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“AAP setting an example of unethical politics”: Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam lambasts Arvind Kejriwal for clinging to power, demands immediate resignation

OpIndia Staff
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“AAP setting an example of unethical politics”: Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam lambasts Arvind Kejriwal for clinging to power, demands immediate resignation

On Saturday (23rd March), Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam launched a scathing attack on his I.N.D.I. Alliance partner Arvind Kejriwal who is currently in ED custody in the Delhi liquor scam case. Nirupam said that Kejriwal’s insistence to hold on to power will hurt Indian politics, adding that he should immediately resign from the post of Delhi Chief Minister. He also lambasted the Aam Aadmi Party for “setting an example of unethical politics”. 

Taking to X, the Congress leader noted that running the government from inside the jail would set a wrong precedent. In his post, Nirupam stated that his sympathies are with Arvind Kejriwal, adding, “But the new definition of morality he is writing in Indian politics forced me to write this post.”

Slamming the AAP National Convenor, Nirupam wrote, “The court has to decide what is the truth of Delhi’s liquor scam. But a Chief Minister has been accused of corruption in this scam. He has been arrested. He is in custody and is still clinging to the post of Chief Minister. What kind of morality is this? He should immediately resign from his post.” 

He also cited examples of various leaders across party lines who resigned from their posts on moral grounds when allegations were labeled against them. 

Taking a swipe at Congress’ I.N.D.I. alliance partner AAP, Nirupam further stated, “In Indian politics, a party that is just 11 years old is setting an example of unethical politics.”

The Congress leader blamed his party colleagues for taking a partisan stand over and overlooking the dangers to Indian politics because of Arvind Kejriwal’s insistence on clinging to power. 

The post further read, “We are taking a stand on the entire incident according to our respective political clans, but the danger is that Kejriwal ji’s insistence on sticking to his position will make Indian politics more hollow in the future. There is a need to understand this danger by rising above politics.”

Further, while speaking with news agencies ANI and PTI, Nirupam took a dig at Arvind Kejriwal’s “Kattar Imaandar” claim stating that the one who talked about honesty and integrity is not displaying ethical character.  

Demanding Kejriwal’s resignation on moral grounds, Nirupam said, “… The Court will decide if Arvind Kejriwal has taken any money or not, I cannot say anything on that… But when a person, especially a CM, is accused of corruption and says that he will run the government from jail and not resign, this indicates a very wrong trend… A person who taught honesty from 2011-14 and claimed that he is a ‘Kattar Imaandar’, is not displaying any basic elements of ethics… If he is honest, then he should resign… Running a government from jail is not legal and practically possible… On the basis of ethics and legalities, he (Arvind Kejriwal) should resign…”

Incidentally, the I.N.D.I. alliance partners AAP and Congress have historically been arch-nemeses, with the AAP’s political inception occurring against the backdrop of an ‘anti-corruption’ drive targeting the Congress.    

While Nepal demands Hindu Rashtra, Republican Congressman alleges Biden admin granted $500,000 to promote atheism in the erstwhile Hindu monarchy, US govt denies

OpIndia Staff
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While Nepal demands Hindu Rashtra, Republican Congressman alleges Biden admin granted $500,000 to promote atheism in the erstwhile Hindu monarchy, US govt denies

The Biden Administration spent half a million US dollars to promote atheism in Nepal, Republican Congressman Brian Mast claimed while confronting a US government official over the issue. Notably, Mast is the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability. 

On 21st March, the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources in the Biden Administration, Richard R. Verma testified before the subcommittee as it assessed the State Department’s compliance with the Oversight. 

During Verma’s testimony, Republican politician Mast confronted him stating that the department’s ‘grant request’ document mentions that it gave money to “promote atheism in Nepal”. 

What transpired during the testimony

In the video of Verma’s testimony shared by the Republican Congressman, Mast can be heard asking him, “Would it be appropriate for the state (US) department to authorise half a million dollar grant from American taxpayers money to promote atheism.” 

To which, the official of the Biden administration, Verma replied, “It would not be appropriate to have a grant to promote any religion or non-religion coming from the United States.” 

After Verma admitted that it wouldn’t be appropriate for the US to promote any religion including non-religion (atheism), Mast inquired about the alleged $500,000 grant to promote atheism in Nepal. 

He asked Verma, “Half a million dollar grant to Nepal regarding the expansion of atheism, do you believe that is an appropriate use of the money.” 

However, the Biden administration official denied extending any such grant to Nepal and argued that the grant was being misconstrued.  

Verma said, “That’s not what the grant is for and that’s not what the work would be for and frankly we would never authorise such a grant to any organisation to promote any kind of religion.” 

Further in the video, Mast asked him whether Verma was saying on record that no grant had been allocated for atheism in Nepal or divided up in other areas. 

Dismissing the allegations of promoting atheism in Nepal and elsewhere, Verma claimed, “I have seen no evidence of any grant to promote Atheism in Nepal.”

