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'.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The government has further simplified tax procedures by reducing the number of returns filed by manufacturers for Excise Duties to a unified one-page return from October, 2003.
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.
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.
The toll due to consumption of spurious liquor in the Malad area of Mumbai climbed to 94 with the death of four more persons on Sunday.
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.
Sisodia was arrested after nearly eight hours of questioning on various aspects of the excise policy for 2021-22, which the probe agency says suffered from irregularities both in its formulation and implementation, allegedly intended to benefit people with links to the AAP.
The income-tax department continued its searches in different places linked to an Odisha-based distillery group on charges of tax evasion for the sixth consecutive day on Monday after recovering unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 353 crore, the 'highest-ever' haul in a single action by any probe agency in the country, officials said.
Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad Yadav's two of the most trusted senior IAS officers have been moved into departments held by the party patron's sons in the Bihar cabinet.
Shockingly, students of various schools and colleges were clients of Hyderabad drug peddlers.
The Maharashtra government plans to extend timings of the bar counters at star hotels especially to facilitate foreign tourists, a senior state excise official said.
'This is the biggest crisis Kejriwal is facing in his life.' 'If he is able to come out of this, then he will have a great future.'
Sisodia said the growing enthusiasm among the people of Gujarat in supporting the AAP in Gujarat was the reason behind the CBI action against him.
From small restaurants to mighty software companies, it is businesses, not the government, that create jobs. Yet, in a cruel irony, they have to fight extortive and brutal State power every step of the way, says Debashis Basu.
Customs and excise tariff reforms are still pending.
Goa's liquor stocks have begun drying up as distributors, wholesalers and retailers have resorted to an indefinite strike alleging harassment at the hands of the excise department.
Maratha activist Manoj Jarange on Wednesday suspended his indefinite fast, which he began five days ago over the quota issue, stating that his community members say they want him alive to fight for the cause.
"This year during the three days of Formula one, 1.15 lakh bottles of beer were consumed by the fans at various liquor outlets who had got licences for the event," said Kuldeep Yadav, District Excise Officer.
The Commissioner of Customs had confiscated the goods claiming that the body massagers could be used as adult sex toys and such items are prohibited for import.
These builders had collected the taxes from prospective buyers but had failed to deposit them.
I was offered Delhi CM's post or face jail term, Sisodia said.
Atishi along with Saurabh Bharadwaj was inducted into the cabinet following the resignation of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain after their arrest.
In one of the highest such compensations, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday granted Rs one crore financial assistance to the family of a Delhi police constable who was allegedly beaten to death by suspected liquor mafia in Ghitorni area of South Delhi last week.
The Delhi battlefield may not be a cakewalk for the Rhodes Scholar.
While recalling the order, the bench agreed to the contention of the law officer that there was a "breach of principle of natural justice" as the government department was not accorded the hearing.
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