Nothing wrong in AAP's foreign funding: Centre to HC

February 18, 2015

New Delhi, Feb 18: The central government Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) foreign funds were investigated and nothing was found in violation of the law.Arvind Kejriwal

A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S Endlaw also asked the ministry of home affairs to submit its revised or up-to-date report with regard to its findings in the matter, in a sealed cover by 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The bench reserved the order on the public interest litigation (PIL) that sought a CBI probe into foreign funds the AAP received in the past and now in violation of law.

The PIL was filed by advocate M.L. Sharma against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and others saying that AAP has been receiving foreign funds in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

The counsel appearing for the Centre told the court that the earlier government had investigated the issue and filed a status report and nothing was found against AAP.

"The issue was investigated, there was nothing which was found out," he added.

Recently, AAP Volunteer Action Manch (AVAM), a group of volunteers who broke away from the AAP in August last year, accused the party of receiving Rs.2 crore in four equal instalments from companies registered in Delhi slums and having the same set of directors.

The group claimed that April 5, 2014, four bogus companies made donations of Rs.50 lakh each through cheques to AAP at midnight.

It alleged that the companies made these donations even though they have not earned profits for two years.

Sharma claimed that it has been revealed that lakhs of phone calls from Dubai and other countries have been made to Delhi, especially to the Muslim community for supporting AAP's election.

"The AAP now has been securing funds from foreign country, especially Muslim terrorist, in cash converting through false cheques as well as phone calls to Delhi from Dubai and other countries...," the plea said.

However, appearing for the AAP, advocate Pranav Sachdeva told the court that the issue of AVAM is being investigated by the government and it has cooperated on the issue.

AAP is the only party which asked the Supreme Court to set up a SIT on funding received by all national and regional political parties, he further said.

The bench after hearing all the parties reserved the order on the PIL and said: "Order reserved. We will pass the order."

The plea named Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, advocates Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan and said AAP and its members were promoted and funded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US through various companies and trusts such as the Ford Foundation.

Earlier, the court had directed the central government to go through the details of the money donated to AAP since its inception Nov 26, 2012 and to take action if anything was found in violation of the FCRA.

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News Network
March 29,2020

New Delhi, Mar 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that people should not think of COVID-19 quarantine facilities as a prison and spoke with two survivors of the infection during his radio show 'Mann Ki Baat' to establish that it was curable.
The Prime Minister spoke to coronavirus survivors -- Ramagampa Teja and Ashok Kapoor - and urged them to share their success against the infection with people.
The Prime Minister asked people to listen to the survivors who had successfully defeated the coronavirus.
"I have spoken to a few people who were infected from the virus and speaking to such people. While I tried to boost their morale they also lifted my spirits when I talked to them," he said.
Speaking to the Prime Minister during the show, Ramagampa Teja, an IT professional, who tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from Dubai, said that he was frightened when he tested positive for the disease and could not believe that this has happened to him.
He said even his family was very stressed after finding out his COVID-19 positive status. "But their test results came negative, which I took as a great blessing. And since then, there were improvements every day," he said.
Teja was admitted to a government hospital in Hyderabad and was released after 14 days as he successfully overcame the infection. "The first few days were the hardest but the dedicated doctors and nurses at the hospital ensured that I recovered," he added.
He asked people not to be afraid of being quarantined. "People feel that going into quarantine means going to prison. They should know that the government quarantine is for them and their families. I want to emphasise that people must get tested and do not fear quarantine," he added.
The Prime Minister congratulated him and his family and asked him to share an audio clip of his experience. "I would like you to make an audio of your experiences and share it on social media so that it goes viral and removes fear from people's minds," the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister also spoke to another coronavirus survivor, Ashok Kapoor, six members of whose family in Agra were tested positive for the deadly virus.
On being asked by the Prime Minister whether they had feared for their lives, Kapoor said, "We were not scared as we received excellent cooperation from the doctors and support staff at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital."
The six of them were shifted to Delhi and put under quarantine for 14 days where all of them successfully recovered from the infection.
The Prime Minister also commended the spirit of Ashok Kapoor and said: "Your experience came in handy for all. My best wishes to you and your family."
He also urged the Kapoor family to spread awareness regarding COVID-19 in the way they see fit. "Please spread awareness your way and you can feed whoever is hungry, look out for the poor and also spread awareness to people urging them to follow the rules," the Prime Minister said.
"If everyone follows the rules, the country will be saved," the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister also thanked the people involved in ensuring the continuous supply of goods and services in the country and advised them to "follow all the safety precautions, take care of themselves and their family members."
Earlier in his address, Modi had asked for the forgiveness of all countrymen, and especially the poor, for the nationwide lockdown in the country in the view of the novel coronavirus. He had then termed it a necessary measure needed to defeat the infection in India.

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News Network
February 27,2020

New Delhi, Feb 27: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday attacked the government over the transfer of Delhi High Court Judge S Muralidhar, saying the Centre's attempts to "muzzle" justice and "break people's faith in an upright judiciary are deplorable".

Delhi HC Judge S Muralidhar was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, days after the Supreme Court collegium made the recommendation.

"The midnight transfer of Justice Muralidhar isn't shocking given the current dispensation, but it is certainly sad & shameful," Priyanka Gandhi tweeted. "Millions of Indians have faith in a resilient & upright judiciary, the government’s attempts to muzzle justice & break their faith are deplorable," she said.

The judge was hearing the Delhi violence case and the late evening notification came on the day when a bench headed by him expressed "anguish" over the Delhi Police's failure to register FIRs against alleged hate speeches by three BJP leaders.

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News Network
March 20,2020

New Delhi, Mar 20: The four men convicted of the gang rape and murder of a Delhi woman on December 16, 2012 were hanged in the darkness of pre-dawn on Friday, ending a horrific chapter in India's long history of sexual assault that had seared the nation's soul. Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) were executed at 5.30 am for the savage assault in an empty moving bus on the 23-year-old physiotherapy intern who came to be known the world over as Nirbhaya, the fearless one.

This is the first time that four men have been hanged together in Tihar Jail, South Asia's largest prison complex that houses more than 16,000 inmates. The executions were carried out after the men exhausted every possible legal avenue to escape the gallows. Their desperate attempts only postponed the inevitable by less than two months after the first date of execution was set for January 22.

They were hanged at 5.30 am, Director General of Prison Sandeep Goel said.

After raping and brutalising the woman, the men, one of whom was a juvenile at the time, dumped her on the road and left for dead on the cold winter night. Her friend who was with her was also severely beaten and thrown out along with her. She was so severely violated that her insides were spilling out when she was taken to hospital. She died in a Singapore hospital after battling for her life for a fortnight.

Six people, including the four convicts and the juvenile, were named as accused.

While Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail days after the trial began in the case, the juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home.

The road to the gallows was a long and circuitous one, going through the lower courts, the High Court, the Supreme Court and the president's office before going back to the Supreme Court that heard and rejected various curative petitions.

The death warrants were deferred by a court thrice on the grounds that the convicts had not exhausted all their legal remedies and that the mercy petition of one or the other was before the president.

On March 5, a trial court issued fresh death warrants for March 20 at 5.30 am as the final date for the execution.

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