In a relief to Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and former minister for industries Murugesh Nirani, the Supreme Court Wednesday protected them from arrest in a case pertaining to alleged forgery over withdrawal of approval for a parcel of land in the state.
Karnataka Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde said the need to obtain sanction from a competent authority to prosecute public servants in cases of corruption is weakening the fight against corruption in the country.
The bill was passed without discussion as the Opposition had staged a walkout over the alleged scam in the Teachers' Eligibility Test.
Bringing corruption into the heinous crime category, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved official amendments to an anti-graft legislation enhancing the penalty under it to a maximum of seven years imprisonment from the present five years.
Sources said that Langa and an unidentified employee of the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) have been booked on the charges of theft and under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Normally, it is required by the CBI to complete an investigation within one year of registration of a case.
The Jammu and Kashmir high court has directed the state government to enact laws providing for confiscation of wealth and properties raised through corrupt practices while terming corruption as a "hydra-headed monster" eating into the vitals of economic and social fabric.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) faced criticism from the Supreme Court for filing a "half-baked" reply in a bail matter related to the Chhattisgarh liquor scam. The court expressed dissatisfaction with the situation, questioning the accountability of the ED and its advocate-on-record. The ED's additional solicitor general, S.V. Raju, attributed the error to a miscommunication and assured the court that a departmental inquiry would be initiated.
Union Steel minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife have been booked in a two-year- old corruption case by the Himachal Pradesh vigilance bureau, triggering an angry response from the veteran Congress leader who saw it as an act of political vendetta by the Bharatiya Janata Party regime.
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was summoned as an accused in a coal block allocation case, but the Supreme Court intervened and stayed the directive. Singh, a renowned economist and politician, questioned the absence of mandated sanction for prosecuting public officials and denied any wrongdoing in the coal block allocation. The Supreme Court's decision highlights the complexities of government functions and criminal prosecution in cases involving public officials.
'Presumption of innocence must guide all formal actions, but transparency must not be mistaken for pre-judgment.' 'The cruel irony, however, is that Justice Varma is a fine judge who enjoys a reputation for writing well-reasoned judgments.'
If suitable action is not taken in corruption cases, it becomes normalised in society, the prime minister said. When a generation sees that a corrupt person in the family is let off without or very little punishment, their courage to indulge in corrupt activities grows manifolds, he said.
The incident occurred when both leaders attempted to board the van carrying Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, but were stopped by security guards.
Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on the issue of granting of sanction for prosecution of public servants, saying it has "simplified the issue" in graft cases lodged under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Terming the ruling as a "victory for the Constitution and the war against corruption", Swamy said it has also "empowered all of us who are fighting against corruption."
The Supreme Court of India has criticized the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for focusing solely on its own fundamental rights while pursuing a money laundering case related to the Nagrik Apurti Nigam (NAN) scam in Chhattisgarh. The court questioned the agency's attempt to transfer the case to New Delhi, noting that the agency's petition under Article 32 of the Constitution is typically reserved for individuals seeking redressal for fundamental rights violations.
Issuing notice to the ED on the plea filed by the Tamil Nadu government and Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih told Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the anti-money laundering probe agency, that "Your ED is crossing all the limits."
The Grand Alliance of four opposition parties -- Telugu Desam, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India Marxist -- who have decided to make the alleged corruption of the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy-led Congress government the main issue in the coming assembly elections, on Friday demanded that the chief minister be prosecuted under the Prevention of Corruption Act. A delegation of the Grand Alliance leaders met Governor N D Tiwari.
With two of the accused turning approvers, the Central Bureau of Investigation will soon file a chargesheet against Sarabjot Singh, son of National Commission for Scheduled Castes chairman Buta Singh, in a case of alleged corruption.Sarabjot was arrested on July 31 last year for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs one crore from Nashik-based contractor Ramrao Patil for closing a case pending against him before the Scheduled Castes panel headed by his father.
Sources said Babu, during the recording of his statement last week in Delhi, has "denied" knowledge of involvement of any ED officer vis-a-vis the VACB case, saying he "only" knows a person named Wilson.
Justice Brijesh Sethi held that the 2018 amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act relating to Section 13 (1)(d) would not come to the rescue of the acquitted accused in this appeal.
