A special court in Mumbai on Saturday remanded ICICI Bank's former CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) till December 26 in connection with alleged cheating and irregularities in loans sanctioned by the bank to Videocon Group companies. The Kochhars were arrested by the probe agency on Friday night after a brief questioning session. The CBI has alleged that they were evasive in their response and did not cooperate in the investigation.
Today, in big cases when bail applications are about to come up for hearing, TV reports are shown which are very "damaging for the accused who has filed the bail application", he said.
The Congress on Wednesday cancelled its four marathon races listed this week and also decided not to hold any big rallies in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh amid rising cases of the novel coronavirus infection.
The Congress leadership, though, has insisted that "all is well" in Punjab, despite the turmoil caused by the resignation of Sidhu and other leaders.
Although the pact would focus mainly on the Pacific and the South China Sea region, any action designed to deter China with or without New Delhi's active participation is a welcome move, notes Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Venugopal said today people believe that they can 'boldly and brazenly condemn' the Supreme Court of India and its judges by exercising their freedom of speech, but under the Constitution, the freedom of speech is subject to the law of contempt.
The Yuan Wang 5 can easily monitor the Indian coast while operating in international waters. She does not have to enter a port in Sri Lanka to fulfill this mission, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Woman lawyer Suman Pattanayak was also recommended as a judge of the Orissa high court by the collegiums on July 25, a statement said.
Sources said the leadership of the government going forward, if Gehlot is elected as party chief, is likely to be on the meeting agenda.
The leader, who has been sulking for some time now due to repeated denial of election tickets, said he would convene a meeting of his supporters next month to announce his decision on whether or not he will stay with the Congress.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was questioned for over 10 hours by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper and was called to depose again on Tuesday, as his party protested across the country, alleging that the Centre was targeting the Opposition by misusing agencies.
While Tharoor declined to comment on whether he would throw his hat into the ring, he has written an article for Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi calling for a "free and fair" election.
The Congress on Saturday made a stunning comeback in Karnataka ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party from its lone southern citadel with a comfortable majority in a morale booster win that will be key for reviving its electoral fortunes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
If they will allow I will speak inside the parliament, the Wayanad MP said.
Tagging a tweet on the organisational changes by the party in Tamil Nadu, Karti Chidambaram tweeted, "These jumbo committees serve no purpose. 32 VP, 57 GS, 104 Secretaries. None will have any authority which means no accountability."
The top law officer was of the view that the "prima facie" conduct of the chief minister and his principal advisor was 'contumacious', but declined consent saying Reddy had sent the letter to Chief Justice of India S A Bobde who was seized of the matter.
Senior party leaders stressed that no one except the Gandhi family can hold the party together, the party will disintegrate and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should be given command after 2024.
The former Union minister asserted that an objective analysis of the political situation will lead to the conclusion that the Congress has to be the "pole" around which Opposition unity in the 2024 Lok Sabha election can be built.
'My view hasn't changed because the silence of the Supreme Court of India on matters of other's personal liberty cannot go uncriticised'
A group of 72 former civil servants has sought Attorney General K K Venugopal's intervention to advise the government to check the witch-hunt of people exercising their right to free speech by the police.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury accused the ruling dispensation of resorting to diversionary tactics.
Opposition members in the Lok Sabha have moved 92 amendments on the motion of thanks on the President's address, while those in the Rajya Sabha have moved 80 amendments.
Chanda Kochhar, who was arrested for a cash-for-loan scam on Friday, was once a powerful banker and instrumental in making ICICI Bank the country's biggest private sector lender. Kochhar, a regular feature on Forbes top global honchos lists, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) along with her husband Deepak Kochhar in connection with alleged cheating and irregularities in loans sanctioned by ICICI Bank to Videocon Group companies. Kochhars were called to the agency headquarters and arrested after a brief questioning session. Her chapter at ICICI Bank ended abruptly in 2018 when the board of directors approved a request from Kochhar to seek early retirement following allegation of corruption and quid pro-quo while extending loans to the now bankrupt Videocon Industries.
Noting that the nation got freedom from the British through 'andolans' (protests), he said by that logic Mahatma Gandhi should have been the biggest 'andolanjivi'.
The Congress steering committee on Friday approved several amendments to the party constitution, one of which is to give permanent membership to former prime ministers and former party presidents in the all-powerful working committee.
The assembly session comes days after the top leadership of the Congress announced the return of Pilot and 18 other dissident MLAs to the party-fold. Referring to Pilot's open rebellion while addressing the legislators, the CM asked them to 'forget what has happened'.
Pilot said he has worked hard for bringing the Congress to power in Rajasthan and hoped the party would fulfil its promises made to the people.
The temple authorities reportedly decided to withdraw the umbrella from display after leaders of the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist raised an objection.
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said they will pose three questions a day to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue.
Gehlot later told reporters that the Congress high-command will decide on the reshuffle and AICC general secretary in-charge of Rajasthan Ajay Maken has all the information about it.
After a three-and-a-half-hour meeting, which was stormy at times, the Congress Working Committee, the party's highest policy making body, authorised incumbent chief Sonia Gandhi to schedule the internal elections after the conclusion of assembly polls in five states due to be held in April-May.
In his remarks at the rallies, Pilot has cornered the Gehlot government over issues such as the repeated paper leaks and political appointments of retired bureaucrats while sidelining party workers.
Sources said the process was stuck since Rahul Gandhi is not willing to contest the election for the post of Congress president, although all the efforts to convince him are still going on.
Criticising the court may also lead to interference in the course of justice, the bench added.
The Congress party will have an elected president by June 2021, with the party's working committee on Friday approving holding the internal election after the assembly polls.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the operation of a Delhi high court order holding as "unconstitutional" the imposition of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) by the Centre on import of oxygen concentrators by individuals for personal use. A special bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah issued notice on the plea and sought response from the petitioner, who filed a PIL before the high court.
The cross-country foot march stayed in the news almost right through, mostly for the barbs between the BJP and the Congress and occasionally for other reasons, including infighting in the opposition party.
At the same time, Sonia Gandhi does not want to hold the post due to health reasons and Rahul wants a non-Gandhi should hold the post in place of Sonia.
The Centre on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that China has made a huge build-up in the Tibet region and the Army needs broader roads to move heavy vehicles up to the India-China border to avoid a 1962 war-like situation.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi also decided to convene a 'Chintan Shivir', a brainstorming session from May 13-15 in Udaipur.
