Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday filed a petition in the High Court seeking permission to conduct meeting with Delhi Cabinet Ministers through video-conferencing.

The petition further sought direction to the media not to publis/broadcast any news item either seeking his resignation or the imposition of the President’s rule in Delhi.

The petition contended that neither the Constitution of the country, nor any rule or law prohibited any Minister, Chief Minister or Prime Minister from continuing the governance from jail.

Earlier on April 15, the Supreme Court had issued notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a petition filed by Kejriwal challenging his arrest by the agency and his subsequent remand in a money laundering case related to the Delhi Excise Policy case.

The order was passed by the Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta on a petition filed by national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The Bench issued notice to the central agency and posted the case for further hearing on April 29.

On April 10, the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had filed an application in the Supreme Court challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and subsequent remand in connection with the Delhi liquor policy scam case.

On April 9, the Delhi High Court had dismissed his petition challenging his arrest by ED, as well as the remand order passed by the trial court sending him to ED custody on the grounds that there was evidence to show that Kejriwal’s involvement in the scam.

The single-judge Bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma further said that the money received as kickbacks was used for political campaigning in the 2022 Goa Legislative Assembly elections.

The High Court also upheld the subsequent remand orders, including the one remanding Kejriwal to judicial custody.

It said the material collected by ED revealed that Kejriwal conspired and was involved in the formulation of the Excise Policy, both in his personal capacity, and as the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Kejriwal also used the proceeds of crime, it added.

The High Court said that it would not lay down different categories of laws, one for the common citizens and other for granting special privileges for a Chief Minister.

The plea by AAP leader stated that the Central government was misusing the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In the course of hearing, the Enforcement Directorate, which was represented by ASG SV Raju, argued that this cannot be accepted that people were being treated differently. He said the AAP leader has committed a crime, but just because he was a Chief Minister, did it mean that he couldn’t be arrested?

The Counsel said that one cannot loot the country just because he was holding an important position and cannot be excused just because elections were coming.

The AAP leader was represented by Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who stated that the case exhibited timing issues, preventing the petitioner from participating in the democratic process.

The Senior Counsel alleged that the arrest was done at this time, so as to harm the prospects of the AAP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, scheduled to be held between April 19 and June 1.

The ED countered the plea, stating that Kejriwal cannot claim “immunity” from arrest based on upcoming elections as the law applied equally to him and to an “aam aadmi”.

The law enforcement agency stated that the Aam Aadmi Party has been the recipient of funds from illegal activities in the Delhi liquor scam.

On March 21, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Kejriwal after the Delhi High Court denied him protection from coercive action by the federal anti-money laundering agency.

The Delhi CM was placed in judicial custody on April 1 after appearing in the trial court following the expiration of his ED custody.

Kejriwal challenged this verdict before the Apex Court.

On July 20, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had filed a complaint alleging that a criminal conspiracy was hatched by AAP leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and other unidentified and unnamed private persons/entities during the stage of formulation of Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.

It was alleged that some loopholes were ‘intentionally’ left or created in the policy, to allegedly favour some licensees and conspirators post the tender process.

On August 17, 2022, based on the LG’s complaint, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22. Subsequently, ED registered a case and started probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Several AAP leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh, were arrested by the ED in connection with the case. Simgh was recently granted bail in the case.

The Swadesh Conclave and Awards, a unique initiave recognising people for their invaluable contribution to the growth of the country, besides getting Cabinet Ministers and eminent speakers to share their vision for the country, took place in the national capital on Monday.

The unique initiative, organised by APN News in association with BALAJI Foundation, is in its third year of inception. Swadesh Conclave, a theme-based platform, has ensured broad-based, inclusive and sustainable growth, while Swadesh Award has been honouring people, projects and institutions, who have gone the extra mile to make this country and the world, a better place to live in.

The theme for this year’s Conclave-cum-Award is the “Vision of New India,” coinciding with the 75th year of independence, being celebrated across the country as Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

APN News and India Legal Editor-in-Chief Rajshri Rai said the Swadesh Conclave and Samman belongs to each and every person, who has worked for the people of this country. The recipeints of these awards are people, who have worked for the betterment of 140 crore Indians, she added.

