi said “I find that the properties/assets created from the proceeds of the crime by the convicts and dead accused persons of this case could not be identified.” He said it may be a subject for investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. “The Enforcement Directorate, if wishes so, and if law permits, may proceed for identification and confiscation of such properties/assets created by convicts or dead accused persons by the ill gotten money. Thus, the prosecution(CBI) is directed to provide a copy of this judgment, FIR and charge-sheet etc. of this case to Enforcement Directorate for taking necessary action on their part,” the order said. The judge said that it was found that the accused was narrowing down the scope of investigation after the scam broke out. “I also find that if the present accused had taken action and investigated the matter deeply at proper time, the scam wouldn’t have taken place. Since 1991, various newspapers had raised the issue that animal husbandry department(AHD) officials indulged in corruption but no action was taken by this accused in spite of holding the post of the chief minister-cum-finance minister of the state.” Besides, elected members of the Assembly had time and again raised questions on the floor of assembly regarding fraudulent withdrawals in AHD but no proper action was taken by him. “These facts clearly establish that the accused had knowledge about the fraudulent withdrawals from the AHD, but instead of taking action he extended protection to the scamsters. The trial in the case, which had commenced in 1996, was completed on January 29 this year and Prasad was convicted on February 15. The quamtum of punishment was read out by the court on February 21.

एक्टर चेतन कुमार गिरफ्तार, हिजाब विवाद पर सुनवाई करने वाले HC जज पर आपत्तिजनक टिप्पणी का आरोप

कन्नड़ एक्टर चेतन कुमार को मंगलवार को गिरफ्तार कर लिया गया.उन पर हिजाब विवाद पर सुनवाई कर रहे हाईकोर्ट के जज के खिलाफ आपत्तिजनक ट्वीट करने के आरोप लगे हैं. पुलिस ने इस मामले में खुद संज्ञान लिया है.

By Nitesh Srivastava

कन्नड़ एक्टर चेतन कुमार को मंगलवार को गिरफ्तार कर लिया गया.उन पर हिजाब विवाद पर सुनवाई कर रहे हाईकोर्ट के जज के खिलाफ आपत्तिजनक ट्वीट करने के आरोप लगे हैं. पुलिस ने इस मामले में खुद संज्ञान लिया है. कन्नड़ अभिनेता चेतन कुमार ने 16 फरवरी को जस्टिस कृष्णा दीक्षित के बारे में अपने ही एक पुराने ट्वीट को री-ट्वीट किया था. पुराने ट्वीट में जस्टिस कृष्णा दीक्षित द्वारा बलात्कार के एक आरोपी को गिरफ्तारी से पहले जमानत देने और पीड़िता को लेकर टिप्पणी करने की बात कही गई थी. उसी को फिर से ट्वीट करते हुए चेतन कुमार ने हिजाब विवाद को लेकर जस्टिस कृष्णा के बारे में कथित आपत्तिजनक बात कही थी.

UP: Voting for 59 Assembly Seats Begins

Voting for the fourth phase of UP Polls is held at 13,813 polling stations and 24,580 polling booths in 208 police station areas, from 7 am till 6 pm, across the nine districts.

Voting for a total of 59 assembly constituencies spread across nine districts of Uttar Pradesh has begun at 7 am on Wednesday (February 23). This is the fourth of the seven-phased Assembly elections that are being held in nine districts of Uttar Pradesh — Fatehpur, Banda, Pilibhit, Hardoi, Kheri, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Sitapur, and Unnao. Voting is being held at 13,813 polling stations and 24,580 polling booths in 208 police station areas, from 7 am till 6 pm, across the nine districts, the state police said. Of the 59 assembly constituencies, three have been categorized as sensitive and 590 localities marked as vulnerable, according to the police. Three assembly constituencies — Hussainganj, Bindki and Fatehpur — have been kept in the ‘sensitive’ category in the fourth phase, while a total of 590 majras and localities have been marked as ‘vulnerable’ and 3,393 polling booths considered as ‘critical’, the police said. Among the prominent candidates in this phase is Uttar Pradesh Law Minister Brijesh Pathak who is facing Samajwadi party candidate and two-time corporator Surendra Singh Gandhi in the Lucknow Cantonment seat. As many as 624 candidates are in fray during the fourth phase of elections across the 59 seats, of which the BJP had won 51 seats in 2017 polls. Election results will be declared on March 10.