Referring to the purported “request for grant” document, Mast pointed out, “It (the official document) says promoting and defending religious freedom inclusive of atheist, humanist, non-practicing and non-affiliated individuals.” 

Reading further from the document, the Republican Politician added, “This is the expected program outcomes – increased capacity among members of the Atheist and heterodox individuals to form, join networks or organisations, creating or strengthening networks of advocates for the diverse communities of atheists.” 

During Verma’s testimony, Mast emphasised that the term atheism and different phrasing for the “promotion of atheism in Nepal” find repeated mention in the official document in different places. 

He said, “strengthening the capacity of organisations representing diverse communities of atheists..in different places.” 

Accusing Verma of disrespecting the committee by his repeated denials, Mast added, “You adamantly deny that there is anything relating to a grant for Atheism in Nepal” stressing that the front page of the grant request points otherwise.  

Mast remarked, “This revelation is deeply troubling. Not only is it an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars, but the lack of transparency and honesty from the administration further erodes trust in our government.”

The allegations could result in a diplomatic row between the US and Nepal

Strikingly, according to the Republican politician, the Biden administration granted large sums of money to promote atheism in Nepal by hiding the grant in the name of promoting the ‘Fundamental Rights of Freedom of Religion”.

The purported US grant to promote atheism in Nepal could lead to a diplomatic row between the two nations if the allegations are found to be true. It could be tantamount to “external interference” in Nepal’s internal affairs and changing its religious demography. 

Further, the startling allegations come at a time when massive protests advocating for making Nepal a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ have become frequent in Nepal. 

Hinduism is the most followed religion in the Himalayan nation, which stands at 81 percent of the total population, as per the census in 2021. Till 2006, Nepal was the only Hindu state in the world. The same year, the country became a secular state. 

Meanwhile, the United States, its allies, and a few non-state actors like billionaire George Soros in the past have been accused of interfering with the nation’s political setup, changing the religious demography of the region and regime change operations in the pretext of championing virtuous traits like promoting democracy, religious tolerance and freedom of speech among others. 

CJI complains about ‘doctored’ video saying trolls attacked him; Bar and Bench slyly blames X handles instead of calling out Law Today

OpIndia Staff
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CJI complains about ‘doctored’ video saying trolls attacked him; Bar and Bench slyly blames X handles instead of calling out Law Today

Bar and Bench, one of the leading legal news portals in India, recently published a report on CJI Chandrachud’s statement that a video of him adjusting his chair during the electoral bonds hearing was doctored and shared on the internet with the intent to troll him.

However, the Bar and Bench included tweets shared by X users without disclosing that the video embedded in it was originally produced by Law Today, an India Today arm that reports on legal matters.

Here is the archived link to the article published by Bar and Bench.

A Twitter user shared the snippet of the court proceedings originally reproduced by Law Today. Instead of mentioning that Law Today had produced the video, the report went on to throw the X user under the bus and quoted it after CJI said the video of him adjusting the chair was doctored. The report does not mention anywhere in the report that the video that the CJI was referring to was from Law Today.

Even though the video shared by the X user has the logo of Law Today featured on it, there was no mention of the origins of the video in the Bar and Bench’s report.

Bar and Bench report

The video in question was tweeted by the official X handle of Law Today. Here is the archived link to the tweet.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud revealed on Saturday that a recent video of a live stream from his court was manipulated to mock him and portray him as arrogant.

According to the CJI, he was simply adjusting himself in the chair to alleviate some back pain and make himself more comfortable during a hearing. However, the video was altered to make it seem as though he had abruptly left the courtroom while a counsel was still presenting arguments.

After this doctored video circulated online, the CJI became the target of “vicious trolling and criticism.”

“In a recent case, I experienced some back pain while presiding, so I shifted my position slightly to ease it. Unfortunately, this moment was twisted in the video, creating a false impression. It was falsely portrayed that I arrogantly walked out during an ongoing argument,” recounted the CJI.

‘Manipulated video with political motivations’: Mumbai’s Thakur College slams Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi for claiming forced attendance at ‘minister’s son’s session’

OpIndia Staff
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‘Manipulated video with political motivations’: Mumbai’s Thakur College slams Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi for claiming forced attendance at ‘minister’s son’s session’

The management of Kandivali’s Thakur College in Mumbai on Saturday rebuked Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi for “disseminating manipulated video” from an event on 22nd March featuring Dhruv Goyal, who is the son of Union Minister Piyush Goyal, and giving it a political colour. Sharing a short video from the event, the politician had alleged that the students were forced to attend the event, and their IDs confiscated to ensure that they are compulsorily present during Dhruv Goyal’s speech. However, the college has denied these allegations.

The lawmaker has drawn flak from the institution for bringing needless strife into their campus community and dragging the student into an unwarranted controversy as well as casting a negative light on the successful program.

An official press release from the institution stated, “Thakur College recently hosted an event aimed at encouraging our students, particularly first-time voters, to actively participate in the upcoming general elections. As part of this initiative. We were honoured to welcome Mr Dhruv Goyal for a meaningful dialogue with these first-time voters.”

