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Lalu Yadav’s son Tej Pratap files for divorce, cites incompatibility with wife Aishwarya

OpIndia Staff
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Lalu Yadav’s son Tej Pratap files for divorce, cites incompatibility with wife Aishwarya

RJD supremo Lalu Yadav’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, who got married in a lavish ceremony to Aishwarya Rai, the daughter of former minister Chandrika Rai,                has reportedly filed for divorce. As per reports, Yadav filed for divorce at a Patna court yesterday.

Tej Pratap’s advocate has stated that the couple had incompatibility issues.


Tej Pratap had married Aishwarya in May 2018. As per reports, Tej Pratap is seeking divorce under the sections 13 (1) (1A) that deals with cruelty by the spouse. His petition is reportedly scheduled for a hearing in Patna civil court on November 29. Reports claim that the divorce proceedings might not be smooth as the Hindu Marriage Act does not usually grant a divorce within a year of marriage.

As soon as news of the divorce petition circulated there are many reports emerging hinting at the possible causes of the rift between the newly married couple. As Lalu Yadav was convicted in the fodder scam earlier this year, the marriage between two powerful political families of Bihar had attracted attention because there were hints that Aishwarya might join politics too.

Reports of conflicts and trouble within the Yadav family have been around since long. Earlier, there were reports of a possible rivalry between Tej Pratap and his younger brother Tejaswi, who was the deputy CM of Bihar in the RJD-JDU alliance government. Tej Pratap is also an MLA and was the health minister when RJD held power.

The Yadav family is also facing probe from central agencies like ED and CBI in several scams. The Income Tax department has also seized many of the benami properties belonging to Lalu’s family.

It is notable here that Tej Pratap has always managed to be in the news for his behaviour and activities. On occasions, he had dressed up as Krishna or Lord Shiva. He had also accused Bihar CM Nitish Kumar of unleashing ‘ghosts’ to haunt the Yadav family.

Modi presents MSMEs with Diwali Bonanza, loans upto 1 Crore to be approved in just 59 mins

Jinit Jain
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Modi presents MSMEs with Diwali Bonanza, loans upto 1 Crore to be approved in just 59 mins

Addressing the Support and Outreach initiative for MSMEs, PM Modi made a series of announcements on Friday evening. He said he has finalized 12 policy for helping MSME Business Entrepreneurs terming it as a ‘Diwali Gift’ for them.

The first announcement made by PM Modi was regarding loans. He stated that any businessmen or businesswomen can get a loan up to Rs 1 crore approved from any part of the country in just flat 59 mins. 59-minute loan portal was launched by him where MSMEs can seek loans up to Rs 1 crore.


Adding to his comment, he said that GST registered MSMEs will get a cut of 2% on the interest on new loans or incremental loans up to 1 Cr. Now registering for GST and Tax filling will provide a rebate of 2% to the MSMEs. Besides, the government has increased the rate-cut in the interest in the loans to exporters during the period between pre-shipment and post-shipment from 3% to 5%. This was his 2nd policy decision.

In his 3rd announcement, he stated that all the companies whose turnover is above 500 crores will have to mandatorily register themselves on Trade Receivables e-Discounting TReDS platform so that MSMEs don’t suffer from insufficient cash flow.

According to the PM, last year the government bought goods worth Rs 14 lakh crores from different sources. According to the established rule, the government companies have to buy 20% of their total purchase from small and micro scale industries. In his 4th announcement, he claimed that the government has increased this share to 25% to help the small and micro scale industries.

In a major boost to women empowerment, PM Modi’s 5th announcement was related to female entrepreneurs. He announced that from the total 25% of mandatory purchase the government will make from small and micro scale industries, 3% will be reserved for purchase from female entrepreneurs. It is imperative for government companies to buy 3% of their purchase from women entrepreneurs.


Talking about his 6th announcement, PM Modi said it will necessary for government companies to subscribe to GeM portal. Not just that, they will also have to register all their vendors-MSMEs on this platform which will immensely benefit the MSMEs.

PM Modi in his 7th announcement talked about Technological upgradation. 20 hubs will be established across the country with 100 toolrooms acting as spoke. The prime minister earmarked Rs 6,000 crores for implementation of this project.

