In a first, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here today sentenced six accused in a 2009 fake currency case to life imprisonment, terming the possession and circulation of Indian counterfeit notes as an “act of terrorism”.

Special NIA judge Prithiviraj Chavan pronounced the sentence after he convicted all the six arrested accused — Abdul Shaikh, Mohammed Aizul, Ravi Dhiren Gosh Nooruddin Bari, Mohammed Samad and Aizul Shaikh — yesterday under relevant sections of IPC and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs. 1000 on each of the accused.

“This is the first time that the fake currency has been covered under the ambit of a terrorist act,” Special Public Prosecutor RohiniSalian said, adding that terrorist acts does not always be a blood crime.

The notes were printed in Pakistan, she said.

This case happens to be the first case investigated by the NIA here after it was set up post 26/11 attacks to probe and prosecute pan-India crimes, terror related cases and offences affecting the ‘sovereignty, security and integrity of India’.

According to NIA, during investigation it was revealed that Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) of denomination of Rs 1000 of 2AQ series seized in this case were also recovered at the Kochi currency chest of Reserve Bank of India.

“The similar nature of series of notes found at two different places indicated that there was a wide network operating in circulation of FICN and also the source of both these FICN (seized in Kochi and Mumbai) was the same,” said NIA in a release.

The expert report of RBI obtained by NIA stated that many covert features of genuine Indian currency were successfully imitated and could have been achieved only through highly sophisticated machinery only available with sovereign governments

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday arrived in Pune by road, but did not pay toll tax in line with his tough stand on the issue.

The three toll plazas at Vashi, Urse and Talegaon en route to Pune from Mumbai stopped operations for a few minutes when Thackeray’s convoy passed through them.

According to the norms, public representatives are allowed to travel without paying toll tax. Thackeray is neither a legislator nor a parliamentarian.

Amid speculations of Thackeray’s arrest over MNS workers ransacking toll booths across Maharashtra, the police said they would wait and watch as a hasty action may pose a threat to law and order.

Senior officials of the Pune rural police added action against Thackeray, who has ordered MNS workers not to pay toll tax and attack anyone who ask for money, would be taken only after considering all the legal aspects.

The Pune rural police have booked Thackeray for inciting violence, taking the total number of cases registered against him to 133, said Rajendra Shirodkar, Thackeray’s lawyer.

The MNS chief, who is on a four-day Pune tour, will address party functionaries from across the state on Friday.

“We will review the situation and decide (about Thackeray’s arrest) after his speech,” an official said.

Earlier this week, the Maharashtra Police had arrested several MNS workers, including party legislator Pravin Darekar, for vandalising toll booths in at least eight cities.

Thackeray had asked party workers on last Sunday not to pay toll tax and demolish toll plazas if they were not allowed to pass through them.

Speculations are rife that Thackeray is likely to play the hardball on the issue since it has brought him to the centre stage of the state politics after almost a year.

The anti-toll agitation started by the MNS comes at a time when there has been an outcry against it across Maharashtra in the run-up to the assembly polls as well as the 2014 general elections.

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had assured last week the toll collection issue would be reviewed and a new policy would be announced soon.

Thackeray — who had parted ways with his uncle late Bal Thackeray’s party, the Shiv Sena, in 2006 — is no stranger to controversy.

He had formed the MNS a year later. His inflammatory speeches against north Indians residing in Maharashtra have brought him at the centre of raging controversies on several occasions.

Of the 133 cases registered against him, 112 are in Maharashtra. The others are in states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Delhi.

Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare asked the people to join the fight against corruption, and said “let us all irrespective of colour, caste, region and religion work together for unity and a corruption-free society”. Speaking after receiving Gandhi darshan Award from Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at a function here, Hazare said he would continue his battle against corruption while strive for development in villages. Stating that he got inspiration from Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi, Hazare said, “I am 75 years old now.

But I continue to work for rural development and fight corruption. I reside in a temple. I have a bed to sleep and a plate to eat. But my fight against corruption send six ministers and 400 government officials home.” Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, he said the country could achieve development only through growth in villages. He also expressed regret that people forget the freedom fighters and martyrs who laid down their lives for the country. “We should remember them for their selfless service to the nation,” he said. Ravi Shankar said it was time for the youth to awake and join the nation building. “Our country is sitting in gold mine of natural resources. But we are not utilising them for its growth,” he said.

British telecom major Vodafone got interim relief from a transfer pricing tax demand, as the Bombay High Court stayed a Rs 3,000 crore order slapped by the Income Tax department.

The interim stay will last till March 7, and the tax department has been asked not to take any steps until further action. This fresh tax demand pertains to a transfer pricing case wherein the revenue department believes that a share sale between the Pune outsourcing unit of Vodafone and its parent company, was not done at arms-length pricing.

Last month, the department sent aRs 3,700 crore tax order on the same issue for the assessment year of 2008-09. The latest Rs 3,000 croreorder belongs to yet another assessment year of 2010-11. The department has been treating the amount remitted to the parent company as a ‘loan’, and can be extended for other assessment years. The orders come with the interest associated and the penalty.

Both the transfer pricing order put together will net aRs 6,700 crore claim on Vodafone on the transfer pricing issue. Apart from the transfer pricing case, the second largest telecom operator is also fighting a much bigger tax case over capital gains whose claim is at Rs 11,200 crore. This case pertains to the 67% stake purchase by Vodafone from Hutchinson in 2007.

Vodafone had said earlier that the IT department’s transfer pricing claim has no basis in law. It had said in a statement that their transaction was a share subscription and not a share sale, and that share subscriptions are not covered by transfer pricing rules, either in India or abroad.

The High Court had also refused to hear a petition filed by the company for the assessment year 2008-09, and sent it back to the dispute resolution panel. The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal or ITAT had given a six-month stay on the Rs 3,700 crore order, in December last year.

About 60 upset passengers in Mumbai refused to get off a Jet Airways plane for hours in protest after a technical snag forced the airline to reschedule the flight to Singapore.

The flight was to have taken off from Mumbai at 9.50 on Thursday morning.

The passengers complained that after waiting for three hours on the plane, they were asked to get off. They refused, also alleging that the private airline had refused to put them on other flights to Singapore. Some claimed they had been on the aircraft for almost eight hours.

A Jet Airways spokesperson, however, said, the aircraft “returned to the bay twice following a technical snag resulting in the flight being rescheduled…With a change of aircraft and certain guests travelling for an onward journey beyond Singapore, choosing not to fly, the rescheduled flight took off for its destination after a four-hour delay.”

Mumbai airport sources said the flight finally took off at 3.45 pm, six hours behind schedule.