It further noted, “We have been made aware of a situation involving Ms Priyanka Chaturvedi, who has disseminated a manipulated video pertaining to this interaction, seemingly with political motivations. This has led to an unwarranted controversy, overshadowing what was an otherwise successful and well-received event. The engagement and dialogue with Mr Dhruv Goyal were positively received by our students, and it is regrettable that Ms Chaturvedi’s actions have introduced unnecessary discord into our college environment, unfairly involving our students in a dispute that was uncalled for.”

The letter added, “Furthermore, we wish to clarify that during the post-event interaction, a query was raised by a student on a topic that Mr. Dhruv Goyal was not previously acquainted with. This matter is currently under review by our institution. It is our belief that educational settings should remain apolitical, focused on the enrichment and empowerment of our students rather than becoming arenas for political contention.” It was signed by the college’s principal CT Chakraborty.

Earlier on 23 March, Priyanka Chaturvedi shared a clip on social media and wrote, “Students of Thakur College in Mumbai were forced to attend Dhruv Goyal, son of Union Minister Piyush Goyal session. The students say their IDs were confiscated to ensure that they are compulsorily present when he speaks. What a shame!”

In the video, a student can be heard asking, “Sir, first of all, all the best to you for the upcoming election. Sir my question was do you think this system is democratic enough where the Thakur College administration has confiscated the IDs of students and made them visit here compulsorily,” amidst loud cheer and clapping. He added, “If this system exists and they can abuse us, then anyone can abuse us on national and international level.

The principal of the college, Chaitaly Chakraborty, mentioned that she knew students had their exams on 23rd March but urged them to cast their vote and hear the speaker. She introduced Dhruv Goyal who stated in the 1:16 minute footage, “Your first vote will be a vote that will be truly yours. Don’t let your parents, don’t let your siblings influence you. That vote is your vote and should come from your heart. No one is taking that away from you. I have not come here today to tell you to vote for a party X or Y. Obviously I have my biases”. The program was held on the seventh floor of the building.

The college has made it clear that it was an awareness program for voting where Dhruv Goyal was speaking, and students were not specifically forced to attend his speech.

Notably, the program was held to urge the students to cast their votes in the upcoming elections. Colleges all around the city are launching awareness campaigns to encourage students to participate more in the election processes, as per an order from the University Grants Commission. The ‘Mera Pehla Vote Desh Ke Liye’ (My first vote for my country) campaign has been requested to be initiated by colleges.

No relief for Arvind Kejriwal: Delhi HC denies urgent hearing challenging arrest and ED custody, plea to be listed on Wednesday

ANI
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No relief for Arvind Kejriwal: Delhi HC denies urgent hearing challenging arrest and ED custody, plea to be listed on Wednesday

The Delhi High Court on Saturday denied an urgent listing of the plea by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenging his arrest and custody in the Delhi Excise policy case.

Arvind Kejriwal, on Saturday moved the Delhi High Court, challenging his arrest and the order of remand granted by the trial court on March 22.

However, the Delhi High Court denied the same. The matter will be listed on the court’s reopening on Wednesday, the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court confirmed.

CM Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in connection with the now-scrapped excise policy case.

His legal team said that his plea in Delhi HC stated that both the arrest and the remand order are ‘illegal’ and he is entitled to be released from custody immediately.

An immediate hearing has been sought from the Acting Chief Justice, preferably on Sunday, March 24.

The ED, which was given the custody of Delhi CM till March 28 by the court, has alleged that the Aam Adami Party (AAP) is the major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the alleged liquor scam.

The Rouse Avenue Court on Friday remanded Kejriwal to six days of ED custody in the money laundering case related to the alleged liquor policy scam case till March 28.

This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Javed’s location to Sajid observing Roza: Claims being made by kins of Badaun double murder accused are contradictory and do not align with the FIR

राहुल पाण्डेय
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Javed’s location to Sajid observing Roza: Claims being made by kins of Badaun double murder accused are contradictory and do not align with the FIR

Ever since the shocking news of the gruesome murder of two Hindu children in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun district came to the fore, OpIndia has been in relentless pursuit to uncover the truth of the horrific crime. In its endeavour to unveil the facts, OpIndia arrived in the village of Sajid, who brutally slaughtered the two children Aayush and Ayaan in Badaun. Sajid was a native of Sakhanu village, located approximately 13 kilometres from Badaun.

Sajid and Javed had stabbed the two Hindu kids Ayush and Ahaan 23 times after slitting their throats on the evening of March 19. Sajid was killed by the police in an encounter the next day. Sajid’s brother Javed, the second accused in the case, was arrested and sent to jail.

When the OpIndia team visited the accused’s village and spoke with their family members and relatives, we realised that the statements they were making were blatantly inconsistent and brimming with contradictions. Be it the details they disclosed regarding Sajid’s wife or Javed’s whereabouts, various inferences could be drawn if an inquiry is conducted based solely on their claims.

