Maharashtra CM is unwell because of over-exertion that is the reason Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis left for Delhi to discuss with the BJP leadership about a tentative list for the state cabinet.
Cabinet expansion has been pending since June 30, when Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Mr. Fadnavis took oath.
If confirmed by Delhi, the Cabinet expansion might happen tomorrow, sources said.
Chief Minister is suffering from over-exertion and has been advised rest by his doctors.
Pakistan’s capital Islamabad was tense on Thursday after Imran Khan gave a protest call against the election commission and its chief for being allegedly biased against his party, days after the former premier’s party received a show cause notice for receiving prohibited foreign funds.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) have been at loggerheads. Khan has been accusing Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja of being biased.
On Monday, Khan announced his party workers would protest outside the ECP office in Islamabad on Thursday to press for Raja’s resignation.
He decided to change the venue after the police barricaded the roads leading to the place and the government vowed to stop the protestors.
Today I am calling all our people to come out in peaceful public protest against CEC & ECP in F9 Park at 6pm,” he wrote in a Twitter message, adding that he would address the gathering between 7 pm and 7:30 pm.
“CEC & ECP in cahoots with Imported govt conspired to try a technical knockout against PTI after PMLN got routed in Punjab bye elections despite the support of entire state machinery & ECP shenanigans. Now they are cowering in fear abt same happening to the entire PDM in General Elections,” he wrote
The protest call comes days after the ECP in the foreign funding case decided that Khan’s PTI received funding from prohibited sources and was involved in hiding the money it received from various sources.
Pakistan’s election commission on Tuesday said that Khan’s party received funds against the rules from 34 foreign nationals, including a businesswoman of Indian-origin, in a major setback to the former prime minister.
A three-member bench of the ECP issued a show cause notice to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf party for receiving prohibited funding from foreign nationals and foreign-based companies.
The Pakistan government has said it will stop the protesters. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Wednesday that the government will not grant PTI supporters permission to enter the Red Zone and protest outside the ECP.
He said strict action would be taken in case of any misadventure from the PTI, but stated that staging a peaceful protest was everyone’s right.
Police, in anticipation of disturbance by protesters, sealed the Red Zone and placed containers at the entry points of Islamabad. Personnel of law enforcement agencies including anti-riot force, paramilitary Rangers, Frontier Corps and police have been deployed around the Red Zone.
After barricading the main roads, the police proposed that the PTI should hold a protest in F9 Park or H-9 ground. The ECP’s verdict came after The Financial Times newspaper recently published a story titled ‘The strange case of the cricket match that helped fund Khan’s political rise’.
The report states that fees were paid to Wootton Cricket Limited, which, despite the name, was in fact a Cayman Islands-incorporated company owned by Naqvi, the founder of Dubai-based Abraaj Group.
The Rouse Avenue Court on Thursday dismissed the bail plea of former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey, who was recently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the NSE phone tapping and snooping case.
Special Judge Sunena Sharma on Thursday dismissed the bail plea of Sanjay Pandey. Pandey is presently in judicial custody in the case.
However in the instant case, considering the broad probability based on the material placed before the court, the involvement of the accused in the offence of money laundering as defined by the Apex Court cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, the applicant was the top cop of Mumbai police till 30.06.2022, hence apprehension of Investigating agency/Prosecution that the applicant may influence the witnesses or tamper with the evidence is not unfounded.
In his bail plea, Sanjay Pandey stated that “he had investigated and prosecuted several high-profile and politically sensitive cases and the instant proceedings are a political fallout of honest and sincere discharge of his duties as a senior police officer.”
The instant case is clearly motivated by political considerations and it is also evident from the fact that an offence that allegedly occurred between 2009 and 2017 is being investigated in 2022 i.e., thirteen years after its purported commencement and five years after its purported closure; and that too within a week of the Applicant demitting his office, stated Sanjay Pandey’s bail petition.
Advocate Aditya Wadhwa with Advocate Siddharth Sunil represented Sanjay Pandey and submitted that the huge delay in the registration of the said FIR raises serious doubts as to the bonafide of the investigation.
It appears that the applicant (Sanjay Pandey) is arraigned in the present case, for no fault of his own, and only to fulfil some political vendetta.
For ED, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju and Special Public Prosecutor Naveen Kumar Matta had appeared and submitted that he (Sanjay Pandey) resigned in April 2000 and there was litigation between 2001-2006 his service.
VRS moved in 2007 and in October 2008 and he withdrew that. He formed a company incorporated in 2001 when this was incorporated he was still in service even if he was not the director of the company, he attended the meeting.
We have records defacto he was in control. ED further submitted that the contract came in as facade 120-B is a predicate offense/criminal conspiracy held. MTNL lines were tapped.
This company was a family concern and 4.54 crores were proceeds of crime.
The agency’s move comes after it reportedly found enough evidence in the NSE co-location scam in which it wanted to know the role of an audit company, incorporated in 2001 by the retired Mumbai Police chief, for raising a red flag that the NSE servers were compromised.
