Mining: Lawyer-politicians caught in conflict of interests

New Delhi: Lawyer-politicians Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Pinaki Mishra, who appeared on behalf of different mining companies before the Justice MB Shah Commission, have brought back into focus the issue of conflict of interest that many representatives simply shrug off.

Singhvi, who is a Congress spokesperson and a Rajya Sabha MP, appeared before the Commission for Aditya Birla Group company Essel Mining, which has been accused of illegal extraction of ore worth Rs 4,368.75 crore. Singhvi also appeared for the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI), which represents 350 mining companies. FIMI interfaces with the Centre for promotion of miners’ interest. Incidentally, FIMI president HC Daga is an advisor to Essel Mining, the other company that Singhvi represented.

Mishra, a Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Lok Sabha representative from Puri, represented Kalinga Mining Corporation and Sarda Mines Private Limited, both of which are accused of holding illegal ore worth Rs 3,485.89 crore (Sarda Mines-Rs 2,845.58 crore and Kalinga Mining-Rs 640.023 crore). Mishra even defended the companies against the interest of his own government in Odisha.

The Commission probed mining activity in Odisha, and concluded in its report, recently tabled in Parliament, that most mining activity in the state between 2008-2011 defied laid-down rules and was carried out under political patronage. In Mishra’s cases, the pane irected the Odisha government to recover Rs 59,200 crore from them and use it to develop Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts to help the tribals impacted by mining.

Both Singhvi and Mishra defended their actions, saying there was no conflict between their legal profession and their political allegiance. But Dr Arun Gupta, convener of Alliance Against Conflict of Interest, said that lawyers-turned-politicians do take advantage of vagueness of conflict of interest. “It (conflict of interest) is a serious issue biting into the integrity quotient of the Parliament, where a person from business class or his legal representative could have potential conflict while participating in parliamentary deliberations on public policy,” said Gupta.

Singhvi said he represented an association of mining companies and not any individual group. “This was in discharge of my professional duties as a senior counsel along with Ram Jethmalani, Gopal Subramanyam, Anil Dewan and others. It is not a conflict,” said Singhvi and added that as a senior counsel he was briefed by other lawyers, who held the vakalatnama for clients. “We have no connections with the client.”

Mishra said any potential conflict of interest would have arisen if he had defended the company on the floor of the House and reminded that he has never appeared before any court on behalf of government and has never been on any government-appointed committee or board. “As an MP, if I had raised the issue and spoken in the House without disclosing my interest then I would have been liable for indulging in conflict of interest,” said Mishra. “There is no connection between my party BJD and mining companies. As a professional, I was doing my service and I have no truck thereafter with these companies either.”

As many as 92 Rajya Sabha MPs have declared pecuniary interests in the register of interest under Rule 293, which contains crucial information about the financial and business interests of MPs, according to a study compiled by the Association of Democratic Rights (ADR). Incidentally, Singhvi, at Rs 50 crore, has declared the highest amount received from ‘professional engagements’.
Courtesy:
Iftikhar Gilani @iftikhargilani
Published Date:  Feb 17, 2014
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Bank collects `4 crore for ‘discontinued’ Tirumala service

Temple trust orders probe as bank continues to collect money for the Rs 1-lakh, day-long special darshan despite temple decision to stop same
Hyderabad: A nationalised bank has collected Rs 4 crore on behalf of the Tirumala temple without keeping the country’s wealthiest religious shrine in the loop about the proceeds meant for a ‘special darshan’. The temple’s managing body has now ordered a probe.

Lord Balaji’s Tirumala temple, which has an annual budget of Rs 2,300 crore, has also failed to notice that it has lost nearly Rs 1 crore in interest over the Rs 4 crore collection since 2011. This was the year the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the temple’s affairs, discontinued the sale of tickets to devotees for its ‘Udayastamana Seva’ — a day-long darshan for families to participate in all the rituals at the temple, with prasadam and accommodation. Each ticket for this seva cost Rs 1 lakh and entitled darshan to a maximum of five family members at a future date.

The ‘Udayastamana Seva’ service was sold out till 2015, and so the TTD Board discontinued accepting advance payment for the same. However, lack of publicity about this decision allowed a bank to keep accepting advance booking from devotees for the service. The Board learnt this when a pilgrim, who had paid Rs 10 lakh to the bank, wrote directly to them last month to enquire about the status of his darshan. It was only then that the Board realised that the bank had been collecting advances for seva tickets from 2015 to 2020 without its approval and depositing the money in one of the Board’s 1,000 accounts with the bank.

“There is no financial loss,” said a senior TTD official who looks into the Boards finances. “But someone has sold tickets for a darshan seva that is not authorised without our knowledge. The Udhayasthamana seva tickets are already booked till 2015 and there is no sale of (these) tickets since 2011 onwards.”

When contacted, the bank, whose name the TTD Board wished to keep under wraps, did not comment.

Lakhs of pilgrims visit Tirumala every day; in 2013 alone, its hundi collection was Rs 800 crore in addition to Rs 200 crore garnered from the sale of devotees’ tonsured hair. The scale of affairs at Tirumala is therefore huge and prone to misuse and fraud. In 2011, the then executive officer IYR Krishna Rao scrapped most ‘Arjita Sevas (darshan seva categories) following a scandal in advance booking by VVIPs, including by member of Parliament T Subbarami Reddy, for nearly 15-20 years. It was at the time that the sale of tickets for the Udhyasthamana seva too stopped as advance booking was full till 2015.
Courtesy:
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Published Date:  Feb 17, 2014
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CWG FIR may bring Sheila under probe : AAP Govt To Pursue Street Lights Scam

New Delhi: In a development that puts the role of former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit in alleged Commonwealth Games scams under the purview of investigation, the anti-corruption bureau has filed an FIR in a case of “fraud in the purchase of imported luminaries that caused a loss of Rs 31 crore to the exchequer”.

