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Missionaries of Jesus yet again stands behind rape accused Bishop, releases images of the victim

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After running a smear campaign against the rape victim Nun, the Missionaries of Jesus has once again stood behind the rape accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal. The Congregation had conducted an inquiry and has now released a “preliminary inquiry report” claiming the Bishop to be innocent.


According to the preliminary report, the Congregation has rejected all the allegations against the Bishop saying the allegations against the bishop are baseless and even indulged in victim shaming. The Missionaries of Jesus went a step ahead and released the picture of the rape victim today which shows the nun with the Bishop captured on May 23, 2015, a day after the alleged rape took place. The congregation has said that going by the photograph, nun sitting next to the Bishop was a proof that she was not sexually assaulted the previous day. It further accused the nun and other people of conspiring against the Bishop. It said the nuns have been influenced by the thoughts of rationalists.

“Victim’s friend was handling the visitors’ register in the convent, they must have tampered with this. The victim had forcefully taken control of the CCTV system from Mother Superior,” the Missionaries of Jesus said in the statement.

The nuns for the first time in the recent history had defied their vows to protest against Bishop Franco Mulakkal and Church atrocities against their attempts to hush up the incident. The Congregation had reacted to this protest and had tried to add insult to injury by calling the rape accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal “an innocent soul” and said he cannot be crucified “based on such allegations”.

Shockingly, another MLA from Kerala PC George had referred the 44-year old rape victim as a “prostitute”, which had caused a huge uproar recently. The incident came to light when a nun from Kerala accused a Bishop from Jalandhar of raping her. The accused, Franco Mulakkal, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar, is said to have raped her at a guest house in Kuravilangad in May 2014 and exploited her sexually on several other occasions. The nun has registered a complaint in June this year. The nun has further alleged that she had approached the Syro-Malabar Church authorities over the matter but no action was taken against the Bishop which made her approach the Police.

Meghalaya: 4 time CM quits Congress, says frustrated with party policies

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Veteran Congress leader DD Lapang, who had become the CM of Meghalaya four times has left the party. According to reports, Lapang has penned a resignation letter to his party president Rahul Gandhi and has cited the sidelining of senior and experienced leaders as the main reason for his resignation.

Lapang had previously made clear that he would not contest in the February 2018 assembly elections in Meghalaya. Following this announcement he was removed as the chief of Meghalaya Congress Party in December 2017.

Lapang has reportedly written in his letter that lately the AICC has been embarking upon a policy of phasing out senior and elderly people and he thinks the services and contribution of senior leaders are no longer needed in the party. He has reportedly added that the restrictions made him uncomfortable and frustrated.

Lapang has reportedly sent his resignation to 10 others in the party including Sonia Gandhi, Meghalaya Congress chief Luizinho Faleiro and former CM Mukul Sangma.

Congress had lost the assembly elections in Meghalaya earlier this year and the National People’s Party, in coalition with the BJP had formed the government. Lapang was first elected to the state assembly in 1972 from the Nongpoh assembly seat as an independent candidate.

Congress has been severely weakened in Meghalaya in recent years. In June this year, members of the Ranikor Block Congress had resigned en-masse and had joined the ruling NPP. Before that, 115 members of the Chokpot and Baghmara block Congress Committee had resigned en-masse on the very day when Rahul Gandhi had kick-started the campaign for state assembly elections.

 

Nehru statue removed in Allahabad for Kumbh Mela, Congress upset

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A statue of Jawaharlal Nehru was removed from Balsan Chauraha in Allahabad and shifted to a nearby park in view of the beautification drive in the city ahead of the Kumbh Mela to be held in January next year. The authorities said that the statue was in the middle of the road which had to be broadened for the Hindu festival next year.

“Roads are being broadened for the upcoming Kumbh. In that course a roundabout at Baalson crossing had to be reduced a bit. This particular roundabout has 3 statues. Nehru’s statue was coming in way of proposed layout. Hence it was removed and stalled at same place after acquiring around 10 feet of space,” the government said.