Various claims Sajid’s family made about Javed’s whereabouts

Apart from what the FIR mentioned, some of Sajid’s neighbours had also confirmed that Javed was present at the house where the two innocent Hindu children were killed. In his statement, Inspector General Rakesh Kumar Singh also mentioned that Javed was at the scene and only left after the crime was executed. However, some Sakhanu village neighbours and Javed’s family members contradicted the police’s and the FIR copy’s assertions about his whereabouts.

Speaking to OpIndia, Javed’s grandmother said that her grandson was in their village when the incident occurred. Javed’s grandmother showed us the pit he was allegedly digging when the incident occurred and claimed, “Javed was tilling the soil at home when he got a call from someone telling him that his brother Sajid had gotten into a fight. He left the task at hand and rushed to Badaun, where he was caught by the police.”

Javed’s neighbour Muzaffar and his relative Rukhsana both corroborated his grandmother’s claim. However, a closer look at the pit made it obvious that the earth was excavated a little more than an hour ago. Now, the question is: Would Javed have dug the earth for just one hour? Why would someone perceive one hour’s work equivalent to a full day’s effort? Maybe there should be additional investigation done on this in the future.

Image source: Hindi OpIndia

Prior to his arrest in Bareilly, a video of Javed became viral. He said in this video that he fled the scene because he was afraid of the crowd that started to gather. Sakhanu, Javed’s village, is roughly fifteen kilometres away from Badaun city. Between the two places is a bustling single road that goes through the market.

Javed would have needed at least forty minutes to travel to the location even if he had chosen to ride his bike to meet his brother. The irate mob had arrived at the police post rather than the scene of the event by this point. Many questions come up in this kind of situation, such as where Javed was when the murder happened.

Is Sajid’s wife in her parents’ home or in-laws’ house?

From day one, the slain accused Sajid’s wife Sana has been talked about in the media and on social media. The FIR filed against Sajid mentioned how he had faked his wife’s pregnancy to extort money from Sangeeta, the mother of the deceased victims. On January 21, Aaj Tak went to Sajid’s in-laws’ house in Dadmai and talked to Sana and Sajid’s mother-in-law Miskin. During the course of conversation, it had come to the fore that the slain accused Sajid’s wife is not pregnant.

Sana had said that Sajid used to drop her off at her maternal home from time to time and take her back after 15-20 days. She said that she did not know about this murder, she came to know in the morning that Sajid had killed two children and he too had been killed in a police encounter.

Sana’s parents also made similar assertions.

However, the OpIndia team found the exact contrary of these claims when they arrived at Sajid’s hamlet, Sakhanu. Sajid’s grandmother claimed that Sajid was at home a few hours before the incident and had, in fact, requested his wife to prepare food for him. Their relatives Rukhsana and Shanwaz, who were also sitting next to Sajid’s grandmother nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, information on Sajid’s wife’s whereabouts has not yet been made public by the authorities. Officials have said that all aspects of the issue are being investigated.

Who is to be believed? Sajid’s wife or grandmother

On March 20, Sajid’s wife stated on different TV channels that she did not know about this murder. However, if Sajid’s grandmother’s assertions are to be believed, she said that Sana was at home and a few hours before the incident took place even Sajid was at home and he had asked Sana to cook for him before he left for Badaun.

Moreover, she also claimed that Javed had received a call informing him about some dispute Sajid had got into. The timing of the call received coincided with the time of the murder of the two children in Badaun. Javed rushed for Badaun following this call. However, before leaving, he must have obviously informed his family members about this alleged call, otherwise, how would the grandmother know?

Thus, on the one hand, we have Sana, Sajid’s wife, who told the media that she was at her parents’ house and was unaware of the murder; on the other hand, the accused’s grandmother told us that Sana was at her in-law’s house and was aware that Sajid was in trouble.

In such a situation, it’s unclear who is telling the truth—Sajid’s grandmother or his wife.

Why did Sajid ask for food from his wife if he was fasting for Ramzan?

Most of the arguments provided by the accused grandmother and other relatives don’t seem to add up to the information that is already available in the public domain. During police interrogation, Javed confessed that Sajid had purchased the murder weapon during the month of Ramadan. He claimed that Sajid had told him that they would use the knife to cut meat and other items for Iftar during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Now, Sajid’s grandmother, while speaking to our team, mentioned that Sajid had, before leaving for Badaun at around 5 pm on March 19, asked his wife to cook food for him.

Notably, Iftar is the meal that Muslims eat at sunset to break their fast during Ramadan. As per Islamic beliefs, individuals do not eat or drink anything throughout the day if they are observing Roza during Ramzan. Iftar is the second meal of the day, which Muslims eat after sunset. Interestingly, the sun had not set at 5 pm on March 19. Generally in Delhi and its neighbouring places, the Iftar time is 6:35 pm, according to the 12 Ramadan 1445 in the Islamic calendar. Here is the question one may ask then: Why would Sajid ask his wife for food at 5 pm if he was observing Roza? Furthermore, why did Javed lie if Sajid had kept the fast?

