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Rahul needs to know of Mahatma Gandhi and Capitalists

Ashish Shukla
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Rahul needs to know of Mahatma Gandhi and Capitalists

For all his piety, love and reliance on non-violence and ahimsa, it’s one of history’s indisputable facts that Mahatma Gandhi relied heavily on Indian capitalists’ funds to keep the Congress going in pre-Independence days.

Today, when we hear Rahul Gandhi shriek “Suit-Boot ki sarkar” as a barb to Narendra Modi and his NDA government, it seems so improper given the financial diet which kept Congress on its feet in the pre-1947 era.

B.R. Nanda, a contemporary and a pre-eminent biographer of Mahatma Gandhi admits in his book: “In Search of Gandhi..,” that two thoughts dominated his early years in India in 1920s: “One, that capitalists kept Congress and Gandhi flush with funds…and as quid pro quo, Gandhi astutely checked the revolutionary aspect of his struggle against the Raj to suit the vested interests of the capitalists.”

The experience of “Deshbandhu” Chittaranjan Das was a bitter testimony to such a belief. Subhas Chandra Bose was a disciple of Das. In the latter’s biography “Brothers against the Raj,” hugely acclaimed author Leonard A. Gordon writes thus (condensed for brevity):

In 1920, Gandhi promised “Swaraj in one year” as he gave a call for civil disobedience. The call was a massive success. When on November 17, the Prince of Wales arrived in Bombay, Calcutta was completely shut-down by protestors. Around India, some 25,000 Congress workers were arrested. Congress was declared unlawful. Thousands more now poured into British jails, including Das and Subhas Bose. But when the British offered a proposal of roundtable meeting, Gandhi rejected. Das was angry with Gandhi. In Das’ own words:

“I myself led people to prison. I started the movement in Bengal. I sent my son first to jail. My son was followed by m wife, and then I went to prison…I knew that the spirit of resistance that manifested itself was mighty and the proudest Government did bend to it. You (Gandhi) bungled it and mismanaged it. Now you turn round and ask people to spin and do the work of Charka alone.”

In 1922, the Chauri Chaura incident happened. The Congress working committee met and suspended the planned civil disobedience. Peasants were instructed not to withhold rent payments from landlords, who were informed that the Congress `in no way intended to attack their legal rights.’

Writes Gordon: “The Congress…when ending many non-cooperation activities and calling off the planned civil disobedience action, opposed rent strikes by peasants against their landlords. The Congress wanted and needed the support of the wealthier strata in society and was not willing to challenge economic vested interest.” (emphasis mine).

“He (Subhas Bose) was possibly the author of a leader for Bangla Kathajournal of 7 February 1923 which read: `The Swaraj which the Congress had so long knowingly or unknowingly wished to have, is the Swaraj of the rich and middle class. We do not always properly realize the fact that the masses of the country are still lying outside the Congress arena.”

Among the historians and observers, there is a stream of thought which believes that civil disobedience and non-cooperation movements, burning of foreign clothes etc, directly benefited India’s own Capitalists. Another though premises that due to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, which announced the arrival of Communism on the world stage, Indian capitalists were fearful of a similar outbreak of resistance among its own workers. It was in their interests that such revolutionary methods were kept in check and Congress, being the leading party, alone could do it.

The above details are not to suggest a conspiracy between Congress and Capitalists. But personal interests perhaps guided both. Congress was close to bankruptcy when Gandhi arrived on the Indian scene. All it could do was to hold its’ annual sessions. It badly needed money and Gandhi proved to be a brilliant fund-raiser. It’s not to doubt Gandhi’s integrity or his commitment to his idea of India. Nor is to say that a few Indian capitalists were not genuinely inspired by Gandhi’s religious and political ethos. Both needed each other in those turbulent years.

But when Rahul Gandhi today accuses of Modi government siding with the Capitalists, it appears as such a sham. He needs to go to libraries and read books to know more about his own Congress and its affiliation with capitalists.

As Maratha agitation turns violent and opposition adds fuel to fire, Devendra Fadnavis faces a mammoth task

OpIndia Staff
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As Maratha agitation turns violent and opposition adds fuel to fire, Devendra Fadnavis faces a mammoth task

The Maratha agitation in Maharashtra, that has been erupting repeatedly in recent times has turned violent this year. Yesterday in Pune’s Chakan, dozens of vehicles were set ablaze and vandalised by the uncontrollable mob. Section 144 has been imposed and wide deployment of police personnel is to be seen in Pune, Mumbai, Aurangabad and many other parts of the state.


