No need for separate SIT to probe Panama papers leak: SC

The Supreme Court today ruled out setting up of a separate Special Investigation Team to probe the alleged revelation of offshore accounts of Indians in Panama papers leak, saying the multi-agency group set up by the government was already looking into the matter.

A bench, comprising Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit, said a multi-agency group, consisting officers of Central Board of Direct Taxes, Reserve Bank of India, Enforcement Directorate and Financial Intelligence Unit, was like an SIT itself.

"This multi-agency group is already like an SIT. What is the need to form a separate SIT," the bench asked.

Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha, appearing for the Centre, said the issue of probe into the offshore accounts of Indians was 'not ordinary' and 'very complicated' and the MAG constituted by the government was already looking into it.

He said the MAG was already investigating the matter and has started to submit its detailed reports as well.

Narasimha said that seven reports have already been filed in the apex court and a separate SIT on black money issue was already there.

He said the MAG was probing this matter in its entirety and progress in investigation was being made.

Opposing the plea seeking the setting up of an SIT to probe the alleged offshore accounts of Indians as revealed in Panama paper leaks, he said there was no need for it.

Advocate M L Sharma, the petitioner in the case, told the court that an SIT should be formed to have a fair probe in these matters as there was alleged violation of provisions of the RBI rules as well as the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

He claimed that despite seven reports having been filed in sealed cover in the apex court, no FIR has been lodged by the government in these cases.

The bench, which disposed of the plea, said that probe into these matters would continue.

The apex court had in April this year asked the Centre whether a SIT should be constituted to probe the matter.

It had on March 7 asked the Centre to place before it in a sealed cover all the six reports of MAG, prepared till then.

The Centre had sought dismissal of the PIL, saying MAG has already been set up to ensure 'speedy and coordinated' probe against Indians whose names have figured in the Panama papers.

It had said that the reports have already been submittedby the MAG to the apex court-appointed SIT on black money, led by Justice M B Shah (retd), as well as to the court itself.

The Centre had last year informed the court that Rs 8,186crore, illegally kept in offshore banks by Indians, has been brought under the tax ambit despite constraints like non-sharing of information by Swiss authorities.

Seeking dismissal of the PIL, it had said the SIT onblack money has been kept informed on a regular basis aboutthe development made in the probe.

Sharma in his PIL had sought a court-monitored independent probe into the Panama papers leak which containedan unprecedented amount of information, including more than 11million documents covering 2,10,000 companies in 21 offshore jurisdictions.

The petition had alleged that Panama papers included the names of nearly 500 Indians, including celebrities and industrialists, who have allegedly parked funds in offshore accounts in transactions brokered by the law firm.  -- PTI

Muslim women should not go to public places without a male companion and they should minimise the use of mobile phones, according to the directives issued by an Islamic body in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district today.

These directives, among others, were issued by the 'Islamic Markazi Majlis e-Shoura' (Islamic central advisory council) in the district through a poster pasted at several places, including the main Jamia Masjid in the mountainous town, 230-km from Srinagar.

The poster, 'Islah-e-Mashra' in Urdu, threatened the possibility of social boycott of the families which organise dance and music shows at weddings, declaring that 'music is not permitted in Islam'.

The women are asked to desist from going to public places, including exhibitions and circus, without a male companion, it said.

The religious body asked people to give up the practice of engagement and prefer 'nikah' ceremonies directly as 'several ills have cropped up in the society because of the engagement ceremonies'.

It also asked the women, especially students, to limit the use of mobile phones as it gives rise to 'immoral activities' in the society.

The poster also asked youths to desist from moving unnecessarily in the markets and instead join the five prayers at the mosques for a better society.

The parents should give attention towards co-education in coaching centres, it said and appealed to teachers to hold separate classes for the boys and girls.

It asked the teaching staff to ensure such timing so that the girl students are not forced to move out of the house in the wee hours when it is still dark.

