Courts Financial News

fiscal bias against Congress-ruled Karnataka and non-provision of funds, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday every penny due to the state is accounted for and was released on time. Speaking at an informal interaction organised by the Thinkers Forum here in the Karnataka capital, Sitharaman said, «The claim that Rs 5,495 crore as a special grant was not released for Karnataka is totally false. The Finance Commission, in its final report, did not recommend any such special grants.» «Under PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, 80 crore people all across the country and 30.5 lakh from urban Bengaluru get free rations at home every month. I want to flag those guarantees that we fulfilled to help the common people, especially the poor. In urban Bengaluru, 14.68 lakh Jan-Dhan accounts were opened as against 52 crore across the country,» the Union Finance Minister added.

Karnataka government has moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to release financial assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to the state for drought management. The petition has also sought to declare that the Centre's action in not releasing the financial assistance for drought arrangement as per the NDRF is «ex-facie violative» of the fundamental rights of the people of the state guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. It said the state is reeling under «severe drought», affecting the lives of its people and for the Kharif 2023 season, which starts in June and ends in September, a total of 223 out of 236 taluks are declared as drought-affected. The plea said 196 taluks are categorised as severely affected and the remaining 27 as moderately affected.

'maha rally' in the national capital's Ramlila Maidan on March 31, Gopal Rai announced on Sunday at a press conference. The minister urged all spiritual, business and political groups to join the public meeting as a protest against oppression by the ruling BJP and to safeguard the country. “By adopting dictatorship and ending the democracy in the country, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been arrested. There is anger in every person who loves and respects the Constitution and democracy. One by one, PM Modi is misusing the agencies to file fake cases against every opposition leader," Rai said.

Arvind Kejriwal, as reported by ANI. ANI further reported, “The first major meeting of the Aam Admi Party after the arrest of the party’s National convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal will be held at 11:30 am.

Atishi spoke on the directions she received from the Delhi CM and said that it brought tears to her eyes as Kejriwal showed concern for the people of Delhi despite his own plight. “When I read these instructions I had tears in my eyes. I thought, what is this person made of, who is not thinking about himself in such an adverse situation, but is thinking about the people of Delhi," Atishi said.

Arvind Kejriwal a day after the Delhi High Court dealt him a fresh blow, turning down the ruling AAP's request for an urgent listing of its plea against the former's arrest in the liquor policy case, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said on Sunday the ruling came as an affirmation that the action against him was consistent with the law of the land. Speaking to on Sunday, the BJP spokesman said, «Our courts believe that whatever happened (the action against Kejriwal) was absolutely according to the law.» On the HC striking down AAP's plea on behalf of Kejriwal, seeking 'immediate relief' from arrest in the liquor policy case, the BJP leader added, «He moved court saying that the granting of his custody to the ED (in the excise policy case) until March 28 was unlawful and he should immediately be granted relief (from arrest). However, the Delhi High Court refused an immediate hearing (as the AAP pleaded), and neither did it put a stay on any order passed earlier.»

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ALSO READ: 'Don't shout at me': CJI Chandrachud tells advocate during electoral bonds hearing "We live in times of social media where the work which we do is contently assessed. The Supreme Court of India has put all its important hearing on live streaming platform and we are watched all over the country. But we can also get trolled as a result of that," Chandrachud said.

₹2,471 crore to the BJP under the SBI electoral bonds scheme are facing probe by the CBI, ED and IT department. Moreover, most of the amount, nearly ₹1,698 crore was donated to the BJP after raids by these agencies, claimed civil society activists who challenged the poll funding scheme in the Supreme Court claimed on Friday.

Indian Express, Garg said the bank was not supposed to record the unique alpha-numeric numbers of the electoral bonds. "Doing so, it [SBI] had violated the anonymity promised to donors under the Electoral Bond Scheme, 2018," Garg was quoted as saying on Saturday. The bonds numbers can help match the purchasers of the bonds with the political parties that encashed them.

Congress has multiple bank accounts and just three-four of them have been attached, «not frozen», for non-payment of tax dues, the BJP said Saturday, accusing the opposition party of making misleading statements on the issue sensing its «imminent» defeat in the Lok Sabha poll. «These bank accounts have not been frozen, they are operational. You (Congress) can deposit money in these accounts and withdraw too, except Rs 125 crore, which has been attached by the Income Tax department due to the non-payment of dues as per Income Tax rules,» BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said. Referring to media reports, he said the Congress has about Rs 1,000 crore in its multiple bank accounts, opened with «multiple PAN» numbers in «violation of its own party constitution». The Congress also has a fixed asset of worth Rs 500 crore, the BJP leader claimed. He said the Income Tax Department has attached three-four bank accounts of the Congress due to the non-payment of outstanding Rs 135 crore as per rules.