“The central government will invest 70% of the cost in developing clusters for Pharma MSMEs to enhance their ability to do business and reach their customers directly,” said PM Modi in his 8th announcement.

In order to simplify government processes for the MSMEs, PM announced his 9th policy in which the MSMEs will have to submit the least number of forms and returns. The return related to 8 labour laws and 10 central rules will now have to be filed just once in the year, not twice.

The central government is committed to reducing Human Intervention and in his announcement of 10th policy, PM Modi stated to get rid of unnecessary scrutiny, where would the inspector go will now be decided by a random computer program which will arbitrarily provide the allotment and the inspector will have to file a report on the portal within 48 hours. This will stop arbitrary raids done by inspectors and he will be accountable for the raids he makes.

Talking about ease of Environment Clearance to the companies, in his 11th announcement PM Modi said ‘Self-Certification’ in this regard will be promoted. The government has decided to consolidate both air pollution and water pollution laws, so that the MSMEs will have fill only one consent form. “The government will trust you and issue a Self-Certification form based on your inputs,” he said.

Talking about his last policy decision, PM Modi said that they have made a big decision regarding the Companies Act, providing relief from the legal complications to the MSMEs. Companies Act had draconian rules that termed MSMEs criminals even for minor unintentional violations and forced small businessmen to waste their times in court proceedings. The government has brought a new ordinance and the MSMEs will not have to waste their time in courts to correct minor errors. They can go to the specific department and get the error rectified.


The MSME sector constitutes a vast network of over 63 million units and employs 111 million people, contributing around 30 per cent to the GDP. It accounts for about 45 per cent of manufacturing output and around 40 per cent to total exports.

Supreme Court dismisses CBI’s appeal in Bofors case, but the case remains alive

OpIndia Staff
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Supreme Court dismisses CBI’s appeal in Bofors case, but the case remains alive

The Supreme Court dismissed a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) petition that had challenged a 2005 Delhi High Court verdict in the Bofors case. Since it was “time-barred”, the bench dismissed the appeal. The appeal was filed against the High Court’s judgement that had discharged all accused in the case including Hinduja brothers.

The bench was headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who said that he remained unconvinced that CBI was unable to file the case within the required time. Being the prosecuting agency in the case, the CBI had failed to file an appeal before the apex court within the stipulated 90 days’ time period after the Delhi High Court’s judgement in 2005. The appeal was filed 13 years later, in February this year.

Attorney General K K Venugopal requested the top court to make it clear in its order, that dismissal of CBI appeal would not preclude the probe agency from carrying out the investigation in the case.

Although CBI’s appeal has been dismissed, it does not mean the case is over. After the High Court order in 2005, advocate-turned politician Ajay Agrawal had filed an appeal against the order within the 90 day time limit, after CBI had decided not to appeal the verdict. Now CBI can place its arguments against the order when Agarwal’s appeal comes up for hearing in the Supreme Court. In January this year, Attorney General K K Venugopal had said that instead of filing an appeal so late, CBI should place its arguments in the Agarwal’s petition which has been admitted by the top court. But CBI had decided to file a separate petition instead.

On March 24, 1986, Swedish arms manufacturer Bofors AB had signed a Rs 1,437-crore deal with the Indian Army, in order to supply 400 155mm Howitzer guns. Following this, Swedish Radio on April 16, 1987, claimed that the company had paid bribes to top Indian politicians and defence personnel to secure the deal, with allegations that that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi received a payoff on the deal to purchase the Bofors guns.

An FIR was then registered by the CBI on January 22, 1990, for alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code and other sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Martin Ardbo, the then president of AB Bofors, alleged middleman Win Chadda and the Hinduja brothers.

On October 22, 1999, the first charge sheet in the case was filed against Chadda, Ottavio Quattrocchi, the then defence secretary S K Bhatnagar, Ardbo and Bofors company. A supplementary charge sheet was also filed against the Hinduja brothers on October 9, 2000.

A special CBI court in Delhi on March 4, 2011, had then discharged Quattrocchi from the case, asserting that the country could not afford to spend hard-earned money on his extradition which had already cost Rs 250 crore. On 12 July 2013, Quattrocchi died of a heart attack in Milan.