The Congress party perceived the move as an insult to the first Prime Minister of India and asserted that it was an attempt to do away with his ideology. Accompanied by workers of allies Samajwadi Party, the Congress staged a protest and stopped the crane. They also raised slogans against UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Questioning why the statue of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay on the same road wasn’t removed, they said that they will take up the matter with higher authorities.

President of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, Raj Babbar, tweeted on Friday, “This is an injustice. This act cannot be condemned enough. The allure of power has made the BJP too arrogant. We will strongly fight against the insult meted out to great men and the conspiracy to re-write history.”


He also tweeted, “Statue of late Rajiv Gandhi was broken from PM’s constituency Varanasi. Pandit Nehru’s statue was lifted in crane to be shifted. History will remember BJP’s arrogance. We will not forget this pictures. This is our pain as well as inspiration.”

Indian Judiciary set to oversee Kabaddi match to ensure fair selection process

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As per the Delhi High Court order last month, the Indian Judiciary will be an audience at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday to witness and oversee a Kabaddi match following the debacle of the Indian Kabaddi team at the Asian Games.

The match will be between players who were picked for the games and those that were not. The court order came after a petition was filed by former Indian international player Mahipal Singh who levelled allegations of bribery in the Asian Games selection process against officials of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI).

According to an Indian Express report, advocate for the petitioner, B.S. Nagar, said while talking about the match, “The game will be between the men and women players who represented India at the Asian Games and those who were not picked. They will be from those who attended the national camp. It (the order) doesn’t say that the people who were part of the Asian Games team have to compulsorily participate, but it is left to the good conscience of the players.”

Nagar suspects that Indian players might come up with excuses for not participating in the game. He is reported to have said, “On August 31, the players said that this upcoming match is affecting their reputation and that they are injured and what not. They were trying to delay it (the match), saying that it isn’t their fault anyway. They (the Asian Games teams) are afraid that the unknowns might beat them.”

In a judgment in August, the Court had ordered the AKFI to conduct a free and fair selection process in accordance with the National Sports Code of India. However, following concerns raised by the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) that any changes to the squad could disrupt preparations and jeopardize the team’s participation in the event, the Court agreed to settle for trials after the games.

Hizbul terrorist planning an attack on Ganesh Chaturthi festivities arrested in Kanpur

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Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) and Kanpur police jointly arrested a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist from Chakeri area of Kanpur on Thursday. The arrested militant was reportedly planning an attack during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

The arrested terrorist was has been identified as Qamar-uz-Zama, a 37-year-old resident of Sarak Pili village in Nagaon area, Assam was arrested on a tip-off from the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Uttar Pradesh’s Director General of Police (DGP), while addressing the media said that the ATS was tracking the terrorist for the last 8-10 days with NIA’s assistance. During interrogation, he confessed of having plans to attack the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi and said that he had gone for training to Kashmir in April 2017. He is of Indian nationality and is a literate person.

The DGP furthered that since April 2018, he was very active on social media. He had uploaded a photo in which he was seen carrying an AK-47.

“He came in contact with a terrorist called Osama, and then joined the Pakistan-based terror outfit- Hizbul Mujahideen in 2017. Thereafter he went through a training at a militant camp in Jammu and Kashmir. He had also spent his time in Philippines Palau Island from 2008 to 2011. He got married to a local Assamese girl and they have a son, said IG ATS Asim Arun.

In the initial round of questioning by UP police, the arrested terrorist also confessed to being an active member of Hizbul Mujahideen and accepted that he was in Kanpur for preparations of a terrorist attack.

Radical Islamic issues are not as frequently discussed as maybe insurgency issues in Kashmir but are of equal threat encompassing the country. Nation chooses to remain closemouthed about ISIS taking root in the country, and the silent battle India is fighting on that front.