The Delhi cabinet met on Thursday and decided to probe the alleged street lights scam. The ACB promptly moved to file an FIR on the basis of irregularities cited by the Comptroller & Auditor General’s report in 2011. The case is learned to have been filed under section 420 (cheating), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and section 13 (1 c and d) of Prevention Of Corruption Act.

‘APPARENT LOSS OF 31CR’
AAP GOVT ALLEGES

• Apparent loss of 31.07cr to Delhi govt, caused by PWD, MCD and NDMC, as items were imported. Indigenous items not inferior to imported ones
• When the real cost of the imported item is considered as base price, loss much more

Scheme of upgrades and use of imported items at exorbitant rates apparently a conspiracy and exercise to benefit certain companies or individuals at taxpayer’s cost ‘Clear nexus between Sheila team, vendors’ W hile the FIR has not named former CM Sheila Dikshit, sources told TOI that it includes a line, “under the chairmanship of former CM and her ministers”, making it evident that Dikshit figures in the investigation. Sources close to Dikshit said she did not want to comment on the matter at this stage and that she has not been named in the FIR.

Those who have been named are those who received “pecuniary benefits”. They include the contractors who supplied street lights during the Games, sources said.

The AAP government’s decision followed a scrutiny of CAG’s performance audit report on the Commonwealth Games, the Shunglu Committee report, PWD’s reply to the Shunglu Committee and CAG reports, and available records related to modernization of the Delhi street lighting system.

The project for modernization of Delhi street lights was conceived by the state government in June 2006, with plans to implement it across the capital within two years. Detailed lighting standards were prepared in November 2006 to be followed by all the departments concerned, namely PWD, NDMC and MCD. The project was executed on around 800km of Delhi roads at a tendered cost of Rs 286 crore. The lighting standard provided only the technical parameters of performance of lamps and luminaries. PWD, while adopting the same specifications, stipulated the use of a mix of imported and indigenous luminaries for different categories of roads.

“In the process, it appears that there was clear collusion with vendors by some officials and the then chief minister/ ministers to cause huge financial loss to the government and wrongful gain to vendors/contractors and others,” said a statement issued by CM Arvind Kejriwal's office on Thursday.

The statement added that in July 2007, SpaceAge Switch Gears had submitted an expression of interest as a “manufacturer of luminaries of international repute, and of poles in India”. The board of assessors (BoA) disqualified it in November 2007. On being disqualified, the firm appealed in November 2007 to then CM Sheila Dikshit for inclusion as a tenderer for the work. The vendor’s plea was directly forwarded to the engineer-in-chief. Subsequently, the firm was re-assessed by the BoA and this time made the cut.

According to the CM’s statement, if the BoA had been fair, it would have given a similar opportunity to the other two rejected firms. Records, however, do not show any such attempt.

“Unusual interest was displayed by the hon'ble chief minister in this project. This is demonstrated by the fact that meetings were held at her residence, imported luminaries were approved by her and competition was restricted to only three parties at her instructions...” the Shunglu committee report stated.

SHEILA CONNECTION

• While the FIR has not named former CM Sheila Dikshit, sources say it contains a line “under the chairmanship of former CM and her ministers”, making it evident that Dikshit figures in the investigation.
• Sources close to Dikshit said she would not like to comment at this stage

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QNet: ED lodges money laundering case

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against marketing firm, QNet, Vihaan Direct Selling company, former world billiards champion Michael Ferreira and QNet’s office-bearer, Vijay Eswaran.

The economic offences wing (EOW) is already probing a cheating case and has arrested nine persons connected to QNet. Sources in the ED said it would investigate and attach properties under the Act if proved that the same were purchased from the proceeds of crime.

“Most of the money went abroad. The ED will focus on finding the money trail and the suspected hawala transactions,” said an officer from the security establishment.

QNet refuted these allegations. In a statement it said: “QNET as a matter of policy adheres to strong principles of legal business, transparency and corporate governance. All documentation pertaining to the operations of its Indian franchisee Vihaan Direct Selling (VDS) and its financial transactions have been provided to the investigators at the EOW.”—
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7,000 trees cut in eco-zone for one ‘useless’ toll plaza

Govt Eyeing Rich Mineral Site On Maha-Goa Border, Claim Activists
Banda village (Sindhudurg): Around 7,000 trees across 32 acres (think 1.5 times the size of Oval Maidan in south Mumbai) of forest land have been cut down in an eco-sensitive zone of the Western Ghats between December 2013 and January 2014 to make way for a toll plaza on NH-17. If built, it will involve the flattening of hills on either side of a road. The issue is currently in appeal in the Bombay high court.

The area, which falls within Banda village on the Mumbai-Goa highway, is a stone’s throw from the Maharashtra-Goa border. A cursory glance at a map shows that the area is unsuitable for a toll booth as several roads around it can help bypass the spot.

A high court petition against the project claimed mining is the real reason why the government wants to acquire the 1.3 lakh sq m land. A 2010 note by Maharashtra’s Directorate of Geology and Mines said: “It is expected that the project area may incorporate substantial quantity of iron ore, so no-objection certificate may not be given to RTO (to build the toll booth).” Several other objections, including by government officials, have been made, but been brushed aside.

Banda village was never a part of the original plan for the toll booth. Villagers say the area is also an elephant corridor. Moreover, it is now among the villages on the list of eco-sensitive areas declared by the ministry of environment and forests in a November 2013 directive. Activities such as quarrying, mining and building and construction projects on 20,000 sq m and above are not allowed in such areas.

