Tag: CBI

Dalit outfits demand CBI probe into human excreta in TN water tank

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Chennai: The Vengaivayal incident in which human excreta was found in an overhead water tank supplying drinking water to a Dalit colony in Vengaivayal, Pudukottai district has become a blot on the Tamil Nadu government.
Even after the incident was reported on December 21, the culprits have not been brought to book. The Dalit outfits including the Dalit political party, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) have taken out several protest marches against this act.
The Tamil Nadu police interrogated several people, but the Dalit outfits said that the police was acting in a partisan manner and that some people belonging to the Dalit communities were asked to own up to the act.
M. Ilamurugu, president of Ambedkar Makkal Iyyagam, a Dalit outfit, had visited the Vengavayil Dalit colony along with S. Subbiah, a retired IAS officer, and interacted with all the 32 Dalit families in the colony.
After the interaction, Illamurugu called for a CBI inquiry into the issue and said that they have lost hope in the state government’s agencies.
The VCK has demanded the demolition of the overhead water tank in which human excreta was found. VCK leader and Member of Parliament, Thol Thirumavalavan has in a statement said that the overhead tank was a symbol of insult to the Dalits and it should be demolished.
In several rural areas of Tamil Nadu, there is even a two tumbler system where Dalits are given tea and coffee in separate tumblers.

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#Dalit #outfits #demand #CBI #probe #human #excreta #water #tank
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 2, 2023
Budget: Over Rs 946 crore allocated to CBI

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New Delhi: The Centre has allocated Rs 946 crore to the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Union Budget 2023-24 announced on Wednesday, a slight increase of over 4.4 per cent from FY 2023.
The country’s premier probe agency is over-stretched in terms of human resources to tackle emerging crime scenes, dominated by artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, darknet, and conventional crimes like bank fraud cases and ongoing high-profile extradition cases in courts abroad, in addition to criminal cases handed over by various states, High Courts and the Supreme Court.
The agency received Rs 911 crore to manage its affairs in the Budget Estimates for 2022-23, which was later decreased to Rs 906.59 crore in the Revised Estimates.
The Government has allocated Rs 946.51 crore to the agency for 2023-24, the Budget document presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday.
“The provision is for the establishment-related expenditure of the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is entrusted with investigation and prosecution in corruption cases against public servants, private persons, firms and other cases of serious crimes,” the Budget document said.
It also includes provision for various projects such as the modernization of CBI’s training centres, establishment of technical and forensic support units, comprehensive modernization and purchase of land/construction of office/residence, it said.
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#Budget #crore #allocated #CBI

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 1, 2023
Give CBI access to offshore accounts, SC suggests to Nirav Modi’s brother-in-law

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday suggested that Mainak Mehta, brother-in-law of fugitive Nirav Modi, should consider providing the CBI a letter of authority to access his offshore bank accounts.
The CBI has alleged that Mehta has received a large sum of money siphoned off in the PNB fraud scam, where Modi is the key accused. The investigative agency also alleged that Mehta transferred the money to his and his wife’s offshore bank accounts.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud suggested Mehta’s counsel that he can give the letter of authority to an official designated by the CBI for accessing the bank details and the matter will end, and if not, then the court will have to take up CBI’s plea and decide it.
The CBI’s counsel submitted that Mehta had refused to give the letter of authority and as a result, the agency had to get letters rogatory (LRs) issued. “No response on LR has been received. We have written to the embassy (in Singapore) to pursue it,” counsel said.
The CBI’s counsel further argued that they apprehend that a huge amount of money has gone into those accounts and Mehra is a foreign national and his wife is a Belgian national, and once he leaves the country, he will not come back. Mehta is a British national who lives in Hong Kong with his family.
Senior advocate Amit Desai, representing Mehta, submitted that his client has been in India for a long time and he had always co-operated and false allegations have been made by the CBI. He added that his client is willing to give the letter of authority but then he will have to stay in India for another year, and emphasised that his client should be allowed to go for some time.
The top court noted that allowing Mehta to travel out of the country would mean the dismissal of the CBI’s appeal without a hearing and added that the court cannot compel Mehta to give the letter of authority to the CBI. After hearing arguments, the top court listed the matter for further hearing on February 9.
The apex court was hearing CBI’s plea challenging the August last year order of the Bombay High Court which had allowed Mehta to travel to Hong Kong and stay there for three months.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 31, 2023
Narendra Dabholkar murder: CBI tells Bombay HC its probe is complete

