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AAP claims court said that there is no evidence to prove the Delhi liquor scam, here is how they are lying and misquoting a bail order by court

Raju Das
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AAP claims court said that there is no evidence to prove the Delhi liquor scam, here is how they are lying and misquoting a bail order by court

In the Delhi Liquor police case, a Delhi court granted bail to two persons on 6 May, Rajesh Joshi and Gautam Malhotra. Special Judge MK Nagpal of Rouse Avenue Courts granted them bail and ordered their release from custody subject to the furnishing of a personal bond of Rs. 2 lakhs each.

After the court order came, the Aam Aadmi Party started its familiar lies and misinformation, claiming that the court had said that there is no evidence in the case, and further claimed its leader Manish Sisodia is kept in jail despite having no evidence against him.

AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi Marlena demanded an apology from BJP for allegedly defaming Sisodia, claiming that the court has stated in its order that there is “no evidence” to substantiate or corroborate the alleged corruption. She also alleged that BJP was pressuring people to give false statements.

She said, “There were two major allegations. First: Rs 100 crore bribe was received. Second: The amount was spent for Goa elections. But the Rouse Avenue court order, through which two people got bail, should be read properly, as it makes it clear that ED and CBI have no evidence of the corruption of even 1 Rupee. The judge repeatedly said in the 86-page order that there is no evidence.”

Atishi further claimed that the court has said that “There is no specific evidence showing any such cash evidence of bribe or repayment of kickbacks. The only evidence presented has been some vague statements by witnesses, and on the basis of these statements, it cannot be inferred that cash payments were given as bribes.”

She also claimed that while earlier it was alleged that a bribe of Rs 100 crore was paid in the scam, ED has now reduced it to Rs 30 crore.

All these claims by the AAP leader attributing the court order are completely false and baseless, and a perusal of the court order shows that the court never said that there is no evidence in the liquor scam case. All the observations made by the court in the judgement are related to the bail plea by the two petitioners, and they don’t apply to the case as a whole.

In fact, the order makes it clear that the observations are related to the bail applications only, and they are not comments on the merits of the case. In para 80 of the judgement, the judge states, “However, it is made clear that the observations made in this order are only for the purpose of deciding the bail applications of applicants and nothing contained in this order shall tantamount to the expression of any opinion on merits of the case.”

Now, even in the observations in the bail, the court has actually not said that there is no evidence, as opposed to the claim by Atishi that “tthe judge repeatedly said in the 86-page order that there is no evidence.”

What the court said

Most of the text in the 86-page order are reproduction of the arguments made by the counsels of the applicants, where they argued that there is no evidence against their clients in the case. Just because such text appear in the judgement, it does not mean the court said that, and the judgement clearly names the relevant advocates while quoting their arguments.

The court granted bails to Rajesh Joshi and Gautam Malhotra for specific reasons, and not for ‘no evidence that the scam took place’. The court has found that the two accused have no direct links with the alleged scam.

The court found that Rajesh Joshi is not in the liquor business and he did take part in any of the meetings between the other co­accused or conspirators in the case. He is not part of the cartel formed to take undue benefits, and he is found to be not part of the South lobby or any other liquor lobby. Joshi is also not accused of paying bribes to Manish Sisodia, and there is no evidence that he was involved in the transfer of kickback amount of Rs 20 crore or Rs 30 crore. Moreover, there were contradictions in statements regarding the monetary transactions. For these reasons, the court granted bail to him, citing the absence of any satisfactory corroborative material. The court also said that he has been cooperating in the probe, and that he is not a flight risk.

For the other applicant Gautam Malhotra, the court said that he is involved in the liquor business, and while he was part of a cartel, there is no evidence showing that he was involved in paying bribes. The court stated that while he had formed a cartel, that is not enough to claim that it was formed as part of a criminal conspiracy. The court stated that a cartel can be formed for legitimate business purposes.

The court further noted that while Gautam Malhotra is accused of paying Rs 2.5 crore bribe, it was allegedly paid in May 2022, months after the liquor policy was implemented. The ED had said that he was not part of the criminal conspiracy, and he was allegedly forced by Vijay Nayar representing AAP to be involved in the scam.

Considering all the material facts, the court stated that the evidence presented against Gautam Malhotra is not sufficient to attract the provisions of Section 45 of the PMLA to deny bail to him. The court also said that the applicant Gautam Malhotra also cannot be considered to be a flight risk as he belongs to a family having well-established liquor manufacturing business in the State of Punjab and also selling their liquor brands in other States and his father is also stated to be a senior politician in the State of Punjab.

For these reasons, Rajesh Joshi and Gautam Malhotra were granted bail against personal bonds of Rs 2 lakh each with one surety for the same amount.

AAP lies that bribe amount came down from Rs 100 crore to Rs 30 crore.

AAP leader Atishi also claimed that ED had reduced the bribe amount from Rs 100 crore to Rs 30 crore, which is another misquote from the judgement. She said, “The story of ED started with Rs 100 crore, but then itself came down to Rs 30 crore, as the agency has mentioned Rs 30 crore in its chargesheet. It was also alleged that a person named Rajesh Joshi took these Rs 30 crore of bribes to Goa. The court has also stated that there is no independent evidence collected by the agency to substantiate or corroborate this fact.”

The fact is, ED has not reduced the amount of alleged bribe paid in the case in total. The Rs 30 crore figure comes from the judgement, where it was referring to the allegation that Rajesh Joshi was involved in the transfer of a kickback amount of Rs 30 crore from the South Lobby to Vijay Nair through Dinesh Arora, who has turned approver in the case.

While the court said that there is no strong evidence to link Rajesh Joshi with the bribe amount, nowhere did the judgement mention that the total amount of the bribe has come down from Rs 100 crore to Rs 30 crore. This Rs 30 crore was only a part of the total bribe amount, which was allegedly paid in several parts.

In fact, the judgement makes it clear that the Rs 30 crore is part of the total Rs 100 crore alleged kickback. It says, “It can be observed that the alleged kickback amount is very huge i.e. around Rs. 100 crores and even a huge amount of around Rs. 20­-30 crores is alleged to have been transferred through this applicant.”