As per recent developments, a 35-year-old man has committed suicide in Aurangabad, traffic has been disrupted on highways and there have been numerous incidents of stone pelting, arson, vandalism and mob violence. Members of the Maratha Kranti Morcha, the group that is believed to be spearheading the protests, have reportedly set private and government vehicles ablaze and reportedly have caused local commuters to be stranded and take shelter.

On Saturday, CM Devendra Fadnavis had held an all-party meeting to discuss the matter. he stated after the meeting that he had asked colleges to be co-operative with Maratha students on issues of scholarships and admissions. He added that though there was a law framed for Maratha reservation it has been stayed by the Bombay High Court and reservation can only be given after the recommendation of the Backward classes commission.

This agitation is reportedly the 59th Maratha agitation so far. Last year in Mumbai, lakhs of Marathas had assembled and protested. The Marathas have been demanding reservations in educational institutions and government jobs for quite a while now.

In 2014, the Congress-NCP coalition government had recommended a 16% reservation for Marathas under the ‘economically and socially backwards’ category but it was stayed by the Bombay High Court 5 months later as the total reservations were exceeding 50%. The Fadnavis government had even brought a new bill for granting them reservation by the case is sub-judice in the Bombay High Court. As for their other demands, after last year’s reservations, the Fadnavis government had agreed to grant 5 crores rupees for building special Maratha hostels for students in every district, have increased the number of courses eligible for scholarships from 36 to 605 and had taken other significant steps like increasing the maximum annual family income for eligibility of student scholarships to 6 lakhs from 1.5 lakhs previously.

According to a report in the Economic Times last year, a survey by the University of British Columbia in 20006-2007 reportedly revealed that the Marathas were the majority caste in 41% of the villages, they own the most land in 59% of the villages in Maharashtra and hold the position of village Pradhan in 60% of the villages where they are eligible to contest.

Even the socio-economic condition of the Marathas are widely regarded as affluent in the state. They form almost a third of the 13 crore population in Maharashtra and according to a report in the New Indian Express, they own the most land in the state. The Marathas reportedly own 86 of the 105 major sugar factories in the state, have control of  55% of the educational institutions, 70% of all the cooperative bodies in the state. 12 of the 18 former Chief Ministers in the state have been Marathas.

While the Kunbis, an associated farming caste is included under the OBC category in the state that enjoys 19% reservation in admissions and jobs, three previous committees by central governments have concluded that the Marathas cannot be included in the OBC category. Last year after the agitations, the Fadnavis government agreed to provide them scholarships and other educational financial assistance at par with OBCs.

The Maratha demand for a 16% reservation has put the Fadnavis government in a complex situation. The state is poll-bound next year and CM Devendra Fadnavis face the responsibility of effectively convincing a large chunk of his voters while ensuring that in the process, he does not upset other groups of voters. While the government’s hands are tied till the commission of backward classes takes the final decision and the matter at Bombay High Court reaches to its conclusion, his smart handling of the farmers’ protests and other major stirs in the state provides hope that he will handle the Maratha agitation expertly too.

However, members of the opposition are trying their best to fan caste base unrest in the state and have repeatedly referred to Fadnavis’ caste derogatorily in a bid to fan tensions. Here Sanjay Nirupam of the Congress can be seen referring to CM Fadnavis’ caste to further tensions already brewing in Maharashtra.

The NCP and Congress bigwigs have also been fanning tensions demanding reservation and insinuating agitation if the demands are not met. This is interesting since the previous governments of the NCP and Congress also couldn’t meet this demand.

Other states like Gujrat, Haryana and Rajasthan have also seen demands for caste-based reservations in recent times. While Haryana faces protests by Jats, Gujrat has seen wide-spread and violent protests by the affluent Patidar (Patel) community in recent past. All the above-mentioned protests have been hijacked by the opposition parties one way or the other with the aim of destabilising the government and the Maratha agitation too is prone to that. Whatever the outcome, it is evident that CM Devendra Fadnavis has a very difficult task ahead.

NIA raids residence of separatist Asiya Andrabi following her arrest for waging war against India

OpIndia Staff
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NIA raids residence of separatist Asiya Andrabi following her arrest for waging war against India

The National Investigation Agency on Monday raided the Srinagar residence of separatist leader and Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Asiya Andrabi, The Hindu has reported.

As per an NIA official, the team had arrived at her 90-Feet road residence early morning. The report though claims that they failed to search the house or seize any material as there was no male individual present inside at their time of arrival.

