“When Government Changes…”: Rahul Gandhi After Rs 1,800 Crore Tax Notice



Rahul Gandhi said when the government changes, the Congress will act against destroyers of democracy

New Delhi:

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today promised the party will take exemplary action against those who have destroyed democracy – “when the government changes” – after the party received a Rs 1,800 crore income tax notice which it called “tax terrorism”.

The fresh tax notice is for the assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21, and includes penalty and interest.

“When the government changes, action will definitely be taken against those who are destroying democracy. And the action will be taken in such a manner that no one will have the courage to do all this again. This is my guarantee,” Mr Gandhi said in a post on the microblogging platform X.

The Congress is already facing a funds crunch after the Income Tax authorities imposed a penalty of Rs 200 crore and froze its funds. It has not got any relief from the high court. The Congress is likely to go to the Supreme Court next, just weeks before the Lok Sabha elections.

Mr Gandhi alleged central departments such as the income tax are working at the behest of the BJP. The Congress is preparing to fight a long legal war to scrap the tax demands. Congress leader Ajay Maken said the BJP has in the past few years got donations from thousands of people, and their income tax should also be calculated.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh told reporters the BJP is also in serious violation of income tax laws, and requested the tax department to raise a demand of Rs 4,617.58 crore from the BJP.

Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said political parties have to fill up Form 24A, in which two basic and important pieces of information have to be given — the names and addresses of donors.

“We have analysed all the submissions of the BJP to the Election Commission. The party has faltered every year,” Mr Maken alleged.

Mr Ramesh alleged the BJP has collected Rs 8,200 crore through the “electoral bonds scam” by using “prepaid, postpaid, post-raid bribes and shell companies”.

“Efforts are being made to financially cripple the Congress, but we are not going to be cowed down,” Mr Ramesh said.





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Parts Of South Mumbai Plunge Into Darkness Due To Power Outage


Mumbai has an islanding system which generally ensures continuity in power supply

Mumbai:

Pockets in south Mumbai plunged into darkness on Thursday night following a snag, electricity officials said.

Localities around the Mahapalika Marg, GT Hospital, Crawford Market and Marine Lines witnessed power outage from 2035 hrs onwards and the restoration of supply started only past 2105 hrs.

The snag was triggered by a tripping in a supply line, the power discom Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking said.

A BEST spokesperson said a 33 Kilovolt feeder from Tata Power’s Carnac Bunder facility, which comes to the G T Hospital receiving station operated by it tripped, resulting in the electricity outage.

The power supply has been fully restored now, the spokesperson said.

Tata Power, in a late night statement, said the electricity supply was affected due to 33KV cable fault of BEST.

The supply was restored through an alternate source from the Tata Power grid, added the statement.

The financial capital has an islanding system which generally ensures continuity in power supply.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)



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US Speaks Again On Arvind Kejriwal, Mentions Frozen Congress Accounts



Arvind Kejriwal was arrested last week by the Enforcement Directorate. (File)

New Delhi:

After India summoned an American diplomat over their remarks on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case, the US reiterated on Wednesday its call for “fair, transparent, timely legal processes”.

We continue to follow these actions closely, including the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, said US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller while responding to questions on India summoning Gloria Berbena, the US Acting Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi.

The meeting at the foreign ministry’s South Block office lasted nearly 40 minutes yesterday with India objecting strongly to the US remarks on the arrest of Mr Kejriwal.

Miller also responded to a question on the Congress party’s frozen bank accounts, saying, “We are also aware of the Congress party’s allegations that tax authorities have frozen some of their bank accounts in a manner that will make it challenging to effectively campaign in the upcoming elections.”

Read | India Summons US Diplomat Over Comments On Arvind Kejriwal’s Arrest

He said the US encourages “fair, transparent and timely legal processes” for each of these issues.

“With respect to your first question, I’m not going to talk about any private diplomatic conversations, but of course, what we have said publicly is what I just said from here, that we encourage fair, transparent, timely legal processes. We don’t think anyone should object to that,” he said.

