Why 'chowkidar' is silent: Rahul on PNB fraud

Agencies
February 25, 2018

Mulawad, Feb 25: Continuing to target the prime minister in his campaign in poll-bound Karnataka, Congress president Rahul Gandhi today asked why Narendra Modi, who had described himself as the country's "chowkidar", was "silent" on the PNB fraud.

He also asked Modi as to why he was not taking any action regarding the alleged sudden increase in turnover of a company owned by BJP president Amit Shah's son Jay Shah.

"Modi ji comes to Karnataka and speaks about corruption. He had told the country not to make him prime minister but make him the chowkidar (watchman) of the country," Gandhi said.

In a Congress rally here, he said, "On one side there is his party's (former) chief minister (B S Yeddyurappa) who had gone to jail and on the other side are the other four former ministers of the BJP government who had gone to jail; sitting in between them, Modi speaks about corruption."

"Shah's son converts Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crore in three months and the chowkidar of the country doesn't get it inquired and doesn't even utter a word," he alleged.

The BJP chief has rejected allegations of corruption against his son Jay Shah, who has filed a criminal defamation suit against a news portal which claimed his business fortunes had zoomed after the BJP came to power in 2014.

Gandhi is on the second leg of his three-day tour of northern parts of Karnataka. This is his second visit to the state in less than a fortnight.

Karnataka is slated to go to polls in a few months.

Hitting out at Modi on demonetisation, the Congress president said, "Modi ji told the country to stand in line (queues at banks) for the fight against corruption. You would have not seen a single rich person or someone wearing suit-boot in the line." 

He alleged that all the "thieves" in India had converted their black money into white with the help of Modi.

Attacking the prime minister on the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud issue involving jewellery designer Nirav Modi, Gandhi questioned his silence.

"Nirav Modi has indulged in the theft of Rs 22,000 crore, he runs away from the country, but the chowkidar of this country does not even utter a word," he said.

Breaking his silence over the Rs 11,400-crore fraud at India's second-biggest PSU bank, Narendra Modi on Friday had warned of strict action against those involved in financial irregularities and said loot of public money would not be tolerated.

Gandhi, invoking 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara from Karnataka, said "Nudidante Nade" (practise as you preach), and asked the prime minister to walk the talk on such issues.

"Modi ji Nudidante Nade," he said in Kannada.

Basaveshwara is revered by the dominant Lingayat- Veerashiva community. They are predominantly present in northern parts of the state.

He also accused the prime minister of "failing" to fulfil the election promise of providing two crore jobs to youths in the country every year.

The Congress leader also said despite schemes such as Make in India, Start-up India and Stand-up India, "whatever you buy, from watches to shirts to shoes, every thing is Made in China".

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News Network
January 12,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 12: Chief Justice of India, Sharad Arvind Bobde on Saturday hinted at the possibility of Artificial Intelligence being developed for the court system while making it clear that it will never replace human discretion.

Speaking at an event here, Bobde said, "We have a possibility of developing Artificial Intelligence for the court system. Only for the purpose of ensuring that the undue delay in justice is prevented."

"I must make it clear at the outset as there are times when even judges have asked this. AI is not going to replace human judges or human discretion", he added.

Sharing more details of his vision, he stated, "It is only the repetitive, mathematical and mechanical parts of the judgments for which help can be taken from the system...we are exploring the possibility of implementing it."

Bobde stressed on the requirement of developing AI for judiciary while outlining the number of pending cases in different courts.

"Some people are in jail for 10-15 years and we are not in position to deal with their appeals. The high court's and Supreme Court take so long and ultimately the courts feel that it is just to release them on bail", he said.

Bobde also endorsed employing every talent and skill to ensure delivery of justice in a reasonable time.

"We must employ every talent, every skill we possess to ensure that justice is received within reasonable time. Delay in justice can't be a reason for anybody to take law into their hands. But it's very important for us as courts to ensure there's no undue delay in justice", he said.

CJI Bobde also highlighted the need for pre-litigation mediation and said, "Pre-litigation mediation is the need of the hour especially in the backdrop of a significant pendency that the courts are tackling with. There are innumerable areas where pre-litigation mediation could solve the problem."

He also stressed that the position of a judge is very unique under the constitution and they have to deal with a variety of problems.

"The foundation of civilisation rests on the law. Judicial officers have to deal with a variety of problems...Judges without adequate knowledge, skills and experience may cause distortion, delay and miscarriage of justice", he said.

Earlier in the day, Chief Justice of India Bobde inaugurated the phase-1 of the new building of the Karnataka Judicial Academy on Crescent Road in Bengaluru.

The new building has three floors, besides, the ground floor and two basement floors.

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News Network
June 12,2020

Mangaluru, Jun 12: A pregnant woman who returned from Maharashtra and tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday, gave birth to a child at the Wenlock COVID-19 hospital in Mangaluru. After she experienced labour pain, a team of expert doctors performed the delivery through the caesarean section on Thursday.

Both the woman and the new born are safe, hospital sources said. The woman, who belongs to Kinnigoli in Dakshina Kannada district, had arrived in the city on Monday. She was in an advanced stage of pregnancy and was taken to another hospital the next day after she complained of weakness.

As she came from Maharashtra, she was shifted to a separate ward at the Wenlock hospital and quarantined. Her throat swab samples tested positive on Wednesday. A COVID-19 test will be done on the baby after a few days, district health officer Ramachandra Bairy said.

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News Network
February 6,2020

Mangaluru, Feb 6: In a case of suspected political rivalry, a 28-year-old BJP activist was brutally assaulted by a gang at Munchoor here, police said on Thursday.

Police said that the injured identified as Yashodhar is undergoing treatment at Padmavathi Hospital here.

Four people namely – Diwakar, Dinesh Shetty, Ashwith Kulal and Yashodhara Agaramelu – assaulted Yashodhar and posed him with a death threat. It was reported that the gang had been keeping an eye on Yashodhar’s movements for some time now.

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