The judgement mentioned in multiple places that according to the prosecution, a kickback of around Rs 100 crore was paid by the South Lobby. Therefore, the allegation that the alleged bribe amount has come down is absolutely false, and a blatant misquote of the court order.

One Tipu Sultan absconded after raping 5 year old, arrested after Uttar Pradesh police shoots him in the leg: Details

OpIndia Staff
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One Tipu Sultan absconded after raping 5 year old, arrested after Uttar Pradesh police shoots him in the leg: Details

After an encounter, the Uttar Pradesh Police nabbed Tipu Sultan, a resident of Kasna, who is accused of raping a 5-year-old girl. He was shot in the left leg and has been checked into a hospital. He had escaped after the incident and was apprehended after the confrontation with the police.

The Kasna police station in Greater Noida received secret information regarding the perpetrator’s whereabouts on Wednesday. He was surrounded by police personnel during checking in the area of Dadha Gol Chakkar.

He was trapped and started shooting in an attempt to break through the police’s protective perimeter so he can flee to safety. However, the cops retaliated, shooting him in the left leg which eventually led to his capture.

Just as the bullet struck the culprit, he collapsed on the ground and began to wither in pain. The cops grabbed him and he was transported to a hospital for medical treatment. Two live and one hollow bullet cartridge, as well as one illegal firearm, were found in his possession.

The police revealed that they were informed that he would be visiting his family and therefore they surrounded the area to arrest him.

A five-year-old girl child was playing outside her house in the vicinity of the Kasna police station, on Tuesday. The offender, who also lived in the same neighbourhood, kidnapped her and took her to a remote location where he raped the minor.

The instance resulted in the victim receiving serious injuries. Passers-by reached the scene after hearing her cries and took her to a hospital, where she is currently undergoing treatment. The assailant spotted an opportunity during the commotion and took off from the crime site.

Her family and relatives arrived at the hospital as soon as they learned about the catastrophe. A case was registered following her father’s complaint.

‘6 years of Islamic study, and I became anti-Hindu, anti-nation’, ‘considered non-Muslims as Kafir’: Read real ‘Kerala story’ as narrated by Anagha Jaigopal, Vishali Shetty

OpIndia Staff
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‘6 years of Islamic study, and I became anti-Hindu, anti-nation’, ‘considered non-Muslims as Kafir’: Read real ‘Kerala story’ as narrated by Anagha Jaigopal, Vishali Shetty

Sudipto Sen’s film The Kerala Story has brought forth the conspiracies of Islamic conversion into public discussion. Many victims themselves are coming forward and telling their stories. Anagha Jaigopal and Vishali Shetty are two such women who narrated their experiences of conversion and coming back to the Sanatana Dharma. They described in detail their experience and testified that the film depicts the reality of what is happening in not just Kerala or other states in the country but across the globe.

Story of Anagha Jaigopal

Anagha Jaigopal hails from Ernakulam in Kerala. She was brainwashed by her classmates and colleagues. She said, “I was a victim of intellectual jihad and not the one shown as love jihad in this film. But love jihad exists. It of course exists. My conversion story starts from 2013-2014. Shalini Unnikrishnan – the main character in the film The Kerala Story – faces many questions like exactly how many gods we have, why we worship these types of gods, etc. I used to face similar questions from my roommates and colleagues etc. I used to keep silent at that time as I could not answer these questions. When I asked those questions to my parents, they were also unable to answer them. They told me that we are following these practices because our forefathers have done so. I was not satisfied. I sought more clarification on social media. There also I did not get any convincing answers. So I thought that there is no point in Hinduism.”

She further said, “This is the first step they are taking for the conversion. Because the first step is to ask these questions and they will confuse you. At this step, they will start deciding your religion and at that step even if you stay silent and don’t answer, they will start slowly the brainwashing process. In the second step, they started criticising my religion. At that time also I couldn’t counter their questions with any answers. So they slowly told me that Islam is the real path and Allah is the only god and they told me about the Prophet Mohammad and Quran etc. And also they told me that in Islam it is told that a woman should be dressed like this and this. Then she will be saved from the hellfire and if a woman exposes herself in front of other men – other than her husband – she will be in hellfire. Slowly, they pulled me into that ideology. They used the main thing the fear of hell to hold me in this state of mind. Slowly, they shared with me the Quran translations and the videos of MM Akbar and Zakir Naik. I started watching all those videos.”

She added, “Slowly I was fed up with this Islamic ideology in my brain and after 5 to 6 years of Islamic study, I became anti-Hindu, anti-nation, and not only that I became anti-human because I considered other non-Muslims as just Kafirs only. It is written in Quran that no consideration should be given to Kafirs. They can be treated as cruel as you can. It is said in the Quran. I was fed with this ideology. I was brainwashed. I considered my parents as Kafirs. I hated Hindu gods, Hindu religion, and Hindu culture. The word Hindu I hated the most at that time. They told me many things against our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and almost completely against every Hindu organisation, Hindu religion, and Hindu everything.”

Telling more about her conversion, she said, “At the end of the six-year, I wanted to be known as a Muslim woman in front of society. So I had to legally convert and in 2020 I called the conversion centre. I told them that I want to get converted. They told that currently it is locked down. So no new admissions are being taken. I had no other option. It was near my workplace. I quit my job and came home. There I practised Islam. I was living just like a Muslim woman. I started wearing a hijab and full sleeves. I was following all the things said in Islam.”

When asked about how did she come back to Hinduism, Anagha Jaigopal said, “At that time, some of the RSS activists came to know about me and they searched for me and they got to know that I am going to get converted and they connected my family with an organisation which is the Arsh Vidya Samajam. My brother came to me and said don’t think that they don’t have any answers to your questions. Don’t think that nobody has answers to your questions. There is someplace where you can get all your answers. I said I am ready to come there on one condition. Once I leave that place, I will be a complete Hindu or a complete Muslim. With that condition, I entered Arsh Vidya Samajam and met Acharya Shri Manoj with whom I had a debate and he made me realise the fraud and threat in Islam by pointing towards the facts in Quran and Hadis itself. I realised how dangerously I was going on that path. I decided that what I had gone through, no other girl should go through that. Therefore, I decided to work for a lifetime with the Arsh Vidya Samajam. For the last three years, I have been associated with the Arsh Vidya Samajam. Now also we are getting around 10 to 20 phone calls daily saying that our child is getting radicalised. Please help us.”