Describing drug abuse as 'alarming', it sought cooperation of the people in eradicating the menace.  -- PTI

The father of seven-year-old boy Prdhyumn Thakur, who was found dead in Gurugram Ryan International School school, today moved the Supreme Court challenging the extension of the interim anticipatory bail granted to three trustees of the group in the case.

Barun Chandra Thakur assailed the Punjab and Haryana high court order staying the arrest of Ryan group CEO Ryan Pinto and his parents, Group's founding chairman Augustine Pinto and Managing Director Grace Pinto, in the murder case.

The appeal, filed through advocate Sushil Tekriwal, said the grant of interim protection against their possible arrest was illegal and unconstitutional and should be set aside.

The plea has made the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is currently probing the case, and the Haryana government as parties in the case.

It alleged that the September 28 order of the HC granting interim bail and October 7 of the HC order extending the relief was 'erroneous' and should be set aside.

The petition said that CBI's investigation was at a preliminary stage and granting interim bail to the respondents now 'frustrates the criminal justice delivery system'.

Ryan Pinto and his parents had approached the high court, seeking anticipatory bail in connection with the killing of the student, who was found with his throat slit in the washroom of a school run by their group in Gurugram on September 8.

School bus conductor Ashok Kumar was arrested in connection with the crime the same day.

On September 25, the HC had impleaded the CBI as a respondent in the petition seeking bail for the three Ryan group trustees.

The Haryana government had recommended a CBI probe in the matter following massive outrage.

The premier agency took over the probe on September 22.

The Pintos, who are based in Mumbai, had earlier approached the Bombay HC as they apprehended arrest in the case after the school was accused of negligence in the death of the seven-year-old.

The Bombay HC had rejected the transit anticipatory bail applications of the three trustees but granted them interim protection from arrest for a day to enable them to file an appeal.  -- PTI

Three days after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's visit, the Amethi constituency is gearing up for another high-profile event as Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah and Union minister Smriti Irani will unveil a slew of projects in this Congress bastion tomorrow.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will also be present, officials said.

Irani arrived in Amethi this afternoon while the BJP chief will arrive tomorrow, they said.

Schemes and projects are likely to be announced during Shah and Irani's visit, besides, beneficiaries of various schemes will be handed over certificates, the officials said.

Among other key events, Information and Broadcasting minister Irani will attend the launch of a FM station at Gauriganj and an initiative to save Gomti river near Pipri village.

She will also attend the inauguration of a tuberculosis unit at the district hospital and a primary health centre at Odari Tiloi.

Party sources said the visit of the senior BJP leaders was aimed at sending a clear message that the current dispensation believed in all-round development and was not meting out 'step-motherly treatment' to any area.

The Congress vice president had during his visit on October 5 accused the BJP governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh of re-inaugurating the projects launched by the previous United Progressive Alliance regime in the district and neglecting his constituency.  -- Arunav Sinha/PTI

Suspended Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy today said he will resign from his Rajya Sabha seat on October 11.

"Finally, I am going to hand over my resignation to the Vice President on October 11 and then I will tell the people of this country why I decided to end my long political innings with the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the party I founded with many others," Roy told reporters.

Though Roy has not yet divulged his future plans, but he is meeting leaders of various parties during his stay in Delhi.

He met the Bharatiya Janata Party's West Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya at the residence of Rajya Sabha House Committee chairperson Om Mathur today.

Roy said that though the meeting with Vijayvargiya was not scheduled, the BJP leader did enquire about his future plans.

He also had a meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday.

Incidentally, Roy also had a long meeting with the West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday.

Chowdhury said that Roy has not proposed to join the Congress now, but claimed that he had done so earlier.

"Rahul Gandhi himself had enquired about what Mukul is doing? I told him that he is a leader with potential," Chowdhury told PTI.

Chowdhury said that the Congress earlier had reservations on Roy joining the party because of the cases against him.

Once the second-in-command in the TMC after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Roy was suspended for six years for 'anti-party activities' following his announcement on September 25 that he would resign from the party after Durga Puja.

