Courts Financial News

ED on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the trial court judge was in a «hurry» and did not afford a reasonable opportunity to the prosecutor to oppose Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's bail in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise scam. The federal probe agency said the June 20 order of the trial court granting regular bail to Kejriwal was «perverse» for non-compliance of prerequisite mandatory conditions under section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). A vacation bench of Justice Manoj Misra and Justice SVN Bhatti took on record the Enforcement Directorate's reply affidavit filed in Kejriwal's plea challenging the interim stay granted by the Delhi High Court on June 21. The bench also allowed Kejriwal to withdraw his plea after senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for him, said he would file a substantial appeal as the high court has pronounced the final order on June 25, staying the bail order.

Sebi had alleged that Chandra was trying to stop the investigation because he did not respond to the 12 January summons.Chandra argued that Sebi's summons contained allegations couched in a language that implied he was guilty and requested the court to declare the summons invalid and unlawful.He alleged that the summons were biased, unfair, arbitrary and predetermined.Senior counsel Ravi Kadam, appearing for Chandra, stated that the documents called for in the annexed summons will be made available in four weeks.The bench disposed of the matter on Wednesday.In January, Sebi issued multiple summons against Chandra in its investigation pertaining to the alleged fund diversion case. However, Sebi said that Chandra did not respond to those summonses."From a fair reading of the summons, it is apparent that Sebi has already predetermined the petitioner as guilty at the investigation stage itself, without following due process, principles of natural justice, ongoing investigation is nothing but a sham and a formality," the petition by Chandra said.Separately, Janak Dwarkadas, senior counsel representing Zee informed the court that the regulator had issued similar summons to the company.

In yet another case of labour trafficking, an Indian-American couple has been sent to prison by a US court for forcing their relative to work at their gas station and convenience store for over three years, after bringing him to the United States under the pretense of helping him enroll in school.

Krisumi Corporation is set to invest Rs 2000 crore in Phase 3 & Phase 4 of Krisumi City, comprising 1051 luxury units in Sector 36A, Gurugram, Haryana. This significant investment is in addition to the land cost.

Delhi BJP on Wednesday said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was bound to be arrested by the CBI in the excise policy case as the agency had presented incriminating documents against him in court. The documents presented before the court in the excise policy «scam» established that Kejriwal was the «mastermind» behind it. The excise policy was formulated under his supervision and a «big scam» was committed, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva told PTI Videos. There was no immediate reaction from Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on his arrest by the CBI or the BJP's claims. Earlier in the day, a Delhi court allowed the CBI to formally arrest Kejriwal in the alleged excise scam.

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday congratulated Om Birla on being elected the Lok Sabha speaker and said he hoped that actions like suspension of MPs would not be taken as they hurt the dignity of the House. Yadav said he also hoped that Birla would be impartial towards the opposition and give its leaders equal opportunity.

Bandhan Employees' Welfare Trust, which is in the midst of a storm following agitations by a section of its members against Bandhan group founder Chandra Shehar Ghosh for alleged irregularities in running the trust, has termed the agitation «baseless and motivated, with an ulterior motive» and is planning to seek legal intervention on the matter. Chairman of the Trust said tha Ghosh ceased to be a part of it following the formation of Bandhan Bank in 2015. «Neither Bandhan Bank nor Mr Ghosh has any interest whatsoever in BEWT. It’s an employee welfare trust managed by the employees themselves. None of the promoter or promoter group entities have any interests or say in the functioning of the trust,» BEWT chairman Ronendra Chowdhury said.

Infosys has been hit by another lawsuit over a cyberattack on US subsidiary Infosys McCamish Systems (IMS) in November last year. Kelly Collins, the plaintiff, filed the case in May in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, as per a court document seen by ET. Infosys had disclosed the cybersecurity incident at IMS on November 3, 2023. On March 6, a class action complaint was filed against IMS by another individual, John McNally.

Two years ago, the British government decided to spend big to outsource a migration problem. To deter migrants seeking asylum from illegally entering the country, it announced a radical plan: Those smuggled on makeshift dinghies to British shores would be sent to Rwanda, a small country in central Africa, where they would remain. The U.K.

visa fraud. According to a Reuters reports,the three-judge panel unanimously determined that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is not immune from the 2020 lawsuit, as it had entered into contracts with the students to provide educational services. The lawsuit's lead plaintiff, Teja Ravi from India, claims he paid $12,500 to enroll at the "University of Farmington" in Michigan, an institution set up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a division of DHS, in 2016 to entrap illegal visa brokers. According to DHS, Ravi and others paid the school for fraudulent immigration documents. Ravi allegedly left the United States before DHS could arrest him.

