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
June 17,2020

New Delhi, Jun 17: Police Surender Jeet Kaur, Assistant Commissioner of Delhi Police Surender Jeet Kaur, has held herself responsible for the death of her husband Charan Jeet Singh, who succumbed to Covid at a hospital in Delhi.

“My husband didn’t step out of the house when the lockdown started, but I went out daily because of my job… I will never be able to forgive myself,” Kaur on Tuesday, a day after losing her husband.

54-year-old Singh, a resident of Lajpat Nagar and a businessman, is survived by his wife and their 26-year-old son who lives in Canada.

Kaur, 57, ACP (Crimes Against Women) in the South-East district of the Delhi Police, is also ACP (Covid Cell) of the district. On May 20, five days after Kaur tested positive for the virus, her husband Singh tested positive, followed by the ACP’s 80-year-old father on May 24.

All of them had symptoms and while Kaur and Singh were admitted to Indraprastha Apollo hospital, her father was admitted to Max hospital in Saket. On May 26, Kaur returned home after recovering from the virus.

Kaur said, “I last spoke to my husband on May 22 night, when we were both admitted in the hospital in different wards. The doctor called me and said that my husband needs to be put on ventilator support. I had a video call with my husband. He was breathless and told me that his oxygen level was dropping. He showed me the monitor, the doctors in the room, and then said he was having trouble speaking and that he would send me WhatsApp messages.”

A day after he passed away, Kaur recalled the messages that Singh sent her just before being put on ventilator support. “He started sending me details of our finances, accounts… I told him to stop and asked him why he was telling me all this. He said I needed to know… Maybe he feared he wouldn’t come back. I prayed every day, at temples, mosques, churches and gurdwaras for him. I am devastated that he’s gone. We were to move to Canada to live with our son in 2023 after my retirement. We had so many plans.”

Kaur’s brother Maninder Ahluwalia said the hospital tried plasma therapy but Singh didn’t respond to the treatment. “He had diabetes and high BP, but those were always under control. We were hopeful,” he said.

The couple’s son joined on video call from Canada to watch his father’s last journey from the ambulance to the entrance of the crematorium. “My son couldn’t attend his father’s last rites because there are no flights… It’s so unfortunate,” said Kaur.

Friends and family remember Singh as a “jolly, disciplined and brave man”, while Kaur said he was the “perfect partner”. She said, “When I was an SHO-rank officer, I would work for 36 hours straight some days, and he would handle the house and our son who was growing up. I would miss family functions and important occasions but he would always go and make up for my absence. I was able to do this job for decades because of his support.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Singh was cremated in the presence of close family and members of the police fraternity. “The DCP and the Joint CP called me daily to enquire about my husband, other police officers too. I am grateful for their support. They didn’t let me feel alone for a single day,” said Kaur.

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News Network
July 26,2020

New Delhi, Jul 26: India reported a spike of 48,661 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

The total COVID-19 positive cases stand at 13,85,522, including 4,67,882 active cases, 8,85,577 cured/discharged/migrated, it added.
With 705 deaths in the last 24 hours, the cumulative toll reached 32,063.

Maharashtra has reported 3,66,368 coronavirus cases, the highest among states and Union Territories in the country.

A total of 2,06,737 cases have been reported from Tamil Nadu till now, while Delhi has recorded a total of 1,29,531 coronavirus cases.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 4,42,263 samples were tested for coronavirus on Saturday and overall 1,62,91,331 samples have been tested so far.

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Agencies
March 14,2020

New Delhi, Mar 14: A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to three alleged members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) -- Parvez (Delhi President), Iliyas (Delhi Secretary) and Danish -- in connection with the organization's role in the northeast Delhi violence last month.

Metropolitan Magistrate Prabhdeep Kaur granted bail to all three accused on furnishing personal bail bonds of Rs 30,000 each.

The court said that "Investigating Officer (IO) has nowhere mentioned that any of the non-bailable offences has been disclosed or has come out during investigation till now, therefore, accused be enlarged on bail."

According to police, the three men were arrested for allegedly spreading fake propaganda during the anti-CAA protests.

Delhi police, while opposing bail and seeking remand, stated that police custody is required because accused were involved in a conspiracy of communal riots which resulted in the death of 50 innocent people and injuries to approximately 300 persons and huge loss of government and public properties.

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