A Tribune report quoted NIA officials as denying any sort of a raid taking place and instead claimed that they paid a visit to “verify certain facts which cropped up during their investigation” against her. An official has been quoted as saying that hoisting of a Pakistani flag had cropped up while they were investigating the matter, and the team, as a result, paid a visit to verify certain facts.

Incidentally as reported in March, Andrabi had hoisted the Pakistani flag at an undisclosed location and reportedly claimed that all Muslims in the Indian subcontinent were Pakistanis by default. Though it isn’t clear whether this is the incident referred to by the NIA official.

Such a “raid” at her residence comes after an FIR was filed against her on 27 April where she was charged with sedition, criminal conspiracy, waging war against the country, inciting riots and promoting enmity between communities. The remand application of the NIA reportedly also accused Andrabi’s organisation of being in touch with Pakistani associates, including terrorists.

The FIR also stated that they had extensively campaigned against India and published numerous materials that resulted in hatred and contempt towards the country. It also alleged that Asiya Andrabi and her associates were running a terrorist organisation Dukhtaran-e-Milat, with the support of Pakistan.

She and two of her associates namely Sofi Fehmeeda and Naheeda Nasreen were sent to a 10 day NIA custody following which they have been sentenced to a 30-day judicial custody at the Tihar Jail.

Congress IT cell member who enjoyed the ‘full support of Congress’, arrested for sexual harassment

OpIndia Staff
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Congress IT cell member who enjoyed the ‘full support of Congress’, arrested for sexual harassment

Delhi Police have arrested Congress IT cell member Chirag Patnaik on complaints of sexual harassment filed by a former employee. According to reports, Patnaik was arrested under sections 354A and 509 late last night. He later was released on bail.

The victim had filed an FIR against Patnaik on July 3rd. The victim, who was a former member of the Congress social media team managed by former actress Divya Spandana. Delhi Police have reportedly stated that Patnaik was brought to the North Avenue police station.

The victim, a former employee of the Congress social media team had alleged that Patnaik had repeatedly sexually harassed and misbehaved with her. She had stated in her complaint that she had even brought the matter to the notice of Divya Spandana, but Divya, allegedly, instead of taking action, ignored the issue and had reprimanded the victim on the pretext of bad performance in work.

BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi had discussed the issue in a press conference and had urged the Delhi Police to take appropriate action. The victim had alleged that the accused Patnaik was a key aide of Divya Spandana and Divya had mentally harassed the victim after learning of her complaint. The victim had also stated that she was forced to resign due to hostile behaviour and unsupportive working environment.

Divya Spandana, in her response, had stated that she had not received any complaint from the victim and her team ‘fully supports’ Patnaik over the issue. She had shared a letter with the signatures of her team members declaring that they do not believe the allegations of harassment brought forward by the victim based on their previous experience of working with Patnaik.


The victim, in an interview to mynation.com, had stated that Divya Spandana’s inquiry over the issue was a sham and she had not even received any response from the AICC grievance redressal committee and Congress President Rahul Gandhi on her complaint filed. She had also asked that how can the inquiry be fair when two signatories from Divya’s letter were members of the very committee that is probing the incident.

A week prior to the complaint against Patnaik, NSUI President Fairaoz Shah was also accused of sexual harassment and demanding sexual favours in exchange for desired political posts.

The Wire’s lack of editorial standards is just as apparent as their latest lie

Nupur J Sharma
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The Wire’s lack of editorial standards is just as apparent as their latest lie

On Saturday night, in response to ‘hackers’ who were talking about the security threat that Aadhaar poses, TRAI chief RS Sharma published his Aadhaar number online and challenged the hackers to prove what harm they could do. What followed was netizens going back and forth, and the hackers, seemingly publishing publicly available data as data hacked using Sharma’s Aadhaar number.

The Wire too decided to jump in the fray by publishing an article which spoke about a host of issues that deserve to be spoken about in the light of the recent string of events with respect to the TRAI chief giving out his Aadhaar number publicly.

In the article headlined “By Revealing His Aadhaar Number, the TRAI Chairman Has Opened a Can of Worms”, listed how a host of information like mobile number and RS Sharma’s Whatsapp image was “leaked” by the “hackers”. It then added an update to the string of “personal information” that was outed. The update read – “Apparently someone has ordered a OnePlus 6 for the chairman, via Amazon, cash on delivery”.

This assertion was also reiterated by The Wire when they tweeted Pahwa’s article.