SHADY HAPPENINGS IN WESTERN GHATS
Banda village is very close to Maharashtra-Goa border MSRDC wants to set up a toll booth on NH-17 there although at least 7 roads nearby will help bypass it Villager allege ulterior motive, says govt wants to acquire 1.3 lakh sq m of land with an eye on minerals Konkan officials had flagged land acquisition violations

More Trees Cut Than Permitted, Says Forest Dept
But a month later, in December 2013, the tree authority of the Sawantwadi forest department allowed 1,279 trees to be cleared in the area on the grounds that no part of Sindhudurg district had been declared eco-sensitive. In a matter of days, the area was shorn of trees. Now the same tree authority has said that while permission was given to cut 1,279 trees, Maharashtra’s border check-post authorities had cut an additional 5,429.

The toll booth is part of a 2008 proposal by the Maharashtra State Road Development Cooperation (MSRDC) for the modernization and computerization of 22 toll booths. The original proposal talks only about Insuli village. Till today, the MSRDC website shows Insuli as the spot for the proposed toll booth. Banda cropped up in a handwritten government note which called for a study of the costs and benefits of both Insuli and Banda for the toll booth. No mention was made of the fact that more roads from Goa to Mumbai bypass Banda than Insuli. Incidentally, there is already a checkpost at Insuli.

The divisional commissioner for the Konkan region, in a letter dated June 20, 2012, had raised several issues over violations in the process of land acquisition for the project.

Further, villagers from Banda who lost their land for the proposed toll booth have shown, in their petition to the high court, the area falls under the command area of the Tilari-Banda canal. According to the Maharashtra Irrigation Act, no quarrying or mining using explosives is allowed within 200m of a canal boundary. The irrigation department, in response to an RTI application filed by Saiprasad Kalyankar, a chartered accountant from the village and one of those affected by the project, says it has not given the government any permission for blasting or quarrying in the area.

The villagers battling the project have pointed out in court that a report on the site by a land acquisition officer in 2009 was fraudulent, did not mention the canal, and was made without a site visit. The high court, in an order dated April 5, 2013, ruled against the villagers. “The objection that a false report was submitted without actually carrying out inspection does not render the acquisition illegal,” the court said, adding, “Merely because certain queries were made by the Divisional Commissioner, the acquisition does not become illegal.”

When contacted, MSRDC MD Bipin Shrimali said the site was identified by the transport department and land acquisition done by the revenue department. “I cannot comment on this particular spot. However, when it comes to cutting trees, this is always done with the approval of the competent authority,” he adds.

TAKING A TOLL ON THE ENVIRONMENT

• Banda village is around 200-odd metres from the Maharashtra-Goa border
• MSRDC wants to set up a toll booth on NH 17 there though at least seven roads nearby will help bypass it
• 32 acres (1.3 lakh sq m) of Western Ghats is acquired; construction will mean flattening of two hillsides with green cover
• Villagers protest, move Bombay HC saying area rich in mineral content, and the govt is acquiring the land with an eye on minerals and metals
• Moreover, the land is in the command area of an irrigation project, where construction is now allowed
• On April 5, 2013, the HC rules in favour of the Maharashtra government and MSRDC, allowing acquisition of land
• The order says: “The objections that a false report was submitted without actually carrying out inspection do not render the acquisition illegal.”
• But directions by ministry of environment and forests issued on Nov 13, 2013, make it clear Banda falls within the list of ecologically sensitive areas on the Western Ghats
• According to the circular, activities not permitted in such areas include mining, quarrying as well as building and construction projects spread over 20,000 sq m and above
• Environmentalists file a special leave petition in Supreme Court. They later withdraw it and instead go for an appeal in the HC

TREES CUT

• Over 7,000 trees cut across 32 acres on the Western Ghats
• On Dec 23, 2013, tree officer at Sawantwadi forest department allows cutting of trees in the earmarked plot on the grounds that no part of Sindhudurg had been declared eco-sensitive
• Later, the same officer pulls up Maharashtra’s toll booth authority for cutting 5,429 additional trees, when they were given permission to cut 1,279
• An earlier survey of trees in the area by the revenue department had shown 7,409 trees

COURTESY:
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Cong MP’s trust demands 2cr to return leased plots

Mumbai: Congress Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Shukla’s trust has sought a reimbursement of Rs 2.2 crore in lieu of returning the two prime plots in Andheri (W) which it had received on lease. It has told the state that it would remove the security it had deployed on the plots from February 15.

On receiving such a letter on Friday, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan wrote to the additional chief secretary, revenue, to forward the file to him so that the process of reclaiming the land could start.

Bags Films Educational Society (BFES), which had Shukla as its secretary at that time, had applied for the lease of the plots in 2007. A week later, Shukla resigned as secretary. According to the development plan, one plot was reserved for a civic primary school and the other for a playground. The trust, in its application, had mentioned it would build a school for the poor there. In 2008, the state leased out the plots to BFES for 15 years and in 2009, the trust got possession. The land was apparently given out at rates prevalent in 1976.

Activist Ashok Pandit, who exposed the government largesse to Shukla, said the plots together were now worth Rs 100 crore.

In its letter to the government, the BFES said when it took possession in 2009, it was encroached upon and that it rehabilitated 29 slumdwellers at Rs 1.85 crore. With government help, it razed 314 illegal structures but 27 encroachers were still there. The trust claims to have deployed security for which it has spent a huge sum, besides paying Rs 25 lakh on a fence and electricity. Also, it paid Rs 98,000 for the school plot and Rs 38,000 as rent for the playground, Rs 4 lakh as stamp duty and Rs 2.5 lakh for extension of time limit to build the school, it claimed.