Last year the country witnessed a barbaric attack on Hindu pilgrims who were returning after taking Darshan at the holy Amarnath temple in Kashmir. 3-5 Pakistan backed terrorists led by one Ismael belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba had opened fired at a bus carrying 60 Amarnath Pilgrims leading to the death of 7 pilgrims including 6 women and injured 19 more.

This year also, fearing that the terrorists might be planning a different form of attack to surprise the security forces which might include improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the devotees embarking on the Amarnath Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir were provided with a multi-layered high tech security by the government.

Update:

Related development in Assam

Immediately after the arrest of Qamar-uz-Zama, Assam police started a parallel investigation to find out about his activities in Assam. Yesterday Assam police arrested one Shahnawaj  Alam from Hojai, Assam, who is close friend of Zama and suspected to have link with Hizbul. During investigation, it has been revealed that Hizbul has plan to instigate communal violence in the state in the name of NRC and Rohingya refugees. It has also been found that the terror organization has stepped up recruitment activities in Assam, with support from terror organizations based in Assam. A team of Assam Police led by a DSP has left for Kanpur to question Qamar uj Zama, while a UP police team is expected to visit Assam to investigate more about him.

Qamar’s mother disowns him

In a related development, mother of Qamar-uz-Zama has disowned her son for his anti-national activities. She told reporter that she has no love for her son who has gone against the nation. She added that even if her son is shot dead or sent to jail for life, she will have no regret.

Supreme Court scraps no arrest rule under 498A, says earlier verdict fell in ‘legislative sphere’

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Modifying the provisions of the anti-dowry laws it had made in a verdict last year, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India has set aside its recommendation for setting up of a “family welfare committee” to look into allegations before arrests are made asserting that there isn’t any scope for courts to constitutionally fill up gaps in penal law. Taking note of the misuse of section 498A, the Court said that the accused can now seek anticipatory bail.

The bench, comprising of CJI Dipak Mishra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said that they were of the opinion that the earlier verdict fell in the legislative sphere and it should be left to the Parliament to come up with safeguards against the misuse of the law. “At this stage, we are obligated to state that we are not in agreement with the decision rendered in Rajesh Sharma vs State of UP, because we are disposed to think that it really curtails the rights of the women who are harassed under Section 498A (subjecting a married woman to cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code. That apart, prima facie, we perceive that the guidelines may be in the legislative sphere”, the bench remarked while disagreeing with the earlier verdict.

“There is an introduction of a third agency which has nothing to do with the code and that apart, the committees have been empowered to suggest a report failing which no arrest can be made. The directions to settle a case after it is registered is not a correct expression of law,” the SC has said.

The Court observed, “The courts have ample power to grant pre-arrest bail or popularly called anticipatory bail and even to quash the criminal proceeding totally to stabilise the lawful balance because no court of law remotely conceives of a war between the two sexes.” It also made the observations that “When a sensitive legal provision is brought into the statute book, the victims of the crime feel adequately safe, and if the said provision pertains to matrimonial sphere, both the parties, namely, wife and husband or anyone from the side of the husband is booked for the offence and both the sides play the victim card.”

“There should be gender justice for women as dowry has a chilling effect on marriage on the one hand and on the other, there is the right to life and personal liberty of the man,” the bench had said on the 23rd of April while reserving its verdict on a batch of pleas seeking revisiting of the earlier judgment.

The SC has also directed the DGPs of all states to ensure that “investigating officers who are in charge of the investigation of cases of offences under Section 498A IPC should be imparted rigorous training with regard to the principles stated by this Court relating to arrest.”

The Court also remarked that the misuse of section 498A could have grievous implications for the health of the society. “Such a situation brings in a social disaster that has the potentiality to vertically divide the society,” it said.

The copy of the judgement can be accessed here.

Rifts wide open between BJP and IPFT in Tripura, tribal leaders want to end alliance

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We had reported earlier that rifts within the BJP-IPFT alliance had been developing for sometime over various issues. Things reached a climax when there were violent clashes between the workers of the two parties over the submission of nomination papers for the panchayat elections.

