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P Chidambaram’s CBI custody extended by one day, court to hear interim bail plea tomorrow

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A Delhi court today extended the CBI custody of former union minister P Chidambaram by one more day. Special Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar will hear the bail plea of the senior Congress leader tomorrow. Chidambaram was produced at the court as his CBI remand was expiring today which was extended by three days on 30 August.

The CBI opposed any relief to Chidambaram and sought one more day in custody, which was granted by the court. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal moved an interim plea seeking interim bail at the court today, after the Supreme Court directed him to move the trial court for interim protection. Appearing for CBI, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought time to submitted a written reply to the plea, and also said that CBI must be issued a notice in this regard as per rules.

The hearings in the special CBI court was followed by dramatic developments in the Supreme Court today. SC was hearing Chidambaram’s petition against CBI remand today, where his lawyers requested the court that he should not be sent to Tihar jail on judicial custody. His lawyers had said that put Chidambaram in house arrest if needed, instead of Tihar Jail.

In a very unusual order, the Supreme Court had asked the trial court to extend CBI remand if his bail plea was to be rejected today. This order had prevented the trial court from sending P Chidambaram to Judicial custody. Later SG Tushar Mehta was able to convince the apex court to hear the matter again tomorrow, as CBI was going to seek custody till tomorrow.

When the CBI court started hearing the case, it had not received the SC order, creating some confusion. After the order was fetched, the court extended the CBI custody of P Chidambaram by one. The court will hear the interim bail plea on Tuesday, and take further decisions on the case after Supreme Court issues its order tomorrow.

Chidambaram was arrested late night on 21st August by the CBI from his Jor Bagh residence in New Delhi in connection to the INX Media case. The arrest came after high-intensity drama where CBI officials had to climb up walls to reach the senior Congress leader. The CBI court had sent him to CBI remand for 4 days on 22nd August, which was extended by 4 and 3 days after expire of earlier remands. ED is also seeking to arrest him on money laundering case.

NDTV slammed for referring to Wing Commander Abhinandan as the pilot who was captured by Pakistan

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It seems that controversial media house NDTV, which is known for its anti-India fake news propaganda, never misses a chance to propagate scandalous anti-India narrative.

On Monday, NDTV, a part of the left wing media ecosystem, was subjected to severe shaming after it tried to dishonour war hero Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by referring to him as a ‘captured pilot’.


In a historic event, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa and Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who had piloted a MiG-21 Bison retaliating Pakistan Air Force’s attempt to attack India after India’s airstrike at a terror camp in Pakistan’s Balakot in February, flew a sortie together in a two-seater version of the Russian-origin MiG-21 from Pathankot airbase.

Following his ejection from the downed MiG-21, which is physically very demanding, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was undergoing rehabilitation. As the entire country welcomed Abhinandan Varthaman getting back his flying category after six months, perhaps NDTV could not hide its anguish and seems to have deliberately attempted to discredit Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by referring to him as ‘captured pilot’ in the same tone and tenor as Pakistan.

The NDTV’s hatred for Indian Armed Forces was soon caught by social media users, who slammed the controversial media house for its insensitive reporting. Few users responded with tweeting the edited image of the NDTV’s tweet with a more appropriate headline.


Some social media users even accused NDTV of being a Pakistani media after it referred to Abhinandan Varthaman as a ‘captured pilot’.


On 27th April, when Pakistan Air Force had attempted to retaliate the Balakot strikes, Abhinandan Varthaman’s MiG-21 Bison was one of the planes scrambled by the IAF to tharst the attack. During a dog fight, Abhinadnan had shot down an F-16 of Pakistan, but he had entered PoK by that time and was shot down by a Pakistani fighter plane. He has been awarded the Vir Chakra on independence day last month.

China offers to treat Timatar Reporter at one of their ‘reeducation camps’ after his latest rant

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The ‘Tauba Tauba’ journalist is back again, this time with a rant on Kashmir. In a recent video, he has appealed the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to drop atom bombs in New Delhi. Earlier, he had boasted of Pakistani being an ‘Atami taakat’ but rued the fact that India had stopped ‘timatar’ supplies to the terror state.

He said, “This is a ‘Tauba Tauba’ situation, today it has been 27 days since the curfew has been imposed in Kashmir. People are waiting for medicines, the sick are waiting to get to the hospital, people are not getting water and electricity, people don’t have internet and mobile services. This is Tauba Tauba situation, Indian Forces have imposed a curfew for 27 days.”

