Tag: Maha

Maha governor’s resignation proposal: Congress demands President sack Koshyari

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Mumbai: The Congress on Monday demanded Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who has expressed the desire to quit, be sacked by the President and not allowed to quit while the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction took a dig saying “better late than never”.
The Congress and NCP, both members of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) along with Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faction, also said Koshyari should have written to the President to discharge him of all responsibilities if he believed the position of the governor is Constitutional and not political one.
Koshyari, who has been in the line of Opposition fire over his remarks on Chhatrapati Shivaji and shared a tumultuous relationship with the Opposition, on Monday said he has expressed a desire before Prime Minister Narendra Modi to quit the post.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole alleged when MVA was in power (from November 2019 to June 2022), Koshyari’s conduct and mentality as the governor was to break the Constitutional order.
“Instead of writing a letter to the President to whom the position of governor is connected, Koshyari wrote a letter to the Prime Minister. He should not be relieved of his responsibilities but sacked from the post,” Patole told reporters.
He alleged Koshyari made objectionable statements against icons like Chhatrapati Shivaji, Savitribai Phule, Jyotiba Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar and has turned the Raj Bhavan into a Bharatiya Janata Party office.
He said the Congress has been insisting on the removal of the governor over his controversial statements but the BJP was in agreement with the governor’s opinion.
“We request the President that the governor should be expelled. Do not let him go voluntarily,” he added.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and spokesperson Arvind Sawant said Koshyari cannot be absolved of his extra-Constitutional acts.
Sawant questioned the basis on which the governor had administered the oath to an “extra-Constitutional” chief minister, a reference to CM Eknath Shinde, last June.
“It is better late than never,” Sawant said.
NCP spokesperson Clyde Crasto tweeted, “Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra Mr. Bhagat Singh Koshyari ji surely knows that the position of a Governor is constitutional and not political. If he believed so, he would have written to the Hon’ble President of India to discharge him of all his constitutional responsibilities”.
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#Maha #governors #resignation #proposal #Congress #demands #President #sack #Koshyari
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 23, 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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#dismisses #CBI #appeal #bail #Maha #exminister #Anil #Deshmukh
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 23, 2023
Thackeray-Ambedkar ‘unity’ rattles Maha politics; MVA lauds, BJP trashes

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Mumbai: Ending two months’ political suspense, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) entered into a brand-new ‘Shiv Shakti-Bhim Shakti’ alliance here, coinciding with the 97th birth anniversary of the late Balasaheb Thackeray, on Monday.
Uddhav, 62, ex-Chief Minister and son of Balasaheb Thackeray, and Ambedkar, 68, the grandson of the Chief Architect of Indian Constitution Dr B. R. Ambedkar, jointly made the formal announcement of the new political tie-up intended to electrify the state political scenario, with plans to fight the upcoming BMC civic elections.
Addressing the media, Thackeray recalled how his grandfather, Keshav Sitaram, alias Prabodhankar Thackeray, and Ambedkar’s grandfather Dr B.R. Ambedkar were good friends and had followed the ideology of ‘Desh Pratham’ (Nation First).
“We are now coming together to safeguard the nation and raise the concerns of the masses. We will take decisions on the next political courses in due time,” said Thackeray.
Declaring that the BJP is trying to finish off political leadership with the help of central agencies like the ED, Ambedkar forecast that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership will end soon”, and the ‘Shiv Shakti-Bhim Shakti’ tie-up will work to save the Constitution and Democracy.
Thackeray claimed that the new partnership has been discussed beforehand with the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies comprising Congress-Nationalist Congress Party-Sena (UBT), while Ambedkar expressed the hope that the MVA would soon accept the VBA.
The duo – Thackeray, flanked by senior leaders like MPs Sanjay Raut, Arvind Sawant and ex-minister Subhash Desai, and Ambedkar, accompanied by state president Rekha Thakur and Mumbai chief Abul Hassan Khan – expressed confidence that the new force would prove beneficial in dethroning the Bharatiya Janata Party and would work in tandem with other political parties.
Confirming that Thackeray had discussed the partnership with Ambedkar, Congress state President Nana Patole welcomed the new ‘Shiv Shakti-Bhim Shakti’ alliance saying it will help the Opposition parties’ ambitions of dislodging the BJP in the state and Centre.