Story of Vishali Shetty

Vishali Shetty also shared her experience of conversion and commented on how powerful the film has been in narrating the truth. She said, “My radicalisation and my brainwashing into Islam happened in my workplace. I was working in an IT company in Bengaluru. I started in Kerala and then went to Bengaluru. This is when my radicalisation into Islam started. My colleagues approached me. They started asking me questions about my Dharma which initially I tried to defend with common sense and logic but later I did not have answers to their questions. So at that time, there started creating confusion in my mind. They could sense that void and they started feeding me with Islamic ideologies by presenting their ideologies in such a way that it appears to be right or one starts thinking that what they say is right. You start feeling that what Dharma you have been following till now, what culture you followed till now all these years in your life is totally wrong. So that is how it happened to me. I was able to come in contact with the Arsh Vidya Samajam from where we were able to understand the fallacies of the radicalisation and come back to the Sanatana Dharma once again.”

When asked about the film ‘The Kerala Story’ and the reality that persists in the southern state, she asserted that it is not just limited to Kerala. She said, “We have watched the movie and from what the movie shows, we can tell you that it is exactly what is happening in not just Kerala today but many places in India. Not only in India but around the world. The movie very accurately depicts what is happening in the society. Arsha Vidya Samajam has been bringing back converted people for the last 23 years. In our experience itself, we have brought back more than seven thousand people. This is a step-by-step strategic conversion process which in its extreme form could lead to radicalisation to the extent that the brainwashed person lands up in ISIS.”

Testifying the authenticity of the claims of a huge number of people being forcibly converted to Islam, she said, “In many cases, we are able to bring them back at a very earlier stage. Had they not been brought back, had they not been able to come back to Sanatana Dharma, they would have definitely ended up in such a stage. These 7000 people include both men and women. In most of these cases, we cannot tell these stories in the open because people are not ready to come and speak about them in the open. This is because of societal reputation and other different things. Especially when it is a case of a girl, they don’t come ahead and talk about it. This movie has definitely created an atmosphere where more and more people are saying that this is actually happening.”

She called love jihad to be a love trap jihad, indicating specifically the trap part of the plan to convert a girl. She also said that an inter-faith relationship is not a problem if there is no such trap to convert is not involved. She said, “If it is merely a relationship between a boy and a girl it is not at all a problem. Any two people could fall in love and get into a relationship and get married. But what is the problem is that the radicalisation and step-by-step brainwashing is being carried out in the name of love. Rather than calling it love jihad, we would like to call it love trap jihad, that is, they are trapping women or young girls on the pretext of love and through that they are step by step converting them. The first step is that they trap them. In the second step they tell the girls that if my family has to accept you in my house, you have to get converted. They say it is just for marrying. They say it is just for the namesake, just for the parents to accept you have to get converted for the sake of marriage.”

She further said, “But then, the conversion is not just the paperwork or just the formality. She has to undergo a two-month-long proper course on Islamic studies before getting a conversion certificate. In that process, what they are taught is exactly what is depicted in the movie. What the movie depicts in what happens in the conversion is exactly and accurately depicted. The relationships that lead to a step-by-step radicalisation of the girl or of a boy getting into such a path, adopting an anti-national, anti-human, and anti-social mindset is what is the problem and that is what we have to overcome no matter which religion the person belongs to. Of the recorded reports of the number of people who went to join ISIS from Kerala, they have themselves claimed that the majority of the people amongst the 150 or 200 people who have joined are Muslims and only a small number are from other religions, so why are you creating a problem about that. That is exactly what we wanted to say. If Muslims themselves are adopting ISIS, that is a problem for the Muslim community of the nation itself. So they have to fight against this brainwashing first. It is not a problem only for a certain section of society. It is a problem for the whole of humanity itself.”

Delhi Minorities Commission seeks FIR against Tajinder Bagga for hurting Sikh sentiments after he defined ‘Waheguru’ in a tweet, says SGPC gave a different definition

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Minorities Commission seeks FIR against Tajinder Bagga for hurting Sikh sentiments after he defined ‘Waheguru’ in a tweet, says SGPC gave a different definition

On Wednesday, the Delhi Minority Commission wrote a letter to the Delhi Police seeking FIR against Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of the Sikh community. The Commission said that the tweet posted by Bagga on March 28 this year in which he described the meaning of ‘Waheguru’ was intentionally posted to disturb the religious sentiments of the Sikh community.

In the tweet dated March 28, Bagga said that Khalistanis who abuse India and Hindu Devi/Devtas are abusing Sikhism too indirectly. “They don’t know the meaning of Waheguru. What’s the meaning of Waheguru ? Wa- Vishnu Vasudev from Satyuga, He- Hari Krishna from Dwapra, Gu- Guru Govind from Kalyuga, Ru- Ram from Treta,” he said.

The Commission stated in the letter that Bagga has wrongly described the meaning of the word ‘Waheguru’ and it is contrary to what Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (Amritsar) and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee have said.

“The Commission thought it appropriate to seek clarification on the meaning of the word Waheguru in terms of Sikh religion. Therefore clarification was sought from Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (Amritsar) and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, being the main two bodies representing the Sikh religion. Both bodies have clarified the meaning of the word Waheguru which is contrary to what Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga has described in his Twitter post. Prima Facie it appears that the said message was posted to disturb the religious sentiments of the Sikh community.

The letter further said that the matter was serious and capable of affecting the ‘secular’ fabric of the country. The Commission sought a reply from Delhi Police asking why no suo-moto cognizance of the event was taken and why no FIR was filed against the BJP leader for his purported ‘hate speech’. The Commission has asked the Delhi Police to take action and file the action taken report by May 17 this year.

Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga meanwhile said that the Commission had filed the letter on the instructions of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. “Kejriwal didn’t forget the last slap but trying to target me again. I am giving him a challenge to do whatever he wants, but I will not stop exposing him,” he tweeted on May 10.

Reportedly, the Delhi Minorities Commission had earlier written to Shiromani Committee President Advocate Harjinder Singh Dhami and the Chairman of Dharma Prachar Committee of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, S. Jaspreet Singh Karamsar requesting to clarify the meaning of the term ‘Waheguru’ as per Sikh norms. The Commission had said that it would take action against Bagga after attaining replies from the two prominent Sikh bodies.

It is pertinent to note that BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga has remained a strong critic of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and has exposed him and his party time and again. He was also illegally arrested by Punjab Police last year over his alleged threat to Kejriwal. Today, tweeting a letter written by Delhi Minorities Commission to the Delhi Police, Bagga said that he would continue to expose Kejriwal and that the latter can do whatever he wants to target him.

China reopens Kailash Mansarovar Yatra with new restrictions to discourage Indian pilgrims: Report

OpIndia Staff
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China reopens Kailash Mansarovar Yatra with new restrictions to discourage Indian pilgrims: Report

After keeping it closed for three years, the Chinese government has reopened several points on the Nepal-China border, leading to the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage. However, Nepal media has reported that the new restrictions and higher cost of travel permits for both tourists and tour operators will discourage pilgrims from visiting Kailash Mansarovar. The new cost for visas has surprised the Nepal tour operators as, in 2016, Nepal waived visa charges for Chinese nationals entering the country to boost tourism.

The tour operators in Nepal accused the Chinese government of imposing complex regulations that are allegedly designed to keep foreign pilgrims, especially from India, away from Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. The top tour operators of Nepal have submitted a memorandum to the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Chen Song, explaining the hassles that the new regulations would cause. Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal and Association of Kailash Tour Operators Nepal have urged the Chinese government via the ambassador to simplify the movement of the pilgrims. The memorandum read, “The charges fixed by China for Indians are higher than those for tourists from third countries.”

Another issue that the Indian pilgrims will face is the non-availability of an online platform to get visas for Tibet. The only way to get the visa is from the embassy office in Delhi. That, too, the person seeking a visa has to be physically present for the interview for the visa. Furthermore, submitting biometric data while applying for a visa has been made compulsory. That means the Chinese authorities will get access to the biometric data of the pilgrims who want to visit Kailash Mansarovar.

According to the rules, to obtain a visa, Indian pilgrims are required to be in a group of at least five people. At least four of those should be present physically for the visa interview. There is no rationale behind such a rule, as the tour operators called it an impractical demand by the Chinese government.

China has also increased the cost involved in the pilgrimage for pilgrims, tour operators, and Nepali workers. The “grass damage charge” for Nepali workers has been increased from USD 100 per person to USD 300 per person for a 15-day stay. Nepali nationals work as guides, porters and kitchen staff for the pilgrims. Earlier, the visa for Nepali workers was available at immigration offices at the border, but now they have to go to the visa facilitation services centre at Rising Mall to get the visa.

The tour operators have been asked to deport USD 60,000 or 8 million Nepali rupees o send pilgrims to Tibet. The Foreign Exchange Centre of Tibet has imposed the rule. It is a major problem for tour operators as Nepali laws do not permit them to deposit funds in foreign banks.

The cost of the 14-day Kailash Mansarovar Yatra starts from Nepali Rupees 1,85,000 per person and can go up to Rs 3,20,000 per person. However, the new cost would increase the tour package price.

There are a few routes to Kailash Mansarovar from India, including Lipulekh Pass, known as Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra Route, and via Nathula in Sikkim. However, these routes and longer and more expensive.

Anti-Brahmin rhetoric at the core of Dravidian movement is common, but did you know Brahmin participation in the toxicity? The story of VP Raman

Suren
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Anti-Brahmin rhetoric at the core of Dravidian movement is common, but did you know Brahmin participation in the toxicity? The story of VP Raman

The anti-Brahmin rhetoric and hate at the core of the Dravidian movement is a matter of common knowledge. What is not common knowledge, however, is the participation of Brahmins in the movement.

After the recent decision to rename Lloyd’s Road in Chennai, which was renamed Avvai Shanmugam Road, to V P Raman Road, now, his memory comes back into the public eye.

What is of interest to us is the life and work of V P Raman as an example of the inability of the elite Brahmins of the time to fully comprehend the nature of the Dravidian movement. 

Mr V P Raman’s son and former Advocate General of Tamil nadu, Mr P S Raman, has written a biography of his father- The Man Who Would Not Be King, which is very well-referenced and has a wealth of detail.

Mr P S Raman paints a portrait of a highly intelligent man born into privileged circumstances, who went on to become a brilliant lawyer, well-networked socialite and devoted family man.

With his intelligence and contacts, he could have been one of India’s storied judges or dominated the Bar at Delhi in the most important constitutional cases or in corporate cases working in Mumbai. He, however, chose to take only opportunities that came his way, reluctantly, and the legacy he seems to have left behind are memories of his intellectual brilliance and engaging personality among friends and family, besides his own close-knit, caring family.

Sivaji Ganesan as Barrister Rajinikanth in his 1973 film, Gowravam, for which he studied VPR’s persona
Mr Raman in his usual formal attire while conducting business

V P Raman, Attorney

Mr Venkata Pattabhi Raman was born in 1932 as the only son of a well-off businessman. He received a strict upbringing, mostly under the supervision of his mother, a ‘Tiger Mom’ of those times. He was a straight topper throughout his education and went into legal practice. His performance at the Law College, winning almost every single academic medal possible, is yet to be matched, 75 years on! He was very quick to make a mark for himself. He was made Additional Solicitor General to The Government Of India in 1975 and gave it up to be made Advocate General Of Tamil Nadu in MGR’s first government, between 1977 to 1979.

He was personal friends with six Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu – Rajaji, whom he affectionately called ‘thatha’ (grandfather), Kamaraj, CN Annadurai, MGR, Karunanidhi, with whom he shared an enthusiasm for Carnatic music and cricket and Nedunchezhiyan. Sivaji Ganesan is said to have modelled his iconic role of Barrister Rajinikanth in the classic ‘Gowravam’ on Mr Raman.

