Nanavati dodging documents, alleges Sanjiv Bhatt

[email protected] (The Hindu)
October 21, 2012

sanjeev

Ahmedabad, October 21: Gujarat cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has complained that the G.T. Nanavati- Akshay Mehta judicial inquiry commission, probing the 2002 train carnage and post-Godhra communal riots, is creating “impediments” in his bid to inspect some official documents.

(Mr. Bhatt had alleged complicity on the part of Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the State-wide riots.)

“Disappointed ”

Mr. Bhatt, who has been given time till October 27 by the Gujarat High Court to complete inspection of all 47 documents he listed in his earlier affidavit and to file his final affidavit within a month, has returned disappointed as the commission had not yet “indexed” the documents and submitted them for his perusal.

Moreover, Justice Nanavati informed Mr. Bhatt that he would be allowed to inspect only those documents which had not been marked by the commission “confidential or secret.”

‘Matter of discretion’

“No body can claim, as a matter of right, either under the Commissions of Inquiry Act or the rules framed thereunder, inspection of the documents which have come on record of the commission. Inspection of records of the commission is a matter of procedure and therefore, a matter of discretion of the commission,” he said in a note handed over to the IPS officer through the commission secretary.

The note said the High Court had it left to the commission’s judgement to decide the “relevancy or otherwise” of the documents listed by Mr. Bhatt.

He, however, contested this claim and alleged that the commission had “deliberately chosen to misinterpret” the court order.

In a letter to the commission on Saturday, Mr. Bhatt quoted the relevant paragraphs of the judgment to point out that the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya, in its order earlier this week, had given a clear instruction that the commission produce all documents he had listed.

The order also pointed out that the Gujarat government had denied that any of the official documents listed by him, including the most crucial records of the State Intelligence Bureau then, had been “destroyed” and that these had already been placed before the commission or would be submitted within a week.

Mr. Bhatt said: “It is very apparent from the wording of the note that you have singly chosen to deliberately misinterpret the judgment and order of the High Court.”

Request

He requested the commission to “comply” with its directions and remove “all impediments being created by the state with tacit blessings of the commission” and facilitate his timely filling of the affidavit.

Mr. Bhatt approached the High Court after the commission had turned down his request to issue a direction to the government to produce the documents which, the IPS officer had claimed, would enable him to authenticate his final affidavit before the commission.

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News Network
May 4,2020

Munbai/New Delhi, May 4: India expects bad debts at its banks could double after the coronavirus crisis brought the economy to a sudden halt, a senior government official and four top bankers said.

Indian banks are already grappling with 9.35 trillion rupees ($123 billion) of soured loans, which was equivalent to about 9.1% of their total assets at the end of September 2019.

"There is a considered view in the government that bank non-performing assets (NPAs) could double to 18-20% by the end of the fiscal year, as 20-25% of outstanding loans face a risk of default," the official with direct knowledge of the matter said.

A fresh surge in bad debt could hit credit growth and delay India's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

"These are unprecedented times and the way it's going we can expect banks to report double the amount of NPAs from what we've seen in earlier quarters," the finance head of a top public sector bank told Reuters.

The official and bankers declined to be named as they were not officially authorized to discuss the matter with media.

India's finance ministry declined to comment, while the Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banks' Association, the main industry body, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The Indian economy has ground to a standstill amid a 40-day nationwide lockdown to rein in the spread of coronavirus cases.

The lockdown has now been extended by a further two weeks, but the government has begun to ease some restrictions in districts that are relatively unscathed by the virus.

India has so far recorded nearly 40,000 cases of the coronavirus and more than 1,300 deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

'RIDING THE TIGER'

Bankers fear it is unlikely that the economy will fully open up before June or July, and loans, especially those to small- and medium-sized businesses which constitute nearly 20% of overall credit, may be among the worst affected.

This is because all 10 of India's largest cities fall in high-risk red zones, where restrictions will remain stringent.

A report by Axis Bank said that these red zones, which contribute significantly to India's economy, account for roughly 83% of the overall loans made by its banks as of December.

One of the sources, an executive director of a public sector bank, said that economic growth had been sluggish and risks had been heightened, even ahead of the coronavirus crisis.

"Now we have this Black Swan event which means without any meaningful government stimulus, the economy will be in tatters for several more quarters," he said.

McKinsey & Co last month forecast India's economy could contract by around 20% in the three months through June, if the lockdown was extended to mid-May, and growth in the fiscal year was likely to fall 2% to 3%.

Bankers say the only way to stem the steep rise in bad loans is if the RBI significantly relaxes bad asset recognition rules.

Banks have asked the central bank to allow all loans to be categorized as NPAs only after 180 days, which is double the current 90-day window.

"The lockdown is like riding the tiger, once we get off it we'll be in a difficult position," a senior private sector banker said.

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Agencies
February 10,2020

New delhi, Feb 10: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the constitutional validity of the SC/ST Amendment Act, 2018, and said a court can grant anticipatory bail only in cases where a prima facie case is not made out.

A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said a preliminary inquiry is not essential before lodging an FIR under the act and the approval of senior police officials is not needed.

Justice Ravindra Bhat, the other member of the bench, said in a concurring verdict that every citizen needs to treat fellow citizens equally and foster the concept of fraternity.

Justice Bhat said a court can quash the FIR if a prima facie case is not made out under the SC/ST Act and the liberal use of anticipatory bail will defeat the intention of Parliament.

The top court's verdict came on a batch of PILs challenging the validity of the SC/ST Amendment Act of 2018, which was brought to nullify the effect of the apex court's 2018 ruling, which had diluted the provisions of the stringent Act.

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Agencies
July 11,2020

New Delhi, Jul 11: A notice which claims that a COVID-19 Monitoring Committee has been formed is fake, and no such committee has been set up by the Union Home Ministry, as per Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The "Fake" MHA order stated, "Pursuant to the official orders received dated: Monday, May 18, 2020, of the Honourable Minister of Home Affairs, passed in the approval of Special Status Advisory Committee for COVID-19, a COVID-19 Monitoring Committee has been constituted in the MHA vide order dated: Friday, June 12, 2020."

MHA Spokesperson also cautioned people to beware of fake news and rumours.

India's COVID-19 case count crossed the eight lakh-mark on Saturday with yet another highest single-day spike of 27,114 new cases in the last 24 hours.

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