Uttam Khobragade, the father of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, has been slammed by Shiv Sena in its mouthpiece ‘Saamna’ for criticising Marathi media and calling it ‘casteist’.

The Sena reportedly said that the retired IAS officer has “erred” by bringing up the issue of caste.

The editorial reportedly stated, “It is his mental bankruptcy.”

The retired bureaucrat had called Marathi media ‘casteist’ after questions on Devyani’s flat in controversial Adarsh Housing Society were raised during a press conference.

Uttam Khobragade reportedly got angry and lashed out at the Marathi media.

The reaction from the retired IAS officer came after the Marathi newspapers and television channels questioned several senior political leaders, including former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, in the alleged Adarsh Housing Society scam.

However, Uttam Khobragade has denied allegations of wrongdoing against him.

National carrier IndiaAir India is in the final stages of striking a deal with a leading public sector bank for selling four flats at the posh Sterling Apartments on the Peddar Road in South Mumbai.

The deal, if gets through, is expected to fetch Rs 100 crore to the carrier’s coffers, sources close to the development said.

“We are finalising the deal with the bank. We are hopeful of raising around Rs 100 crore from the sale of these four flats,” Air India sources here.

The sources, however, did not divulge the name of the bank Air India is negotiating but added, “we are negotiating with a public sector lender.”

Air India had last year floated bids for e-auctioning of the four of its six flats at the posh Sterling Apartments on the Peddar Road in South Mumbai, measuring around 8,100 sq ft carpet area.

As per the financial restructuring and turnaround plan approved by the Cabinet in early 2012 when it had bailed out the carrier with Rs 30,000 crore in doles, Air India is required to raise Rs 5,000 crore over the next 10 years through asset monetisation, and its biggest asset is the iconic Air India building in the tony Nariman Point area of the city.

Earlier, State Bank of India had lent a helping hand to the carrier in assets monetisation programme by leasing four floors in its 23-storey erstwhile headquarters at Nariman Point business centre.

Mumbai Police, probing the alleged role of Danesh Irani, son of actor Boman Irani, in the Rs 425-crore scam allegedly spearheaded by a multi-level marketing firm QNet, has frozen his bank account, blocking his Rs 25 lakh, a senior police officer today.

The bank account of Danesh has been frozen, the officer said adding that, “Two fixed deposits were linked to his bank account. Cash and FDs collectively valued at Rs 25 lakh were found in the account.”
The scrutinisation of Danesh’s bank account revealed that about Rs 40 lakh had been received from QNet (over a period of time) in 2013, the officer added.

“We are verifying to ascertain as to what sort of job he had performed, for which the QNet paid him about Rs 40 lakh,” the officer said adding that Danesh would be summoned soon.

Complainant Gurupreet Singh Anand, who had filed an FIR against the QNet in August last year, has recently approached the probing agency, Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW), with a two-page complaint giving the details of alleged links of Danesh.

Gurupreet has also alleged that Boman Irani and former world billiards champion Michael Ferreira had participated in the promotional events.

Gurupteet had claimed that he shared Danesh Irani’s QNet membership details with the investigators and his account had shown that he carried out Rs 18 crore worth transactions and because of which he received substantial amount of commission.

The EOW has already issued a look out notice against Ferreira (75), QNET founder Vijay Eswaran and his three business associates after they did not turn up for questioning despite the summons served to them.

Observing that security of jails is the responsibility of state authority and it is not proper to put restrictions on private constructions in the vicinity, the Bombay High Court today asked the government to clarify if its policy of no construction upto 500 meters around a jail would apply to ongoing constructions.

The Maharashtra government had on December 4, 2013 issued a Government Resolution stating that no construction would be allowed upto 500 meters around any jail in the state. The policy was issued with security of prison inmates in mind.

A division bench of Justices N H Patil and V L Achiliya was today informed about this policy decision and also that stop work notices have been issued to 13 buildings which are being presently constructed in the vicinity of the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by Ramesh Upadhyay, an accused in the Malegaon 2008 blast case, raising concerns about existing and under-construction high-rises that pose a security threat to the inmates of Taloja jail.

The bench was informed that the 13 buildings are beyond the earlier buffer zone of 182 meters from the jail but were within the new 500 meters zone. The court then sought to know from the government if the GR would have a prospective effect or would also effect any ongoing construction.

“You (government) need to take some urgent steps and clarify this. Otherwise private persons are at a loss. They will continue investing in properties and one day the construction will be bull dozed,” the court observed.

The court, while directing the government to hold meetings and clarify this, also asked CIDCO to file an affidavit giving details of the 13 buildings on January 20.

The court also asked the government to consider the jail issue with as much priority as it gives to other public projects. “The basic needs of the prison inmates also have to be met. You (government) need to balance this,” court said.

The Court Bombay High Court today asked the magistrate in Maval taluka of Pune district to decide on the closure report filed by police in case of alleged forgery and cheating in land deals exposed by slain whistleblower Satish Shetty.

The direction was given by Justice N A Patil who asked the magistrate in Maval taluka to reconsider the C-Summary (closure report) and decide on it.

The matter has been posted after two weeks.

Earlier, the court had asked the state to file an affidavit explaining on what basis it had filed a closure report and had concluded that no offences have been attracted under IPC in this case.

CBI had moved the High Court seeking to quash an order of the Maval magistrate accepting the closure report filed by the police. In its petition, the central agency sought reinvestigation into alleged bogus land deals.

According to CBI counsel H R Venegaonkar, huge tracts of land were acquired by the state government from villagers near Lonavala for Mumbai-Pune Expressway, which became operational in 2002. However, these lands were fraudulently sold in bogus deals by IRB Developers.

CBI argued that once the land was acquired by the government for the highway project and compensation paid to the villagers, the property was vested in the state and could not be given away or returned to the original owners.

The agency pleaded that entries in 7/12 extracts (a revenue document of land ownership) were interpreted to mean the land was returned to the villagers and IRB purchased the same from them through bogus sale deeds.

The police closed the case by filing a C-summary report in a court at Lonavala in Pune district. It concluded that the deals did not attract offences under IPC because they were made between the parties due to “misunderstanding” that the land had been returned to the villagers, CBI said.

It was also alleged that RTI activist and whistleblower Satish Shetty was killed after he exposed these land deals.