Another question at hand is whether Sajid’s grandmother is stating the truth or she is lying. It may currently be inferred that Sajid’s family member’s claims are inconsistent with one another in addition to being at odds with the police and the FIR.

Earlier, OpIndia reported how the accused’s grandmother had tried to defend the accused, who mercilessly slaughter two young children, by claiming that Sajid was under the influence of “upari hawa” (seemingly referring to black magic). Claiming that the remaining accused Javed is innocent, their grandmother said, “jo kia hoga wo Sajid ne kia hoga.” (Translation – Whatever happened Sajid must have done it.)

Arvind Kejriwal approaches Delhi High Court challenging his arrest and remand order in liquor police case

ANI
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Arvind Kejriwal approaches Delhi High Court challenging his arrest and remand order in liquor police case

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, Arvind Kejriwal, has moved to the Delhi High Court, challenging his arrest and the order of remand passed by the trial court on March 22.

This comes a day after the Rouse Avenue Court sent Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to ED custody till March 28.

CM Kejriwal’s legal team said that his plea in Delhi HC stated that both the arrest and the remand order are ‘illegal’ and he is entitled to be released from custody immediately.

An immediate hearing has been sought from the Acting Chief Justice, preferably by Sunday, March 24.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) arrested Kejriwal on Thursday in connection with the alleged Delhi excise policy case.

CM Kejriwal is in ED custody till March 28, following his arrest on March 21 evening in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy case.

The AAP Chief was produced before Rouse Avenue Court under tight security on Friday.

While entering the court complex, Kejriwal told reporters, “My life is dedicated to the country, whether I am inside or outside the prison.”

The ED arrested Kejriwal after the Delhi High Court refused him interim protection from coercive action in connection with the excise policy case.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi excise policy case 2022, which was later scrapped.

This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

“India in no mood to overlook terrorism”: EAM S Jaishankar slams Pakistan and China from Singapore

OpIndia Staff
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“India in no mood to overlook terrorism”: EAM S Jaishankar slams Pakistan and China from Singapore

On Saturday (23rd March), External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar launched a scathing attack on India’s neighbours Pakistan and China during an event held in Singapore. While he slammed China for staking claims over the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, Dr. Jaishankar stressed that India cannot “overlook” terrorism to resume ties with Pakistan.

Notably, Dr. Jaishankar is currently in Singapore on a three-day visit. On Saturday, he delivered a lecture at the prestigious NUS Institute of South Asian Studies in Singapore. 

During a Q&A session, he criticised China for repeatedly making claims on the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and dismissed Beijing’s claims as “ludicrous”. The Foreign Minister asserted that the frontier state was a “natural part of India”.

Responding to a query on Arunchal Pradesh, Jaishankar said, “This is not a new issue. I mean China has laid claim, it has expanded its claim. The claims are ludicrous to begin with and remain ludicrous today as it is a natural part of India.” 

Reportedly, it was the first public comment by the Indian Foreign Minister in the wake of frequent claims by Beijing over the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and its opposition to Indian leaders visiting the Indian frontline state.  

Earlier, India had dismissed China’s “absurd” claims. The MEA stated that we have noted the comments made by the Spokesperson of the Chinese Defence Ministry advancing absurd claims over the territory of the Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh.

In a statement, the MEA asserted, “Repeating baseless arguments in this regard does not lend such claims any validity. Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Its people will continue to benefit from our development programmes and infrastructure projects.”

The development came after the Chinese foreign ministry had objected to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh. 

In a separate response last week, the MEA responded stating, “We reject the comments made by the Chinese side regarding the visit of the Prime Minister to Arunachal Pradesh. Indian leaders visit Arunachal Pradesh from time to time, as they visit other States of India.” 

Pakistan sponsoring terrorism as state-craft on ‘industry level’, India ‘will not overlook’ it: Dr. Jaishankar in Singapore

While responding to a query on Pakistan, the Indian Foreign Minister underlined that Pakistan has been sponsoring terrorism and using it as an “instrument of statecraft”. He added that Pakistan has sustained terrorism at an industry level with proper assembly line (of terrorists to harm India). He further asserted that people and government in India are no looking in mood to overlook it. 

Regarding India-Pakistan ties, he pointed out that every country wants a stable neighbourhood…if nothing else everyone want at least a quiet neighbourhood. However, unfortunately, it is not the same with India, he added. 

Jaishankar asked, “How do you deal with a neighbour who does not hide the fact that they use terrorism as an instrument of statecraft? It’s not a one-off happening…but very sustained, almost at an industry level…So what we have come to conclude is that we have to find a way of addressing (the menace), that dodging the problem gets us nowhere, it only invites more trouble.”

The Minister further stated, “I don’t have a quick instantaneous fix (to this issue). But what I can tell you is that India will not skirt this problem anymore. We are not going to say, ‘well, that happened and let’s continue our dialogue’…we have a problem and we must be honest enough to face up to that problem, however difficult it is…we should not give the other country a free pass, saying there’s nothing they can do about it or it’s a very hard problem, or there’s so much else at stake that let us overlook.” 