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya alleged both CM and Shukla lied three months ago when the latter claimed he would return the land. “He is returning the land after being exposed. Merely because he has given it back does not mean he can escape prosecution. He must apologize to the people,” he said.
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Another IAF ex-chief gets dragged into copter mess

Finmeccanica Says It Hosted Major, He Says It Was With Govt Nod
New Delhi: Lawyers for Finmeccanica, the Italian conglomerate in the middle of the VVIP helicopter scandal, said former IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major had accepted their company’s hospitality during a trip to Italy in 2007. The claim comes months after the name of another IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi, emerged in the scandal.

However, in the case of Major, the lawyers have not gone beyond the claim of providing hospitality at a time when IAF was in the process of selecting a helicopter to fly India’s VVIPs. In response to the claims, Major said he accepted Finmeccanica’s hospitality with the approval of the government and the Indian embassy in Rome.

“It was not for my personal requirement but for the delegation which was visiting the country,” said Major. He said he visited Finmeccanica in 2007 along with other delegation members, and the company hosted him for dinner. The former IAF chief said his programme had been approved by the government and drawn by officials including Indian diplomats in Rome. Major’s name emerged in the courts after former senior vice-president of AgustaWestland, Giacomo Saporano, on Wednesday claimed that Tyagi had accepted the firm’s hospitality in Italy in 2007. During the dates mentioned by Saporano, Major was the IAF chief.

Finmeccanica’s defence lawyers later clarified that Saporano got confused with the names and dates and it was Major who was in Italy on those dates.

Major was at the helm of IAF from April 2007 to May 2009 and Finmeccanica lawyers say Major knew more about technical specifications since he was a helicopter pilot. Most of the selection process for the VVIP helicopters was handled during the period Major was IAF chief. However, his name has not appeared in any of the court filings, or documents that have emerged in Italy and elsewhere during investigations.

Tyagi and his three cousins have been named as accused by the CBI in its ongoing criminal investigation in India. Documents recovered from the accused by Italian investigators allegedly show kickbacks to the Tyagi brothers, and some others.
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स्पीक एशिया के मास्टर माइंड को जमानत नहीं

दिल्ली की एक अदालत ने 2,200 करोड़ रुपये से ज्यादा के ‘स्पीक एशिया’ मार्केटिंग घोटाले के कथित मास्टर माइंड रामनिवास पाल को जमानत देने से इनकार कर दिया है। इसके साथ ही पिछले साल 16 दिसंबर से उसे गैरकानूनी तरीके से हिरासत में रखने पर दिल्ली पुलिस को आड़े हाथ लिया।

पाल की न्यायिक हिरासत बढ़ाने के मुद्दे पर पुलिस के जवाब से नाराज अतिरिक्त सत्र न्यायाधीश कामिनी लाउ ने संबंधित डीसीपी को अगली सुनवाई पर अदालत में मौजूद रहने का निर्देश दिया।

बता दें कि अदालत ने पाल की जमानत अर्जी पर सुनवाई के दौरान आदेश दिया। इस मामले में रामनिवास पाल और उसके भाई राम सुमिरन पाल ने एक दोस्त के साथ मिलकर कथित तौर पर दिल्ली, मुंबई और अन्य शहरों के करीब 24 लाख निवेशकों को ऑनलाइन मार्केटिंग योजना के जरिए धोखा दिया।

उन्होंने ‘स्पीक एशिया’ योजना की शुरुआत की थी जिसमें लोगों को 11,000 रुपये जमा करने थे और सर्वे फॉर्म भरने थे जिनके ऐवज में उन्हें 52,000 रपये देने का वादा किया गया था।

निवास के वकील अमित कुमार ने इस आधार पर राहत मांगी कि उनके मुवक्किल को 16 दिसंबर, 2013 से अवैध तरीके से हिरासत में रखा गया है और जांचकर्ताओं ने आज तक उसकी न्यायिक हिरासत बढ़ाने की मांग नहीं की।
साभार
भाषा, नई दिल्ली
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CBI starts fresh questioning of Tyagi brothers

AGUSTAWESTLAND COPTER DEAL
The interrogation follows allegations by ‘middleman’ Guido Haschke that he had paid money to them

NEW DELHI CBI has started fresh questioning of the cousins of former IAF chief SP Tyagi in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal. The interrogation is being done in light of claims by alleged middleman Guido Haschke that he had paid money to them.

Sources said the agency recently questioned Sanjeev alias Julie, Rajeev alias Docsa and Sandeep in connection with the claims made by Haschke.

“What I told CBI is that we have absolutely nothing to do with the deal and all supporting documents have been given to the CBI,” Sanjeev Tyagi told PTI when asked to comment on his examination. “We are cooperating with CBI and went to them every time we were called,” he said.

“The CAG report and Ministry of Defence release on the VVIP helicopter deal last year clearly refutes the charges levelled against us by CBI,” he added.

Sources said Haschke, who was questioned first by Defence Ministry officials and then by CBI, had told the probe agency that money was paid to the Tyagi brothers for the engineering works and meeting other administrative requirements in India.

Arrested in Switzerland in September last year and later extradited to Italy to face trial, Haschke has denied that he had ever met the former IAF Chief or handed over any money to him to clear the VVIP helicopter deal in favour of AgustaWestland.
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BJP to back SC-ordered probe of Ambani, gas price

New Delhi:BJP is in favour of a criminal investigation against Reliance chief Mukesh Ambani and the issue of gas pricing if the Supreme Court orders it. Senior party leader and leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley has said he would be happy if the apex court orders a criminal investigation into the matter but he does not support the way Aam Aadmi Party has moved on the issue as it threatens to break down the constitutional structure in the country.

Jaitley also refuted charges that the BJP had maintained silence on the issue saying the party had officially said that the process of gas pricing was not transparent and a Yashwant Sinha-led parliamentary committee had even recommended its re-examination.