Congress tries to lure voters with free laptops in the run-up to Mizoram Assembly elections

OpIndia Staff
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Congress tries to lure voters with free laptops in the run-up to Mizoram Assembly elections

Congress has been trying hard to lure voters in the upcoming Mizoram Assembly elections to retain power for the third consecutive time in the only northeastern state having Congress government. It has promised in its election manifesto to provide free laptops every year to students who clear the High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) exam for Class 10 and above.

Chief Minister and Congress Mizoram unit president, Lal Thanhawla, on Thursday, released the election manifesto in which the party has promised to continue with its two flagship programmes, New Land Use Policy (NLUP) for the farmers and New Economic Development Policy (NEDP) for unemployed youths.

“If we win again, we will continue with the New Land Use Policy (NLUP). Existing guidelines may be amended for better implementation and the quantum of assistance increased,” Lal Thanhawla said. The NLUP was launched in January 2011 to end the wasteful practice of shifting or ‘jhum’ cultivation — a process of clearing land by burning its natural vegetation before growing crops. A beneficiary of the NLUP gets around Rs 1 lakh.

Congress has been under attack by opposing parties and church bodies for lifting the ban on the sale and purchase of liquor in the state. However, Congress has promised rehabilitation centres for addicts at different places along with counselling centres to supplement and support the efforts of NGOs and church. “We will take strict measures to control the sale of liquor in the state so that provisions of the Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition and Control) Act, 2014, are not violated,” assured the CM.

Taking a jibe at Congress, Mizo National Front president Zoramthanga said, “Congress is playing cheap politics. They will promise the moon and stars in their manifesto. They know they will not return to power and can hence promise a car to each family in the state”.

The Congress manifesto also promised housing for the poor in rural areas and residential quarters for employees of police and education departments.

Mizoram goes to poll on November 28 and the results will be out on December 11.

Wait till Diwali for good news on Ram Mandir, says UP BJP chief

OpIndia Staff
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Wait till Diwali for good news on Ram Mandir, says UP BJP chief

Intensifying the debate on whether the government will take a parliamentary or ordinance route to build a Ram temple at Ayodhya, UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey has asked to wait for good news to be announced during Diwali. He said that Yogi Adityanath is also a spiritual leader apart from being chief minister, and he has prepared plans for Ayodhya. He also added it will be good if the plan is revealed by the chief minister, hinting at some ‘good news’ at the time of Diwali.


Pandey reminded that last year, the Yogi government had organised a grand Diwali celebration, and people of the country had loved that. Likewise, the CM has made such plans for this year also, which will be revealed during Diwali, he said.

The debate on building a Ram temple at Ayodhya has resurfaced after the Supreme Court refused to hear the case in the matter, saying that they will decide the hearing dates in January only. It was seen by many as delaying the matter until the end of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, a demand Congress party was making.

Since then, many people are demanding that the Government take proactive steps to build the temple, instead of waiting for a judgement from the Supreme Court. Yesterday, BJP MP Rakesh Sinha had announced that he will move a private member bill in the parliament seeking construction of the temple.


Heating up the debate further, today RSS general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi said that Supreme Court’s decision to defer hearing on the Ayodhya dispute was an “insult” to Hindu sentiments. He said that the wait for a decision from the court on the issue has been very long. He said, “A legal sanction is required to pave way for construction of the temple. The wait for the court’s verdict has been too long. Since the matter was listed on October 29, we felt Hindus would get good news before Diwali.”

Joshi also said that RSS was ready to carry out a similar campaign like the rath yatra in 1992 demanding the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. “The court said its priorities are different. Because of this, Hindus feel insulted. It is surprising that the feelings of crores of Hindus are not a priority for the court,” Joshi had added.

Samajwadi Party: Family feud, genuine disharmony or organised skulduggery?

Jinit Jain
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Samajwadi Party: Family feud, genuine disharmony or organised skulduggery?

Joining the chorus for Ram Temple, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav has strongly batted in favour of building a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Talking to the media, she expressed her desire to see a Ram Temple in Ayodhya and said that she believes the court will hand out the verdict in favour of building the temple.

Aparna Yadav, who contested 2017 polls as an SP candidate and lost, will be backing uncle Shivpal Singh’s Pragatishal Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL) and would be contesting the elections in 2019 from the same. Although, she said that her father-in-law’s blessings are always with her.