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Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday informed the Bombay High Court that it has completed its probe into the 2013 killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, and submitted the report to the competent authority for its decision.
The submission came following a query by a division bench comprising Justices A.S. Gadkari and P.D. Naik, which asked whether the investigation into the murder of Dabholkar — who was shot dead in Pune on August 20, 2013 – was complete.
To this, the CBI counsel, Additional Solicitor-General Anil Singh, said that the investigating officer of the agency has already submitted to the concerned authorities that the probe is over and no further investigation is required.
On Singh’s request, the bench allowed three weeks’ time to the CBI to confirm whether its probe is over to enable the high court to decide whether it should continue monitoring the same.
Singh said that the CBI has carried out the investigation, and no further probe is needed, adding that the IO has also filed his report which is pending before the competent authority. So far, 15 out of 32 witnesses have been examined in the trial, which commenced in September 2021, Singh informed the court.
The court’s order came on a petition filed by Dabholkar’s daughter, who had sought a high court-monitored probe, contending that the CBI investigation was not satisfactory and it had left loopholes in its probe.
The founder of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), Dabholkar was gunned down while on a morning walk in Pune, allegedly by members of a right-wing group, Sanatan Sanstha.

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#Narendra #Dabholkar #murder #CBI #tells #Bombay #probe #complete
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 30, 2023
CBI books imposter posing as IAS officer in PMO

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New Delhi: The CBI has registered a case against one Ankit Kumar Singh for allegedly impersonating a secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) handling the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency and seeking favours from senior government officials.
The federal agency acted on a complaint from Assistant Director in PMO Anil Kumar Sharma, officials said.
The case has been handed over to the CBI’s Special Crime unit, headed by Joint Director Viplav Kumar Choudhry, who was awarded the President Police Medal for distinguished service on Republic Day, they added.
In its complaint, Sharma has accused Singh of claiming himself to be Dinesh Rao, a 1997-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Bihar cadre, and posted as a secretary in the PMO who looks after Varanasi district in Uttar Pradesh.
“His mobile number is 9454008098 and he is learnt to have contacted Prabhu Narayan Singh, District Magistrate, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, seeking favours for ‘his constituency’. Prima facie, it appears to be a case of impersonation as a PMO official since no official by this name is posted in this office,” Sharma said.
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#CBI #books #imposter #posing #IAS #officer #PMO

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 28, 2023
YSRCP MP Avinash Reddy appears before CBI in murder case

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Hyderabad: YSR Congress Party Lok Sabha MP from Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh Avinash Reddy on Saturday appeared before the CBI officials here in connection with the murder of Vivekananda Reddy, younger brother of late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in 2019.
The probe agency had earlier summoned him on January 24 but the MP sought more time, following which the CBI has given him a new date of January 28.
Sources said he was called as witness in the case.
Avinash is cousin of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The CBI had filed a charge sheet in the murder case on October 26, 2021 and followed it up with a supplementary charge sheet on January 31, 2022.
Vivekananda Reddy was the brother of Rajasekhara Reddy and uncle of Jagan Mohan Reddy. He was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula, the constituency now represented by his nephew, on the night of March 15, 2019, weeks before the State assembly elections.
The Supreme Court in November transferred the high-profile murder trial of Vivekananda Reddy to a special court in Telangana, after taking note of allegations by the deceased’s widow and daughter about influential people attempting to scuttle the trial in his home State.

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#YSRCP #Avinash #Reddy #appears #CBI #murder #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 28, 2023
SC asks CBI, Gujarat why they want activist Teesta Setalvad, her husband back in jail

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the CBI and the Gujarat government as to why they want to send social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand back in jail after they have been out for over seven years on anticipatory bail.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Abhay S Oka and BV Nagarathna said, “Question is how long can you keep someone in custody. Seven years have passed since anticipatory bail was granted. You want to send her back to custody.”
Advocate Rajat Nair, appearing for the CBI and the Gujarat government said some additional material needed to be placed before the court with regard to the cases and, therefore, four weeks time may be given.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Aparna Bhat, appearing for Setalvad and her husband Anand, said in one of the proceedings in which the CBI has come in appeal, anticipatory bail was granted following which a charge sheet was filed and after that regular bail was granted to her.
He said since a regular bail was granted, the appeal of the probe agency against anticipatory bail does not survive.
Nair said this had happened in one case but there are more than one case against her and requested the court to grant him four weeks to place additional material on record.
“A bench of two judges has referred this matter to a larger bench and has framed questions which need to be decided by this court,” Nair said.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing after four weeks.