The compromise had allowed one of the trading companies to get unfair access to the system, resulting in windfall profits.
The case is already being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) since 2018. It is alleged that the firm incorporated by Pandey was one of the IT companies tasked with conducting security audits at NSE during 2010 to 2015 when the co-location scam is believed to have taken place.
Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested Parvez Zubair in a terror funding case on Thursday in Mumbai.
The arrest was made under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. A court has sent Zubair to ATS custody till August 10.
Zubair has been accused of being in touch with Anees Ibrahim, the younger brother of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and of conducting terror funding activities for Dawood Ibrahim
As per the ATS, Zubair used to work for Dawood Ibrahim under different aliases and had been absconding for a long time. His arrest was made on the basis of specific information received by the Central investigation agency.
An ATS official said that Zubair has visited Dubai 54 times between 2014-2022. ATS has registered a case against Zubair under Sections 17 and 18 of UAPA.
Zubair’s lawyer said in court that Zubair had received a message on a chat application with someone a year ago and the ATS was making a case against his client on that basis even though his client had not responded to the chat.
A case was registered against Zubair in the year 1993 at Dharavi police station under section 323 of IPC. ATS said it is investigating a terror funding case.
Earlier in June this year, 2022, Yusuf had been arrested from Kashmir for terrorfunding Lashkar-e-Toiba.
The accused had transferred money to Junaid Mohammad following which he had been produced before a Pune court.
The Maharashtra anti-terror body had arrested Junaid Mohammad for working for Lashkar-e-Toiba and recruiting people.
He used to recruit youths from different states after radicalising them. Meanwhile, in June this year the Maharashtra ATS said it had arrested a suspect identified as Yusf from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) for his alleged involvement in funding and recruitment for the terror outfit LeT.
The arrested accused Yusuf was also presented in a court in Pune. Yusuf allegedly transferred funds to one accused Junaid Mohammad who was arrested on May 24 this year from the Khamgaon Taluka in Jammu and Kashmir’s Buldhana district.
The ATS on June 2 had arrested another wanted suspect in the same case, Aftab Hussain Shah, 28, a carpenter from J&K’s Kishtwar. Shah is accused of being the link between Junaid Mohammed and a LeT operative based in a foreign country.
Further, on June 10 this year, the ATS took custody of Inamul Haque from Saharanpur. He is allegedly a partner of Junaid Mohammad who was arrested by ATS from Pune
Arrested Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut’s wife, Varsha Raut, has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate on money-laundering charges in an alleged land scam.
This came just hours after Sanjay Raut’s ED custody was extended till August 8 by a special court in Mumbai.
Varsha Raut has repeatedly been named by the central probe agency some properties linked to her have been attached to the case too but she hasn’t been questioned so far.
Around four months ago, the ED attached ₹ 11 crore worth of assets of Varsha Raut and two of Sanjay Raut’s associates.
These included a flat in Dadar held by Varsha Raut and eight plots at Kihim beach in Alibaug jointly held by Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar, the wife of Sujit Patkar, a “close associate” of Sanjay Raut.
In a raid at a drug manufacturing unit in Nalasopara of Palghar district Mumbai police seized over 700 kilograms of mephedrone worth ₹ 1,400 crore and arrested five persons, including a post-graduate in organic chemistry, an official said here on Thursday. The Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Mumbai crime branch conducted the raid at the unit, he said.
“The action was carried out based on specific inputs. The ANC team raided the premises, during which it found that mephedrone, a banned drug, was being manufactured,” he said. “While four of the accused were arrested in Mumbai, one person was held in Nalasopara,” the official said. The accused arrested from Nalasopara is a post-graduate in organic chemistry and used his skill to make drugs, said a police officer.
This is one of the biggest drug hauls by the city police in recent times, he added. Mephedrone, also known as ‘meow meow’ or MD, is a synthetic stimulant a psychotropic substance banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The Supreme Court Thursday asked the Election Commission not to take any precipitative action for now on the Eknath Shinde faction’s plea that it be considered the real Shiv Sena and granted the party’s poll symbol.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said it would take a call by Monday on referring the matters related to the recent Maharashtra political crisis to a Constitution bench.
The top court also told the poll panel that if the Thackeray faction seeks time to file a response to its notices on Shinde faction’s petition, it should consider their request and grant reasonable adjournment.
“Counsels submitted the issues which may arise to decide this case and whether to refer the matter to 5-judge constitution bench. This will be decided taking into consideration the submissions and the issues framed.
“We will take a call and at the same time, the date fixed by the EC is August 8 to submit a reply by the petitioners (Shinde group).
If they (Uddhav) want some more time in view of the pendency of the matter then they will file an application seeking time. It is open for EC to grant reasonable adjournment,” the bench, also comprising justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli, said
Ace Indian sprinter Hima Das qualified for the semifinal of the women’s 200 m event following her top spot finish in heat two of round one at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Thursday.