And now, it has surfaced that leaders of the tribal wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party want to sever ties with the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT). Janajati Morcha (ST frontal organisation) president Sanjoy Debbarma accused the IPFT of spreading chaos across the state. He said, “They are spreading chaos. Development works of the state government are worst hit due to this. Common people are fed up with their activities.”

The demand has been placed before the president of the state unit of the BJP and Chief Minister Biplab Deb. “We have urged the CM to remove IPFT from the alliance. He told us that the coalition was agreed upon by BJP’s central leadership and assured us that the problem will be discussed with them,” he said.

Rampada Jamatia, state vice-president of the BJP and Janajati Morcha leader, has claimed that his house was attacked by IPFT workers. He also mentioned that many other leaders were attacked including Golaghati MLA, Birchandra Debbarma. “MLA Birchandra Debbarma lodged an FIR with the police. IPFT supporters have held attacks on his family to force him to withdraw the FIR. They are also involved in criminal offences in different parts of the state. We have demanded that legal action be taken against them and the alliance with IPFT be severed immediately,” he said.

Meanwhile, IPFT spokesperson and assistant general secretary, Mangal Debbarma accused the BJP of starting clashes and then blaming IPFT for it. According to him, certain BJP leaders were involved in a shrewd conspiracy to disrupt the alliance as they could then occupy the cabinet seats that would fall vacant as a consequence. “If we leave the alliance, two posts in the cabinet will be vacant and indigenous leaders in BJP can grab those seats. They are plotting to disturb the alliance for this reason,” Mangal said.

Meanwhile, Mangal reignited the commitment of his party towards ‘Tipraland’, a proposed separate state for tribals of Tripura. “We want Tipraland and shall continue the struggle for that. We don’t care how many seats we get in the government. If BJP thinks they can run the government without us, then so be it. They have the single majority. But the indigenous people are with us,” Mangal said. Earlier, the IPFT along with a few other organisations had announced their decision to launch a statewide movement for a separate Tipraland soon.

A rally demanding Tipraland, file photo

Amidst such hostility, national general secretary of the BJP, Ram Madhav and organisational general secretary, Ajay Jamwal, are set to arrive in Tripura on the 16th of September to check the party’s preparation for the Lok Sabha Elections and end hostilities between the two allies. “A meeting is also scheduled with IPFT leaders to put an end to the ongoing hostility between BJP and IPFT, coalition government’s two partners”, said party state general secretary Rajib Bhattacharjee on Thursday.

The BJP already has a single party majority in the state assembly after winning 36 out of the 60 assembly seats in the previous state elections. Thus, they have the luxury of severing ties with the IPFT should they so desire. However, it is likely that their popularity among the indigenous people of Tripura will be affected should the alliance collapse.

Key Naxal leaders with heavy bounty surrenders, spill the beans on the urban network

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The coherent approach executed by the present government in tackling left-wing terror seems to be yielding results, as there is a large number of desertions in the ranks of Naxal forces, who are now surrendering for a better livelihood.

According to the reports, two Naxal leaders carrying higher rewards on them have surrendered before the senior police officials in Jharkhand and Chattisgarh. The surrendered leaders are known to be Kamlesh Ganju alias Birsai ji,  who was the leader of Bihar-Chhattisgarh-Jharkhand Special Area Committee of CPI(Maoist). He surrendered before the Commissioner of Palamau division, Manoj Kumar Jha and DIG (Palamau division) Vipul Shukla. Another Maoist leader Vetti Rama, who was carrying a reward of Rs. 8 lakh turned himself in before senior officials at the Sukma police headquarters.


Reportedly, Kamlesh Ganju is wanted in more than a hundred cases registered by the police of Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand. He was also carrying a reward of Rs. 25 lakh on his head, police said. Ganju, who joined the group in 1993 at the age of nine, was later part of terror outfits including the erstwhile MCC and Peoples War Group. Indrajeet Mahatha, SP of Palamau said that Kamlesh Ganju is part of the Naxal network for the past 23 years and was the leader of Maoists group in Budapahar. Kamlesh Ganju was the mastermind behind the killing of 17 security personnel in 2013 in Jharkhand’s Latehar district.