Sibal submitted a note to the bench pursuant to the earlier direction giving details of issues as to which of the appeals survive for consideration and what is the subject matter to be decided as the passage of time may have taken care of some aspects.
The top court was hearing a batch of pleas filed by Setalvad, Anand, the Gujarat police and the CBI arising out of three FIRs lodged against the couple.
On March 19, 2015, the top court had referred to a larger bench the anticipatory bail plea of Setalvad and her husband in the case of alleged embezzlement of funds for a museum at Ahmedabad’s Gulbarg Society devastated in the 2002 riots and extended its interim order protecting them against arrest.
It had said the question that arises for consideration is whether liberty on the one hand and fair and effective investigation on the other make out a case for extending the benefit under Section 438 CrPC (anticipatory bail).
In 2014, an FIR was registered against them with DCP, Crime Branch, Ahmedabad, on charges of cheating, breach of trust and under the IT Act in a matter related to the construction of the “Museum of Resistance” in the Gulbarg housing society.
Teesta Setalvad and her husband, who were trustees of two trusts- ‘Citizens for Justice and Peace’ (CJP) and ‘Sabrang Trust’- were accused by Feroz Khan Saeed Khan Pathan of having raised a few crore of rupees as donation from certain donors from India and abroad after projecting to them the plight of the riot-affected people of Gulbarg Society.
The top court had noted in its order of March 19, 2015 that Pathan had alleged in his complaint that the couple entered into a conspiracy and promised the residents of the housing society they will build a museum in the honour of the 2002 riot victims. The court had also noted that the couple had asked the residents to not sell their properties in the housing society.
Pathan alleged the couple neither built the museum as promised nor spent the amount for the benefit of the members of the Gulbarg Society nor did they fulfil the assurance made to the victims regarding the sale of their properties.
In the second case, the CBI has moved the apex court against grant of anticipatory bail to Setalvad and her husband in a case where they have been accused of misusing foreign funds.
The probe agency has alleged that a company floated by the couple-Sabrang Communication and Publishing Pvt Ltd (SCPPL)- had received Rs 1.8 crore from US-based Ford Foundation allegedly without the mandatory approval of the Centre.
It has sought cancellation of their anticipatory bail claiming the Bombay high court had erred in giving them the relief after prima facie finding that provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) had been violated.
In the third case, the Ahmedabad police had moved the apex court against the April 5, 2018 order of the Bombay High Court by which the couple was protected from arrest in an FIR registered on March 31, 2018 for allegedly securing central government funds worth Rs 1.4 crore “fraudulently” for her NGO Sabrang Trust between 2010 and 2013.
According to the Gujarat police, the funds were obtained for a project launched in some districts of Maharashtra and Gujarat to help the victims of the 2002 post-Godhra riots but were misappropriated or used for other purposes.
The couple has denied all the allegations made in the FIRs which are being probed by Gujarat police and the CBI.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 25, 2023
CBI summons Jagan’s MP cousin in Vivekananda murder case

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Amaravati: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Kadapa MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy for questioning in his uncle and former Andhra Pradesh minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy’s murder case.
Avinash Reddy, a cousin of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, has been asked to appear before CBI officials in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MP, however, is reported to have conveyed his inability to appear on January 24 due to his busy schedule in Pulivendula and has sought another date. He assured the central agency that he will fully cooperate with it in the investigation.
The CBI served the notice on the day when it conducted search at the offices of Avinash Reddy and his father Bhaskar Reddy.
Vivekananda Reddy, uncle of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, was found murdered at his residence in Kadapa on March 15, 2019, a few days before the election.
The 68-year-old former state minister and former MP was alone at his house when unidentified persons barged in and killed him. He was killed hours before he was to launch YSR Congress Party’s election campaign in Kadapa.
Though three Special Investigation Teams (SITs) conducted the probe, they failed to solve the mystery.
The CBI took over the investigation into the case in 2020 on the direction of Andhra Pradesh High Court while hearing a petition of Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Sunitha Reddy, who raised suspicion about some relatives.

The CBI filed a charge sheet in the murder case on October 26, 2021 and followed it up with a supplementary charge sheet on January 31, 2022
In November, 2022, the Supreme Court transferred to a CBI court in Hyderabad the trial and probe into the larger conspiracy behind the murder. The apex court observed that doubts raised by Sunitha Reddy about getting a fair trial and investigation in Andhra Pradesh were reasonable.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 24, 2023
SC dismisses CBI appeal against bail to Maha ex-minister Anil Deshmukh

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New Delhi: In a major relief for former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the CBI’s appeal challenging the Bombay High Court order granting bail to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader in a corruption case.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices V Ramasubramanian and JB Pardiwala noted that Deshmukh has also been granted bail in the related money laundering case.
The top court said it was not inclined to entertain the Special Leave Petition against the grant of bail by the high court to Deshmukh.
“Since the observations in the impugned order of the High Court are confined to the question as to whether the respondent was entitled to the grant of bail, we clarify that these observations shall be construed only for that purpose.
“In other words, the observations shall not affect the merits of the trial or be pressed in any other collateral proceedings. The Special Leave Petition is accordingly dismissed,” the bench said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the CBI in the matter.
The CBI, in December last year, approached the apex court challenging the Bombay High Court order granting bail to Deshmukh in the graft case.
The high court had on December 12 granted bail to the 73-year-old NCP leader but said the order will be effective after 10 days, as the Central Bureau of Investigation sought time to challenge it in the apex court.