He emphasised that in India now the mood is not to overlook terrorists.

During a panel discussion earlier this month, Jaishankar said that India never “closed doors” to talking to Pakistan regarding the ties between the two neighbours. However, he emphasised that the terrorism issue should be “fair, square at the centre of the conversation”.

He said, “It is the major issue…I am not saying there are no other issues. But I am not going to duck that issue for the sake of talking.” 

Meanwhile, at the event, Jaishankar stated that there is a momentum in India today that has to be experienced to be believed, and he emphasised that the country is poised to become a much larger economy in the coming years.

“Today, it’s a country that builds eight new airports in a year, 28 km of highways every day and for the last 10 years, it has built 2 colleges a day,” Jaishankar said while speaking on his ‘Why Bharat Matters’.

Arvind Kejriwal was directly involved in formulating excise policy, taking bribes and using the money, money sent to Goa via Hawala: Here is what ED told the court

Raju Das
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Arvind Kejriwal was directly involved in formulating excise policy, taking bribes and using the money, money sent to Goa via Hawala: Here is what ED told the court

The court of Judge Kaweri Baweja of Rose Avenue Court in Delhi on Friday sent Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to ED custody till 28th March, a day after his arrest in the Delhi liquor policy scam. OpIndia has accessed the application filed by the Enforcement Directorate with the court seeking his 10-day custody, and the application reveals significant details of the case, including the direct involvement of Kejriwal with the scam.

As per ED, the liquor wholesalers who won L-1 licenses under the now-scrapped policy had issued credit notes to the retailers with an intention to divert money to officers, and they made false accounting entries to keep their records in order. Amit Arora and Arjun Pandey are close associates of Manish Sisodia and they were actively involved in managing and diverting the money collected from the liquor vendors to public servants.

ED has cited banking transactions showing how money from the L-1 licence holders was moved to people linked to Delhi govt officials.

The Delhi Excise Policy

Giving the background of the case and the policy, ED states the new excise policy was implemented to eradicate the sale of spurious and non-tax paid liquor, to transform consumer experience, and also to simplify the complex heavily regulated previous excise regime. Its objectives included the prevention of monopolies, ensuring equitable access to liquor supply, ensuring accountability, checking smuggling and bootlegging etc.

One of the main features of the new Excise Police was that an entity holding an L-1 wholesale licence can’t be a manufacturer/winery/brewery/ bottling plant etc anywhere in the country, either directly or through sister entities. Similarly, the policy said that an entity holding a wholesale license shall not hold any retail license directly or indirectly, and the wholesalers will only supply to zonal retail licence holders, which included L-7Z, L-7V & L-7SP1 licences.

The wholesale licences were issued by the Excise Department on an application basis and the retail licences for 32 zones were issued on the basis of tender floated by the Excise Department.

As per the policy, if the same entities hold both wholesaling and manufacturing/retail licences, there is a possibility of the formation of syndicates, leading to unethical trade practices like overcharging, pushing certain brands etc. However, it was decided that no entity will be allocated more than 2 zones to ensure that there is no market capture and cartelization.

The scam

However, when the new excise policy was implemented, it violated the norms of the policy from the beginning. It was found during the investigation that cartels were formed, and single entities effectively controlled manufacturing, wholesale as well as retail entities in the liquor business. As per ED, Manufacturers, wholesalers and Retail zone licensees were involved in the cartels. “Each cartel Consists of huge no. of entities, persons, etc. including proxy ownership, sleeping partners, hidden investments etc,” ED further stated.

Talking about CM Arvind Kejriwal’s role in the scam, ED said that he “is the kingpin and key conspirator of the Delhi Excise Scam in collusion with Ministers of Delhi Govt, AAP leaders and other persons.” The agency alleges that Kejriwal was involved in the conspiracy of formulation of the Excise Policy 2021-22 to favour certain persons and also involved in demanding kickbacks from liquor businessmen in exchange for favours granted in the policy.

ED further alleges that Arvind Kejriwal is involved in the use of proceeds of crime in the Goa election campaign of the AAP, to which he is the Convenor and the ultimate decision maker.

Giving details of the role of Kejriwal, ED says that he was involved in the formulation of the Excise Policy 2021-22, and it was drafted considering the favours to be granted to the South Group. Vijay Nair, Manish Sisodia and members-representatives of the South Group were directly involved in the formulation of the police, ED says.

As evidence of these charges, ED cites the statement of C Arvind, then secretary of Manish Sisodia, who revealed that in March 2021, Sisodia had called him to the CM’s residence and handed over 30 pages of document, which was a draft Group of Ministers report on excise policy. Satyender Jain, Manish Sisodia and Arvind Kejriwal were present at this meeting. Sisodia told C Arvind that the final GoM report is to be made on the draft report given to him.

The draft said that wholesale licences should be given to agents (private players) of manufacturers one wholesale licensee can be a distributor for any number of manufacturers and the wholesale profit margin was fixed at 12%. These things were never discussed in the GoM meetings and went directly against what was decided regarding the policy earlier.