UP polls: Opportunity for SP as BJP battles farmers’ fury

Nine districts, including Lakhimpur Kheri, will go to the polls in the fourth phase in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, whose outcome could decide the fate of Union minister Ajay Mishra and present a reality check to the Congress of its political future in Raebareli. Fifty-nine seats will be up for grabs in the districts of Lucknow, Raebareli, Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit, Sitapur, Fatehpur, Banda, Unnao and Hardoi in the Awadh region. The fourth phase will also be crucial for SP president Akhilesh Yadav, whose whose party had been wiped out in the 2017 assembly polls in the region and could manage to win only six seats. There are challenges for the BJP, too. The saffron party had swept the region last time, winning 51 seats, a feat, leaders feel, will be an impossible task to repeat. The BJP’s image has also been hit with criticism from party leader Varun Gandhi, an MP from Pilibhit, who has been regularly targeting the leadership over various issues. He had also extended support to farmers over their demand for a law on MSP and sacking of Ajay Mishra from the Union Cabinet, after his son allegedly mowed down four farmers. Ground reports from Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit and some other districts going to the polls on Wednesday suggested that there is anger among farmers. Ground reports from Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit and some other districts going to the polls on Wednesday suggested that there is anger among farmers.

Veteran Malayalam Actor KPAC Lalitha Passes Away at 74

Veteran Malayalam actor KPAC Lalitha passed away in Kochi late night on Tuesday, 22 February. She was 74

years old. Edavela Babu, actor and secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), confirmed to TNM that Lalitha died around 10 pm. She had been suffering from poor health conditions for the past few months. She is survived by her two children – a son and a daughter. Lalitha entered cinema after a career in theatre. A prolific actor, she acted in over 500 films in a career spanning over 50 years. Lalitha won two National Awards for best supporting actor (female) and four Kerala State Film Awards. She was the chairperson of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi.

Delhi: In most riot cases, probe still on, trial yet to begin

In the data submitted to Delhi High Court on January 27, police had said chargesheets have been filed in 367 cases and the investigation was pending in 384.

By: Express News Service | New Delhi |

Two years since the Northeast Delhi riots, the 758 cases registered to probe the violence are lingering on — investigation in 50% of the FIRs is still pending and trial has commenced only in at least 25% of the cases where police have filed chargesheets against the accused.In the data submitted to Delhi High Court on January 27, police had said chargesheets have been filed in 367 cases and the investigation was pending in 384. While cancellation has been filed in three cases, four FIRs were quashed by the High Court last year. In at least 235 out of the 367 cases where chargesheets have been filed, police said the supplementary investigation remains pending. Between October 2021 and January 2022, police had filed chargesheets in only six cases. As many as 695 out of the total 758 are being investigated by Northeast Delhi police. Sixty-two cases were transferred to the Crime Branch and three dedicated SITs have been set up to probe them The Crime Branch has been probing murder cases connected to the riots. Investigation has been completed in a majority of those cases. While investigation is pending in eight of the cases alleging offence under IPC Section 302 (punishment for murder), chargesheets have been filed in 37 In the main case alleging larger conspiracy behind the riots, chargesheets have been filed against several student activists but according to the Special Cell, the supplementary investigation continues to remain pending in it as well. The police status report was submitted before the High Court in a bunch of petitions connected to the 2020 violence. The cases in the High Court too have remained in limbo. After a hiatus of many months and transfer to a different bench, the High Court last month began hearing the cases seeking SIT investigation and action against various political leaders for alleged hate speeches along with action against police officials for allegedly being complicit in the riots. While the matter is listed for hearing on Thursday, most of the prayers in the petitions have become infructuous with time.

