The choice that bypasses several other senior government leaders is likely to set a stage for another round of tussle between the AAP dispensation and the LG Secretariat.
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.
The syndicate used "stooge" bank accounts and shell companies to transfer the largest amount linked to a single case recorded in the city, the Customs and Excise Department of Hong Kong said.
In a major goof-up, the Maharashtra government has appointed two senior officials to the top post in Excise Department, raising questions over coordination among various concerned departments.
Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia walked out of Tihar Jail after 17 months behind bars on Friday and said he got bail due to the power of the Constitution and democracy, and this same power will ensure the release of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The Aam Aadmi Party led by its chief minister designate Atishi staked claim to form a new government in Delhi on Tuesday shortly after Arvind Kejriwal resigned from the post, an effort seen as a bold gambit to seize the initiative ahead of assembly elections due in five months.
Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the same case and later by the CBI which was probing corruption charges, stepped out after spending 155 days in Tihar jail. The AAP supremo, who was earlier granted three-week interim bail in the ED case, was given a resounding welcome by his party leaders and supporters who were drenched in heavy rain. Addressing party workers from the top of an SUV, Kejriwal, sporting a half-sleeve blue shirt, raised 'Inquilab Zindabad' and 'Vande Mataram' slogans.
Steel makers in Punjab has termed the excise duty demand raised by the central excise department as unjustified and has sought intervention of the chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs in the matter.
Officials said the agency may ask the chief minister about the policy formulation process especially of the "untraceable" file which was earlier slated to be put before the Council of Ministers.
Atishi will have a brief tenure in office as assembly elections in the national capital are due in February.
The AAP national general secretary (organisation) said Kejriwal asked him to convey to the party MLAs to go door to door in their areas and meet people to understand their concerns.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights with the Association of Voluntary Action, also known as Bachpan Bachao Andolan, led the crackdown at Som Distillery on Saturday, a release stated.
Sisodia said nothing was found against him during searches, and he would continue cooperating in the investigation.
The actor-turned-politician has been allotted Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Environment, Forests, and Science and Technology portfolios.
A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said the world body 'hopes' that in India and any country that is having elections, people's 'political and civil rights' are 'protected' and everyone is able to vote in a 'free and fair' atmosphere.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday that he would resign after two days and sought early polls in the national capital while vowing not to sit in the chief minister's chair till people give him a 'certificate of honesty'.
Police have detained the father of a 17-year-old boy allegedly involved in a car accident that killed two persons in Maharashtra's Pune city, an official said on Tuesday.
A senior excise official said that his department will now seal the bar and seize the stock.
The bench said the report submitted by the special judge indicates that he has 29 cases with him. In many cases, the trial has begun while in many others the trial is yet to begin.
An embarrassed Central Excise Department on Tuesday hastily withdrew notices sent to four Bharatiya Janata Party offices demanding service tax on prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rallies after angry reaction from the main opposition party which questioned the government's motive.
In a fresh twist to the row over an upscale Goa bar which the Congress has linked with Union minister Smriti Irani's daughter, the district administration has issued a notice to the local village panchayat seeking relevant documents in response to a complaint alleging the outlet was built illegally.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
From the time he first rose to prominence during the movement against the then UPA government, Arvind Kejriwal has regularly grabbed headlines for his surprise moves and decisions. Here are 10 such instances.
Kejriwal has been asked to be present at the agency headquarters at 11 am to answer queries of the investigating team.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who has been part of several landmark Supreme Court judgements such as scrapping the electoral bonds scheme and upholding abrogation of Article 370, will be sworn in as the 51st Chief Justice of India on Monday.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh suspended seven excise officials and six policemen, officials said.
With Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal having been sent to judicial custody till April 15 by a city court in connection with the excise policy case, buzz over his replacement intensified even as his party leaders asserted that he will continue to head the government no matter how long he stays in jail.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has sacked Excise Minister Jamshed Ashraf, who had accused him of covering up a multi-crore scam in his department.
In a relief to two-wheeler major Hero Honda Motors, a tax tribunal has ruled in favour of the company in a case filed by the Excise department for alleged duty evasion to the tune of Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million).
High drama was witnessed during the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet meeting on Saturday with ministers Jagat Negi and Rohit Thakur leaving midway following a 'heated debate' over policy decisions, sources said.
In a furious post on his blog, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Tuesday slammed the Congress for allegedly using the Excise Department to impose a tax on the mammoth rallies addressed by the saffron party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
The bench has divided the hearing on Kejriwal's petition against his arrest into two parts. His main petition challenges his arrest by the ED and seeks it to be declared as illegal, while the second aspect pertains to grant of interim bail keeping in mind the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. The court has reserved the order on the issue of grant of interim bail.
"We have raided and destroyed poppy crops in 24 acres of land under the Imamganj police station," Omprakash Singh, a senior official of the Excise Department, told rediff.com. Singh said the Maoist had cultivated opium to make money for their illegal activities and continue their operations against the police.
In an interaction with PTI editors at its headquarters in New Delhi, Baniwal also said no distinction is made in the treatment meted out to the inmates and it is ensured they get the same basic right.
The Bharatiya Janata Party also slammed Kejriwal's continuation as the chief minister of Delhi despite being under arrest, saying it is the most unfortunate moment in the country's political journey and the worst kind of politics.
A court in New Delhi on Friday extended by five days the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia who has been arrested in a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy.
At least 22 people died and seven others were taken ill after consuming spurious liquor in several villages of Mubarakpur area, leading to suspension of six policemen on Friday on charges of laxity.
The Election Commission has deployed 36 observers for monitoring the flow of illegal cash and other inducements during the upcoming assembly polls in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura. The officials have been deputed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (Income Tax department) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (Customs and Excise department) and will act as Election Expenditure Observers, a senior Revenue department official said.
The seizure of liquor has been a matter of concern for the EC since it apprehends that the liquor might be used to influence the voters.
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