The TMC had accused him of hobnobbing with the BJP.  -- PTI

Shopian encounter update:

Two terrorists have been killed by security forces so far.

The encounter is underway.

More details awaited.

Photograph: ANI

The charge was rejected by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shah's son, who termed the story 'false, derogatory and defamatory'.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi pressed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "say something' on claims in a media report that a company owned by BJP chief Amit Shah's son saw a huge rise in its turnover after his party came to power in 2014.


"Modiji, 'Did you act as a watchman or were you a partner? Please say something,' Gandhi said on Twitter.In another broadside against the BJP, the Congress leader had said yesterday, "We finally found the only beneficiary of Demonetisation. It's not the RBI, the poor or the farmers. It's the Shah-in-Shah of Demo. Jai Amit.'


He had also tagged a copy of the news report on the issue in his tweet.


According to the report on a website, the turnover of Jay Amit Shah-owned Temple Enterprise zoomed by around 16,000 times during 2015-16 from around Rs 80 crore in the previous year. The charge was rejected by the BJP and Shah's son, who termed the story "false, derogatory and defamatory'.

-- PTI

At least six Kolkata bound flights were today diverted to Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIAP) in Bhubaneswar due to inclement weather conditions and heavy rains in West Bengal, official sources said. Other flights were diverted to Guwahati and other airports in the region and the number of diversions may increase.


The passengers are being provided with required facilities till departure of their flights, an official said. Several flights to Bhubaneswar from Kolkata were delayed as they could not take off from Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose international airport due to inclement weather, the official added.  -- PTI

Just in: The Economic Nobel, last of the Nobel prizes to be awarded this year, goes to Richard H. Thaler (pictured) for his contributions to behavioural economics.

Dr Thaler has incorporated psychologically realistic assumptions into analyses of economic decision-making, a media release by Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.


Dr Thaler's contributions have built a bridge between the economic and psychological analyses of individual decision-making. His empirical findings and theoretical insights have been instrumental in creating the new and rapidly expanding field of behavioural economics, which has had a profound impact on many areas of economic research and policy, the release said.


Dr Thaler is a Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is the co-author (with Cass R. Sunstein) of the global best seller Nudge (2008) in which the concepts of behavioral economics are used to tackle many of society's major problems.


The Sveriges Riksbank (Swedish National Bank) Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was first awarded in 1969, nearly seven decades after the series of prestigious prizes that Nobel called for. '


Despite its provenance and carefully laborious name, it is broadly considered an equal to the other Nobel and the winner attends the famed presentation banquet. The winner will walk away with 9-million-kronor ($1.1-million) prize.

Chhattisgarh: Encounter erupts between security forces and Naxals in Dantewada; 3 IED bombs recovered from the site of the encounter.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, in a rare and heart-rending event, were welcomed by a thunderous applause by the waiting crowd at the Jammu Airport.


The moment happened when the CRPF personnel entered the terminal building of the Jammu Airport on October 10 and were welcomed in an unexpected way by the people present in the area.


People spontaneously got up from their seats and began clapping for the jawans.


"The entire force is overwhelmed with the gesture shown by the passengers at the Jammu Airport. It motivates the force, which is committed to the service of the nation," DG CRPF Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar told ANI.


He added, "This is all because of the way our force has been doing its service and also the sacrifices we have made."


The commanding officer of the 166 battallion, Ashish Kumar Jha, PRO CRPF, Jammu Sector, which oversees the transiting soldiers at Jammu, said that the soldiers want only such appreciation from the nation as this motivates and boosts the morale of the soldiers.


"We have four chartered flights in a week which takes our jawans from Jammu to Srinagar. It was during one such flight yesterday that while the CRPF jawans came to take their boarding passes that the people sitting in the waiting area started clapping for the jawans, many got up from their seats."


"This was a gesture which came naturally and overwhelmed us. We want only this from the nation as such things always boost our morale and motivate us" he added.

West Bengal: Departure of flights from Kolkata airport halted due to strong crosswinds. 23 domestic flights diverted.