Mr Kejriwal was arrested last week by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the third Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader after Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh to be taken into custody in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.

The US State Department on Tuesday said it is monitoring reports of Mr Kejriwal’s arrest and called on New Delhi to ensure “a fair and timely legal process” for the jailed Chief Minister.

India objected to it and warned of “unhealthy precedents”.

Read | “Encourage Fair, Transparent Legal Process”: US On Arvind Kejriwal Arrest

“States are expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others, and this responsibility is even more so in case of fellow democracies. It could otherwise end up setting unhealthy precedents,” the foreign ministry said.

“India’s legal processes are based on an independent judiciary which is committed to objective and timely outcomes. Casting aspersions on that is unwarranted,” the ministry stressed.

The US remarks came days after Germany’s Foreign Office stressed that Mr Kejriwal is entitled to a fair and impartial trial. The Indian government had reacted strongly and summoned the German envoy, labelling their remark “blatant interference in internal matters”.

The excise policy was introduced to bring an overhaul to the liquor business in Delhi, but was scrapped after Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered a probe into the alleged irregularities in the policy. The ED believes the bribe money from the policy was allegedly used for funding the AAP’s election campaigns. It has also called Mr Kejriwal a “conspirator” in the case.

His arrest just ahead of the 2024 2024 Lok Sabha election has also prompted furious protests from the opposition camp.



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How Abhishek Singhvi Tore Into Probe Agency Over Arvind Kejriwal's Arrest


Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by ED last week in Delhi liquor policy case

New Delhi:

Appearing in Delhi High Court for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi today tore into the Enforcement Directorate’s case in the liquor policy case, in which three top leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are currently in jail.

Here’s a rundown of arguments and counter arguments

On Timing Of Arrest: A sitting Chief Minister, Mr Singhvi said, is arrested on the cusp of election. “The heart of democracy is a level-playing field. It means free and fair elections. If you do anything to make the level-playing field uneven, then you are impinging on basic structure. This arrest on the cusp of election is intended to disable the person from campaigning and give a body blow to the party, and third, you end up scoring some points before even the first vote is cast,” he said, adding, “Of course, Chief Ministers can be arrested, but the question is timing.”

On ED’s petition for 3 weeks’ time: Mr Singhvi said the request is completely mala fide. “Even one day incarceration is an issue of fundamental right. What reply can ED file? It can’t be different from grounds of arrest.”

On Prevention Of Money Laundering Act: Mr Singhvi said there are three phrases in Section 19: “material in possession”, “reasons to believe” and “guilty”. “These are vital conditions for arrest. Prior to any arrest, these conditions must be satisfied on the files and on the papers. This threshold has been put deliberately high because of the corresponding provisions under Section 45 of PMLA, which puts the threshold for bail very high. So, there is counterbalancing,” he said.

These phrases, he said, go towards the basic point of clear demonstration of the necessity to arrest. “You have the power to arrest, but it must be conditioned and satisfied by the high conditions under Section 19,” he said. “The question is what was the necessity to arrest me today.”

On ED’s No-Cooperation Point: “They say I have not cooperated. Non-cooperation is one of the most abused phrases since the ED has become active,” Mr Singhvi said. “Can you say I will arrest you because I am exercising my right against self-incrimination? This will hit Articles 20 and 21 of the Constitution on the head. Suppose I say I don’t know or that I have very poor memory. Which law says I am arresting you because you are not incriminating yourself”

ED’s custodial interrogation plea, he said, was based on non-cooperation. “They say he is to be interrogated with regard to his role. I say, if you want to investigate me for my role two months before the election, is it not directly against the necessity to arrest?”

On Statements And Co-Accused: Mr Singhvi said the ED is following a step-by-step process. “I record the statement. There is nothing against me in that step. Frequently there are few more statements recorded. In (the case of) Sanjay Singh, nine statements were recorded and there was nothing against me.”

“The next step is to arrest the person. He suffers in jail and is then made to apply for bail. Next step, the ASG tells the court I have no opposition to bail. The reason cited is he has back pain. The next step is that he comes out and makes a statement against me. Next he turns approver and is granted pardon,” Mr Singhvi said.