Aam Aadmi Party leader and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said that if his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal is sent to jail, they will approach the court seeking permission to set up his office in prison to run his government from there. He also asserted that no one can take the place of Kejriwal in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). «It is not written anywhere that a government cannot run from jail,» Mann told PTI videos in an interview when asked about the arrest of the Delhi chief minister and AAP chief by the Enforcement Directorate in an excise policy case and how he will run his government if he is sent to judicial custody. The BJP has demanded the resignation of Kejriwal after he was remanded in ED custody till March 28.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the state government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding a direction to the Centre to immediately release grants under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to the state, which is reeling under acute drought. Accusing the Centre of sitting on Karnataka's pleas for release of funds though there is a severe drought, he said the state government was compelled to approach the apex court. «Today the Karnataka government filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court against the Centre after waiting for five months. Since there is vacation for a week in the Supreme Court, we did not get the endorsement. We expect it next week,» Siddaramaiah told reporters here. The petition was filed under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution to give directions to the Government of India to release NDR Funds immediately, which was supposed to be released by the Centre according to law, he explained.

Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday approached Delhi High Court against his remand order in connection with the money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy case. The Delhi CM has also been seeking an early hearing of his plea against his arrest, preferably by Sunday, PTI reported, citing sources. The AAP chief was on Friday remanded to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate for seven days i.e., till March 28, a day after he was arrested by the probe agency.

Arvind Kejriwal moved the Delhi High Court challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the money laundering case linked to the Delhi government's Excise Policy. The chief minister also challenged city court’s March 22 order remanding him to the ED's custody till March 28.

Gurugram court on Saturday granted bail to Bigg Boss OTT 2 winner Elvish Yadav in a case of assault against YouTuber Sagar Thakur alias Maxtern, said police. «The court heard the bail application and granted bail in the case. He will have to furnish a bail bond which would be submitted in the court,» said his counsel, Advocate Himanshu Yadav. The Gurugram Police had on Wednesday filed an application seeking a production warrant for Elvish Yadav, who was then lodged in Noida jail. Judicial Magistrate First Class Harsh Kumar had ordered Elvish to appear in court on March 27, but the Noida Police reached the Gurugram court along with Elvish on Saturday.

Arvind Kejriwal arrest news: The Opposition INDIA bloc seem to standing united against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Delhi excise policy case. Delhi Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit was among the first leaders to reach the residence of Arvind Kejriwal during ED raids and almost all senior leaders of INDIA bloc have slammed the actions of central agency ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024.

preventive detention is a draconian measure and any such move based on a capricious or routine exercise of powers must be nipped in the bud, the Supreme Court has set aside a Telangana High Court order rejecting a detenu's appeal. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Thursday said the essential concept of preventive detention is that the detention of a person is not to punish him for something he has done but to prevent him from doing it. «Inability on the part of the state's police machinery to tackle the law-and-order situation should not be an excuse to invoke the jurisdiction of preventive detention,» the bench also comprising Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra said. «Preventive detention being a draconian measure, any order of detention as a result of a capricious or routine exercise of powers must be nipped in the bud. It must be struck down at the first available threshold,» the top court said.

Rouse Avenue Court on Saturday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) remand of BRS MLC K Kavitha till March 26 in the Delhi Excise Policy case. She was produced in the court as her custody ended today. During the hearing, the federal agency's counsel said that it has statements of four people, forensic science report of her mobile confronted with the accused. The ED was seeking a further 5-day remand of K Kavitha. It informed the Court that searches are underway at her nephew Mekha Saran's residence.

Himachal government is on the ventilator…," he added. The political crisis was triggered in Himachal Pradesh a few months back when these candidates voted for the Rajya Sabha elections in 2024.

Delhi Liquor Policy case. Earlier during the hearing, the Court also allowed K Kavitha to meet her two sons and other family members in the courtroom, news agency ANI reported. Speaking to the media while leaving the courtroom, Kavitha said, “We are fighting.