Interestingly, Kamlesh Ganju claims that the reason behind his surrender is that Naxals have lost their loyalty towards Maoism. He also added that another reason for his surrender is his family responsibilities and prevailing ills in his community.

Vetti Rama, another top leader, is responsible for the Sukma blasts in March this year in which Naxals had blown up a mine protected vehicle, killing nine security personnel. Reportedly, Rama had joined the left-wing terror group in 1995 and was responsible for several major Naxal attacks. The disgruntled Naxal said that increasing pressure of security forces combined with state’s surrender policy has been the major reason for a large number of surrenders.

The DIG Sundarraj P told that during his interrogation, he has revealed crucial details about the Maoist urban network and sympathisers. “Rama revealed that sustained operations by security forces in Chintagufa, Kistaram and Bhejji- considered as core areas of Maoists in Sukma, coupled with development works, resulted in the Naxals’ hold weakening in the area”, the DIG said.

The Naxal cadres in the tribal areas are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the ideology and are willing to join mainstream for a better life. Recently, Pahad Singh, one of the important leaders of the Naxal terror network, has also surrendered to the Chattisgarh police. He was carrying a bounty of Rs. 1 crore and is believed to have been involved in over 80 cases against him out of which 40 cases have been filed in Gadchiroli alone.

Recently, Pahad Singh in an interview to OpIndia has revealed a lot of sensational aspects of the Naxal terror network operating in both tribal and urban areas. Singh in the interview has revealed the ‘modus operandi’ of the Naxals and the connection of ground forces with its urban network. Interestingly, Pahad Singh went on to identify Arun Ferreira, one of the arrested Urban Naxals and claimed that he had met him in a meeting of the banned CPI-Maoist.

Pahad Singh has described how the so-called ‘intellectuals’ deceive and exploit the simple Adivasis and use them to further their agenda. Pahad Singh, who refers ‘Urban Naxals’ as ‘Nithalla buddhijeevi’ (jobless intellectuals), blames the urban network for the sufferings of the Adivasis, as he says Urban Naxals want to keep the Adivasis deprived of development so they can use them to further their own selfish motives.

Supreme Court awards Rs 50 lakh compensation to former ISRO scientist for wrongful arrest and harassment

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The Supreme Court has today awarded former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan a compensation of Rs 50 lakhs for his wrongful arrest and harassment by the Kerala Police in the 1994 ISRO spy case. According to reports, the court has also ordered a probe into the role of the police officers involved in Narayanan’s arrest and alleged harassment in custody. The three-member probe panel is to be headed by former judge DK Jain.

A bench comprising of CJI Deepak Mishra, justice AM Khanwaliker and justice DY Chandrachud pronounced the verdict today. The bench reportedly observed that Nambi Narayanan was needlessly arrested and tortured in the 1994 case. The bench also ordered that the other two members of the panel headed by DK Jain will be nominated by the central government and the state government of Kerala respectively.

Nambi Narayanan was a scientist in ISRO and headed the cryogenics division. In November 1994, Narayanan was arrested by the Kerala police after allegations of espionage under the sections 3,4 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act. After his arrest, he was remanded in police custody for a period of 50 days during which he was reportedly harassed and tortured by officials of Kerala police and the Indian intelligence bureau. However, after an investigation by the CBI, the allegations on him were found to be false and in 1998, the Supreme Court upheld the findings by the CBI.

Narayanan’s arrest had come at the wake of the infamous ISRO spy case. In October 1994, Mariam Rasheeda, a citizen of Maldives, was arrested for overstaying her visa. Upon investigation, it was found that Rasheeda was connected with Dr Sasikumar, another scientist of the cryogenic division. It was only after the arrest of Rasheeda’s accomplice, Fauzia Hassan that the Kerala police and the intelligence bureau realized that the women were part of an espionage ring. An SIT headed by DGP Siby Matthews had then arrested Dr Nambi Narayanan, and two other men named Chandrasekharan and a Bengaluru based businessman on charges of selling space research secrets to Russia and other countries.