The Wire article, to evidence how unsafe Aadhaar is asserted that someone had ordered a OnePlus 6 for RS Sharma from Amazon on a cash on delivery (CoD) basis.

However, when one checks Amazon, one realises that firstly, CoD is not available for payments above Rs 30,000 and specifically, CoD is not available for OnePlus 6 either.

One of the lowest priced OnePlus 6 on Amazon is priced at Rs 34,999.

When one goes to Cash on Delivery option, it says the CoD option is not available for this product.

The reason provided is that the ‘Pay on Delivery’ option can only be used for orders less than Rs. 30,000.

It is evident that nobody could have possibly ordered a OnePlus 6 mobile phone for RS Sharma from Amazon on a Cash on Delivery basis as asserted by The Wire.

It is no surprise, however, that such a shoddy assertion would be pass editorial muster at The Wire. The publication is known to peddle half-truths and whole lies as a force of habit with a long list to their credit. The Wire, which is being sued for defamation often publish articles that read like Hurriyat press statements. Their article has in the past incited violence. They were recently slammed by the CBEC for peddling fake news. They were blamed by a stand-up comedian for spreading lies in his name. Have peddled ‘data’ from dubious organisations. Was slammed by cricketer Mohammad Kaif was bringing caste into cricket. Has a video series that regularly obfuscates. Its journalists are abusive trolls and people who share communally sensitive fake news. They have in the past tried to rationalise the 1993 bomb blast. Conducted a hit job against Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Defended Chidambaram’s 20:80 gold scheme that benefitted private players like scamster Mehul Choksi. The Wire is a portal where the Editors tell their journalists to not out “Dalit activists” who heckled her. Where their contributors are accused of sexual harassment and their journalist’s conduct drove a female journalist to commit suicide. They had shamelessly compared the Indian Army General to General Dyer. 

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had shared The Wire’s comprehensively debunked hit job on Piyush Goyal with some caustic comments without realising his self-goal perhaps. He is no stranger to self-goals too. In fact, not so long ago he had done exactly the same when we at OpIndia has preemptively busted an imminent hitjob against the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley. After our article, ‘The Wire’ had conceded that “there was not much of a story to pursue after all“, which is why they had dropped the story after receiving a response from Jaitley and his daughter’s firm. Mr Rahul Gandhi had then proceeded to plug the very article where ‘The Wire’ had admitted to no impropriety on the part of Arun Jaitley, in a bid to tarnish his image. We had then also speculated whether Rahul Gandhi actually knew of the imminent hitjob. They had conducted a hit job against Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah hitjob which was debunked by us comprehensively and the portal responsible for that hitjob is facing a 100 crore defamation suit, in which the court has already mentioned that a prima facie case exists against the portal. They had also recently conducted a hit job against Amit Shah which was debunked by us.

It is apparent that The Wire’s editorial standards are near absent. After all, it is run by an Editor who had earlier shelved the Robert Vadra land scam story for 7 months for no good reason. This latest lie is just a reflection of their integrity.

After Assam, BJP wants to publish National Register of Citizens in Bengal

OpIndia Staff
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After Assam, BJP wants to publish National Register of Citizens in Bengal

On the day the final draft of the National Register of Citizens, which identified 40 lakh potentially illegal immigrants in Assam was published, the BJP Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh said that if the BJP is voted to power a similar National Register of Citizens will be published for Bengal. Extending support to the publication of draft, Ghosh said those politicians were shedding ‘crocodile tears’ as they are wary that their vote bank politics would come to an end.

BJP General Secretary in charge of West Bengal, Kailash Vijayvargiya reportedly extended support to the idea and said there should be a similar effort to ‘identify illegal migrants from Bangladesh in West Bengal’ and claimed that the number could run into crores. BJP supported the demand saying that the youth in Bengal is facing issues like unemployment and law and order because of illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

The TMC and Congress have been vocally opposing Assam government’s decision to expose illegal immigration in the state. Following the publication of the draft, the TMC’s MP Sougata Roy gave an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha, which was followed by an uproar by the party’s MPs, which subsequently led to an adjournment till 12 PM. One of its leaders also alleged that this decision would have “serious ramifications on the demography” of the states adjoining Assam.

Subsequently, in a press conference, TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee also plunged into the matter by claiming that people having Aadhaar cards and Passports too have not been included in the list. She further alleged that people have been excluded on the basis of their surnames and questioned whether the government was carrying out a forceful eviction.

