West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday dramatically turned up at the residence of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) chief Pratik Jain amid an ongoing Enforcement Directorate raid, alleging that the central agency was attempting to seize the Trinamool Congress's internal documents, hard disks and sensitive data linked to its election strategy.
60 years ago, on January 24, 1966, Dr Homi J Bhabha, the father of India's nuclear programme, died in an air crash on Mont Blanc. The official inquiry said the plane went off course in bad weather, but coincidences, missing evidence, and later unproven claims have kept conspiracy theories alive. A fascinating excerpt from Bakhtiar Dadabhoy's book, Homi J Bhabha: A Life.
The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has detained a medical student from Kanpur in connection with the ongoing investigation into the recent Delhi blast. The doctor, identified as Dr Mohammad Arif, was taken into custody and his belongings seized for forensic examination.
The Supreme Court declined to examine a plea challenging a PMLA provision, stating the issue lies in the law's abuse, not the law itself. The court allowed the petitioner to approach the High Court if procedures weren't followed.
'Non-BJP state governments and their leaders, navigating today's political landscape, know well they have no clue what awaits around the corner.' 'The chances of charges pressed and oneself getting parked in custody play out on an uneven playing field,' points out Shyam G Menon.
Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was on Friday questioned for over three hours by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) in an alleged graft case related to the construction of classrooms in government schools here, officials said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has condemned the alliance between the AIADMK and BJP, calling it a move driven by "hunger for power" and against the ideals of protecting state rights. He accused the alliance of being formed based on corruption and said it is doomed to fail. Stalin also criticized Union Home Minister Amit Shah for failing to address key issues like NEET and Hindi imposition, claiming that the BJP's agenda is to eradicate Tamil language and undermine Tamil Nadu's rights.
Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal claimed on Wednesday that Delhi Chief Minister Atishi may be arrested in a 'fake' case by the central investigative agencies at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will conduct a psychological assessment of Sanjay Roy, the accused in a rape-and-murder case of a doctor in Kolkata that has triggered nationwide protests, officials said on Saturday.
The party also doubted "there is no way of knowing with certainty as to whether these weapons were indeed recovered during the search or whether they were surreptitiously planted by the CBI or NSG".
The EOW stated in its closure report that it did not see any criminality or wrongdoing in the matter, adding that the bank in question did not suffer any losses in the process of sanctioning loans or selling the Jarandeshwar Sugar Mill.
The meeting comes in the wake of Uttar Pradesh police's anti-terrorist squad questioning Seema and his Indian partner Sachin Meena on Monday and Tuesday.
TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose submitted a letter to the Election Commission on Thursday.
The Congress alleged that the claims made by the ED against Baghel are part of a "conspiracy" hatched by the BJP to tarnish the Chhattisgarh chief minister's image and asserted that the people of the state would give a befitting reply to such tactics in the upcoming Assembly poll.
A team of CBI officials reached CID headquarters Bhawani Bhawan in Kolkata before 4 pm. But the handover from the state agency took place at around 6:48 pm, despite the Calcutta high court setting a deadline of 4.15 pm.
The bench agreed to hear the plea on Friday and told Singhvi to ask his junior counsel to go to the mentioning officer.
Commenting on the seat sharing in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said in Ballia that a decision will be made as soon as Surya Uttarayan occurs.
Sameer Wankhede claimed that CBI officials took the phone of his wife Kranti Redkar in their possession.
According to TMC officials, the party's national general secretary has decided Friday to return to the city, temporarily suspending his ongoing mass outreach campaign for a day or two.
Before appearing before the CBI this morning, Abhishek Banerjee wrote a letter to the CBI informing them he is moving the Supreme Court challenging the High Court order which allows investigative agencies CBI and ED to question him.
The special court also directed the ATS to hand over the custody of all the five accused to the NIA and also granted their transit remand to the central investigation agency, said public prosecutor (ATS) Vijay Fargade.
A team of CBI officers reached his residence in south Kolkata's Chetla area along with a large contingent of central forces in the morning, officials said.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha allowed Banerjee to avail available remedies under the law but refused to interfere with the May 18 order of the Calcutta high court.
The ruling Congress is seeking to retain power in Chhattisgarh by banking on the welfare schemes of the Bhupesh Baghel government, while the Bharatiya Janata Party is hoping to corner it on the issues of alleged corruption, religious conversions and unfulfilled poll promises.
'The BJP's real pain lies in the fact that all their skullduggery and chicanery has failed to cow down the Shiv Sena. They just cannot digest this fact.'
"Is there a rule of law or (a rule of) raids in Maharashtra? This is the question which comes to one's mind considering the record-break raids being conducted through Central investigating agencies," Raut wrote in the weekly column 'Rokhthok' in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' of which he is the executive editor.
'It could backfire on the BJP and boost the Opposition parties.'
Pawar said even during the Emergency years there was a feeling in political circles that nothing would change for the next 25 years, but people ushered in change the very next year in 1977.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United said it was the right time to withdraw the general consent to the CBI.
CBI officer V K Shukla, who is probing the death of Jharkhand Judge Uttam Anand, is among 15 officers of the agency awarded the 'Union Home Minister's Medal for Excellence in Investigation' for the year 2021, officials said Thursday.
The top court, however, did not stay at this stage the part of the high court order which had said that central probe agencies could quiz the Trinamool Congress general secretary in connection with these cases and fixed his plea for hearing in July.
Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar sought views of leaders of various political parties on ways to curb disruptions in the House at a meeting held on Sunday on the eve of the start of the second phase of the Budget session.
Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut said the Bharatiya Janata Party's national executive should pass a resolution to demand investigation by these agencies in the land case.
Don't create an "atmosphere of fear", the Supreme Court Tuesday told the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after the Chhattisgarh government alleged the probe agency is "running amok" and is trying to implicate Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam in the state.
According to a state government order issued on August 30, prior consent of Telangana is required for the central probe agency on a case-to-case basis to investigate in the state.
'Shouldn't our investigation agencies be fiercely independent and conduct fair investigations, show some spine and say no to such witch hunting?' 'That they will not be cowed down by what the Centre wants them to do.'
The Congress is planning to call a meeting of Opposition parties in May. It is possible to keep all possibilities open in case Karnataka yields a hung House, leading to a recalibrated Opposition.
A special CBI court in Asansol on Saturday rejected Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal's bail plea in the alleged cattle smuggling scam and extended his custody with the central agency for four days till August 24.
The central agency asked Banerjee to appear at its Kolkata office on Friday morning, he said.