“In this situation, I’d like to appeal to Imran Khan and Pakistan Force that they should immediately attack Kashmir and drop an atom bomb on Delhi. Atom bomb should be thrown on Delhi and other cities of India. This is a Tauba Tauba situation and Indian Forces must be taught a lesson that if Kashmir is in sorrow, then every Indian child must feel the pain,” the Tauba Tauba reporter added.

In unrelated news, according to reports, 50 million Pakistanis were said to be suffering from mental health issues as of 2016. The psychological effect of the abrogation of Article 370 on the mental health of Pakistanis is yet to be evaluated.

Reactions have been pouring in on the Tauba Tauba reporter’s ridiculous rant. Himesh Reshammiya roared, “Mujhe tere ghar me timatar chahiye, garibi nahi! (I want tomatoes in your home, not poverty!”. Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar thundered, “Aaj meri pagri bhi Kesari, jo bahega mera lahoo bhi Kesari, aur mera jawaab bhi Kesari! (Today, my turban is Saffron, my blood that will flow is Saffron and my answer is also Saffron!)”.

Mithun Chakraborty said, “Laat maarbo ekhaney, Laash porbey shoshaney! (I will kick you here and your body will land straight in the crematorium!).” Noted singer Kailash Kher said, “Tauba tauba tauba uff, Tauba tauba tauba uff, Tauba tauba tauba uff, Tauba tauba tauba, Tauba tauba ve teri surat, Masha-e-allah ve teri surat, Tauba tauba ve teri surat, Masha-e-allah ve teri surat, Tuenu jera mere liye, Rab ne banaya mere yaara, Dildaara dise rab da nazara.” We don’t quite understand what he meant.

The Supreme Court of India, too, was concerned with the rhetoric and raised the matter with the apex court of Pakistan. When it learned that the Pakistani apex court couldn’t comment on such matters, it was surprised. “Strange. Here in India, the government can’t even deport illegal immigrants before we have first heard at least a dozen PILs,” one judge observed ruefully.

BBC took cognizance of Timatar Reporter’s comments and, after much debate and deliberation, came to the conclusion that Hindu Nationalism was responsible for the Pakistani’s genocidal rhetoric. New York Times, in an editorial, accused the Indian government of committing genocide not only in Kashmir but also in Pakistan. “India’s actions have created a mental health crisis in Pakistan that needs immediate attention from the World Health Organization. The recent comments made by Timatar Reporter ought to be seen in that light.”

China has meanwhile offered to treat Timatar Reporter at one of their ‘reeducation camps’. Hillary Clinton has requested Pakistan to desist from the attack as the first victims of war are primarily women because they are left without husbands. The Democrat party issued a similar statement where it said it was useless to nuke New Delhi as the city was not dominated by White Males.

Beto O’Rourke, a Presidential aspirant who is known to speak in Spanish during debates to reach out to Hispanics, said, “Despacito , Quiero respirar tu cuello despacito, Deja que te diga cosas al oído, Para que te acuerdes si no estás conmigo.” Vladimir Putin reportedly called Narendra Modi to enquire whether India wanted some Russian interference to deal with Pakistan. The Indian PM has apparently declined the offer as he doesn’t want another Mueller Report.

Noted panelist on Memri raised his shoe and said, “This is my only comment. A worn-out shoe is my only comment.”

Image result for this shoe is my only comment memri

Another panelist told Timatar Reporter, “By Allah, Behave Yourself. I will give you a taste of my shoe.”

Image result for by allah behave yourself

Naruto only said ‘Dattebayo!’. Uzumaki Deidara said, “Art is an EXPLOSION!” It is hereby clarified that OpIndia.com does not endorse such violent rhetoric. Voldemort refused to comment on the matter but told us that his spokesperson, Peter Pettigrew, would soon issue a statement. When we inquired where we would find Wormtail, he told us Pettigrew was recently spotted in the Supreme Court, arguing for a senior Congress leader. We aren’t sure who he meant.

Image result for kapil sibal wormtail

Manchester United fans were seen outside Old Trafford urging Ed Woodward and the Glazers to take a trip to New Delhi after Timatar Reporter’s video went viral. Arsenal fans, meanwhile, enquired whether they could send their owners to New Delhi on the same flight as well since their club, apparently, doesn’t have enough funds after the transfer window.