Jaitley said, “I will be very happy if court (the SC where two PILs on the issue are pending) orders a criminal investigation into it. But this process that we will break down the constitutional and organizational structures... you will get cheap publicity but not be able to govern in the long run.”

Before demitting office, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal ordered registration of an FIR by the anti-corruption branch on the issue of doubling of gas prices in the country. The FIR named Ambani and petroleum minister Veerappa Moily as accused among others.

Attacking AAP’s way of governance and politics, Jaitley said, “They first create an imaginary issue... an imaginary villain and then attack it. This is their politics.” Jaitley spoke on the issue during a discussion on a TV channel.

Jaitley recalled that the BJP has officially said that the process of gas pricing was not transparent. “Yashwant Sinha was the chairman of the parliamentary committee on finance. The committee had recommended to the government that these prices be fixed again and re-examined. The right way to go about the issue is to go to court or discuss in Parliament,” Jaitley said, adding that CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta had already filed a PIL on the issue in the SC.

Mocking the AAP move, he asked, “Should the Rajasthan government say that because Prime Minister has allocated coal blocks so police should summon the PM. The country has to run but not by anarchy.”

Jaitley, however, conceded that Kejriwal had the strength of honesty with him. Answering a specific question on the issue, Jaitley said, “Anyone who does politics of honesty obviously has some sort of strength with him. But being honest is the bare minimum for politics, it’s not the whole and sole political system within itself.”

Manmohan led India’s most corrupt govt: 
Advani New Delhi: Veteran BJP leader L K Advani has said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has presided over the most corrupt government in independent India. Launching an attack on the UPA government, the senior BJP leader and former deputy prime minister in the NDA government said the decade-long rule of the Congress had driven Parliament to an all-time low.

“Manmohan Singh began his tenure with a clean personal reputation. But as his decade-long tenure is coming to a close, he would leave behind a record of having presided over the most corrupt government in independent India,” Advani said in his latest blog. Advani said the UPA government has driven Parliament to an “all-time low”. TNN
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Coalgate: CBI’s chargesheet may not cite loss figure

New Delhi: While the Comptroller and Auditor General had claimed that alleged irregularities in coal block allocations caused a loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to the exchequer, the CBI is unlikely to mention any loss figure in its first set of chargesheets to be filed soon.

According to sources, the agency will restrict its chargesheets to explaining how there were misrepresentation of facts, tweaking of norms and undue favours shown to private companies while allocating captive coal blocks.

Agency officials said the Supreme Court would also be informed about the chargesheets on the next hearing on March 10 but there would be no mention of loss in the status report as well. A senior officer said, “We have not been asked so far to look into the losses.”

Officials said it was found that work was either not started in some of the captive coal blocks or mining was done for purposes other than mentioned in the applications.

Sources said the agency’s FIRs were in individual cases and losses in all coal block allocations between 2004 and 2009 and 1993 to 2004 and a wider probe may take time.

The agency has concluded investigations in six cases in the coal block allocation scam and chargesheets will be filed against companies including AMR Iron and Steel, JLD Yavatmal Energy, JAS Infrastructure, Navbharat Power and a few others, said sources. Officials said investigations were over and the CBI director was expected to give final approval on the chargesheets soon.

The chargesheets will be filed on allocations between 2006 and 2009, in which the agency had registered the first set of FIRs in 2012.

The CBI, in its next status report to the apex court, will also inform about close to 40 allocations since 1993 in which it did not find any irregularities, sources said.

CBI sources said their investigation into three private companies — AMR, JLD and JAS — and three others were complete after interrogation of several persons, collection of documents from the companies and various ministries. The agency had claimed in the past that the allocations were dubious and were done in connivance with government officials.

Choppergate: Tyagi kin quizzed again
New Delhi: Aiming to complete the probe soon and dwelling on the fresh evidence provided by European middleman Guido Hashcke, the CBI has reportedly started fresh questioning of former IAF chief S P Tyagi’s cousins in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal. Haschke had recently claimed in Italy that he had paid money to them. Sources said the agency had recently questioned Sanjeev alias Julie, Rajeev alias Docsa and Sandeep in connection with Haschke’s claims. TNN
Courtesy:
Neeraj Chauhan TNN
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‘No consideration for consumer’s personal issues’

Subject: Service provider is not concerned with consumer’s personal problems

Background: Sometimes, a consumer cannot make timely payment due to genuine and unexpected personal difficulties. But this does not entitle him to any special consideration as recently held by the national commission.

Case Study: Meenu Aggarwal had booked a flat in a building being constructed by JMD Ltd at Gurgaon in Haryana. As per an agreement dated April 1, 2006, the flat was to be sold for Rs 28,59,375, payable in instalments. Out of this, Meenu paid three instalments of Rs 12,67,723 by cheque, and Rs 5,70,000 in cash to the builder’s representatives. Thereafter, Meenu’s mother fell ill, was hospitalized and ultimately expired. Due to this sudden medical problem, Meenu could not pay the subsequent instalments in time, despite reminder. So the builder cancelled the allotment.

Since the agreement provided that delay in payment of the instalments would attract interest at 18%, Meenu urged the builder to accept the remaining instalments along with interest. The builder failed to respond, so she sent a legal notice. When nothing worked, Meenu filed a complaint before the Haryana state commission. The builder contested the complaint, saying Meenu had failed to pay instalments as per the payment schedule and that the refund had been sent by a pay order along with a letter cancelling the flat allotment.

After that, the flat was sold to some other party and possession too had been handed over to it. The builder contended that the complaint was time-barred and ought to be dismissed.