The Congress today asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remove Amit Shah as BJP president and demanded a probe into claims in a media report that a firm owned by Shah's son saw a huge rise in turnover after the party came to power in 2014.


While Congress leader Anand Sharma spoke in Delhi on the allegations of wrongdoing by the company owned by Jay Amit Shah, its chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala hit out at the BJP in Jaipur.


Sharma said Modi should "break his silence" on the claims. Hitting out at Union minister Piyush Goyal for defending Jay Amit Shah, he asked whether Goyal was a minister, a "spokesperson or business manager."


"The prime minister speaks on every issue... He speaks a lot... There should be a probe into it... Shah should give up his post until the probe is over, like L K Advaniji did, Nitin Gadkariji did when charges were levelled against them (in separate cases)," Sharma told reporters.


The BJP yesterday rejected the Congress' charge over the business transactions of Jay Amit Shah. Goyal had told reporters that the BJP was "confident" there was no wrongdoing and Jay Amit Shah's businesses were fully legitimate.


In Jaipur, Surjewala said Modi should relieve Amit Shah from the party president post and get the claims probed by a two-member commission of Supreme Court judges.


"It is a tough call for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Country is looking at him whether he will choose friendship and party politics or truth and morality," Surjewala said. He said there must be transparency and accountability. "Why shy away from probe if there's nothing wrong? There is no smoke without fire. The country was waiting for development... but 'Jai ka Vikas ho gaya'," he said. -- PTI

In a breakthrough, a joint team of security forces today killed top Jaish-e-Mohammed militant commander Umer Khalid in Ladoora area of North Kashmir, police said. Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police S P Vaid said it was a major breakthrough for the security forces as the militant was involved in many attacks on security camps in North Kashmir as well as targeting policemen in particular.


"He was killed in a joint operation by the Jammu and Kashmir Police's Special Operation Group, local police, the CRPF and the Army," he said. Khalid, who is a Pakistani national, had been operational in the area for last two to three years and was also instrumental in arranging recruits for the terror outfit, police said.


He had recently carried out an attack on a Special Police Officer and his seven-year-old son at Handwara, they said and added that Khalid was a A++ category top ranking terrorist and carried a cash reward of nearly Rs 7 lakh. Giving details of the encounter, the police said security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Ladoora area following information about the presence of militants in the area. The search operation turned into a gun battle when the militants opened fire on the search party, the police said, adding more troops were rushed to the area to prevent the militants from escaping.


The Jaish commander was killed in the encounter, they said. The police is also probing his role in the recent attack carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammed on BSF battalion headquarters near high-security Srinagar airport and attack on the District Police Lines at Pulwama. It is expected that he was a part of the conspiracy behind these dastardly attacks, the police said.  -- PTI

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday cornered Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP Government in Gujarat over the development achieved in the state, likening it to a person and saying it had gone berserk.


"Gujarat mein vikaas ko kya hua? Ye kaise pagal hua? Ye jhooth sun sun ke pagal ho gaya hai (What happened to the development in Gujarat? How did it go berserk? It did after listening to constant lies)," Rahul said, at a public meeting in Gujarat's Kheda.


He also said that Prime Minister Modi's Gujarat model is a complete failure and the state is aware about this.


The Congress vice-president further assured the people of Gujarat that if the party manages to form a government in upcoming elections, only then would the development be achieved.Further targetting Prime Minister Modi's monthly radio address 'Mann ki Baat', Rahul said, "Not only will we say our 'Mann ki Baat', we will also listen to yours."


Rahul's comments have come in the build up to the the much awaited assembly elections in Gujarat, which will be held towards the end of 2017 or January, 2018.


The dates will be announced officially by the Election Commission few months prior to it. -- ANI

Heavy rain accompanied by gusty wind battered the southern districts of West Bengal since early today, as the Met department forecast more downpour and high wind till tomorrow. Incessant rain and squally wind affected normal life in the metropolis on the first working day of the week.


Waterlogging and uprooted trees blocked some thoroughfares of the city, delaying the morning rush hour traffic.