Mr Raman would have continued his legal career in Delhi, but he refused to defend Sanjay Gandhi in the Shah Commission, which investigated the excesses of the Emergency. The reason given by Mr P S Raman in the book is that his father was upset by the incidents at Turkman Gate during the Emergency. After a stint as Advocate General, MGR is also said to have cooled to him, not due to professional reasons, but because MGR felt let down by Mr VP Raman’s to continue as Advocate General even after Indira Gandhi had dismissed his Government.

During his tenure as Advocate General of Tamil Nadu, he had occasion to upset another close friend, since he had to participate in the Sarkaria Commission’s investigation of corruption against M Karunanidhi’s DMK Government. Time heals all wounds. True to that, he reconciled with both men in due course of time.

VP Raman’s politics

Picture taken in 1967

Many people who came of age at the time of India’s Independence were taken by Socialism. It was true of many countries across the world. Mr Raman was no different from many millions of young people. However, he did understand the principal conundrum in India, in that caste differences play as big a role in inequity as differences in class. Sometime in 1949 or 1950, when a fresh entrant in Madras Law College, he wrote his proposal for changes to the CPI’s manifesto. He wanted bridging caste and religious divides to be as important as the Marxist-Leninist goal of uniting the working class. It is said to have been considered and discussed by the CPI politburo and then discarded. He parted ways with Socialists after this incident.

At this time, the Dravidian movement, particularly the DMK, which was started by C N Annadurai, positioned itself as working to establish an egalitarian society. In 1954/1955, he first came in contact with the founder of the DMK, Mr C N Annadurai at a public meeting in Triplicane, Madras. 

As with many other people, such as Karunanidhi and Kannadasan, VPR was left awestruck at Annadurai’s oratory and personality. Breaking with EV Ramasamy’s Dravidar Kazhagam, Annadurai was at pains to point out that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was a movement for the welfare of all people in the Dravida region and did not oppose Brahmins as individuals but only Brahminism and its rituals and practices. This farce has long since been put to rest by the consistent hate speech of Dravidian ideologues, writers, movie makers and politicians, but VPR seems to have taken it at face value. The personality of Annadurai, with his easy camaraderie and ability to build consensus, would have played a big role in this.

He plunged into the movement, and campaigned for the fledgling party in all elections. He stayed in the movement to see his friends, Annadurai, Karunanidhi, Anbazhagan, Mathizhagan and others assume office. In 1958, when the party decided they needed to put in place a formal constitution, a drafting committee led by N V Natarajan and with party ideologues EVK Sampath, Era Sezhiyan, Karunanidhi and VP Raman was formed. For a 26-year-old lawyer like VPR, this was quite an unexpected acknowledgement.

VPR was also appointed Assistant Editor of the DMK’s English publication – ‘Homeland’, which he used to write on many topics. One of his articles on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue, published in 1958, was recently reproduced by the party, to demonstrate the consistency of their support to the Tamils of Sri Lanka.

The DMK also garnered a major advance in electoral politics, when it bettered the performance of the Congress in the 1959 Madras Municipal Corporation elections. At this time, war clouds were gathering on the China and Pakistan fronts. The country would go on to fight a debilitating Himalayan war in 1962. 

Against this backdrop, VPR wanted to revisit the party’s demand for Dravida Nadu, an independent union of States in the Southern part of the sub-continent within a loose federation called India. Earlier, in 1957, at the Trichy party conference, this same topic had been discussed, with VPR, EVK Sampath, Era Sezhiyan and Kannadasan in favour of renouncing the demand and affirming faith in the integrity of the Indian Republic. At the 1957 conference, Annadurai had firmly made his preference known for continuing with the Dravida Nadu demand.

In 1959, VPR called for a meeting of the Executive Committee, without consulting Annadurai. Annadurai abstained from the meeting and a resolution towards integrating with the rest of the country and firming the national fabric was carried, due to support from Era Sezhiyan and EVK Sampath. Annadurai was upset at what he perceived as high-handedness and indiscipline. The resolution was withdrawn and the demand for Dravida Nadu remained. VPR had no option but to quit his party. This was his last engagement with direct politics. 

The experience left the other leaders with a bad aftertaste. Due to this, and other contributing factors, EVK Sampath and Kannadasan left in 1961.

In any case, due to revised laws that would disqualify separatists from holding office as elected representatives, Annadurai would renounce the demand in 1962, but not before he gave a speech to announce his tactical retreat.

Evaluating his political legacy

We will not delve too deep into VPR’s legal career. Our focus shall be the short period of 5 to 6 years when he was a part of the Dravidian movement.

To begin with, we shall lay to rest any doubts that his period of engagement had anything to do with power and pelf. He joined the movement when they were a fringe movement and left just as they began to gain political credence. His family was wealthy enough that his father, Mr A Venkata Raman sold his house on Lloyd’s Road to MGR at a price that MGR could choose and let MGR pay him whenever he could. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister of today, Mr  M K Stalin purchased his current residence on Chittaranjan Road from VPR’s in-laws.

His appointments as Law Officers were made by Indira Gandhi and MGR. In any case, his reputation was such that he was destined for high office. In his first brief at the Supreme Court, he appeared before then Chief Justice PB Gajendragadkar. His performance so impressed them that they called them to their chambers and half-jokingly asked him if he would take up an offer to become a judge. Since he did not have even 10 years in the Bar, the offer could not be followed through. He never attempted to take a place on the Bench, since he felt himself temperamentally unsuited for the job.

Thus, one can safely assume that VPR was a member of the Dravidian movement out of conviction. To understand how VPR and other elite Brahmins of the era never really opposed the Dravidian movement, one has to understand the zeitgeist.

Until the 1960s, Brahmins in Tamil Nadu had good political representation and until the 1980s, were well represented in the bureaucracy, academia, business and judiciary. The elites in the community did not feel the threat of the movement.

Annadurai and his consensus-building, people-friendly personality was a big factor in the creation of a respectable image for the DMK.