The state commission directed the builder to accept the remaining instalments with 18% interest and allot the flat. Cost of Rs 11,000 were also awarded. Aggrieved, the builder appealed to the national commission. While the builder justified the cancellation, Meenu argued that the nonpayment of instalments in time was due to her mother’s illness and death. As this was a genuine difficulty, the builder ought to accept the payment with interest and allot the flat rather than cancel the booking.

The national commission noted various clauses of the agreement. Timely payment of the instalments was the essence of the agreement. Failure to do so would entail forfeiture of the earnest money and cancellation of the agreement. The builder, after refund of the amount subject to deduction of the earnest money, would be entitled to sell the flat to any other purchase. In Meenu’s case, the builder had sent reminder and then cancelled the allotment by sending the refund amount along with the cancellation letter. This could not be termed deficiency in service.

As regards the clause providing payment of interest of 18% on delayed instalments, the commission observed this clause vested the builder with the discretion to condone the delay by accepting the instalments along with interest, but did not confer any right on the purchaser to compel the builder to accept the money with interest in case of delayed payment. It was the sole prerogative of the builder whether to accept the delayed payment with interest or cancel the booking by following the procedure stated in the agreement. The commission observed that the legal position would not change merely because of Meenu’s mother’s hospitalization and death. Moreover, Meenu’s complaint for possession of the flat was untenable as the flat had already been sold to some other person. Meenu then contended that the cash component had not been refunded, but the commission held there was no evidence to show the cash payment was made to the builder’s representatives.

Accordingly, the national commission, in its February 7 order delivered by Justice K.S. Chaudhari along with Dr B C Gupta, held that there was no deficiency in service. It set aside the state commission’s order and dismissed Meenu’s complaint.

Conclusion:
A trader or service provider is not concerned with his consumer’s personal problems. The terms of a contract have to be construed strictly.
Courtesy:
Jehangir B Gai
(The author is a consumer activist and has won the government of India’s national youth award for consumer protection. His email address is jehangir.gai.articles@hotmail.com)
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Bldr told to pay soc 12L for ‘shoddy’ redevpt

‘INFERIOR QUALITY MATERIAL USED’
Mumbai:Sending a clear signal to builders who try to shortchange residents of redeveloped buildings, a consumer forum has directed a construction company to pay Rs 11.80 lakh compensation to a Bhandup society.

The forum held Classic Builders and Developers guilty of deficiency in service for failing to provide amenities that were promised on the redeveloped property.

The forum took into consideration the report submitted by an expert firm that said inferior quality material was used in the construction and this had led to leakage issues. “There is no doubt the construction was of inferior quality,” the forum observed.

The complaint was filed by Ganesh Cooperative Housing Society, located in Bhandup (E), on December 9, 2010. The society said it had 13 members and on March 24, 2005, it entered into an agreement with the company for redevelopment. According to the agreement the builder had agreed to hand over 225-sq-ft flats at no additional charge to each of the members. The members received possession of their flats in December 2008. Within the first year of the possession, the residents realized the builder had cheated them and used inferior quality material for construction, leading to a severe leakage problem. Additionally the builder had neither provided an automatic lift nor points for telephone and cable TV.

Despite repeated requests to solve the issues, the company did not pay heed to the residents. Alleging that the leakage had severely damaged the flats, the society filed a complaint before the additional district consumer disputes redressal forum.

The company filed reply and denied the allegations. It claimed that superior quality construction material had been used during the redevelopment and this was also conveyed to the society. The company further said residents took possession only after expressing their satisfaction with the flats and hence, there was no basis to their claims. But, the forum referred to the agreement that stated the company would provide the amenities claimed by the residents.
Courtesy:
Rebecca Samervel TNN
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Real estate firm directors booked for ‘cheating’ bizman of flat in Kharghar

Navi Mumbai: Acting on a court directive, the Kharghar police have registered an FIR against three directors of a Vashi-based real estate company on a businessman’s complaint that they were trying to cheat him of a flat he had booked in 2005.

A Panvel court passed the order in November on a criminal complaint filed by a Kopar Khairane resident, Manohar Kaka (51), earlier this year against Nalin Sharma, Suresh Patkar and Vijay Kadu of Sai Builders & Developers.

Kaka, who had filed a civil complaint in 2010 on the dispute, filed the criminal complaint following slow progress in the case.

Kaka said he had booked a flat in the developer’s 20-storey Yashvasin tower in Kharghar’s Sector 27 in December 2005. He alleged that he had paid Rs 19.46 lakh for the said flat but the developers were trying to sell the house to athird party at a higher price.

Kaka said that he paid the first instalment of Rs 51,000 for the flat in December 2005, when its price was about Rs 21 lakh. But he alleged that the builders demanded a booking amount of 50% of the flat’s price in 2007, in an attempt to cancel his allotment. The flat costs Rs 65-70 lakh now.

In their reply to the summons on Saturday, the builders said Kaka was misleading authorities. They said they had not encashed the last four cheques of Rs 2 lakh each given by Kaka in November 2009 as he had told them not to.

A spokesperson for Sai Builders & Developers told TOI, “Kaka has only paid Rs12.46 lakh since December 2005. We have issued him several reminders for payments for the 2-BHK flat he booked for a total cost of Rs 21.02 lakh. He defaulted in payments for which we sent him a flat cancellation notice in February 2009. We deny his allegations.’’ “We have not missed any hearing in the case. The 150 flats in the two wings of Yashvasin tower have sold out, only this one flat is in legal contention,’’ said a company official.

Apolice official confirmed that the FIR has been registered but said investigations would be made before further action is taken.
Courtesy:
Vijay Singh TNN
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Hsg loan firm told to pay couple 73K

Mumbai: A consumer forum holding a home loan company guilty of deficiency of service has directed it to refund the Rs 30,000 excess processing fee it had taken from a couple in Kurla. Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) will have to pay the couple around Rs 43,000 as compensation.