The secretary prepared the report as directed and handed it over, after which the same was finalised by the Delhi govt.

ED further states that Buchi Babu, CA of BRS leader K Kavitha, has revealed that Arun Pillai was working with Vijay Nair on the policy formulation and was offering provisions for favouring K Kavitha. And, Nair was working for Sisodia and Kejriwal for the same. This has been corroborated by the WhatsApp messages retrieved from the mobile phone of Buchi Babu. In the messages, certain provisions of the Excise Policy were found 2 days before the Excise Policy document was finalised by the GoM and the Council of Ministers of the Delhi govt.

Budhi Babu told ED that these portions of the upcoming policy were sent to him and Arun Pillai by Viyay Nair. The chats also show that Nair was proposing favours in the policy for the South Group, ED adds.

Demanding bribe for election funding

Not just formulating the policy designed to favour certain entities, Arvind Kejriwal was also actively involved in demanding money in exchange for this favour, ED alleges in the remand application. YSR Congress MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy told ED that when he saw that Delhi was privatising the liquor business, he decided to apply for a licence as they had been in the same business for 71 years in South India.

In this regard, Telangana CM K Chandrshekhar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha met him, and talked about paying ₹100 crore to AAP in exchange of getting a licence. She told him that her team was already in Delhi working on the matter. He then met Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi, and they had a cordial talk, where the CM said that his govt welcomes everyone to do business in Delhi. During the meeting, Arvind Kejriwal told him that K Kavitha will talk to him about it in detail.

Later, Kavita met Reddy and told him that Kejriwal has spoken to her about him, and asked him if he could arrange ₹50 crore for AAP to fight elections, out of a total ₹100 crore needed to be paid. As Reddy was busy with work as an MP, he asked his son Raghav Magunta to deal with Kavitha. After some time, Magunta said that he had agreed to pay ₹30 crore to K Kavitha. Later Raghav Manuta paid ₹25 crore to Kavita’s aides Buchi Babu and Abhishek Boinpalli.

Raghav Manuta has also confirmed the same, saying that he paid ₹25 crore in cash to Abhishek Boinpally and Buchi Babu as per the agreement between K Kavitha, himself and his father Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy. He said that the payment was made in two batches, ₹10 crore on 28 March 2021 and 15 crore in June 2021. Notably, both Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and his son Raghav Manuta have turned approvers in the case.

Raghav further said that K Kavitha’s team was working with Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia on the new excise policy, and Vijay Nair was coordinating among them.

Sarath Reddy, the director of Aurobindo Pharma, has also revealed details about the scam. He said that he met Arvind Kejriwal in Vijay Nair’s house who was residing near the Delhi CM’s residence. Kejriwal asked him to trust Nair regarding the liquor licence, talked about the new policy and said that it would be win-win for both.

As per ED, Vijay Nair is not in any official post, and he was working as a broker/liaison/middleman on behalf of the top leaders of the AAP, especially Arvind Kejriwal, for getting bribes/kickbacks from various stakeholders in the Delhi Liquor business in exchange of favourable changes in the Delhi excise policy. Nair even threatened that those who don’t agree will not get any favours.

Vijay Nair has revealed that he lived at a government bungalow without any official authorisation, and the house close to the Bungalow of Arvind Kejriwal was officially allotted to Cabinet Minister Kailash Gehlot. Moreover, Vijay Nair operated from the Camp office of Arvind Kejriwal. Nair was the man who received ₹100 crore from the South Group on behalf of Arvind Kejriwal and AAP.

In exchange for the kickbacks, the South Group members got control of the wholesaler business Indo Spirits and even retail zones and got the business of Pernod Ricard. They were granted an L1 license despite multiple complaints and being in violation of the Excise Policy 2021-22, the ED said.

Use of bribe money

The Delhi CM also was involved in the utilisation of money received as a bribe from the liquor cartel. ED has found evidence showing that ₹45 crore from the bribe money was used in the election campaign of AAP in Goa. This was done by ‘part cash part bill’ payments to vendors by Mis Chariot Productions, the agency engaged by AAP for the outdoor campaign in Goa. The vendors made bills for only a part of the total due amount, and the rest amount was paid in cash.

ED has produced chats between a vendor Sparks Entertainment with Chariot, where the vendor was told that payment would be made in both modes, cash and billing. While the vendors received the billed amount via regular channels, they received the cash portion through the Hawala route. Islam Qazi of Grace Advertising confessed that he was paid ₹6.29 crore through Hawala operators in Mumbai’s Malad. Several other vendors who received cash payments from AAP via hawala are mentioned in the ED remand application.

When the Income Tax department raided the Goa office of Angadiya operator R Kantilal, the seized documents revealed that approximately ₹45 crore was transferred to Goa via Hawala. The Hawala train of this amount was also probed by the CBI, which have been mentioned in the charge sheet filed by the agency.