People in India are glad that they will be able to celebrate Diwali properly this time as firecrackers were banned by the Supreme Court last year. “It’s a genuine goodwill gesture that will promote peace and harmony between the two countries,” said Javed Akhtar. Arvind Kejriwal claimed credit for it and said that it was because of the Aam Aadmi Party that people will be able to celebrate Diwali with firecrackers this year.

When reminded that Timatar Reporter was talking about nuclear bombs and not firecrackers, the IITian Delhi CM said, “Hum gadhey nahi hai ji. Atom bomb bola na, hum jaantey hain atom bomb kya hota hai, bachpan me hum bhi khoob phora kartey the (We are not donkeys. We know what an atom bomb is, we used to burst them in our childhood too).”

Meanwhile, Imran Khan has taken the words of Timatar Reporter seriously and phoned Daenerys Targaryen to request her to lend one of her dragons to drop an atom bomb on New Delhi. It appears that Imran Khan, like Jon Snow, knows nothing. The Dragon Queen was recently assassinated by Jon Snow for the greater good.

Former Pakistani Cricketer and permanently retired finally, Shahid Afridi, implored Imran Khan to see reason and said that there was no need for nuclear war and the Kashmir issue can be resolved through another Twitter battle with Gautam Gambhir. He promised to direct more mean tweets at the current BJP Lok Sabha MP and former Indian cricketer. Timatar Reporter’s incendiary remark had resulted in marital problems for Shoaib Malik, hence, he was unavailable for comments.

Record number of Income Tax Return filed in a single day, I-T dept to issue PAN if ITR filed with only Aadhaar

In an official statement issued on Sunday, the Income Tax department has revealed that it has made history with a quantum jump in the e-filing of Income–Tax Returns (ITRs) with an all-time high record of 49 lakh 29 thousand and 121 ITRs filed in a single day on August 31, 2019.

31st August was the last date of filing income tax returns after it was extended by a month. According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the peak filing rate per second on August 31, was at 196 ITRs and peak filing rate per minute was at 7447 ITRs.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) frames policies for the tax department. The CBDT data showed that more than 5.65 crore returns were filed till 31 August 2019, marking a 4 per cent increase in the filings from the 5.42 crore returns filed in 2018-2019.

On the last week of August, a rumour was spreading on social media that the last date for filing ITR has been extended again. But the Income Tax department had issued an advisory stating that no such extension has been given. The department had asked citizens to file the returns within the extended due date of August 31, 2019.

Due to the department’s efforts in providing pre-filled forms as well as guidance to taxpayers through social media, the filing of tax returns surged 41 per cent on the last date to 49 lakh filings in the assessment year 2019-20 from the previous year.

Moreover, as a part of a new arrangement to link both Aadhar and PAN, a notification was issued by the CBDT on August 30, which says that if taxpayers file ITR with only Aadhaar, they will be automatically alloted PAN (Permananet Account Number) by the I-T department. It said that if a person who does not have PANm furnishes only Aadhaar number for filing returns, “shall be deemed” to have applied for allotment of PAN and they will not be required to apply or submit any more documents.

The notification said the tax department will “obtain demographic information of an individual from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)” for allotment of Permanent Account Number (PAN). This rule has come to effect from September 1, 2019.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech on July 5 announced that PAN and Aadhaar are being made interchangeable as the government will allow those who do not have PAN to file I-T returns by simply quoting their Aadhaar number and use it wherever they are required to quote PAN.

On being asked whether the Income Tax Department-issued PAN will be dead, CBDT chairman P C Mody had told PTI in an interview in July that the department would “suo motu” allot a fresh PAN to a person who files I-T Returns (ITR) with only Aadhaar as part of a new arrangement to link the two databases. “In cases where Aadhaar is being quoted and PAN is not there, we could possibly think on the terms of allotting a PAN to the person (who is filing an income tax return).” “The law provides that the assessing officer can suo motu allot PAN. So, if Aadhaar is being quoted without PAN, I give him the PAN. It becomes linked,” Mody had said. This means that the PAN will continue, and individuals who have Aadhaar but not PAN will be issued PAN automatically.

Aadhaar is issued to individuals only, while PAN is issued to corporate and other non-personal entities too who pay tax and file returns, and the entire Income Tax database is based on PAN. Therefore, it seems logical that PAN will continue to be used even if interchangeability with Aadhaar had suggested that it will become obsolete.

The government has made it mandatory to link the two databases. While Aadhar is issued by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to an individual, PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric number allotted by the tax department to a person, firm or entity.