Arvind Kejriwal in the courtroom and asked it to place on record the material that they have for his arrest. Kejriwal was produced before Special Judge Amitabh Rawat. During the proceedings, the CBI sought court's permission to interrogate Kejriwal in the adjoining room so that CBI can proceed with his formal arrest.

Arvind Kejriwal in an alleged money laundering case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has intensified its scrutiny. This move comes as the CBI interrogated Kejriwal at Tihar Jail on Tuesday, where he has been held since his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21. The CBI is now set to approach a Delhi court to seek custody of Kejriwal on Wednesday. According to news reports by India Today, as told to them by sources, the CBI may arrest Arvind Kejriwal and demand his custody. A vacation bench led by Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain granted the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) application to halt the bail order issued by the trial court on June 20. The court criticized the trial judge for what it described as a rushed decision without fully examining the extensive material provided by both parties, calling it «perverse.»

Supreme Court is set to hear Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea today on June 26. The plea challenges the Delhi High Court’s decision to stay the earlier bail granted to Aam Aadmi Party chief by the trial court in connection with the Delhi liquor policy caseThe case is under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Indian-American couple to prison for coercing their relative to work at their gas station and convenience store for over three years by bringing him to the United States on the pretext of helping enrol him in a school. Harmanpreet Singh, 31, was sentenced to 135 months (11.25 years) in prison and Kulbir Kaur, 43, to 87 months (7.25 years) by the court that also asked them to pay the victim, his cousin, USD 225,210.76 (Rs 1.87 crores approximately) in restitution. The couple has since divorced. «The defendants exploited their relationship with the victim to lure him to the United States with false promises that they would help enrol him in school,» Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has pleaded guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that secures his liberty and concludes a drawn-out legal saga that raised divisive questions about press freedom and national security. The plea was entered Wednesday morning in federal court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an American commonwealth in the Pacific that is relatively close to Assange's native Australia and that accommodated his desire to avoid setting foot inside the continental United States.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was freed by a court on the U.S. Pacific island territory of Saipan on Wednesday after pleading guilty to violating U.S. espionage law, in a deal that will see him return home to Australia. During the three hour hearing, Assange pled guilty to one criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defence documents but said he had believed the Constitution's First Amendment, which protects free speech, shielded his activities.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is finally a free man. He walked out on bail from a UK jail after reaching a plea deal that will have him plead guilty in a US court on a single charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose national security secrets, in lieu of relief on other counts. He won’t have to face further jail time in the US, as he has already served longer than what the punishment entails.

Jeong Sang-ho, CEO of Delio, faced intense scrutiny in the second criminal trial held at the Seoul Southern District Court on June 25, where he said investors’ deposits were not “principal protected.”

Bar Association Srinagar, president Mian Qayoom on Tuesday in connection with conspiracy pertaining to murder of advocate Babar Qadri in 2020. The officials informed that Qayoom was summoned for questioning by the State Investigation Agency officials and later detained for sustained interrogation in connection with the murder. The officials claim that they have collected «substantial evidence against Qayoom, who has emerged as a primary suspect in the case.» However, the SIA or J&K police are yet to issue a formal statement confirming his detention or arrest. Qadri, who had shot to prominence for his participation in high pitched TV debates on the situation in Kashmir, was shot dead at his residence in Hawal area of downtown Srinagar by unknown gunmen posing as potential clients, on September 24, 2020. The killing took place at a time when he had just launched a party of his own and posted videos on social media criticizing J&KHCBA Srinagar of which he was a member as well. His membership was suspended following the floating of his own party.

Delhi High Court on Tuesday stayed a lower court's last week's order granting bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case. Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain observed that the lower court judge granted the bail «without going through and appreciating» the material brought on record by the Enforcement Directorate, «which reflects perversity in the order». Commenting on the lower court's observation that it need not dwell into voluminous documents pertaining to the case, the high court said: «It is not understandable that on one hand, the vacation judge has expressed her inability to go through the entire documents stated to have been running into thousands of pages… and on the other hand, how… (she) has mentioned that relevant arguments and contentions raised on behalf of the parties are dealt with».

Arvind Kejriwal in relation to the Excise Policy case. CBI also got permission for Arvind Kejriwal's production before the concerned trial court tomorrow. He will be produced before the court tomorrow, reported news agency ANI. Earlier during the day, the Delhi High Court stayed the trial court order granting him bail in the money laundering case arising from the alleged excise scam, holding that the lower court did not «appropriately appreciate» the material placed before it by the Enforcement Directorate. A vacation bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain said the ED's contentions assailing the bail order required serious consideration.