The UP elections 2017 brought to the fore the latent rift between Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav. It was widely assumed that Mulayam Singh would grasp the nettle and broker a peace accord between the two internecine warring factions and somehow keep the flock together but that didn’t happen. The two factions peacefully parted their ways with Shivpal Singh Yadav forming his own party PSPL. Though Mulayam Singh Yadav is seen frequenting SP’s monthly meets, Shivpal Yadav exclaims that his brother’s blessings are with him.

This puts an ordinary citizen in quandary. If Mulayam Singh Yadav supports SP, then how can he bless Shivpal Singh Yadav and Aparna Yadav for PSPL party’s success? Is the division of SP into two factions just a charade to fool people? It might as well be a masterclass stratagem by Mulayam Singh Yadav to continue garnering Muslim votes through SP and try to venture into tapping Hindu communities hitherto ignored by the SP by floating a new party with aggressive Hindutva agenda under his brother’s leadership. In all likelihood this schism is just a smokescreen, both parties will probably form an alliance before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Shivpal Singh Yadav has even urged Mulayam Singh Yadav to become his party’s prime ministerial candidate.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, since the days of his chief ministership in UP during the 1990s, has been known to be close to the Muslim community. In 2017, he stood by his decision he took on October 30, 1990, to ask the forces to fire upon the karsevaks marching towards Ayodhya. If this wasn’t enough, adding insult to the injury, Mulayam Singh Yadav quipped, “If more people were required to be killed for the sake of the country’s unity and integrity, the security forces would have done it.” He earned the sobriquet ‘Mullah Mulayam’ by the Muslim community for issuing orders to fire at karsevaks.

On the other hand, his younger daughter-in-law, Aparna has been pretty vocal about her Hindu roots and has not shied away from expressing her opinions about matters concerning Hindus, even if that meant defying her party’s viewpoint. A few months back, she lambasted Mamata Banerjee for supporting predominantly Muslim illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

However, with such contrasting credentials established by her father-in-law Mulayam Singh Yadav, it becomes a tad difficult for an average Hindu to take whatever Aparna Yadav says at face value. The party has no definite stand on Ram Temple but evades the issue to appease its vote bank. If Aparna Yadav really wants Hindus to believe sincerity in her wish to see a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, she should first get senior SP leader Mulayam Yadav to apologise for his ordered “massacre” in which 56 karsevaks were killed and then champion the cause of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Champing at the bit of furnishing one’s Hindu credentials is in vogue these days among politicians of different hues. Congress organises Temple run drives for its president Rahul Gandhi in election-bound states in order to emphasise their Hindu creds. Other parties who once despised being associated with Hinduism are aggressively trying to pursue Hindu votaries. If one thing that trumps everything else that Modi has been successful in, it is this rekindling of the moribund spirit of Hinduism in the country. The country in which hitherto talking about Hinduism and slamming minority appeasement were considered as cardinal sins is finally seems to have overcome the guilt it was conditioned to in reclaiming its cultural heritage.

Samajwadi Party is facing tough headwinds from Yogi’s BJP in Uttar Pradesh. The party is in crosshairs with its old ally Congress and like Mayawati’s BSP, it too had decided to go to the assembly polls in the 5 states without entering an alliance with Congress. Moreover, the party is actively considering forming an alliance with its arch-rival BSP in these states. It is but obvious, in such a gloomy scenario, Samajwadi Party is trying to play safe by hedging its bets and appeasing every community to widen its appeal among the electorate. Floating two separate parties might well be a key to achieving this end.

Aparna Yadav seems to be a staunch Hindu but there appears a visible incongruency in her party’s disposition towards Hindus. The senior party leaders like Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav have based their entire politics on despising Hindus and appeasing minorities.  If they are thinking their duplicity won’t be noticed, then they are grossly mistaken. Mulayam Singh Yadav will have to shun this double-dealing and be definitive on his stance on Ram Mandir or it will be a classic case of chasing two rabbits and catching none for the Samajwadi Party.

Samajwadi party ideologues have, so far, been successful in underplaying these incongruencies but they need to understand that the new-age Hindu is not going to take their incongruencies lying down. Their moves are carefully been watched and assessed by them. Unless they sincerely enunciate their stance vis-à-vis Hindus, such diversionary tactics of subterfuge will only serve to diminish their political significance.