VPR and many Tamil Brahmin elites hailed from the Kaveri Delta region, where due to a combination of a strong proportion of the population in the 1930s and land ownership, the Brahmins felt a kinship with other dominant castes that led the DMK. This continues to this day, to some extent, with a non-trivial percentage of Brahmin votes in Kaveri Delta districts going to the DMK.

Many of the leading academics, politicians and intellectuals of the Dravidian movement reside in the same neighbourhoods as the elite Brahmins, frequent the same clubs and are followers of the same religious heads. It is but natural that these strong personal relationships cloud the true character of the Dravidian movement.

In the final reckoning, the tribalism of leaders from the lower middle class like Rama Gopalan, a Swayamsevak who dedicated his life to the Hindu cause or H Raja, the BJP leader who rose from origins as the son of a small-town PT instructor, may get far more dignity for the average Tamil Brahmin in their own homeland.

16 people held in Madhya Pradesh and Telangana over links with radical outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir, police say ‘they want to topple India’s democratic setup’

OpIndia Staff
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16 people held in Madhya Pradesh and Telangana over links with radical outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir, police say ‘they want to topple India’s democratic setup’

In a coordinated operation with the Intelligence Bureau and the Telangana Police on Tuesday, the Madhya Pradesh anti-terrorist squad (ATS) dismantled a Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) module and apprehended 16 people. Officers informed that the accused persons, including a professor from a college in Hyderabad and a computer engineer from Bhopal, intended to foment terrorism and wage war against the country.

In parallel early-morning raids, authorities seized five individuals in Hyderabad and 11 from two cities in Madhya Pradesh. They had been under the surveillance of police and intelligence agencies for some time after information about HuT’s intention to establish a base in India emerged. Of the 11 arrested in MP, 10 were arrested from Bhopal’s Shahjahanabad, Aishbagh, Lalghati and Pipalani areas, while one was nabbed from Chhindwara city.

According to the police, the perpetrators’ possessions included radical literature, laptops, pen drives, hard drives, money, and other items.

The MP Police has registered a case against the accused under sections 13, 17 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and other relevant sections. They have been remanded to ATS custody until May 19 by a special court.

The offenders were employed as teachers, fitness instructors, computer technicians, tailors, vehicle drivers, and labourers, among other occupations. One of them was reportedly managing a coaching facility in Bhopal. According to sources, HuT has managed to extend its doctrine and support base to at least 50 nations. The outfit has been training its cadres in chemical and biological warfare while evading international inspection. The group is banned in 16 countries.

The HuT was last active in India in 2010, but recent information on its expansion plans in the country, particularly in Madhya Pradesh, where it has been covertly recruiting and training members, was provided by international security agencies.

As per the investigators, the apprehended men were secretly practising shooting and receiving combat training at camps in remote jungle locations, where jihadi material was also passed out and provocative speeches were delivered during private religious gatherings.

Young individuals eager to give their lives for the cause of Islamism were known to be identified and recruited by the accused. They exchanged messages using a variety of encrypted applications, including Threema, Rocket Chat, and other programmes that are akin to those used by ISIS and other terrorist organisations on the dark web.

Six people connected to the MP-based group were found in Telangana by intelligence sleuths, five of them have been arrested and the hunt is still on for one of them. Md Saleem alias Saurabh Raj Vaidhya (41), the head of a private college’s pharmaceutical biotechnology department in Hyderabad, moved to the region from MP in 2018. He became friends with and radicalised the other males over time.

He would frequently gather with the other five radicals, Sheikh Junaid (32), a dentist, Md Abbas Ali alias B Venu Kumar (36), an auto driver, Abdur Rahman alias Devi Prasad Panda (33), a cloud service engineer and native of Odisha, Md Salman (27) and Md Hameed (30), both daily wage earners to converse about the concepts and strategies the MP contacts had shared regarding the establishment of an Islamic state in India.

The numerous contacts in Hyderabad raised a red flag with the intelligence apparatus, which alerted the MP Police and IB. “The Hyderabad module wanted to start off on their own to spread jihadi ideology,” unveiled a police officer.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international pan-Islamist and fundamentalist political organization whose stated aim is the re-establishment of the Islamic caliphate to unite the Muslim community and implement sharia globally. The group’s aim is to unify all Muslim countries to form an Islamic state or caliphate. After establishing the Islamic State, they plan to expand the caliphate into non-Muslim areas, through “invitation” and through military jihad.

Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin files defamation case against BJP state president Annamalai over ‘DMK files’

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin files defamation case against BJP state president Annamalai over ‘DMK files’

On Wednesday, May 10, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) supremo MK Stalin filed a defamation lawsuit against Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader K Annamalai after the BJP leader released the “DMK Files” alleging corruption by the Tamil Nadu CM, his family members, and several DMK leaders. The petition was filed by City Public Prosecutor G Devarajan on behalf of MK Stalin.

The petitioner argued in the plea filed before the Madras High Court’s first bench that the “files” released by Annamalai to the press on April 14 are baseless and devoid of any valid proof. The petition further claimed that Annamalai’s accusations about Stalin were defamatory in nature and have tarnished the image of the Tamil Nadu CM. 

While others, including Udhayanidhi Stalin, Kanimozhi MP, TR Baalu, and RS Bharathi, had sent legal notices to Annamalai and demanded an unconditional apology, CM Stalin has reportedly filed a case under Section 199 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr PC) before the Principal Session Judge in Chennai Egmore court.

The DMK Files

On April 14, 2023, K Annamalai, the President of the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit disclosed a series of papers titled ‘DMK Files’ on alleged corruption within the DMK government. 

The DMK leaders’ assets were “worth Rs 1.34 lakh crore,” according to calculations and estimates made by the BJP leader. Annamalai stated at a press conference on 14th April, “DMK files will not end with a single part; every party that ruled the state will be disclosed before 2024.” If I am going to expose corruption, I will have to expose everyone’s corruption.”