She also claimed that people are being isolated via a game plan to throw out Bengali speakers and Biharis, and questioned as to where would these 40 lakh non included citizens go. She also alleged that this exercise was vote politics by the BJP.

The Congress party in Assam too has expressed its opposition by claiming that 40 lakh exclusions are too high and surprising. It thus alleged that the BJP had a political motive behind the NRC. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge too has termed the exclusion to be wrong.

Congress mouthpiece accepts Bofors was a scam

OpIndia Staff
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Congress mouthpiece accepts Bofors was a scam

Congress mouthpiece National Herald, which itself has been embroiled in controversies, today, in a move to try and save Congress’ prime ministerial candidate for 2019 elections Rahul Gandhi’s face after the Rafale goof up in the Parliament, on Sunday published a story with the headline: Rafale: Modi’s Bofors.

Congress mouthpiece National Herald accepting Bofors was a scam

We had earlier written how Rafale deal is not a scam unless Congress has dreamt one up, the fact that the publication effectively owned by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi referred to Bofors as a scam, says a lot. Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi are promoters of Young Indian which had purchased loans of Rs. 90 crore owed by Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the company which publishes National Herald. The said loan was advanced to AJL by Indian National Congress/All India Congress Committee. We had earlier covered how the Gandhis had tried to thwart the Income Tax’ investigation into the National Herald case. Congress had also earlier reportedly threatened tax officials with legal consequences for asking “irrelevant questions” during their investigations.

What is the Bofors scandal?

The Indian Government under Rahul Gandhi’s father, Rajiv Gandhi’s leadership had finalized a $1.5 Billion deal with Swedish arms manufacturer Bofors in order to acquire 410 field howitzer guns. It was the largest defence deal in Sweden till date and like everything which looks too good to be true, it ran into problems. Allegations of bribery surfaced and it was reported that Indian Politicians and officials received kickbacks for the deal.

Ottavio Quattrocchi, who was a close friend of Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi, was reported as the main middleman in the deal. Its reported that Quattrocchi’s influence in the government was so high that Indian bureaucrats used to stand up when he visited them. This Quattrocchi connection among others ensured that Rajiv Gandhi got directly embroiled in the scam that eventually contributed to him losing the election in 1989.

After years of denying, Congress mouthpiece National Herald finally accepted that Bofors was a scam. Twitter users were highly amused by this affirmation.


While their Rafale assertions couldn’t be more wrong, Congress finally admitting that the Bofors deal was a scam is certainly a cause to celebrate. Maybe next they can clear the air on Congress’ involvement in the 1984 Sikh genocide? Apologise for the ‘when a big tree falls the Earth shakes’ comment? Or perhaps clear the air about the alleged National Herald scandal?

Congress has been erroneously alleging that Rafale is a scam. By that standard, the only logical conclusion is that they are admitting that Bofors was too. And if they want to claim that Bofors wasn’t a scam and Rajiv Gandhi was innocent, national herald must mean Rafale isn’t either, thereby contradicting Sonia and Rahul Gandhi’s position. So which is it?

Bengaluru: Miscreants tried to steal a cow, flee leaving the trapped cow dying with its legs tied

OpIndia Staff
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Bengaluru: Miscreants tried to steal a cow, flee leaving the trapped cow dying with its legs tied

As reported by Deccan Chronicle a cow that had wayward into an empty plot died an awful death as a gang of unidentified culprits tried to steal it on Saturday night in KR Puram, Bengaluru.

According to the KR Puram police in an attempt to steal the cow the miscreants had tied its legs and were trying to drag it when the animal got entrapped in a barbed wire. The cow died while struggling to free itself from the wire which pierced its body.

The cow which belonged to a farmer named Govindaswamy, in his complaint mentioned that the cow had managed to untie itself and strayed into an empty land, 400 meters away from the farmer’s house. The farmer accompanied by his father, Narayanappa, immediately started hunting for the animal, and around 10 pm they found it dead lying in a pool of blood with its legs tied and body entangled in barbed wire fencing.

Though the intent behind the theft is still unclear, reportedly, prima facie investigation suggests that some goons, on seeing a strayed cow tried to steal it by tying its limbs and abandoned it the moment it got caught in the wire and fled leaving the faultless dying.

A case Under Section 379 (theft) has been registered at the K R Puram police station and the police are analyzing nearby CCTV footage to establish the identity of the miscreants.

Illegal cow slaughtering and cattle mafia have become an epidemic, with several such incidents being reported. Almost exactly a month ago a man carrying three quintals of cow meat from a farm near Pukhrayan town in Kanpur Dehat district was arrested.