Mysuru: Three Muslim men arrested for assaulting, robbing a couple returning from Chamundeshwari temple

OpIndia Staff
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Mysuru: Three Muslim men arrested for assaulting, robbing a couple returning from Chamundeshwari temple

The Mysuru Rural Police have nabbed three Muslim men for threatening and sexually harassing a couple at the Chamundi Hill on last Thursday. The accused Muslim men had also allegedly snatched the mobile phone and a gold chain belonging to the couple.

According to Star of Mysore, a couple had visited Chamundi Hill on a bike to visit the Chamundeshwari temple atop the hill and later proceeded to Nandi Statue road for a stopover at a viewpoint. Reportedly, the couple was attacked by the three accused from behind. The accused allegedly threatened them with a knife, assaulted them and sexually harassed the girl. They also allegedly snatched away their mobile phone and a gold chain weighing about nine grams.

The couple then registered a complaint at the K R Police station in this regard. The police officials speaking to OpIndia confirmed about the incident and said that the couple has registered an FIR against three Muslim men under IPC Section 354-Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty and Section 394-Voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery, committing or in attempting to commit robbery, voluntarily causing hurt.

The Mysuru Rural Police conducted an operation to search for the accused, following an information passed by the K R Police officials and arrested the three accused at Bharat Nagar yesterday. The police also said that they have recovered the stolen mobile phone and the gold chain. The Mysuru Rural Police have also registered a case against the Muslim youths under Sections 41(d),102 of the CrPC and Section 379 of the IPC.

The three accused have been identified as Imran Pasha, Rehamath Shariff and Mubarak, all residents of Bharat Nagar in the city. During interrogation, the Police came to know that one of the accused Rehamath Shariff is an old offender and has been wanted in another case too.

The journey of India from ‘I’ to ‘We’

Guest Author
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The journey of India from ‘I’ to ‘We’

“In every convocation ceremony that I am called for, I ensure that the university would make at least fifty children from a nearby slum and underprivileged dwellings its guests. The sight of youngsters graduating in black robes and a graduation cap would spark the minds of these guest children and inspire them to rise and shine.”

These were the words of the Prime Minister during a town hall meeting with IT professionals on the launch of “Self4Society”. The compassion in these words must have captivated every listener. Upon listening to this address, one realises that the Prime Minister believes in the strength of small gestures creating deep impacts and who want to run the engine of the nation with the fuel of “Jan Bhagidari”.

The honesty with which the PM answered the questions during his interaction is appreciable. In a candid conversation, he said that “Sarkaar can’t do things which Sanskriti can” and it is our “Sanskriti” which drives the social change. For many, the responsibility as a citizen ends with paying taxes. But as the PM mentioned, It is only when we take a leap forward ourselves and go beyond rules, that the inner joy and satisfaction is achieved. The Prime Minister speaks to passionately about service to others that it is bound to leave an indelible mark on a youngsters thought process. The fact that social service is a two-way learning process, where not only the beneficiary gets impacted but we too get empowered in the process.

The sight of young technology professionals leaving behind the comforts of their plush offices and venturing into the social sector is just one manifestation of sweeping social reforms taking place in our nation. It was inspiring for the young minds to know that the highest leadership of the country acknowledges the innovations being carried out by individuals as well as the social startups for the vulnerable section of the society.

Making a confession and giving a moment of celebration to the committed youth, the PM mentioned that the government follows in the footsteps of these visionary social entrepreneurs and wants their individual efforts to collude to work in a hand-in-glove manner to bring a change. Feats like Swachh Bharat or financial inclusion from the remotest corners of the country speaks volume about our changing India. Reforms reaching the poorest of the poor and those standing at the end of the queue reflects on the impact of the technologically driven vision of the leadership of the country.

The Prime Minister has always connected with the youth of the country far more than the self-proclaimed “youth icons” like Rahul Gandhi who is widely considered as a reluctant politician who is “in the business” only because of his last name.

