Khurshid trust accused of corruption, Kejriwal demands his resignation

October 11, 2012
kurshid_Kejriwal

Kaushambi (Uttar Pradesh), October 11: A news channel alleged that the Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust, headed by Congress minister and Union law minister Salman Khurshid and his wife Louise Khurshid, had forged signatures of senior officials in several districts of Uttar Pradesh depriving disabled people of their
money.

According to a TV report, the Union ministry for social welfare and empowerment had granted Rs. 71.50 lakh to the trust for distributing tricycles and hearing aids to the disabled in 17 districts of UP.

While, Salman Khurshid is the president of the Trust, his wife Louise Khurshid is the project director.

As per the rules, the trust should have informed the district magistrate, the district social welfare officers prepares and send a list of beneficiaries from districts and the money is disbursed at the camps organized for this purpose, in the presence of district officials.

But reports state that the Trust distributed the equipments under the forged signatures of district welfare officers and the camps were never held.

The Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust is registered at Khurshid's residence in the national capital (4, Gulmohar Avenue, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi) and the minister's wife - Louise Khurshid, who happens to be a former MLA - is its chief functionary officer.

The trust is registered as an NGO and has been operating in many states and receiving substantial grants from several important ministries of the government of India.
The report states that the Union ministry for social welfare and empowerment had been hinted about this in May 2011, but no one sought an inquiry.

Union ministry of social justice and empowerment has, for the time being, stopped fresh grants to the trust, as Khurshid's family was yet to reply to the clarifications sought by it on the alleged malpractices.

According to reports, documents in possession of the media channel reveal that a statewide enquiry into these malpractices in a project piloted by the trust was ordered by the UP government on January 12, 2012 following a letter from the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment.

The project relates to providing aids to physically challenged people in 17 districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Khurshid's hometown Farrukhabad.

India Against Corruption (IAC) activist Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday demanded Salman Khurshid's resignation and his wife Louise Khurshid's immediate arrest after the TV channel's report.

"Yesterday it was exposed by one of the TV channels how law minister Salman Khurshid and his wife are involved in defalcation of funds meant for handicapped people. These funds are released by various departments of Government of India," said Kejriwal.

"They were taken by the NGO, which has been floated by the law minister and his wife. And rather than distributing this money to the handicapped people, the law minister and his wife together have forged the signatures of several government officers which is a very serious crime," he added.

Asserting that it is a non-bailable offence and a cognizable offence under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Kejriwal demanded that an FIR should be immediately registered in connection with this case.

"Mrs Khurshid should be immediately arrested because if she remains outside she would tamper with the evidence and put pressure on various evidences. And the law minister should immediately resign," he said.

Kejriwal also asked Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav to ensure that the FIR in connection with this case is registered as soon as possible so that further investigations can be carried out.

"We demand from the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh who has said that he will investigate. Investigation will only start after the registration of FIR. So, if it is not done, then there would be a suspicion that is Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh is in cahoots with UPA Government at the Centre  that the Central government is helping Mulayam Singh with his corruption cases and here whether Akhilesh Yadav is helping Salman Khurshid at the Centre," he said.


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Agencies
July 23,2020

Jaipur, Jul 23: Four days after the Special Operation Group (SOG) sent a notice to Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in connection with the purported audio clips indicating his alleged involvement in horse trading of MLAs in Rajasthan, a city court has directed the Rajasthan police to probe a complaint alleging Shekhawat's role in a credit society scam worth Rs 840 crore.

The additional district judge Pawan Kumar, on Tuesday, directed the additional chief judicial magistrate's court to send the complaint against Shekhawat to the SOG.

Shekhawat, his wife and other partners have been named in the complaint in the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam in which around 50,000 investors allegedly lost about Rs 840 crore.

The Jaipur unit of the SOG has been probing the scam since last year after an FIR was registered on August 23, 2019.

Now, Jaipur ADJ Court-8 ordered a fresh inquiry in the case against Gajendra Singh accepting the revised application filed by Lagu Singh and Guman Singh and said that "this is a serious matter and hence SOG should investigate this".

Both the applicants had invested a huge amount in Sanjivani credit cooperative society.