The information provided in an Aadhar, that is the individual’s name, date of birth, gender, photo and address, and also biometrics, is the same which an individual person would require to acquire a new PAN. As per data, over 120 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued in the country and about 41 crore PAN numbers have been generated. Out of these, more than 22 crore PANs are linked with Aadhaar.

Section 139 AA (2) of the I-T Act provides that any individual who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar or is having PAN as on July 1, 2017, is required to declare their Aadhaar number to tax authorities. After the Supreme Court upheld the section 139AA, the government in March this year declared that the deadline for linking PAN-Aadhaar was till September 30. If the PAN of individuals are not linked with Aadhaar within 30 September, such PANs will become invalid. Residents Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir have been exempted from this where Aadhaar penetration is low.

Last year the SC had upheld that the Government’s flagship Aadhar scheme as constitutionally valid and declared that the biometric ID would remain mandatory for filing of I-T returns and allotment of PAN.

Now, according to the latest notification, the tax department will be “responsible for evolving and implementing appropriate security, archival and retrieval policies in relation to furnishing or intimation or quoting or authentication of Aadhaar number or obtaining of demographic information of an individual from the UIDAI, for allotment of permanent account number and issue thereof”.

Attempt to trespass into Parliament foiled by security forces, the suspect who is a Dera Sacha Sauda follower detained

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The Parliament security forces on Monday foiled an attempt by a Dera Sacha Sauda follower trying to trespass into the Parliament. The suspect was carrying a knife. He has been taken to the Parliament police station.

The trespasser has been identified as Sagar and he is a resident of Delhi’s Lakshmi Nagar.


According to sources, the suspect who is reportedly a follower of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief and rape convict Ram Rahim reached Door No. 1 of Parliament building on a bike. The man stopped his bike at Gate No 1 and tried to enter inside the Parliament premise with a knife in his hand. He was also shouting slogans in favour of Ram Rahim when security forces detained him and handed him over to Delhi Police, confirmed an eyewitness.

Sagar was detained and taken to Parliament Street police station where a team of senior police officers are currently questioning him.

The 51-year-old Dera Sacha Sauda chief, Ram Rahim is currently lodged at the Sunaria jail in Haryana’s Rohtak. He is convicted in two rape cases and in a murder case of a journalist. In July, Ram Rahim Singh had sought parole for farming at his fields in Haryana’s Sirsa. However, the application was withdrawn later.

Pakistan: Hindu girl abducted and forcibly converted to Islam with Imran Khan’s party member’s help

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The atrocities against minorities in Pakistan continues unabated. After the abduction of a Sikh girl, now a Hindu girl has been abducted and forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan’s Sindh province. The girl was abducted by one of her classmates, Babar Aman, along with Mirza Dilawar Baig, who is a member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The girl was forcibly abducted and taken to Baig’s home where she was forcibly married off to Aman and converted to Islam. Aman’s brother has been arrested, however, the whereabouts of him and the girl remains unknown.

As per reports, the girl is being held at Baig’s Sialkot home. Baig is a member of the PTI, the party founded by current Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan. The girl, a student of Institute of Business Administration (IBA), left for classes on Saturday but never returned home, her father has said.

“This is a very sad moment for all Hindus. We must work out on this issue. This is the third case in two months and we are still sitting calmly. Are we waiting for any saint or special person to come from the sky to lead us? We must think about this,” Ravi Dwani, General Secretary of All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat said.

Earlier, Jagjit Kaur, a Sikh girl was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam in Nankana Sahib which has caused a huge uproar. It has attracted widespread criticism and a massive protest by Sikhs in India in front of the Pakistani Embassy in New Delhi. The MEA, too, issued a strong statement and demanded immediate remedial action from Pakistan.

European Parliament member backs India on Jammu and Kashmir, says abrogation of Article 370 will help curb terrorism

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India’s bold move to abrogate Article 370 has been receiving approval from all across the globe. The latest to join the list is the European Parliament, which on Sunday backed India in its decision to repeal Article 370 which provided separate status to Jammu and Kashmir.

In an article published in the European Parliament’s monthly newspaper EP Today, a member of the European Parliament, MEP Tomas Zdechovsky, repeating India’s stand that the Kashmir issue is ‘internal’, said that the abrogation of Article 370 will help in rooting out several terrorist organisations operating in Kashmir.

According to Tomas, there are some terrorist organisations spreading terror in the Kashmir Valley and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK). These terror groups are responsible for attacks on persons belonging to various political organisations in Kashmir, including in the killings of at least six political party workers and a separatist leader, he said.