NCP leader Anil Deshmukh also welcomed the Sena (UBT)-VBA tie-up saying all parties have a right to make their alliances.
Sena (UBT) Chief Spokesperson Raut pointed out that the ‘Shiv Shakti-Bhim Shakti’ experiment had been carried out in the past and “it was the desire of the late Balasaheb Thackeray that these two forces should unite in the state”.
Asked what will be the impact of the tie-up in the upcoming civic polls, Ambedkar said it will work with other MVA parties, “will succeed and emerge victorious”.
In his first reaction, Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena (BSS) leader and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed his ‘good wishes’ to the new entity, while the ally and BJP’s leaders like Union Minister Narayan Rane and state President Chandrashekhar Bawankule trashed it saying it will make no difference to the party.
Criticising the tie-up, Rane asked ‘where is the Shiv Sena’ and ‘what has Ambedkar done for Dalits’, while Bawankule predicted that the alliance will not last long.
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#ThackerayAmbedkar #unity #rattles #Maha #politics #MVA #lauds #BJP #trashes
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 23, 2023
Remission programme: 189 Maha jail inmates to be released on R-Day

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Thane: A total of 189 convicts will be released from prisons across Maharashtra, including three from Thane Central Jail, on Republic Day as part of the Union government’s special remission programme to mark 75 years of Independence, an official said on Sunday.
The three inmates from Thane are undergoing jail terms for attempt to murder and other crimes, he added.
“The special remission programme will see some prisoners being released on January 26, 2023 and August 15,2023 for good conduct while serving their sentences. A total of 189 inmates from Maharashtra will be released,” he said.
The prisoners are selected on the basis of age, time spent in jail, disabilities, health etc, he added. Thane Central Jail has 4,569 inmates, including 132 women, while 52 are above the age of 70 and 386 below 20 years.
The capacity of the jail is, however, just 1,105, officials here pointed out.
The prisoner count includes 30 Bangladeshis and an equal number of Nigerians, they added.
The total number of jail inmates in Maharashtra stands at 43,090, as per official data.

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#Remission #programme #Maha #jail #inmates #released #RDay
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 22, 2023
Maha: Anti-terror mock drill draws ire over ‘terrorists’ shouting slogans

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Chandrapur: A police mock drill in a temple in Chandrapur in Maharashtra landed in controversy after the personnel posing as terrorists were allegedly shouting slogans connected to a particular community.
A group of lawyers has submitted a memorandum to the district police authorities on the issue, while Superintendent of Police Ravindrasingh Pardeshi on Sunday said all efforts would be taken to ensure such an error is not repeated.
The mock drill, which was conducted on January 11 at the renowned Mahakali Temple here, enacted a scene in which a group of terrorists took over a place of worship and held devotees hostage before being apprehended by security forces.
“Videos of the drill showing the personnel who played the part of terrorists in the mock drill shouting particular slogans. This portrays one community in a negative light and makes one believe all terrorists are from this community,” said Farat Baig, part of lawyers’ group here.
“We have submitted a memorandum to the office of the district SP against such sloganeering and portrayal. This act of the police amounts to defaming a community. Obviously, the script of the mock drill must have been overseen by the SP and other senior officials,” Baig said.
When contacted, SP Ravindrasingh Pardeshi said his department will “take necessary steps to ensure such an error is not repeated”.
The mock drill was carried out by personnel from the local police, the Anti Terrorism Squad, the specialised combat unit C-60, among others, officials said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Siasat Desk and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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#Maha #Antiterror #mock #drill #draws #ire #terrorists #shouting #slogans
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 22, 2023