Speaking at the event, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said Amrit Mahotsav does not belong to the government, but to 134 crore Indians. He urges every citizen to participate in the mega festival of Har Ghar Tiranga.

Union Minister S.P. Baghel warned media to stay within its Lakshman Rekha. Just because the BJP government gave room to the oppressed communities for progress, it did not mean the government was against the elites. Modi government has appointed a woman from the ST category as the President of India, which indicates its seriousness in running the government with equal opportunities to all, he said.

Baghel further said that Pradhan Mantri awas Yojana (PMAY) has given homes to the poor, who had to share living space with their livestock. The availability of toilets in rural areas led to decrease in the incidents of rape, he added.

Union Minister Ashwini Chaubey called Swadeshi (made in India) and Swavalambi (self-reliance) as the ways to realise the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat.

He said leadership was the key for a nation to become a role model for the rest of the world, adding that the visionary leadership of PM Modi has made the citizens feel proud of the nation.

Stating that 21st century was India’s century, Chaubey said the country would become a ‘Vishwaguru’ and take the world forward under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh said India needs to look back at the last 25 years to think about the vision for the upcoming 25 years, adding that the country will emerge as a world leader in 2047.

He said the government has not implemented new rules, but scrapped old and useless laws, which were running for decades. In the eight years of Modi government, every governance model turned out to be a social reform. Total 1600 rules have been scrapped under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added. PM Modi has opened up areas to the youth of this country. He has the capacity to break taboos of the past, he said.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur hailed the performance of India at the XXII Commonwealth Games. Showering praises on all athletes, the Minister especially lauded the female power, saying that women have done exceptionally well at Birmingham 2922 Commonwealth Games. Team India has so far won 55 medals, which include 18 gold, 15 silver and 22 bronze.

Talking about the National Education Policy 2020, Thakur said the government was focusing on skill sets and sports in NEP 2020, which will be implemented after 34 years.

Speaking about the abrogation of Article 370, which stripped the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, leading to its bifurcation into two Union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Thakur said there was no single incident of violence in Kashmir after the scrapping of Article 370, where stone pelting was a normal affair.

The Minister said nobody was talking about Kashmir during UPA in Parliament, adding that he had started the Yuva Sangharsh Yatra from Calcutta to Kashmir in the memory of Syama Prasad Mukherjee.

He said 75 years of independence was very important. Har Ghar Tiranga was for everyone to buy and hoist flags at their homes. The Minister further asked the people to buy flags and not wait for someone to offer them one. At the end of the conclave, everyone will put tiranga as their DP, he added.

“It is not about just putting a flag at your home, but tiranga has the power to strengthen the unity of the country,” observed Thakur.

Delhi University’s Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh said that DU is going to start course-based registration under the NEP 2020, which will give students the freedom to choose the subject of their choice.

Singh said India will produce brilliant students after the implementation of NEP 2020. “Degree is just a piece of paper, your education is seen in your behavior,” he observed.

BJP minister Shahnawaz Hussain said Bihar has a different image in the eyes of every individual.

Earlier, he said that Bihar was a soft target for Bollywood film producers, who would portray a bad image of the state through movies like Apharan and Gangajal. However, today’s Bihar is about Super 30, he added.

Hussain also urged the people of the country to invest in Bihar to cut the transportation cost. The time of Lantern will never come back again in Bihar because the state is smoothly running under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari threw light on the existence of two nations in India. He said one is the rural agricultural India and the other is Urban India and to bring unity in this diversity, the need of the hour is to unite India and Bharat in order to move ahead.

Gadkari also spoke about the Swadeshi Vicharadhara, and said that its based on three points – Ethics, Economy and Rasthravaad.

“In order to become the world’s biggest economy, we need to focus on our basis, which is jal (water), jangal (forests), jameen (land) and janwar (animals).

He shared his views on the current agricultural practices in India. He said India needs to change the crop pattern to defeat the world. He applauded the current government for its policies to help the farmers and said that todays’ farmers have not only become an Annadaata, but also Urjadaata under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Commenting on the UP-Bihar agriculture, Gadkari said the people of rural India have forcefully migrated to urban India. UP’s rural economy is dependent on sugarcane and has started the production of ethanol like Bihar. Ethanol is made up of sugarcane and hydrogen is the future fuel, he added.