PM Modi knows the power of technology in empowering the citizens and wants the youngsters to leverage it for nation building in every possible aspect. One fine example is the historic JAM Trinity which has resulted in mass financial inclusion, and has given birth to a new facet i.e, “Garibo Ki Amiri” because of whopping savings of Rs. 80,000 crores in the Jan Dhan bank accounts. Digital India is the genie in the bottle who fulfilled this wish of financial inclusion and made JAM Trinity a reality for India. This genie made mobile phones and internet connection a household name. This only genie made Direct Benefit Transfer scheme a success, which uplifted the most vulnerable in the most unreachable locations of the country. This is the genie which gave the policies of e-Hospital, e-Vidyalaya, and e-NAM a lease of life.

The Prime Minister doesn’t mince words when he speaks of social change driven by mass movement, technology and innovation.

As a youth who aspires to be a cog in the nation-building, those two hours of the Prime Minister’s speech have strengthened my belief that India is all set to unfurl the flag of the prosperity whose echo will resonate throughout the globe. I firmly believe that “Information Technology by Indian Talent will make the India Tomorrow” sooner than soon.

(This article has been authored by Anchal Chaudhary)

AAP activist beaten up by a group of women in Punjab, video goes viral

OpIndia Staff
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AAP activist beaten up by a group of women in Punjab, video goes viral

A video surfaced on Thursday wherein an AAP activist, identified as Sarbjit Singh Ghukar, who was earlier associated with the Congress and SAD, was caught being trashed by a group of women in Baba Bakala town, Amritsar, for allegedly misbehaving with a woman, reported The Tribune.

The video which went viral on social media showed the AAP activist tied to a pole with torn clothes and beaten up by a group of women.

Ghukar who has been admitted to the Civil Hospital, Baba Bakala, has earlier too been allegedly involved in land grabbing cases. He has many cases registered and pending against him in this regard.

Dalbir Singh Tong, Halka in charge, AAP, reportedly confirmed that Ghukar was an activist of the party, adding that he was caught by a group of people in a land dispute case. He also claimed that later they engaged a group of women, who beat him up. The women later lodged a complaint with the Beas police.

AAP has been routinely accused of being a women-unfriendly party by many people. What had come as a major embarrassment for the AAP party was when its  MLA Prakash Jarwal from Deoli constituency in Delhi was booked and later convicted in connection with a molestation case.

Last year an AAP activist had committed suicide after claiming sexual exploitation by fellow party members. She had claimed that when she complained to AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal about the exploitation and molestation, demanding action against the culprits, Kejriwal had suggested her to instead work out a compromise with the accused.

Dharamshala Stadium Case: SC quashes FIR lodged against BJP MP Anurag Thakur

OpIndia Staff
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Dharamshala Stadium Case: SC quashes FIR lodged against BJP MP Anurag Thakur

The Supreme Court has quashed the FIR lodged against BJP MP Anurag Thakur, former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and others in connection with alleged irregularities in granting land to build a cricket stadium in Dharamshala.


A bench of Justice A. K. Sikri, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice Ajay Rastogi approved the appeal of Anurag Thakur, Dhumal and Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association challenging the Himachal Pradesh High Court order of April 25, 2014, refusing to quash the FIR lodged against them and stay the criminal trial pending before the special judge, Dharamshala. The case was registered for cheating and criminal conspiracy, and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, during the reign of the then Virbhadra Singh government of Congress party in the state. “We approve the appeal. The FIR lodged is cancelled”, the court said.

In a previous hearing, Virbhadra Singh had contended before the court that in the year 2002, the Dhumal government had leased 16 acres of land at the rate of Rs 1 per year to Thakur for 99 years. He clarified that it was not a political matter but that of irregularities and the police had taken action on it. He requested the court that the appeal of Thakur should be rejected and the stay on the trial against all the accused should be lifted.

The former Himachal government had registered a total of 7 cases in this matter out which 2 were quashed by the High Court. The lawyer representing the Himachal government had told the court that the government has decided to withdraw all politically motivated cases. The court had asked the government whether the case of Thakur was one such case. And If yes, then how. The court also had asked whether the case could be withdrawn. To this, the counsel of the Himachal government said that he would come with instructions from the government.

The court had asked Thakur whether he wanted to argue the matter or the court should permit the state government to withdraw the case from the lower court. Thakur had chosen to argue the matter before the court, after which the court fixed a final hearing in the matter.

The FIR in the case was registered by the Dharamsala office of the Vigilance Bureau on August 1, 2013, months after the Congress government assumed power in December 2012.

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