In 2018 elections, these groups had threatened the people of Kashmir of ‘dire consequences’ if they participated in the elections and also those running for elections. They had asked the leaders to withdraw their nominations and publicly apologised for their actions or be prepared for severe upshots.

“While armed groups have sporadically threatened political workers in previous elections, the number of attacks in 2018 is among the highest in recent times,” said Tomas.

These armed groups who are accused of harassing and threatening nationalist and pro-independence political workers in PoK have, moreover, been operating with Pakistan’s support.

On August 2, 2018, members of an unknown armed group attacked and burned down at least 12 schools in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district. At least half of these were school girls.

On February 14, 2019, a suicide bombing killing at least 40 Indian security forces in Pulwama was claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

“India blamed Pakistan for continuing to support the group’s activities. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi confirmed to an international news organisation that JeM founder Mohammad Masood Azhar was present in Pakistan,” the article read.

On May 1, the mastermind of the Pathankot terrorist attack and head of Jaish-e-Mohammed, Masood Azhar, had been designated as a global terrorist in the United Nations Sanctions List subject to an asset freeze and travel ban.

The MEP further said in his article, “In its fight against terrorism, and against acts of violence in Kashmir and also in India by Pakistani based terrorists and armed groups, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi had to act. His choice of action, whilst harsh and direct, was criticised by many who failed to understand his motive. On August 5, this year, PM Modi revoked Article 370 through a Presidential Order and the passage of a resolution in Parliament.”

“The removal, temporarily or permanently of these articles, should be seen as a global stance against terrorist activities, where today terrorists exploit the principles of democracy, freedom of speech and human rights practised by the majority, whilst at the same time imposing fear, violence and killings as justification for their causes,” said the MEP.

Tomas Zdechovsky furthered, “With his landslide victory, his focus on genuinely protecting his people by prioritising the fight against terrorism remains unshaken… providing almost immediate justification to his actions, on 6th August, the day after his announcement to revoke Article 370, the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan gave a dramatic speech that invited and incited further terrorist activity in India.”

“Incidents like Pulwama are bound to happen again, I can already predict this will happen,” Khan said, calling to his Parliament, people and Pakistan based terrorist groups. At the same time his Army Chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, stated that Pakistan’s military will “go to any extent” to protect Kashmir.

Mullah Masood Azhar, chief of the Jihadi group, further explained that “now is the time that Kashmiris need to come out with unity so that the enemy will beg for peace and negotiations.”

“It is hoped that by the equal inclusion of Jammu and Kashmir state under the same constitution as India’s other twenty-eight states, India can ensure that its values of free and fair elections without intimidation, its values of diversity and religious harmony, and its fight against terrorism, can provide greater stability and security not only for the people of India but for those throughout South Asia,” Zdechovsky concluded.

The scrapping of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation of the state has badly rattled Pakistan, which is desperately trying to internationalise the matter and somehow rope in third-party mediation but without any success. After the UN, countries like the UK, France, UAE, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Russia and the US have dwindled Pakistan’s hope by extending its support to India and now after this European Parliament approval spooked Pakistan will not know which door to knock next.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman flies MiG-21 sortie with Indian Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa

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In a historic event, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa and Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who had piloted a MiG-21 Bison retaliating Pakistan Air Force’s attempt to attack India after India’s airstrike at a terror camp in Pakistan’s Balakot in February, flew a sortie together in a two-seater version of the Russian-origin MiG-21.

According to the reports, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman flew a joint sortie with Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa in MiG-21 fighter. The sortie was flown from Pathankot airbase, which is the front-line fighter base and home to the 26 Squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF).


The sortie lasted for around half-an-hour and was conducted on a trainer MiG-21 aircraft. The sortie was also the last time Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa will be flying in a fighter aircraft before his retirement.

Speaking to the media after the sortie, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa said, “It was a pleasure for me to fly with Abhinandan because he has got his flying category back, that is what all pilots look forward to. I also ejected in 1988, it took me 9 months to get my category back. He has been back in less than 6 months.”

“Both of us have things in common – First, both of us ejected and second both of us have fought Pakistanis. I fought in Kargil, he fought after Balakot. Third, I’ve flown with his father. It’s an honour for me to do my last sortie in IAF, in a fighter aircraft, with his son.”

Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa commanded a squadron of frontline ground attack fighters and flew MiG-21 during the Kargil war in 1999. The event witnessed Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa leading from the front by flying a legacy fighter aircraft in an effort to boost the morale of the forces.

Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa has flown in the MiG-21 several times in the last few months. Recently, he led a four-aircraft ‘Missing Man’ formation in honour of the servicemen killed during the Kargil conflict on the twentieth anniversary of the war.

Following the Balakot airstrikes, Pakistan had attempted to attack Indian military establishments before Indian airforce intercepted to thwart their attacks. With its strike package comprising of various aircraft, Indian airforce was successful in pushing back Pakistani jets and during the air fight, one MiG-21 Bison flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was hit after it had shot down a more lethal Pakistan’s F-16.

During the aerial engagement, Wing Commander Varthaman’s MiG-21 was hit and he had to eject safely across the Line of Control (LoC). Abhinandan was held captive in Pakistan for almost 60 hours before he was released on March 1, 2019, due to the tremendous international pressure exerted on the Pakistani government.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was recently awarded for Vir Chakra by the President of India on Independence Day for his exemplary bravery and taking down Pakistani Air Force fighter jets which had attempted to intrude India following Balakot strikes.

I am begging you, please don’t do this: Kapil Sibal begs SC to not send Chidambaram to Tihar jail, request accepted, for now

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The Supreme Court gave temporary relief to P. Chidambaram in the INX Media case after it said on Monday that the senior Congress leader won’t be sent to Tihar jail for now. Kapil Sibal, representing his party colleague, begged the Court to not send his client, P Chidambaram to Tihar. “I am begging of you. Please don’t do this. Protect me till you hear this case. He shouldn’t be sent to Tihar,” Sibal requested the judges.


The Apex Court also directed Chidambaram to approach the trial court for interim protection. If his bail is rejected by the trial court, his CBI custody will be extended for another three days.


Arguing for his client, Sibal had said, “Put me under house arrest or give me interim bail. Protect me for 3 days. Lay down whatever conditions deemed appropriate. The world won’t turn topsy-turvey in next three days.”


P Chidambaram was arrested on August 21 and sent to Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) custody in connection with the INX Media case. Earlier, he had been remanded for 4 days twice, and his second remand was to end on the 30th of August when A Delhi court extended the CBI custody of the Congress leader by another three days till 2nd September. His custody ends today, therefore, he is expected to approach the trial court for protection later in the day.

Bengaluru: Probe initiated against Church of South India for allegedly selling defence land to metro rail

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An FIR was registered against the Church of South India (CSI) on the 20th of August by the Cubbon Park Police Station for allegedly ‘cheating’ the defence ministry by selling 7,426 square metres of its land located in the All Saints Church complex to the Bengaluru Metro Project without its knowledge and consent. Investigation on the matter is underway.

“We are inquiring into the Defence Ministry’s complaint that the CSI had illegally sold a portion of its land, leased to it over a century ago, for the metro project and collected Rs 60 crore compensation from its operator (BMRCL),” Bengaluru Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Chetan Singh Rathore told IANS.

“We have asked both the parties to submit us all documents pertaining to the prime land to ascertain its rightful owner, as they (records) date back to 1860s when the city was under the British rule and the Mysuru Wodeyars were the owners of public lands then,” said Rathore.

“As preliminary investigation has also revealed that both the parties have contested the land ownership in a city civil court, we will wait for its outcome before proceeding with the case,” added Rathore.

“As KIADB is the state-run agency dealing with sale and purchase of lands for industries and infrastructure projects across the southern state, it has vetted the documents the CSI submitted for acquiring it and compensating for it suitably,” BMRCL official YBK. Chavan told IANS.

“If the Defence Ministry claims that the land was leased to the CSI in the 1860s, the onus is on it to prove that it was its owner and submit the lease agreement they both would have entered into over 130 years ago” Rathore asserted.

Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) had acquired the disputed land for the construction of the Vellara Junction underground station from Dairy Circle to Nagawara. In total, BMRCL acquired 3,618 sq meters of the church land occupied by tenants such as Tom’s Hotel and Fatima Bakery. It had paid Rs 60 crore as compensation to the Church of South India.

“In the 1860s or subsequently till the mid-1940s, where was the Indian government and the defence ministry to claim that the land in the All Saints Church premises belonged to it unless it was an open land and inherited by the transfer of assets from the British regime,” a Church official told IANS on the condition of anonymity.

A Defence Official said that legal action would be taken against CSI for breaching the lease agreement and Rs. 60 crore would be demanded as compensation for selling the land without taking permission from appropriate authorities.