The Calcutta high court on Tuesday directed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) be handed over the case of attack on Enforcement Directorate officials at Sandeshkhali and the custody of suspended Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh, as it slammed West Bengal Police for 'totally biased' conduct and said every attempt is being made to delay the probe to 'protect' the accused.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the premises of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in Bhilai town as part of a money laundering investigation against his son, Chaitanya Baghel, in the alleged liquor scam case. Baghel alleged that the raids were aimed at discouraging him after he was made Congress's in-charge for Punjab and that the BJP is frustrated because he was discharged of all charges by the special CBI court in Raipur in connection with an alleged 7-year-old (sex) CD case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began making submissions on Monday on its appeal before the Delhi high court challenging the acquittal of accused persons, including former telecom minister A Raja, and firms in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case in December 2017.
The Delhi high court granted bail to alleged middleman Christian Michel James in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland money laundering case on Tuesday. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, while granting the reprieve to James, said it was an "exceptional situation" where the accused was in custody for over 6.2 years but the trial had not yet commenced due to incomplete investigation. James, who was extradited from Dubai in December 2018, can now walk out of prison subject to compliance with the conditions.
With bytes replacing bullets in the crime world, the Central Bureau of Investigation has started importing latest machineries to curb the growth of cyber crime. \n\n\n\n
A CBI officer is leaving for Lisbon to file India's request with the Portuguese authorities.
"We can say with confidence that Ashgar Ali is the main killer. He pulled the trigger," CBI Director P C Sharma said at a press conference.
The CBI contended before the Delhi high court on Tuesday that there were glaring illegalities in the trial court judgment that acquitted former telecom minister A Raja and others in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.
It says P C Sharma had 'connived' with the NDA government on the Babri Masjid demolition case as well as on the investigation into the Tehelka expose.
The government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have dismissed the Pegasus Project reports as concocted and evidence-less.
The CBI has filed an FIR against Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers Pvt Ltd, its director Anil Sharma and others for allegedly cheating Bank of Maharashtra and Andhra Bank of over Rs 230 crore, officials said on Friday. The banks had sanctioned credit facilities to develop a housing building at the Tech Zone IV in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida on a plot measuring 1.06 lakh square metre, the FIR alleged. The company failed to maintain financial discipline following which the account was declared a non-performing asset on March 31, 2017, the complaint from Bank of Maharashtra, now part of the FIR, has alleged, adding that "it has resulted in the loss of over Rs 230.97 crore". Following the FIR, the CBI Thursday conducted searches at four locations in Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad, they said.
Former Central Bureau of Investigation joint director Amit Kumar, who is now posted as Chhattisgarh police ADG, led the probe into the coal scam that resulted in convictions in a number of cases.
The apex court imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on them for wilfully disobeying its order by transferring CBI joint Director A K Sharma who was probing the Bihar shelter home sexual assault cases.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claimed that Sisodia would be arrested on Monday and alleged the move was initiated in view of the forthcoming assembly elections in Gujarat where it is in a direct contest with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court against two ordinances brought out by the Centre under which the tenure of directors of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate can now be extended by up to three years after the mandated term of two years.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said the parties shall file brief written submissions not exceeding five pages.
The CBI has filed a charge sheet against former Chief Executive and Managing Director of Yes Bank Rana Kapoor as well as Avantha Group promoter Gautam Thapar in the Rs 466.51 crore alleged fraud in the bank, officials said. Kapoor was not named a suspect in the FIR registered on June 2 last year in the case. His role, however, surfaced during the investigation, they said.
The CBI has alleged that Singh had transferred funds through hawala channels to Chariot Media that was handling the AAP's publicity campaign during the Goa elections, the officials said.
The Delhi high court will pronounce its verdict on Friday on whether to admit the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) appeal challenging the acquittal of former telecom minister A Raja, firms and others in the 2G spectrum allocation 'scam' case.
The submissions were made by the CBI in a short written reply while opposing the senior Aam Aadmi Party leader's bail plea, which it said was devoid of any merit and was an attempt to misuse the intricacies of law to thwart the progress of investigation in the case.
The CBI has registered a case related to the alleged diversion of fertilisers meant for farmers against Agrasen Gehlot, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's brother, and 14 others, and carried out searches at his Jodhpur home and 16 other locations in three states, officials said.
The arrests were made during searches at the sports administrator's office in Delhi's Lodhi Road area, they said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a money laundering case against Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra and businessman Darshan Hiranandani in connection with an alleged cash-for-queries scam case, official sources said Tuesday.
In a significant win for the Adani group, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to transfer the probe into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Indian corporate giant to a special investigation team or the CBI, saying market regulator SEBI was conducting a "comprehensive investigation" and its conduct "inspires confidence".
In the absence of any clear definition of 'major policy' decisions, the grey area exists as to what extent Verma's powers will be limited.
The case files and documents have been sent to the CVC for scrutiny following the Supreme Court's order directing the vigilance body to inquire against Verma.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to press before the Supreme Court that its demand for autonomy is legitimate and will pave the way for curbing interference in its functioning, two days after the government junked the agency's proposal for more power for its director.
The Supreme Court on Friday said the trial court's finding that Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia was responsible for delaying the trial in the Delhi excise policy cases was not supported by the record.
The court will take cognisance of the chargesheet on August 6. At present, Rai is in judicial custody.
The apex court-appointed panel is investigating alleged scuttling of probe into coal block allocation scam cases by Sinha whose meetings with accused persons have been held as "completely inappropriate".
The investigative agency has been asked to file its report to the apex court on July 24.
In Chanda's defence, one can always say, why would the Videocon Group take care of her husband as a quid pro quo to get a loan? After all, the group has taken money from the entire banking industry and ICICI Bank's share in the pie is not even 10 per cent. So, if it had a quid pro quo with Chanda to get the money, it must have had similar arrangements with other banks, too. If this is not the case, one must accept that it had got money from all banks, including ICICI, without any under-the-table conditions, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
During the hearing, CBI said charges against Asthana are serious and the agency was investigating the matter and is likely to add more offences in the FIR.
Even though the NIA claims that more than 90 per cent of cases charge-sheeted have ended in conviction, the figure is likely misleading. To date, very few cases investigated by the NIA have resulted in a completed trial, points out former CBI joint director Navneet Rajan Wasan.
The federal agency had arrested 46-year-old Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, from her Banjara hills residence in Hyderabad on March 15.
The tenures of three more officers -- Joint Director Arun Kumar Sharma, Deputy Inspector General Manish Kumar Sinha and Superintendent of Police Jayant J Naiknavare -- have also been curtailed, it said.
The judge said that permission for prior sanction to prosecute Asthana was not required considering the facts of the case.
A bench headed by Justice R Banumathi rejected the review plea filed by the CBI saying the last year verdict does not suffer from any error apparent warranting its reconsideration.
The court termed the offence as "grave" and noted that there were serious allegations about the involvement of public servants including the accused, who has been charged by the agency of being a part of an extortion racket being run in the garb of investigation.
The high court, which perused the material collected by the investigating agencies, said Kavitha was prima facie involved in the payment of kickbacks in various processes and activities relating to proceeds of crime and in the commission of the offence of money laundering.