“This has happened in every case in the liquor policy case. It is blowing to smithereens the constitutional safeguards,” he said, adding that these statements are no corroborated.

On Approvers: Mr Singhvi said it is easy to extract statements out of co-accused. “He is concerned about himself, that’s why little weight should be given to statements of co-accused,” he said.

“This species called approver. In our history, whether for good motives or bad motives, the courts have dealt with phrases like Jaichand and Trojan Horses. The history looks very harshly at these Jaichands and Trojan horses. They gave daga (betrayal).” The reference was to Jaichand, a king in the 12th century. According to Prithviraj Raso, Jaichand refused to help Prithviraj Chauhan and joined forces with the invading king Muhammad of Ghori. The Prithviraj Raso is disputed by historians, but the name Jaichand has become synonymous with the word “traitor”.

An approver, Mr Singhvi said, is the “most untrustworthy friend”.

Stressing that “there is absolutely no reason to ask for time”. “This is a matter where democracy itself is involved. Basic structure is involved. Level playing field is involved. A day is too long if arrest is illegal. Day by day, ED is achieving its objective by seeking time,” he said.

What the Centre Said

Appearing for the ED, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju sought three weeks’ time to file a reply in the main matter and also said he wanted to reply to Mr Kejriwal’s petition for interim relief.

He also objected to multiple lawyers appearing for Mr Kejriwal. “Even ED will request that five people be heard for ED. You want a level-playing field, I am saying, let there be a level-playing field here as well.”

In important matters such as this, he said, “people often play to the gallery, so the break has to be out”.

When the court said that it will issue a notice in the main matter, Mr Raju replied, “On interim relief also, I have the right to file a reply. If I am not entitled to file a reply, then there is no need to hear me. I can’t be deprived of my right to file a reply.”

He also said he got a copy of Mr Kejriwal’s petition only yesterday.

Appearing for the AAP leader, Advocate Shadan Farasat said the petition was moved on Saturday. “We cleared the objections and then shared the plea with the ED. We served them and they had enough time. A Delay very severely prejudices us in this case,” he said.

To this, Mr Raju replied, “We wrote emails to them asking for a copy on March 25 and 26. They deliberately did not supply the petition to us. They could have supplied the copy to us with objections. The reason they did not supply is because they did not want us to prepare,” he said.

The court has said it will upload its order by 4 pm today. 



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CSK vs GT Live Score, IPL 2024: CSK In Control, 5-Down GT’s Asking Rate Mount | Cricket News


Chennai Super Kings vs Gujarat Titans Live Updates, IPL 2024© BCCI

CSK vs GT Live Score, IPL 2024:GT have lost five wickets in a 207-run chase. Shivam Dube scored a fast and furious 50 as Chennai Super Kings et a 207-run target for Gujarat Titans. Rachin Ravindra and Ruturaj Gaikwad fell short of the half-century mark by narrow margins. For GT, Rashid Khan took two wickets. CSK are coming to this clash after registering a six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their opening match. On the other hand, GT defeated Mumbai Indians by six runs in their previous match. (Live Scorecard)

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RCB vs PBKS Highlights, IPL 2024: Dinesh Karthik’s Late Burst Complements Kohli’s Classy 50 As RCB Beat PBKS | Cricket News


IPL 2024, RCB vs PBKS: Virat Kohli starred for RCB.© Twitter

RCB vs PBKS, IPL 2024, Highlights: Harpreet Brar’s incisive bowling came to naught as Virat Kohli’s splendid half-century and Dinesh Karthik’s power-hitting at the back end helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeat Punjab Kings by four wickets in an Indian Premier League match here on Monday. Chasing 177 for victory, RCB, thanks to Kohli’s 77 (49 balls) and Karthik’s unbeaten 28 (10 balls), won the match with four balls to spare. (Scorecard)

Highlights of IPL 2024 Match Between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, straight from Bengaluru

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