Last year on 29th December, nine people, including five women, were arrested for cow slaughter and three quintals of beef were seized from them during a raid on two houses in Khatoli town in Uttar Pradesh.

In January 2016, Police seized a large amount of beef from a utility vehicle which was being transported to Delhi and arrested the driver. The arrested driver claimed that one Bhura was the main person involved in this business but could not give any more details, they said. It was also reported how in an Uttarakhand village, muslim men had first stolen and slaughtered their neighbours cow and then issued death threats to the owners.

AAP government yet to pay cash reward to Table Tennis star Manika Batra for her Commonwealth heroics

OpIndia Staff
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AAP government yet to pay cash reward to Table Tennis star Manika Batra for her Commonwealth heroics

The Aam Aadmi Party led Delhi government is yet to pay the promised cash reward to ace Table Tennis player Manika Batra, which she earned following her heroics at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games earlier this year, PTI has reported. Batra had won four medals including two golds at the sporting event which took place in April 2018.

According to the report, Batra is stipulated to receive about Rs 1.7 crore from for her medals which breaks up into Rs 50 lakh each for two gold medals, Rs 40 lakh for a Silver and Rs 30 lakh for a Bronze. Incidentally the report claims that Batra has been sanctioned a higher revised amount, as under the current Delhi government policy gold medal winners receive Rs 14 lakh per medal, silver medallists get Rs 10 lakh and bronze Rs 6 lakh.

According to Delhi government’s Deputy Director of Education (Sports), Manika’s file is currently with the Central government awaiting its approval.

The secretary of Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) has expressed disappointment at the delay and claimed that most state governments have already paid the required cash reward.

Manika who was also quoted by the report said that, she didn’t know the reason for the delay but expressed hope that she would indeed receive the money. Manika had incidentally also met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Deputy Manish Sisodia in May who had assured her full support.

Incidentally such a delay in giving the prize money to the athletes was also noted in case of Olympic silver medallist Sakshi Malik, who in 2017 had claimed that she was yet to receive the cash reward promised by the Haryana government.

Dayanidhi Maran and six others to face trial in BSNL illegal telephone exchange case: Supreme Court

Shashank Bharadwaj
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Dayanidhi Maran and six others to face trial in BSNL illegal telephone exchange case: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has dismissed the plea of former Union telecom minister Dayanadhi Maran, his brother Kalanithi Maran and five others against the Madras High Court order setting aside their discharge in the case. The apex court has ordered them to face trial in connection with the “illegal” telephone exchange case.


The bench comprising Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice R. Banumathi and Justice Navin Sinha dismissed the appeal made by Maran to challenge the Madras High Court’s decision to set aside the judgement of a CBI court. The CBI court had earlier discharged all the accused from the case.

The CBI had registered a case against the DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran and others for creating losses to the exchequer by utilizing his power as the Union telecom minister from 2004 to 2007. The CBI charge sheet also included Kalanithi Maran, chairman and managing director of Sun TV Network Limited, Brahamadathan, MP Velusamy, who were senior officials of BSNL, Dayanidhi Maran’s private secretary V Vedagiri Gowtham, KS Ravi and S Kannan.

The CBI had alleged that Maran had used his official position to illegally set up a private telephone exchange at his residences in Boat Club and Gopalapuram in Chennai and had unlawfully used it for his business transactions involving Sun Network. Dayanidhi Maran had installed more than 700 high-end PRA/BRA/ISDN/leased telecom lines at his residence under the service category and no bills were raised for the utilization of these resources.

It is estimated that the setting up of this illegal telephone exchange by Maran has caused Rs 1.78 crore to the exchequer. Apart from this, it is also alleged that there were many illegal installations of landlines with ISDN facilities and also additional SIM cards with fancy numbers were blocked for the use of Sun TV and other individuals related to Dayanidhi Maran.

The CBI court in March had discharged the accused, as the CBI and the prosecutors had failed to prove the case against them. The trial court had said that there is no prima facie evidence to prove the charges against them. The CBI had then moved to the Madras High Court against the order of the trial court.

The Madras High Court had recently set aside the CBI court’s order to discharge them from the telephone exchange case. The CBI had argued that there is enough material in the case, which was adequate enough to frame charges against the accused. The Madras High Court had directed the trial court to continue the trial and complete framing of charges within 12 weeks. As a result, now all the seven accused including Maran brothers will face the charges in the CBI trial court.

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