Many schools reopened today after the Durga Puja vacation and students were inconvenienced due to the heavy rain. Some schools declared a holiday owing to the inclement weather.


"A depression has formed over Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining north Bay of Bengal and lay centred about 50 km southeast of Kolkata at 5.30 am today," the Met department said.


The system is very likely to move initially west-northwestwards and intensify into a deep depression during the next 24 hours, it said. Under its influence, rainfall will occur at most places over Gangetic West Bengal, north Odisha and east Jharkhand, with heavy to very heavy precipitation at isolated places in these areas, the Met department said in its forecast till Wednesday morning. Squally wind reaching a speed of 45 to 55 km per hour, gusting to 65 km per hour would prevail along and off north Odisha and West Bengal coasts, it said.


Strong wind speed reaching 30 to 40 km per hour gusting to 50 km per hour would prevail over the interior parts of Gangetic West Bengal. Sea condition would be rough in north Odisha and West Bengal till tomorrow.


Fishermen have been advised not to venture into sea during the period. Train services in all the sections of Eastern Railway are normal till 11.00 am except for slight delay in the running of some EMU locals owing to the weather condition, ER spokesman R N Mahapatra said.  -- PTI


Representational image

An Army soldier was killed in a brief encounter with militants in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. "The JCO was killed in a brief encounter with terrorists in Khag area of Budgam today," an Army official said. The slain soldier has been identified as Subedar Raj Kumar. -- PTI

The Supreme Court today referred to a five-judge Constitution bench the question whether a Parsi woman automatically gets converted to Hinduism after marrying a Hindu man under the Special Marriage Act.


A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said that it will have to consider whether the five-judge bench judgement in the triple talaq matter can also have some bearing in the present case.


The bench also comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said the larger bench would examine the applicability of 'doctrine of culture' which provides that a woman assumes the religion of her husband after marriage.


The bench was hearing a plea filed by Goolrokh Gupta challenging the Bombay High Court judgement that had held that a Parsi woman is deemed to be converted to Hinduism after marrying a Hindu man under the Special Marriage Act. -- PTI

Representational image

Landing and take-off of flights delayed due to heavy rain and strong winds at Kolkata airport since early morning; More details awaited.

Update: The HC upholds the death sentence of 20 other convicts in the Godhra case and directs the government and railways to pay Rs 10 lakh each to families of those killed in the Godhra train burning case.

Just in: The Gujarat High Court commutes the death sentence of 11 convicts to life terms. The convicts had challenged the convictions and acquittals by a special SIT court in the 2002 Godhra train coach burning case. The court rejected pleas for acquittals.


Coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express, in which 59 people, mostly 'kar sevaks' returning from Ayodhya were travelling, was burnt on February 27, 2002 at the Godhra station, triggering riots in the state.


The special SIT court had on March 1, 2011 convicted 31 people and acquitted 63 in the case. While 11 people were sentenced to death, 20 were given life in jail.


Later, several appeals were filed in the High Court challenging the conviction, while the state government had questioned the acquittal of 63 people.


The court had convicted 31 people while accepting the prosecution's contention that there was a conspiracy behindthe incident.


All the 31 were convicted under IPC sections related to murder, attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy.


Those acquitted included the prime accused, Maulana Umarji, the then president of Godhra Municipality Mohammad Hussain Kalota, Mohammad Ansari and Nanumiya Chaudhary of Gangapur, Uttar Pradesh.The Nanavati Commission, appointed by the Gujarat government to probe the carnage, had concluded that the fire in the S-6 coach was not an accident, but it was set ablaze.


Image: Flowers are strewn on the burnt coach of the Sabarmati Express. Pic: Ahmad Masood/Reuters

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld its earlier verdict banning the sale of firecrackers in the Delhi-NCR region ahead of Diwali.  The top court has banned the sale of firecrackers till November 1.


A plea on the matter had sought restoration of the apex court's 2016 verdict putting a stop to the sale of firecrackers in the region.