The high court had said except for dismissed police officer Sachin Waze’s statement, none of the others recorded by the CBI indicated money was extorted from bar owners in Mumbai at the behest of the politician.
In its plea filed in the top court, the probe agency has claimed the high court committed a “grave error” in granting bail to Deshmukh disregarding the serious objections raised by the probe agency both on the merits of the case as well as the effect his bail will have on the continuing investigation.
“The high court failed to appreciate that economic offences are required to be treated as a separate category of offences and bail in such offences is not required to be granted as a routine matter.
“Usually, socio-economic offences have deep-rooted conspiracies affecting the moral fiber of the society and causing irreparable harm, need to be considered seriously,” it said.
The CBI claimed the high court failed to appreciate that the charge sheet filed by the agency does not merely rely on the statement of Sachin Waze, an accused-turned-approver, but is also based on other material evidence which establishes the commission of a cognisable offence by Deshmukh.
“The High Court failed to appreciate that ascertaining veracity or otherwise of any statement of a witness is a matter of trial and the statement ought not to have been discarded at the stage of deciding on the grant of bail to the respondent,” it said.
The agency claimed, “The High Court failed to appreciate that the version of Sachin Waze, accused-turned-approver, is corroborated by WhatsApp chats exchanged between Param Bir Singh (PW (prosecution witness)-30) and Sanjay Patil (PW-24) to the effect that money collected from the bar and orchestra owners was at the instance of the respondent (Deshmukh).”
It said the high court committed an “error” in holding that the evidence in the form of testimony of Waze cannot be the ground to prolong Deshmukh’s custody.
The CBI said in its plea also contended that the high court also failed to appreciate that despite demitting the office of the home minister of Maharashtra, Deshmukh holds “considerable clout” in the state.
“There is every likelihood that he will command his authority by virtue of his high-level political associations and connections. Thus, grant of bail to the accused respondent would be detrimental to the morale of already named witnesses and would be an impediment for prospective witnesses to come forward,” it said.
As an interim relief, the CBI has sought an ex-parte stay on the high court order pending hearing of the plea filed in the apex court.
Deshmukh had earlier approached the high court after a special CBI court rejected his bail plea.
The veteran politician was in jail since November 2021, after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case. He was later arrested by the CBI in the corruption case.
Former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh had in March 2021 alleged that Deshmukh, the then-home minister, had given a target to police officers to collect Rs 100 crore per month from restaurants and bars.
Former assistant police inspector Waze, arrested in the ‘Antilia’ bomb scare case of March 2021, too, had levelled similar allegations.
The high court had in April 2021 directed the CBI to carry out a preliminary inquiry. The CBI, based on this inquiry, registered an FIR against Deshmukh and others for alleged corruption and misuse of official power.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 23, 2023
CBI court in Jammu ‘closes’ Yasin Malik’s right to cross-examine witnesses

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Jammu: A special CBI court on Monday closed banned JKLF chief Yasin Malik’s right to cross-examine a prime witness after he refused to do so through video conferencing.
Currently serving a life sentence in Delhi’s Tihar Jail for terror funding, Malik had demanded that he should be allowed to cross-examine witnesses physically in the Jammu court.
CBI counsel Monika Kohli said that when the judge asked Malik on Monday whether he would like to examine V.K. Sharma, a prime witness in the case, he refused and reiterated that he would like to physically question Sharma in court.
“Following his refusal to cross-examine Sharma through virtual mode, the court closed his right to cross-examine Sharma,” Kohli said.
It must be mentioned here that the prime witness Sharma had identified Malik before the examiner-in-chief of the court as well as the CBI as one of the militants involved in the January 25, 1990 killing of four IAF personnel on the outskirts of Srinagar.
Kohli informed the court that the Union Home Ministry had passed an order barring Malik from moving out of Tihar jail for one year from December 22, 2022 because of pending NIA cases against him.
Malik has been charge-sheeted in the case along with six others. The charges were framed against the accused in 2020, 20 years after CBI filed the charge-sheet before a designated TADA court in Jammu.
While four IAF personnel were killed on the spot, nearly 40 others were injured in that firing incident.

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#CBI #court #Jammu #closes #Yasin #Maliks #crossexamine #witnesses
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 23, 2023