In 2001, Bharati and Chandrashekhar Patil got a housing loan of Rs 8 lakh from DHFL. They signed loan-related papers in September 2001. The Patils said they wanted to get done with the loan as early as possible and paid the amount before time. But they realized DHFL had taken more in processing fees.

In July 2004, the Patils sent a notice to the firm for a refund, which it rejected. The couple then filed a complaint in the Mumbai Suburban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in July 2005. The firm filed its reply and said that after the agreement was signed, the Patils were to pay Rs 7.62 lakh, adding that Rs 38,118 was taken as pre-payment money. DHFL denied charging excessively.

The forum considered directives issued in December 2000 by National Housing Bank which state that if a home loan is pre-paid, then processing fee charges are only 1%. It noted that DHFL had charged 5%.
Courtesy:
—Rebecca Samervel
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SpeakAsia fraud accused nabbed

Mumbai: Six days after arresting his younger brother, the Mumbai EOW and Delhi police in a joint operation arrested SpeakAsia mastermind promoter, Ram Niwas Pal, from Bangalore on Monday. Pal is considered to be number two in the fraud after India operations head Manoj Kumar Sharma.

Pal (41) is accused of amassing more than Rs 300 crore earned fraudulently in the erstwhile SpeakAsia case. “Our team was in touch with the Delhi police and we learnt that Pal was in Bangalore. A trap was laid and we arrested Pal at a time when he was trying to set up his base in Bangalore for another ponzi scheme,” said Rajvardhan Sinha, additional commissioner of police, EOW.

“Pal was in the air force but was deserted after a court martial. Later, he came in touch with people who operate ponzi schemes and started his own scheme in 2003,” added Sinha. Pal is the master planner of the ponzi scheme which left over 24 lakh investors poorer by over Rs 2,276 crore. When the Pal brothers wanted to expand their business, they joined Sharma, who was running Tulsiyat Tech.
Courtesy:
—Mateen Hafeez
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‘Name CM’s quota flat owners in 4 days’

HC Warns Of Contempt If Multiple Allottees’ List Is Not Given By Friday
Mumbai: Furnish a list of all double or multiple flat allotments under the chief minister’s discretionary quota in four days, the Bombay high told the state government on Monday.

The high court’s tough stance was clear when a division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and S C Gupte said it would be forced to initiate action if the list was not submitted.

“We want complete compliance of the April 2012 order of the high court. If not, we will not hesitate to issue contempt proceedings,” said the judges.

Hearing a petition on irregularities in allotments under the CM’s quota, another division bench in April 2012 had asked the state to furnish a list of persons to whom second flats had been allotted under the quota as well as details of whether any inquiry was conducted before the allotments.

About 2% of all Mhada flats and 5% flats in private projects on land that was within the purview of the Urban Land Ceiling Act go to the CM’s discretionary quota. They are allotted by the CM to artists, journalists, sportsmen and elected representatives.

The government’s last-gasp bid on Monday to keep the list secret by offering a copy only for the judges’ perusal did not pass muster.

“The April order does not say the copy of the list of allottees should not be given to the petitioner,” said the judges. They ordered the state to submit the list on Friday and give copies to petitioner Ketan Tirodkar by Saturday.

Additional public prosecutor Aruna Pai said the list was ready and the state would submit it to the court. The next hearing has been set for Monday.

Tirodkar in his petition had said he had obtained details of flat allotments under the CM’s quota between 1989 and 2010 through the Right to Information Act. He claimed there had been second allotments either to the same person or his family members and the beneficiaries were mostly politicians and journalists. “(The names of allotees) will be clear from the list,” said the court.

The court also heard the petition of Manohar Bait, who was initially held eligible for a flat under the CM’s quota and kept on the waiting list for years before being told that he could not be allotted a flat. Advocate Uday Warunjikar, counsel for Bait, echoed Tirodkar and told the court that details obtained under the RTI had revealed that politicians and their kin cutting across party lines benefited from second or multiple allotment of flats in violation of rules.
Courtesy:
Shibu Thomas TNN
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I-T department launches probe against 600 cash hoarders

NEW DELHI: The income tax department has begun prosecution proceedings against some of the 600 entities of Indian origin who have allegedly laundered money through bogus investments in tax havens either in their name or through their front companies.

Recently, the member (investigation) of Central Board of Direct Taxes, who has been reporting to the finance minister on this issue, held a video conference with income tax directors general and chief commissioners and asked them to expedite their probe against all such individuals and corporate entities.

This time, the finance ministry has roped in Enforcement Directorate, Financial Intelligence Unit and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence besides the I-T department to investigate the list of 600 who have allegedly stashed funds in tax havens.

The finance ministry through the FIU has sought help from the US, UK and Australia on these entities and has been assured of some inputs from Australia. The government is also banking on receiving information from some of these countries by invoking the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements and tax information exchange agreements which India has signed with many of the tax havens.

These 600 names, whose investments have been allegedly tracked in tax havens, are in addition to the 700 that France had shared with the government in 2011 about Indians having deposits in the Geneva branch of HSBC.

Investigation in the HSBC deposits across Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata among other cities had revealed that the ill-gotten cash belonged to top industrialists, some politicians and other entities, some working as fronts for people yet to be identified. The I-T department had recovered tax from many of these high-profile individuals and let them off without prosecution.

Sources said the ED has begun investigation of foreign exchange violations, and possible money laundering against these 600 entities. The database of 600 was first brought out by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in the summer of 2013.

According to sources, the ED has written to the CBDT for details it has obtained from various foreign authorities on the Indians on the ICIJ list. The CBDT investigation has found that some of the addresses on the list are wrong, and in some cases, the individuals are NRIs who can legally carry out financial transactions in tax havens.