According to the Minister, after being fitted with hydrogen fuel, a vehicle will provide an average of 450 km in just Rs 80, which will add to the development of the country.

He ended his talk at the Swadesh Conclave 2022 by saying that India is working on 26 green highways that will reduce the journey time from 6 to 4 hours. He added that India is moving to green energy to become carbon neutral India and hence, it’s safe to say that India’s software engineers are best in the world.

New Delhi: Cabinet Ministers from Six States have approached the Supreme Court, seeking review of its August 17, order allowing the central government to conduct NEET-JEE exams.

The petition has been filed through Advocate Sunil Fernandes said that the Supreme Court order fails to “secure the safety, security and Right to Life of the Students/Candidates appearing for the NEET/JEE exams”.

The petitioners have sought a review of the apex court’s order of August 17, seeking postponement of the proposed NEET/JEE examinations, in a manner that achieves the twin objectives of ensuring that the academic year of the students (2020-2021) is not wasted and their health and safety is not compromised.

This Review Petition is filed against the order dated 17.08.2020 of the Supreme Court, whereby the central government was permitted to conduct NEET and JEE exams. There are six petitioners, from the six different states, who have filed in their individual capacities. 

Petitioner No. 1: Moloy Ghatak, Minister-in-Charge, Department of Labour & E.S.I. (MB) Scheme and Departments of Law & Judicial, Government of West Bengal. 

Petitioner No. 2: Dr. Rameshwar Oraon, Cabinet Minister of Finance, Government of Jharkhand. 

Petitioner No. 3: Dr. Raghu Sharma, Cabinet Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Rajasthan. 

Petitioner No. 4: Shri Amarjeet Bhagat, Minister of Food, Civil supplies, Culture, Planning, Economics & Statistics, Government of Chhattisgarh. 

Petitioner No. 5: Shri Balbir Singh Sidhu, Cabinet Minister Health and Family Welfare & Labour, Government of Punjab.

Petitioner No. 6: Shri Uday Ravindra Samant, Minister of Higher and Technical Education, Government of Maharashtra.

The main grounds on which the review against the Supreme Court order has been sought is that it fails to:

·        Secure the safety, security and Right to Life of the students/candidates appearing for the NEET/JEE exams.

·        Has ignored the teething logistical difficulties in conducting the examinations at the proposed dates.

·        Failed to balance the competing but equally important aspects of conducting the examination and securing safety of the students.

·        Fails to ensure that mandatory safeguards are put in place during the conduct of the examinations.

Read Also: PIL in SC challenges Minority Act’s failure to address minorities at state level

The petitioners have submitted that if the Impugned Order is not reviewed then:

“grave and irreparable harm and injury would befall on the student community of our country and not only will the health, welfare and safety of the students/candidates appearing for the NEET/JEE examinations would stand imperiled but also the public health at large would be in severe jeopardy in these COVID-19 pandemic times“.

It has further been submitted that

“The Union Government had adequate time to make comprehensive preparations for the safe and successful conduct of the examinations. However, the intervening months from April to  September 2020 were characterized by inaction, confusion, lethargy and inertia. Now the Union Government has suddenly woken up to realize that their inertia is going to cost lacs of students their academic year and therefore as a knee-jerk reaction, the Union Government has haphazardly and hurriedly fixed the dates of the examinations which remedy will prove to be worse than the disease itself“.

-India Legal Bureau

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta will lead a posse of lawyers, including Additional Solicitors General Aman Lekhi, SV Raju, and Chetan Sharma, apart from lawyers Amit Mahajan and Rajat Nair will represent Delhi Police in the Delhi Riots cases.

This was decided by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal these six lawyers would be the key people in dealing with the several cases pending in various courts. They will cover the Anti-Citizenship Act protest cases, as well as the North-East Delhi Riots cases.

Such a panel had been rejected by Delhi government cabinet, but Baijal has disregarded that cabinet decision. This panel has to be approved by the President, citing “differences of opinion”.

Read the notification here;

Read Also: Delhi riots: Delhi HC allows trial court’s 60-day extension for police probe

– India Legal Bureau