The case was later handed over to the CBI and in 1996, the CBI had submitted its final report saying that the charges on Dr Narayanan and others were false. In 1998, the SC had upheld the findings and had asked the Kerala government to pay Rs 1 lakh in compensation to Dr Narayanan and others. However, Dr Narayanan had approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)seeking justice for the harassment and agony meted out to him. In 2001, the NHRC had awarded a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs to him.

Todays’s verdict was over the appeal filed by Dr Narayanan against the order of the Kerala HC which had stated that no action was needed against the investigating officers who had arrested Dr Narayanan in 1994.

Dr Narayanan is one of the pioneers of liquid rocket fuel technology in India. The initial research of his time was also used in India’s moon mission.

CBI to probe Congress and the then Finance Ministry’s role in disbursement of loans to Vijay Mallya

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched a fresh investigation on the alleged involvement of finance ministry officials in the disbursal of loans from public sector banks to Kingfisher Airlines during the UPA regime.

According to The Economic Times, the CBI has officially approached the finance ministry and formally obtained the documents it needs to build its case. As per sources, these files are currently being scrutinised for further interrogation of officials.

The primary source to CBI’s probe is the correspondence and email exchanges recovered during the search of Kingfisher Airlines owner Vijay Mallya’s residence. The CBI had seized over a lakh internal email exchanged between 2008 and 2013, including communications with the Prime Minister’s Office, finance ministry, civil aviation ministry and petroleum ministry among others. In one such exchange, Mallya had reportedly claimed that the disbursement of loans was made possible by the intervention of UPA ministers.

The agency is especially investigating the role of the then joint secretary (banking) Amitabh Verma. Among the several references to Verma, the one which was most important is Mallya’s email to Ravi Nedungadi, former CFO of UB, on March 26, 2009, regarding a disbursement of Rs 500 crore from State Bank of India.

Vijay Mallya’s case has lately become more of a political face-off, with BJP and Congress involving themselves in a war of words with allegations and counter-allegations being hurled at each other.

The BJP, which has been under blistering attack from the Congress over an alleged meeting between Mallya and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, has put out a video clipping from a news broadcast on 12th November 2011 in which then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is seen saying he would find ways to get Kingfisher Airlines out of the trouble.

Amongst all the hubbub, the Republic TV, in its exclusive expose yesterday, presented secret papers accessed by them which exposes Congress Government’s sweet deal with Mallya. The papers show correspondences, dated August 2010, between SBI and RBI, which expose on how Congress authored a separate exclusive deal only for Kingfisher Airlines

Letters exchanged between RBI and SBI reveal that an exemption was requested regarding debt restructuring in the entire aviation industry primarily based on the financial difficulties being faced by Kingfisher Airlines.

Adding to the extraordinary political controversy that has broken out over the last 24 hours, The Republic reported a sensational ‘Meeting of the fugitives’ that took place at Vijay Mallya’s London mansion three weeks ago. The meeting was attended by Lalit Modi, and also, two former UPA ministers, one of whom is a former Chief Minister.

The entire controversy broke out when Mallya, during the recess in his extradition hearing on Wednesday, made an almost offhand remark to journalists that he had met the Finance Minister before leaving India and telling him that he has made a settlement offer. The Congress grabbed this opportunity to fulminate against the BJP Government.

However, mere hours later, once the hearing in London had ended, Vijay Mallya came out and corroborated Jaitley’s version where he had stated that- he had not offered Mallya a meeting since the BJP came to power and that Mallya, then a Rajya Sabha member, had once pulled up alongside him while Jaitley was making his way to his room in Parliament and told him that he had made a settlement offer, to which Jaitley said ‘talk to the banks’.