An employee of Chariot Productions has also revealed that he handed over huge cash amounts to three persons who were working on AAP’s election campaign in Goa. The ED has found that the money reached Goa in four routes, approximately ₹12 Crore from Ashok Chandu Bhai of Asheel Corporation, ₹7.1 Crore from Devang Solanki of K S Enterprise, ₹16 Crore from Kirti Amba Lal, ₹7.5 Crore from Neelkanth and ₹2 Crore Ma Ambey. The relevant persons have confirmed the same in their recorded statements.

Apart from agencies, individuals working on the AAP campaign also have said that they were paid in cash. People working as Survey workers, Area managers, Assembly managers etc. were paid through cash. They were working in Vijay Nair and Delhi AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak. Moreover, an AAP candidate for Goa election has also confirmed receiving cash for election expenses.

Crime under PMLA

ED has said that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is the major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the Delhi Liquor Scam. Apart from ₹45 crore from it for Goa elections, the party and Arvind Kejriwal is also guilty of money laundering under Section 70 of PMLA.

Section 70 of PMLA states, “Where a person committing a contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or of any rule, direction or order made thereunder is a company, every person who, at the time the contravention was committed, was in charge of and was responsible to the company, for the conduct of the business of the company as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the contravention and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished according.”

The ED has explained in detail that AAP fits with the definition of ‘company’ as per the act, and as the National Convenor and member of the National Executive, Arvind Kejriwal was ultimately responsible for the funds being used in the election expenses including their generation.

“Arvind Kejriwal was and is not only the brain behind the AAP but also controls its major activities, he was also one of the founding members and was also involved in the decision-making of the policy as evident from the statements of the witnesses. He is also involved in demand of kickbacks which have inter-alia generated further proceeds of crime,” ED states in the remand application. He in charge of the party when the crime took place, therefore he shall be deemed to be guilty of offences punishable u/s 4 of PMLA and shall be liable to be prosecuted and punished as provided u/s 70 of PMLA, the ED has argued.

The agency states that the violation of PMLA took place with Kejriwal’s knowledge and he didn’t do anything to prevent it. The ED stated before the court, “it is established that Sh Arvind Kejriwal who is the ultimate in charge of the AAP and was intrinsically involved in the acts of policy formulation, kickback scheme and the final use of the proceeds of crime thus generated including conspiracy thereof. Therefore, he is also liable for use of the PoC of Rs. 45 Cr in the election campaign of the AAP in Goa under section 70(1) of PMLA, 2002 apart from his role in his personal capacity.”

While ED sought 10 days custody of Arvind Kejriwal, the court granted them 6-day custody of the CM, up to 28 March.

As CID files chargesheet against 3 Muslim girls in Udupi bathroom case, read how Zubair and left-liberals downplayed the heinous crime

OpIndia Staff
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As CID files chargesheet against 3 Muslim girls in Udupi bathroom case, read how Zubair and left-liberals downplayed the heinous crime

On Wednesday (20th March), the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) filed a chargesheet against three female Muslim students of Netra Jyoti College in Udupi city of Karnataka for secretly recording one of their classmates in the girl’s washroom.

The incident dates back to July last year when the accused Shabanaz, Alfiya and Alimath Ul Safa placed their mobile phones in the bathroom to videotape their classmate. Later, they deleted the video to destroy the evidence.

While the three Muslim girls are out on bail, they have been charge-sheeted under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 204 (secretly destroying electronic record), 509 (intending to insult the modesty of any woman) and Section 66 E of the Information Technology.

When the matter was raised by the likes of Hindu activists Shefali Vaidya and Rashmi Samant, Alt News co-founder randomly came forward and dubbed the case as ‘misinformation.’ He launched a vicious attack against the duo for raising their voices against the heinous incident.

When Zubair was called out, he played the victim card and cried foul over accusations of dog whistling.

Mohammed Zubair relied heavily on a report published by The News Minute (TNM). Shockingly, TNM tried to whitewash the incident as a “prank”.

The report quoted the chairman of the college, who said the accused female students said that it was meant to be a prank, and they deleted the video in front of the victim.

The same ‘prank’ argument was presented by India Today during the report, where Rashmi Samant was also present as a panellist. India Today’s anchor said the police said it was “meant to be a prank”.

On similar lines, Anusha Sood of The South First, a left-wing portal that claims itself to be a media organisation but more often than not acts as a mouthpiece of the Congress party, shared an article whitewashing the criminal act of the three Muslim girls in Udupi as a mere ‘prank’ and blamed those demanding action against the culprits of adding communal colour to the incident.

Tweet by Anusha Sood

Their entire propaganda fell like a house of cards when after widespread outrage, the Karnataka police grudgingly filed an FIR against the 3 Muslim women and the university administration – for making the secret videos, destroying evidence and failing to provide evidence and documents to the police.

Even after the FIRs, Zubair, Sood and others continued to peddle half information to further their lies about the case, leaving out crucial information about the FIR. The details of that propaganda can be read here.

With the CID now failing a chargesheet in the Udupi bathroom case, all attempts by the likes of Zubair and other left-liberals to whitewash the crime ended in vain.

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