The state BJP leader had accused DMK leaders Jagatratchagan, E V Velu, K N Nehru, Kanimozhi, Kalanidhi Maran, T R Baalu, Kalanithi Veerasamy, Duraimurugan, Kathir Anand, Arcot Veersamy, Kalanithi Veerasamy, and K Ponmudy, among others, of asset irregularities.

Annamalai had also expressed concern about the funding of Minister and MK Stalin’s son, Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Red Giant Movies, ties between M K Stalin’s son-in-law Sabareesan and George’s Bank director Srinivas Venkatesh in England, and an agreement Stalin signed with the Noble group of companies, where ministers Udhayanidhi Stalin and Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi were allegedly once directors. Additionally, Annamalai implicated CM Stalin with corruption in relation to the Metro Phase 1 contract, which took place between 2006 and 2011 during the DMK government.

Delhi: Man used to walk 40 miles in search of children to rape and murder them; convicted

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi: Man used to walk 40 miles in search of children to rape and murder them; convicted

On Tuesday, a UP-based man working as a labourer in Delhi, identified as Ravindra Kumar was convicted in the case of kidnapping, murder, and physical assault of a 6-year-old child. The court is slated to sentence Ravindra within the next two weeks.

According to the reports, the accused used to get high on drugs, engage in pornographic films and search for small children. He then used to assault them and kill them. The Delhi Police said that the accused developed this routine since the year 2008. He was 18 years old then. He continued this dreadful routine for the next seven years and until 2015, he killed 30 children.

Ravindra Kumar, then 18 years old, travelled to Delhi from Kasganj, Uttar Pradesh, in quest of employment. His mother was a domestic helper who worked at people’s houses while his father was a plumber.

A few days after arriving in Delhi, Ravindra developed a drug addiction and acquired a videotape with a pornographic movie. He soon established a terrible pattern. According to the authorities, Ravindra Kumar would work all day as a labourer before getting intoxicated at night. He would go to bed in a slum between eight o’clock and midnight, then get up and start looking for kids.

In search of prey, he would occasionally go up to 40 miles through slums and construction zones. The Delhi Police apprehended Ravindra Kumar in 2014 after he was charged with kidnapping, attempted murder, and physical abuse of a 6-year-old child.

It was said that after kidnapping the infant, he dumped her into a sewage tank. Following this, the police detained him in Rohini, Delhi, close to the Sukhbir Nagar bus stop as they looked into the case of the 6-year-old girl from 2015. The police first examined information gathered from a large number of CCTV cameras, questioned their informants, and then detained Ravindra. He is accused of kidnapping the girl, torturing her physically, slitting her neck, and tossing her into a septic tank.

In 2015, Vikramjeet Singh, who was the DCP of the outer Delhi district, said that Ravindra Kumar gave information about his crimes after being caught and spoke in detail about each crime he committed. “He remembered almost all the children who became victims of his lust”

Retired ACP Jagminder Singh Dahiya, who was part of the investigation team of this case, says that Ravindra used to rape the dead bodies of the children after killing them. Many times, when girls or children were not under his control, he would kill them before raping them, and then rape them.

Ravindra Kumar had also executed crimes against the children of his relatives. He also confessed to having targeted two children of a relative of his aunt. Not only this, he has shown the police 15 such places where he had executed the incidents of kidnapping, rape and murder.

Punjab and Haryana HC says arrest and custody Times Now cameraman and driver is illegal: Read details of what the court said and how it slammed FIR by Punjab police

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab and Haryana HC says arrest and custody Times Now cameraman and driver is illegal: Read details of what the court said and how it slammed FIR by Punjab police

On May 9, the interim bail of Times Now Navbharat reporter Bhawana Kishore was extended till May 22 by Punjab and Haryana High Court. Her associates, cameraperson Mritunjay Kumar and driver Parmender Singh Rawat, were also granted interim bail. In its order, the high court said that the arrest and the judicial custody of Kumar and Rawat by police and magistrate were illegal, and the same was done mechanically without considering the charges slapped against them.

In the order, the High Court said that the duty officer who arrested the driver and cameraperson did not inform them that they had the option to submit bail bonds as the allegations against them were bailable. Furthermore, the court said the petitioners were deprived of their life and personal liberty by sending them to judicial custody in a mechanical way despite the fact that it was necessary for the investigation.

Source: Punjab and Haryana High Court

The Punjab police booked Bhawana, Parmender and Mritunjay for allegedly injuring a 50-year-old woman and using casteist slurs against her during an argument after the accident. Bhawana was accused of using derogatory language. Parmender was charged with recklessly driving the vehicle. Mritunjay was accused of getting into an argument with the victim.

The Judicial Magistrate and Special Court sent all three to 14-day judicial custody on 6 May. However, the High Court granted them interim bail on the same day. Times Now has alleged a conspiracy was hatched against its employees in retaliation to Operation Sheesh Mehel wherein Times Now Navbharat exposed details of “ultra-lavish and disproportionate expenditure incurred in refurbishing the official residence of the Delhi CM”.

In an official statement after Bhawana and the other two were granted bail, the channel said, “In a bizarre turn of events on May 05, Bhawana Kishore, along with cameraman Mrityunjay Kumar and Driver Parminder Singh who went to cover a political program presided by Arvind Kejriwal in Ludhiana were implicated in a staged road accident case and falsely accused of using casteist remarks against a group of women, believed to be AAP workers, who in an e-rickshaw first rammed into the team’s car, got into a brawl and called the Ludhiana police. Bhawana Kishore’s illegal arrest violated several rules, including being detained without a lady police officer, arrest post sunset, denial of legal and telephone access and being forced to sign documents in Gurmukhi, a language she didn’t understand. Mrityunjay, who was just a passenger in the Car involved in the alleged accident, was illegally and unnecessarily detained and has spent four nights in Jail in gross disrespect of his dignity as a citizen.”

The channel added, “This incident which has raised National concern over the gross and deliberate misuse of State powers along with the malicious use of the SC/ST Act, has gathered tremendous public support. The distressed families of the trio and Times Network welcome the judgment with great relief. This reinstates our belief that truth can never be silenced, no matter how devious the oppressors. This is a testament to Times Now Navbharat’s commitment to fearless journalism. We will continue to raise uncomfortable questions to those in power without fear of consequences.”