It is alleged in the complaint that a multi-storey building has been built with the money instead of a theatre which was proposed earlier and many properties were also bought in Ethiopia with the money.

An SOG investigation also reveals that a large amount of money has been deposited into accounts of Shekhawat and his wife at different time spans, said sources.

Earlier, Shekhawat was not mentioned in the chargesheet filed by the SOG in connection with the case. Later, a magistrate's court also rejected the application to include him in the chargesheet. The applicants then approached the additional district judge's court with a revised application.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Jun 20: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remark that neither is anyone inside India's territory nor has any of its posts been captured, alleging that the PM has "surrendered" Indian territory to Chinese aggression.

In a statement on the all-party meeting called by Modi on Friday to discuss the situation at the India-China border, the government said, "At the outset, prime minister clarified that neither is anyone inside our territory nor is any of our post captured."

Tagging PM's remarks with his tweet, Gandhi said, "PM has surrendered Indian territory to Chinese aggression."

"If the land was Chinese: 1. Why were our soldiers killed? 2. Where were they killed?" Gandhi said.

The categorical statement by the prime minister came in the wake of reports that Chinese military has transgressed into the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control, the de-facto border, in several areas of eastern Ladakh including Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley.

Soon after Gandhi's tweet, Union Home Minister Amit Shah posted video of father of a soldier, who was injured in Galwan face-off, and hit out at the Congress leader, accusing him of indulging in "petty politics".

"A brave armyman’s father speaks and he has a very clear message for Mr. Rahul Gandhi. At a time when the entire nation is united, Mr. Rahul Gandhi should also rise above petty politics and stand in solidarity with national interest," Shah wrote.

The prime minister's assertion came even as Congress president Sonia Gandhi, at the all-party meet, questioned the government's handling of the situation, asking if there was any intelligence failure, and seeking assurance that China will "revert" to its original position.

Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused senior ministers in the government of "lying" to protect the prime minister and that the Centre was "fast asleep" while martyred jawans paid the price in Ladakh.

The former Congress chief also tagged a one-minute video of a jawan's father saying the Indian soldiers were unarmed when they were attacked by Chinese troops.

He has been questioning the government on the LAC standoff and asking how the Chinese occupied Indian territory and why Indian soldiers were sent "unarmed to martyrdom" in Ladakh.

Twenty Indian Army personnel, including a colonel, were killed in a clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday night, the biggest military confrontation in over five decades that has significantly escalated the already volatile border standoff in the region.

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News Network
May 12,2020

Srinagar, May 12: Two paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officers committed suicide after shooting themselves with their service rifles in Kashmir on Tuesday.

In the first incident, a CRPF sub-inspector on Tuesday committed suicide after shooting himself with his service rifle at Mattan area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. The deceased, identified as Fatah Singh of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, had reportedly left behind a suicide note that read: “I am afraid, I may have Corona.”

Station House Officer (SHO) Akura, Mattan police station Jazib Ahmed said that they have followed the COVID-19 protocol while dealing with the body of the CRPF sub-inspector. “His samples have been taken and post-mortem conducted. Only results would confirm whether he was a COVID-19 positive,” he said.

CRPF spokesman in Srinagar Pankaj Singh said the officer had returned to his unit after performing a day-long duty. “As such, there is no evidence that he had caught COVID-19. Let’s wait for the final report. Details will be shared with the media,” Singh said.

Hours after the first incident, an assistant-sub-inspector of the CRPF posted in Srinagar also committed suicide by shooting himself dead with his service rifle.

Special Director General of CRPF, Zulfikar Hassan said they were trying to find out the reason for the two boys taking this extreme step.

Suicides and fratricide incidents are not uncommon among the CRPF and the Army personnel deployed in Kashmir. In 2006, recognising the rising fratricide and suicide cases among the armed forces, the then Defence Minister had constituted an expert group of psychiatrists under the Defence Institute of Psychological Research in order to suggest remedial measures to prevent suicide and fratricide incidents.

Over the last decade, incidents of fratricide have reportedly reduced in the Army as the force has taken measures to address the issue.

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