17,914 kids on the streets, highest in Maharashtra: NCPCR tells SC

Written by Esha Roy | New Delhi |

The NCPCR has filed its compliance affidavit in response to a Supreme Court order on January 17th in a suo moto writ petition on children living in street conditions.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) informed the Supreme Court that there are 17,914 street children, or “children in street situations’’ across the country. The Commission also said that Maharashtra has the highest number of children living on the streets. According to the affidavit filed by the Commission on Monday in the apex court, there are 17,914 living on the streets, out of which 9,530 children live on the streets with their families, 834 children live on the streets alone, and 7,550 children live on streets during the day but go back to families living in slums during the night. Amongst them, 10,359 children are boys and 7,554 are girls.The NCPCR has filed its compliance affidavit in response to a Supreme Court order on January 17th in a suo moto writ petition on children living in street conditions. This latest data compiled by states till February 15th and uploaded on “Bal Swaraj’’ – a portal created by the Commission, excludes the 2 lakh children that had been identified by Save the Children on behalf of NCPCR in an earlier exercise, it said. An age wise disaggregation has found that the largest group of children living on the streets of 7,522 children are between ages 8-13 years followed by 3,954 kids between ages 4-7 years. The data further reveals that Maharashtra has the largest number of street children at 4,952 followed by Gujarat (1,990), Tamil Nadu (1,703), Delhi (1,653) and Madhya Pradesh (1,492). But Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of children living alone on the streets at 270. The Commission has said that street children are most commonly found in religious places, traffic signals, industrial areas, railway stations, bus stations and tourist places.

Maharashtra govt orders on allowing only fully vaccinated people on locals illegal: Bombay HC

Five months after mid-day highlighted commuter demand, high court raps state; activists want bureaucrats pulled up, future protection from such moves

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday said the state government’s orders of 2021 permitting only those fully vaccinated to travel on local trains were “illegal” and brazenly affected the fundamental rights of citizens. Reacting to it, Senior Citizen Passenger Committee member Mansoor Umer Darvesh told mid-day that action should be taken against the former chief secretary for misusing his power and harassing the general public.  The division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik said the three orders signed by the then chief secretary Sitaram Kunte were in clear diversion from the prescribed procedure under the Disaster Management Rules. The HC said, “The orders passed by the former chief secretary were in clear diversion of the prescribed procedure. Due to the illegal orders, the fundamental rights of citizens were brazenly affected.” Darvesh, a 62-year-old from Jogeshwari, had sparked a debate in August 2021 by stating in a letter to the chief minister’s office and the railway bosses that vaccination was a choice while public transport was right. mid-day had reported on this.  “You cannot deny public transport to those who are not vaccinated. Action should be taken against former Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte for misusing his power and harassing the common man. The facilities given to an officer after retirement should not be given to him, in a bid to deter other officers,” an elated Darvesh told mid-day. Yohan Tengra, one of the petitioners who had claimed that the double-dose mandate was discriminatory, said the state government has been asked to withdraw their illegal orders and it was a great victory for all the activists at the high court. Shailesh Jaiswal, a resident of Dadar, said, “Due to some medical reasons, my uncle was unable to take the vaccine, and he was not allowed to take the cheapest mode of public transport in the city—the local train—due to this rule.” “There can’t be similar restrictions in future. Courts must declare any such restriction as unconstitutional. The unvaxxed have gone through enough misery,” said Ashish M, another citizen. On Tuesday, the government’s counsel, Anil Anturkar, informed the court that the three orders in question—issued on July 15, August 10 and August 11, 2021—stand withdrawn. “In the spirit of the observations made by the high court, the three orders are withdrawn. The state executive committee would be holding a meeting on February 25 following which fresh directives would be issued,” Anturkar said. He added, “We may withdraw the prohibition (on use of local trains by unvaccinated people or those who have taken one dose) or may impose it based on the present COVID-19 situation. At this stage, I cannot say anything further.” The bench then pointed out that the number of people who tested positive in Mumbai on Monday was at the lowest in 20 months. “We hope and trust that the state executive committee takes an appropriate decision on February 25, keeping in mind the declining trend of COVID-19 cases,” the HC said and posted the matter for further hearing on February 28.

HC issues notice to Delhi govt over PIL against CCTVs inside classrooms

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