A bench led by Justice AK Sikri had reserved the court's order on the same on October 6.On November 11 last year, the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of suspension of all licences "permitting sale of fireworks, wholesale and retail, within the territory of NCR'.

However, on September 12 this year, the ban was temporarily relaxed.

While the plea regarding the reimposition of the ban was being heard, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) told the court they were in support of the ban on firecrackers. 

A pothole created by heavy rainfall on one of the taxiways at the Mumbai airport delayed flight operations for the second time in less than a month.

According to sources, the heavy rainfall had led to a pothole on the taxiway, forcing airport authorities to shut down the main runway, resulting in delays in flight operations yesterday.

This was the second time in less than a month that the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), a GVK-led joint venture airport company, had to close the main runway, 009/27. The main runway was closed for operations for nearly 24 hours after a SpiceJet aircraft overshot the runway following heavy rainfall and got stuck in the mud on September 20.

Yesterday, the runway remained shut for over three hours. The flight operations were shifted to the capacity-constrained secondary runway - 14/32.

"As a result, both arrivals and departures were affected with the incoming flights reporting an average delay of two hours, while departures getting delayed by almost an hour till the afternoon," a source said. However, a spokesperson of the MIAL said the runway closure resulted in a delay of "half-an-hour".

Confirming the pothole on a taxiway, the spokesperson said the main runway was shut for operations at 6 am and the services were resumed at 10 am after the problem was fixed.

"Runway 009/27 was not available from 6 am due to a pothole between the N1 and N3 runways. Due to the repair work on the taxiway, the secondary runway was put into operations," the spokesperson added. The traffic at the main runway was finally restored at 10 am.  -- PTI

At least 15 people got injured in a gas balloon blast at a function in Chandigarh's Sector 34 last evening.

The annual function of the Allen Career Institute was underway when the incident took place.According to a preliminary investigation, the accident took place after the nitrogen balloons got stuck in the electric bulb and the instant heat led to the explosion of balloon.

Among those injured, most of them were former students of the institution and were invited for the event.The injured were immediately shifted to the nearby hospital and their situation is said to be stable.

However, the police is yet to ascertain the exact cause of incident. -- ANI

Representational image

The BJP on Monday mocked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi over his visit to Gujarat, stating that it is not going to make much of a difference. Speaking to ANI, BJP leader Syed Zafar Islam said, "Rahul Gandhi's tour is nothing but talks on development, which totally lacks in his party. Also, in many of his constituencies, we have seen his pictures on the missing list, this shows what kind of a minister he is and how much is being loved by his people. Whenever he goes out on any campaign he is handed a written speech which he learns it like a parrot without even understands the meaning. This time too the same is happening."


Echoing similar views, another BJP leader CK Bose said, "The Congress party is in complete disarray; the activist or leaders of the party are totally confused. No one is guided nor given guidance under Rahul Gandhi's leadership. If we go to see, he himself is confused so how would he direct or guide his party men. Also, him visiting Gujarat will not make much of a difference."


On October 4, Rahul Gandhi began his visit to his parliamentary constituency Uttar Pradesh's Amethi.


Rahul's trip triggered headlines after Amethi's district authorities suggested him to postpone his trip due to security concerns. -- ANI

J&K: Joint Hurriyat Leadership called for a shutdown today against braid chopping incidents in state.

Visva-Bharati University is for the first time giving away its degree certificates without the customary convocation, breaking with a 66-year-old tradition and disappointing many of the recipients. University officials said a convocation required the presence of the chancellor --- a position held by the Prime Minister by virtue of his office ---- or some senior dignitary delegated by him to preside over the event. Read more  

The prime minister had good reasons to preen on Gandhi Jayanti last week. Not only had he succeeded - in the space of just three years - in reducing the Father of the Nation to a mere mascot for his Swachh Bharat Mission, but the mission itself was proving to be a resounding success. Narendra Modi's other pet projects with exhortatory titles such as Make in India, Start-Up India, Stand-Up India et al may be floundering but Clean India has a lot to show for it.
Read more