People in distress, act fast or there might be riots, SC warns Centre

November 19, 2016

New Delhi, Nov 19: The Supreme Court warned on Friday that people standing in long queues for hours every day for scarce cash could turn riotous, as it asked the Centre to take urgent measures to end their ordeal.

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"It is a serious issue. This affects the entire population. You (the government) cannot deny there is a serious problem. There could be riots," a bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice AR Dave said, drawing a sharp retort from attorney general Mukul Rohatgi.

The bench also declined the Centre's plea to restrain all other courts and high courts from entertaining petitions challenging demonetisation and criticised thedecision to bring down the maximum amount that could be converted against the outlawed notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000.

The Centre argued that HCs taking up legal challenges would result in multiple litigations. The bench, however, said the pleas seeking the intervention of courts reflected the "distress".

Rohatgi replied, "There is no riot. People have supported the government's move to demonetise high value currency notes to flush out black money. There are political reasons that the issue is raised in this matter by the petitioners to fuel unrest."

The bench also criticised the government for reducing the daily cash exchange limit to Rs 2,000, after the court had asked if the limit could be raised from Rs 4,500.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners who have questioned the legality of demonetisation, seized upon the bench's remark about riots to criticise the Centre. "The government just did not have the capacity to print new currency notes. They should have taken this into account and taken steps to avoid putting people into untold harassment," he said.

"Daily labourers are not getting paid, tea garden workers are not getting their salaries, people in rural areas have to walk long distances to reach banks and ATMs only to be told that these have run out of cash. It is a serious situation. Transporters are suffering. Trucks are standing idle without cash. India is a cash-based economy and the government has hurt it badly by freezing cash circulation," senior advocate Kapil Sibal said in the Supreme Court on Friday. He was appearing for petitioners who have questioned the legality of demonetisation.

Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi said demonetisation was not the issue up for hearing on Friday. "The Centre has moved an application seeking an omnibus order from the SC to restrain all other courts and high courts from entertaining any petition on demonetisation. Let the SC decide the issue and let there not be multiple proceedings across the country," he said.

The bench refused. "The situation shows the kind of problem people are facing. They are distressed. So, let the petitions be filed. We cannot shut out people from going to courts to register their grievances. What can be done is transfer of all petitions to Delhi high court. But for that, the Centre has to file a transfer petition," it said. The AG said he would soon file a petition seeking transfer of the cases to Delhi HC.

Before this, the bench told the AG, "During the hearing on Tuesday, we had requested you to examine whether daily cash exchange limit could be raised from Rs 4,500. But the government has reduced it to Rs 2,000 a day now. Why? Is there short supply of currency notes, even Rs 100 notes? We do not understand this. The government promised in court to give relief to people but reduced the cash exchange limit."

The AG said the government at the highest level was monitoring the situation daily and coming out with steps to ease the situation. He said the cash withdrawal limit for farmers, firms and those having marriages in the family had been raised. "Steps are being taken keeping in view the situation, requirement and the capacity to print new currency notes. The queues have started reducing. Things will normalise soon," he said.

The court said it would take up the issue for further hearing on November 25.

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News Network
March 26,2024

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Hyderabad: The K Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi faces big questions as shocking allegations of state police officers tapping the phones of then Opposition leaders in Telangana, including current Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, celebrities and businessmen come to the fore.

The surveillance, it is alleged, was also used to blackmail businessmen into contributing huge amounts to the BRS party fund.

The BRS is yet to respond to the allegations.

Three senior police officers have been arrested in this connection and a lookout notice issued against T Prabhakar Rao, former chief of the state intelligence bureau, who is reportedly in the US now.

Police have said two senior officers - Additional Superintendent of Police Bhujanga Rao and Additional Superintendent of Police Thirupathanna - have admitted to illegal surveillance and destruction of evidence.

According to reports, Ravi Paul, a technical consultant with the state intelligence bureau under the then BRS government, had allegedly helped import and set up phone-tapping equipment near the residence of Mr Reddy to listen in on his conversations.

The equipment, it is alleged, was imported from Israel using a software company as the front. No permission from the Centre - a must for such imports - was taken, it is learnt. With this setup, anything spoken within a range of 300 metres could be heard, reports say.

Ravi Paul, it is alleged, set up an office near Mr Reddy's residence and installed the device. Police are set to question him in this connection.

Lookout notices have also been issued for Sharvan Rao, who runs a Telugu TV channel I News, and Radha Kishan Rao, a police officer with the city task force.

The surveillance was not restricted to Opposition leaders. Top businessmen, including real estate dealers and jewellers, and celebrities were also under surveillance. In fact, the tapping of phone conversations led to the divorce of a celebrity couple, reports say.

To add to the BRS's troubles, Chief Minister Reddy has received a complaint from Sharan Chaudhary, a businessman and a BJP leader, alleging that senior police officers kidnapped him last year and forced him to sign off a plot of land to a relative of former minister and BRS leader Errabelli Dayakar Rao.

Mr Chaudhury has alleged that Radha Kishan Rao and senior police officer ACP Umamaheswara Rao kidnapped him on August 21 while he was on his way to office. He has alleged that he was illegally detained and forced to register his property in the name of Vijay, a close relative of the minister. He was also forced to pay ₹ 50 lakh before they let him go.

The businessman has said he had approached the High Court after the incident, but Uma Maheshwar Rao threatened to file false cases against him and forced him to withdraw the petition.

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News Network
March 27,2024

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The Enforcement Directorate has filed a money laundering case against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena Vijayan, her IT company and some others to probe a case of alleged illegal payments made by a private mineral firm to her and the company, official sources said Wednesday.

The agency has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is expected to summon the people involved, the sources said.

The ED case has been booked after taking cognisance of a complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), an investigative arm of the Union corporate affairs ministry, they said.

The case stems from an Income Tax Department investigation that alleged that a private company called Cochin Minerals And Rutile Ltd (CMRL), made an illegal payment of Rs 1.72 crore to Veena's company-- Exalogic Solutions-- during 2018 to 2019, even though the IT firm had not provided any service to the company.

The Karnataka High Court had last month dismissed a plea filed by Exalogic Solutions against the probe initiated by the SFIO.

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News Network
March 16,2024

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New Delhi: The 2024 general election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases from April 19, Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar said today, announcing the largest democratic exercise in the world. Results will be announced on June 4.

The seven phases: 
April 19
April 26
May 7
May 13
May 20
May 25
June 1

Simultaneous election for Lok Sabha and assembly will be held in four states -- Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra.  

By-elections will also be held for 26 assembly seats across multiple states, including Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

Mr Kumar, announcing the dates, sent out a strong message on fake news on social media, saying political parties should ensure responsible social media behaviour -- "verify before you amplify".

"Fake news will be dealt with severely as per existent laws.. Section 79 (3)(B) of the IT Act empowers nodal officers in each state to remove unlawful content," he said.

The other strong message was on violation of model code in terms of hate speeches. "There should be issue-based campaign, no hate speeches, no speeches along caste or religious lines, no criticism of anyone's personal lives," he said.

The media must clarify when they carry political adverts, those cannot masquerade as news, he said. Individual messages regarding this would be sent to the candidates, he added.

The commission has employed 2,100 advisors to keep an eye on these issues and strong action will be taken regarding this, he said.

Voters above the age of 85 years and persons with disabilities, with 40 per cent disability can vote from home, Mr Kumar said. Around 82 lakh voter are above the age of 85, he said.

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