Seventeen years after the cash-at-judge's door case rocked the judiciary, a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Chandigarh on Saturday acquitted former Punjab and Haryana high court judge Nirmal Yadav and four others in the matter.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in India has declared that cash and gold worth approximately Rs 52 crore, seized from an abandoned SUV in Madhya Pradesh last year, belonged to former state transport department constable Saurabh Sharma. The ED's statement ends months of speculation about the ownership of the seized assets and comes as part of an ongoing investigation into corruption charges against Sharma. The agency has also attached assets worth Rs 92.07 crore belonging to Sharma and his associates, alleging they were acquired through illegal means.
The council of ministers discussed the showcause notice, and alleged that it was a "gross misuse of the constitutional office' of the governor and said that a concerted effort is being made to destabilise a lawfully elected majority government in Karnataka for political considerations.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Jayalalithaa on Monday demanded that former Union information technology minister A Raja be arrested and charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act for the 2G spectrum scam, saying his resignation was "only the beginning" and the case should be investigated threadbare
The anti-corruption unit of the Central Bureau of Investigation also searched the residences and offices of those engaged in supplying materials for the management and care of patients.
The CBI has closed a case against former Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav and others over alleged corruption in the appointments of general managers after the central government refused to grant its sanction to prosecute him, officials said. The agency had booked Jadhav, then general manager L P Nakhwa (now retired), and then additional general managers A Kathpalia, Amitabh Singh and Rohit Bhasin after a year-long preliminary enquiry, they said. It was alleged that Jadhav had constituted illegal/irregular promotion panel to recommend suitable candidates for promotion to the post of general manager (operations), they said.
The court quashed charges against them under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
'How can an Indian match referee allow this Indian replacement? Match officials should be independent to prevent bias.'
'There's no transparency in work (of the Wakf Board), in property transactions (of the Waqf).'
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to grant interim bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a corruption case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the alleged excise policy scam.
Prem Thakkur, the Indian owner of Lanka T10 Super League team Galle Marvels, has been arrested by police here on match-fixing charges
The CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry in 2016 which was later converted into a regular case, they added.
The Delhi L-G V K Saxena has approved a recommendation for a probe under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Satyendar Jain in a graft case related to CCTV installation in the city.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday ruled out his resignation, following the Governor granting sanction to prosecute him, in connection with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam', and said he had done no wrong to step down.
According to Registrar General of the high court, B N Karia the vigilance cell investigated the case and filed a first information report in the case of corruption.
India is working closely with Belgium to extradite fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who was arrested in Antwerp on Saturday based on a formal request from the Indian government. Choksi is wanted by Indian probe agencies in connection with a Rs 13,500-crore bank loan fraud case involving the Punjab National Bank (PNB). His nephew, Nirav Modi, is also facing extradition proceedings in the UK.
Robert Vadra, brother-in-law of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the third consecutive day on Thursday for questioning in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in a 2008 Haryana land deal. The ED has been investigating Vadra in connection with a land deal in Haryana's Manesar-Shikohpur, where a company he was a director of purchased land from Onkareshwar Properties and later sold it to DLF for a significantly higher price. The case has been embroiled in controversy since 2012, with allegations of corruption and nepotism surrounding the deal. The ED is expected to file chargesheets in all three cases being investigated against Vadra.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday linked opposition parties coming together against the Bharatiya Janata Party to his government's campaign against corruption, and asserted that the clampdown on graft will continue without being hindered by "false allegations".
Robert Vadra, the brother-in-law of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the second consecutive day on Tuesday in connection with a 2008 land deal in Haryana linked to a money laundering case. Vadra, who was accompanied by his wife Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, was questioned for about five hours and his statement was recorded by the ED. The session will resume on Wednesday. Vadra has termed the ED action "political vendetta." The probe against Vadra is linked to a land deal in Haryana's Manesar-Shikohpur, where a company named Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd, of which Vadra was a director, purchased a 3.5-acre land in 2008. The company later sold the land to realty major DLF in 2012, which led to controversy after an IAS officer cancelled the mutation, deeming the transaction as violative of state consolidation Act and related procedures.
Officials said the three others who have been arrested are Ghosh's security guard Afsar Ali (44), and hospital vendors Biplav Singha (52) and Suman Hazara (46) who used to supply material to the hospital.