High Court’s remarks at the time of interim bail to Parmender and Mritunjay

On May 9, Punjab and Haryana High Court heard the arguments for the interim bail petition of driver Parmender and cameraperson Mritunjay. The counsel informed that petitioner two and petitioner 3 (Mritunjay and Parmender) were not booked under SC/ST Act, and the Sections they were booked under were bailable. Thus they deserve interim bail as Bhawana.

The allegations against Mritunjay were only regarding getting into an argument with the victim. The accusations against Parmender were regarding recklessly driving the vehicle leading to injuries and damage to the phone. The council said the officer did not give them the option to submit bail bonds, which should have been done, considering the offences were bailable.

Furthermore, the council said Duty Magistrate granted judicial remand despite the fact that it was not necessary for the investigation and the petitioners should have been released on bail. When they were presented in the Special Court, Ludhiana, the court “acted mechanically” and granted Judicial Remand without verifying and ascertaining the nature of the offences they allegedly committed. The counsel pointed out that the police did not seek police remand either, showing custody was not necessary for the investigation.

The counsel appearing for the state said the petitioners did not avail themselves of the remedy under Section 439 of the CrPC. However, the council could not be able to support it if the judicial custody given by Judicial Magistrate and the Special Court were in accordance with the law, as no no-bailable offences against the duo were made out. However, he insisted that they were legal as the competent court remanded them to judicial custody.

Replying to the matter of non-availing the remedy to approach the trial court before approaching the High Court under Section 439 of the CrPC, the petitioners’ counsel said they could not be kept in custody merely because they approached the High Court first.

The Court noted that based on the submissions made by the counsels, reading of the FIR and short reply submitted by the state, it was found that the factual aspect in reference to the allegations against the duo did not make out an offence that would be non-bailable.

The court said, “Under those circumstances, firstly, the officer, who had taken these two petitioners in custody, could not have done so without making them aware of the fact that they could avail of the remedy of release on submission of bail bonds or surety. The same would be the position regarding the order of remand at the hands of the Duty Magistrate and the Special Court. It appears that at no stage the provisions of the Statute were actually gone into or seen. Mechanically, initially, the Arresting Officer and after that, the Judicial Officers proceeded to pass orders of arrest and remand.”

Calling the judicial remand illegal, the court said, “Continuance of a citizen in custody without there being a mandate of law, i.e. illegal custody, cannot be permitted.”

Source: Punjab and Haryana High Court

Slammi the magistrate’s court for the ‘mechanical remand order, the high court added, “A Court and that too, a Constitutional Court when comes to know of the same, cannot shut its eyes to the same.” The court questioned if it was appropriate for a citizen to continue in incarceration when it is not only apparent from the allegations but an undisputed position that the two petitioners did not commit the alleged offences that were non-bailable.

As the complainant has to be informed about the proceedings and the state needs to submit its response, the court granted the state ten days to submit the reply regarding the petition to quash the FIR. The next date of hearing has been set to May 22.

The court further extended the interim bail of Bhawana Kishore till May 22.

High Court’s remarks at the time of interim bail to Bhawana Kishore

On May 6, after the sessions court denied interim bail to Bhawana Kishore and others and sent them to judicial custody, they approached Punjab and Haryana High Court. Justice Augustine George Masih heard the petition in the matter. Bhawana’s counsel informed the court that the allegations against her could not be made as Bhawana did not meet Gagan earlier.

It was mentioned that the allegations made it clear they never met before the incident. Thus the question of using the casteist slurs mentioned by the complainant did not arise. Having considered the submissions, the non-bailable offence under SC/ST Act was not committed, and the offences under IPC Sections were bailable.

Prima Facie No SC/ST offence made out by the petitioner. Source: Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The counsel further informed the court that all three accused were in Ludhiana to attend the inauguration of Government run clinics on an invitation received from the Media coordinator. Attributing to her health, age and profession, the counsel sought interim bail for Bhawana.

Advocate General appearing for Punjab Government stated that the complainant has to be informed before granting bail to the accused and sought time. He further added that the allegations made against Bhawana were serious and did not deserve the benefit of interim bail.

In its order, the High Court said after going through the FIR, it was prima facie clear that the offence under the SC/ST act was not made out at that state. Because petitioner no 1 (Bhawana) is a woman and a senior correspondent of the National Network, she deserves to be granted interim bail in the present facts and circumstances of the case.

FIR against Bhawana, Parmender and Mritunjay

On May 5, a 50-year-old woman identified as Gagan filed a complaint at Division 3 police station in Police Commissionerate Ludhiana district against Times Now Navbharat reporter Bhawana Kishore, driver Parmender Singh Rawat and cameraperson Mritunjay Kumar. An FIR under Sections 279, 337 and 427 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 3X and 4 of the SC and the ST (Prevention of Atrocities) ACT were filed against them.

Excerpt from FIR against Bhawana, Parmender and Mritunjay. Source: Punjab Police website.

In her complaint, Gagan said she was going to attend the inauguration of Mohalla Clinic by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. A car hit the vehicle from behind when she was coming out of the e-rikshaw near Shringar Cinema. While trying to escape the accident, Gagan allegedly injured her left arm, and her mobile phone broke down. She claimed that driver Parmender was driving the car recklessly.

When she approached the driver and questioned why he hit her, the driver allegedly argued with her. Meanwhile, Gagan claimed Mrityunjay and Bhawana exited the vehicle and started arguing with her. She accused Bhawana of saying, “Tum neech jaati wale chamaar logon ka yehi kaam hai, tum log gaadi walon se paise ainthne ke liye kisi bhi hadd tak gir sakte ho (This is the work of you low caste Chamar people, you can stoop to any extent to extort money from the car owners).”

Gagan claimed in her complaint that Bhawana used casteist slurs against her that hurt her sentiments. She further asked the police to book the trio under appropriate IPC and SC/ST Act sections.

Based on her complaint, the police mentioned in the FIR that a case of SC/ST was booked against Bhawana and others. Appropriate Sections of the IPC were also imposed against the accused.

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