Proof against Beniwal enough: Pranab Mukherjee

August 8, 2014

New Delhi, Aug 8: President Pranab Mukherjee was satisfied with the “evidence” provided by the Narendra Modi-led Centre against Mizoram Governor Kamla Beniwal to sack her.pres

The President has jotted down in his own hand that he was satisfied with the evidence provided by the government. He got a legal opinion and had also asked his aide to speak to the 87-year-old Beniwal to consider her response before he signed the sacking order, sources said.

Mukherjee was first informed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the Centre’s advice. He was later briefed by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad as well as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who explained to him about the legal issues involved in the case, official sources said.

Mukherjee, a stickler for following rules, then asked Omita Pal, Secretary to the President, to speak to Beniwal on Wednesday. The President's aide, who spoke to Beniwal, recorded that she confirmed the land transaction, the sources said.

After getting her response to the charges made by the government, he signed the order of “withdrawing the President’s pleasure” on her continuation as the governor.

His jotting on the file is in line with the stipulations of the Supreme Court judgment of 2010 on the dismissal of governors, which forbade en masse removal of governors for political reasons. The apex court order had said that in individual cases, the President can withdraw his pleasure if he is “satisfied” with the grounds for a governor’s removal.

The government, too, insisted that the apex court’s verdict must be followed in Beniwal’s case, a senior Cabinet minister told Deccan Herald on Thursday.

The main legal issue put before Mukherjee was Beniwal’s alleged involvement in a land scam in Rajasthan. Beniwal is accused of claiming land meant for farmers after “falsely” stating in affidavits that she had tilled the land for 50 years, though she was a minister in the state’s Congress government.

A strategy worked out by Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley saw the Attorney General conveying in detail to the President about the “material based on facts” which showed Beniwal’s acts were unbecoming of a governor and “gross impropriety” on her part.

Other allegations against Beniwal are that she spent just one day in Mizoram, where she was posted a month ago, and mostly stayed in Rajasthan and she made “frequent air travels” at the taxpayer’s expense.

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News Network
May 28,2020

New Delhi, May 28: BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra has been admitted to a private hospital in Gurgaon after he showed symptoms of COVID-19, sources said.

He is admitted to the Medanta hospital in Gurgaon, hospital sources said on Thursday.

The BJP leader has shown symptoms of COVID-19, a source said.

Patra is one of the most visible BJP faces on news channels.

He is also very active on social media and posted several tweets on Thursday as well.

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News Network
January 1,2020

New Delhi, Jan 1: The new Army chief Lieutenant General MM Naravane on Wednesday said that India needs to pay more attention to its border along China and asserted that the force is capable of dealing with any security challenge.

"We have been giving attention to our western front in the past. The northern front now also requires an equal amount of attention... The Army is capable of tackling any dangers to the country," General Naravane told reporters after receiving the first Guard of Honour as the Army chief.

"In that context, we are now going in for capability development and enhancement of our capacities even in our northern borders which includes the northeastern part of our country," he said.

On the border dispute with China, the Army chief said that continuing peace along the border will pave the way for a solution.

He said: "We have been able to maintain peace and tranquility along borders and I'm sure that situation will prevail. By maintaining this, we will be able to set the stage for the eventual solution."

General Naravane said that operational readiness and modernisation will be among the top priorities of the Army under his leadership.

"Our priority will be to be ready to meet any challenge and to be operationally prepared at all times. This will happen as a result of modernisation. We will continue to build our capability especially in the North and Northeast region of our country," he said.

He said that the Indian Army will pay special attention to respect human rights. "We will also pay special emphasis on raising security awareness among ranks and file and pay special attention to respect human rights," the Army chief said.

Assuring the country on security, he said, "All three services — the Army, the Navy and the Air Force — are ready to defend the country."

He extended wishes to people in the new year and hoped that the country will make huge progress in this decade.

General Naravane took over as the 28th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) on Tuesday, succeeding General Bipin Rawat who has become India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

General Naravane was previously the Vice Chief of Army Staff.

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Agencies
February 26,2020

Hyderabad, Feb 26: Hyderabad Police on Tuesday registered a case against well-known poet Imran Pratapgarhi for his statement asking why there was "no Shaheen Bagh in Hyderabad".

According to Charminar Police, the complaint was registered by Sub-Inspector S Guruswamy, who was on duty at the QQ Stadium on February 24 where an Ehtaji Mishaira (Poetry Program) against the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register Commission and National Population Register was held.

Permission for the said event was granted by Hyderabad Additional Commissioner of Police to the program organisers with certain guidelines including that poetry program should be held on February 24 from 6 pm to 9 pm, and no speaker should give provocative speeches in the program.

However, police said that the program was started by the organisers at 6 pm and continued till 9:48 pm even after police officers asked them to end the event by 9 pm. The program was attended by around 3,000 members at QQ stadium.

According to police, while addressing the meeting Pratapgarhi said: "Mujhe hairath hai us Hyderabad mein koi Shaheen Bagh kyu nahi hai (I am surprised why there is no Shaheen Bagh in Hyderabad)", which is "provocative" and may cause fear to any section of the public.

In this regard, a case has been registered against organisers for disobeying public servants' orders and the poet has been booked for delivering provocative statements under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Further investigation is underway.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir took to Twitter to condemn the police action.

"Hyderabad Police booked a case against poet Imran Pratapgarhi for expressing surprise on why there is no Shaheen Bagh in Hyderabad. For police, this sentence is provocative. Is Shaheen Bagh not a part of India?," Shabbir tweeted.

"Shame on TRS Government and Hyderabad Police for targeting a poet for no-fault," he added.

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