The ED is primarily looking at violations of Foreign Exchange Management Act, but if any criminality is unearthed, the agency could probe the violation under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The ICIJ database contains names of a few famous industrial families, some politicians, and several others. These people primarily used the services of Singapore-based Portcullis TrustNet and British Virgin Islands-based Commonwealth Trust Limited for opening offshore financial entities.

Among those who figure in the database are two Members of Parliament — Lok Sabha MP Vivekanand Gaddam and Rajya Sabha member Vijay Mallya. Also on it are industrialists such as Ravikant Ruia, Samir Modi, Chetan Burman, Abhay Kumar Oswal, Rahul Mammen Mappillai, Teja Raju, Saurabh Mittal, Vinod Doshi etc.

Former IAS officer Anil Lakhina, wife of a former Delhi power secretary R K Verma also figure on the list. The name of Gautam Khaitan, whose name has cropped up in the VVIP helicopter scandal, also figures among those with such accounts.

The database, which contains transactions carried out several years ago as well as recent ones, has 170 addresses from Mumbai, 113 with Delhi addresses, 44 with Kolkata addresses, 32 from Bangalore and 26 from Chennai.
Courtesy:
Pradeep Thakur & Josy Joseph,TNN
Feb 17, 2014, 01.35 AM IST
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/I-T-department-launches-probe-against-600-cash-hoarders/articleshow/30532519.cms

SpeakAsia scam: Second main accused arrested from Bangalore

Ram Niwas Pal, who helped launder funds, had been living under another alias
The New Delhi police have arrested another accused in the Rs2,200-crore Speak Asia scam, in which at least 24 lakh investors from across the country had been cheated.

Ram Niwas Pal, 40, was arrested from Bangalore, where he had been living under another alias. Ram Niwas was the one buying companies based abroad and making contacts to launder money through them. While in Bangalore, he had been developing a business plan for a Malaysia-based IT firm and trying to get a ‘Certification of Popularity’ for the online advertisement of various websites.

Over a decade ago, he was employed with the Indian Air Force and had faced court-martial for deserting the force without any intimation in 2001.

His brother, Ram Sumiran Pal, was arrested from Dehradun last week. The third main accused, Manoj Sharma, is at large.

After escaping from Mumbai, Ram Niwas stayed in Delhi after which he moved to Lucknow and then Bangalore. To conceal his identity, he managed to get fake identity proof under an assumed name, and also changed his appearance. He also cut off contact with his family, friends and acquaintances.

Speak Asia, an online survey marketing firm, sold web subscriptions for Rs11,000 each and in return, investors had to fill survey forms for multinational firms. It promised an annual payment of Rs 52,000. After paying few investors, Speak Asia folded up in India

After over two years of investigation, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police has frozen more than 210 bank accounts containing over Rs142 crore, and another 150 accounts are under scrutiny.
The EOW has found a trail of over Rs 750 crore being laundered across various countries like Singapore, Dubai, Italy, UK and Brazil, among others.

According to the police, Speak Asia had remitted over Rs900crore to Singapore. “The money was sent from India to banks in Singapore and from there to Dubai, Italy and the UK. The money came back from the UK again to UAE (Dubai) and back to India,” according to a release issued by the Delhi police crime branch.
Courtesy:
dna correspondent @dna
inbox@dnaindia.net
Published Date:  Dec 03, 2013
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BMC gifts fire force land to builder

Without setting up the promised unit, civic body gives entire FSI to developer

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has doled out a plot reserved for the fire brigade to a private developer for commercial purposes.

While it is understood that the plot was allotted to the developer at the instance of the Shiv Sena MLA from Dahisar, the local MP from the Congress has asked the civic body to revoke the decision.

Documents with BMC’s development planning and building proposals departments show a plot on the Dahisar-Link Road near the east-west flyover — approximately 4.5 acres — as being reserved for fire brigade.

The BMC has allotted more than half the plot to a private developer for constructing two-high rises (19 storeys each, with the first two floors for stilt parking). In lieu of this, the developer promised to build the fire brigade facility free of cost.

But sources say there’s more to the deal that what meets the eye. While the builder has not constructed the promised fire brigade, the BMC has allowed the developer to ‘develop the remaining 50 per cent site to the full permissible FSI’.

This means the developer will consume all the available FSI — even from BMC’s share.

Sensing a major scam, the New Link Road Resident Forum (NLRRF) from Dahisar have taken up the case.

Residents claim the BMC commissioner himself has revoked the plan in May this year due to political pressure. The revocation order has been put on hold. “When the BMC themselves can construct a fire brigade and use the remaining land for public amenities or for providing housing to the firemen, why should it gift the land to a private developer?

“Is the civic body, with a budget of Rs29,000 crore, so cash-strapped that it could not even spend Rs50 crore to build a fire station on its own?” said Harish Pandey, a forum member. The forum is planning litigation against the BMC.

Municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte had, on May 28, given orders to revoke the commercial exploitation in a meeting with Sanjay Nirupam MP, along with local corporators and residents.

However, it is learnt that the building proposals department has given the Intimation of Disapproval (IOD) ‘in-principle’ approval for a proposed project to start construction the same day.

Senior BMC officials said it was after Nirupam’s meeting with Kunte that the BMC revoked the decision to use the land for commercial exploitation. However, local MLA Vinod Ghosalkar met Kunte afterwards and told him that commercial exploitation was in the interest of the locals as well as the BMC. “The decision taken to revoke the proposal should be implemented without any delay,” Nirupam said.
Courtesy:
Geeta Desai @desaigeeta
Published Date:  Dec 03, 2013
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