Das was extremely fast in the race as she clocked timings of 23.42 seconds to book her ticket to the semifinal.
At the second was Zambia’s Rhoda Njobvu, who clocked 23.85 seconds.
The third position was occupied by Uganda’s Jacent Nyamahunge, who finished the race with timings of 24.07 seconds.
The first three athletes of five in the heat qualified for the semi final
Notably, in Athletics, Tejaswin Shankar won India its first-ever medal in the men’s high jump event at the Commonwealth Games in its 2022 edition in Birmingham on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court Thursday asked the Election Commission not to take any precipitative action for now on the Eknath Shinde faction’s plea that it be considered the real Shiv Sena and granted the party’s poll symbol.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said it would take a call by Monday on referring the matters related to the recent Maharashtra political crisis to a Constitution bench.
The top court also told the poll panel that if the Thackeray faction seeks time to file a response to its notices on Shinde faction’s petition, it should consider their request and grant reasonable adjournment.
Counsels submitted the issues which may arise to decide this case and whether to refer the matter to 5 judges constitution bench. This will be decided taking into consideration the submissions and the issues framed.
“We will take a call and at the same time, the date fixed by the EC is August 8 to submit a reply by the petitioners (Shinde group). If they (Uddhav) want some more time in view of the pendency of the matter then they will file an application seeking time. It is open for EC to grant reasonable adjournment,” the bench, also comprising justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli, said.
The apex court was hearing the petitions filed by the Shiv Sena and its rebel MLAs during the recent Maharashtra political crisis which raised constitutional issues including those related to splits, mergers of political parties, defections, and disqualifications.
At the outset, senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the Shinde faction, submitted a revised list of legal issues on petitions filed by the rival Uddhav Thackeray group.
Salve said the anti-defection law cannot be an “anti-dissent” law. “There is no per se illegality principle, until and unless there is a finding of disqualification,” Salve said.
The bench, at this juncture, said, “If you are completely ignoring the political party after being elected then it is a danger to democracy.” Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Thackeray group, submitted that the 40 rebel MLAs stand disqualified by their conduct and they cannot say that they are the real Shiv Sena.
Senior Advocate Arvind Datar, who is appearing for the Election Commission, submitted the ECI is governed by Representation of the People Act it is bound to decide if a claim is raised by a group.
“Tenth schedule is a different territory. If they are disqualified, they cease to be members of the legislature. Not a political party. These are different. Whatever happens in the Assembly, that has got nothing to do with the membership of the political party,” Datar said.
The Tenth Schedule of the Constitution provides for the prevention of defection of the elected and nominated members from their political party and contains stringent provisions against defections.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena had told the apex court on Wednesday that party MLAs loyal to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde can save themselves from disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution only by merging with another political party.
The bench had asked the Shinde faction to redraft the legal issues of split, merger, defection and disqualification raised in petitions filed by the Thackeray camp that are to be adjudicated upon following the recent political crisis in Maharashtra.
The revenue department of the Maharashtra government claimed to have succeeded in standardizing the land records system and making these documents error-free by bringing in uniformity in the terminology used differently in different regions of the state.
In the pre-Independence era, different regions of Maharashtra were controlled by separate regimes, which had their own land record systems and styles.
Even the words used for describing the land ownership, shared ownership and categorization of land as per its location or use were significantly different.
In the last 75 years, the revenue administration faced huge problems in terms of maintaining the land records, change of ownership and changing the category of the land as each region was using its own set of words.
It increased the legal complications as well, a senior official from the state revenue department said. “Different terms were used in different regions of Maharashtra to describe 46 various points in land records documents.
Of the eight revenue divisions in the state, each has a distinct choice of words to describe the land, its ownership and its categorization as per its usage.
The state revenue department has managed to remove these variations and bring uniformity through a standard format,” a senior revenue official from the land records department said.
The revenue officials used to face this same problem whenever they were transferred from one division to another. The department took nearly two decades to fix the problem, she said.
“There are nearly 2.54 crore 7/12 extracts (land title document) of land records in Maharashtra. Now, the correction is left only in 46,000 such documents, while the problem has been fixed in the remaining documents. The work got delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” she added.
The land records department, which is part of the revenue department, has undertaken a computerization program to digitize all the records and make it available for people.
A retired IAS officer, who had worked in the revenue department, said, “The earlier format of land records almost remained unchanged for nearly 100 years.
However, in the past few decades, the revenue department was compelled to make these documents error-free because even the government could not acquire some land due to its earlier complicated format.”
The standardization in land record receipts will remove the problems faced by the lower-level officials, he said. “The process started two decades back with computerization of the data, which minimized human intervention. It was followed by making all the changes in documents online only. The village-level revenue officials (including talathi) were given laptops by the revenue department,” the official said.
Once it was achieved and the officials also got used to the online format, the revenue department started working on standardization of the land record documents. It took nearly four years for the department to achieve it, he added
