We can’t interfere in legal process, says Azad
NEW DELHI: The Congress' sympathies are with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), but it cannot interfere with the legal process — this was the unequivocal message that the ruling party at the Centre gave DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi, who concluded a two-day visit to the national capital where he had a tearful reunion with his daughter and Rajya Sabha MP, Kanimozhi, who is in Tihar Jail facing charges in the 2G spectrum scandal.
There was no meeting between Mr. Karunanidhi and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, but several Congress leaders called on the DMK patriarch at the Taj Mahal Hotel on Man Singh Road.
On Monday, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy met Mr. Karunanidhi, while on Tuesday, Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan and Union Health Minister — and party functionary in charge of Tamil Nadu — Ghulam Nabi Azad called on the octogenarian leader.
The Congress was at pains, however, to stress that the relationship between the two parties — which together faced a humiliating defeat in the recent Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu — would remain unaffected by Ms. Kanimozhi's arrest. Mr. Azad said: “All these goings-on will have no effect on the DMK-Congress alliance, and in future also it will have no effect.”
‘Limited role'
Responding to questions from journalists, shortly after he met Mr. Karunanidhi, Mr. Azad also clarified that the government could not interfere in the legal process. He said Mr. Karunanidhi was aware of the limited role the Centre could play in the case as the Supreme Court was directly monitoring the 2G spectrum case.
“Mr. Karunanidhi is a man of political standing and also a man of political understanding. He knows well that the Supreme Court is monitoring the case and a special court is looking into it,” Mr. Azad said, adding: “He also knows the... Government of India... is not interfering in any case, including the [Suresh] Kalmadi case.”
Praising the DMK leader for his judgement, Mr. Azad pointed out that the former understood the circumstances, the dominating situation and the role of law agencies in the matter. The two also discussed the recent election results during their meeting.
Aware of the sensitivities involved, Mr. Azad also conveyed Ms. Gandhi's concern about Ms. Kanimozhi's plight and his party's sympathies to the DMK over the issue.
“Our leader Sonia Gandhi is concerned because a woman is in jail,” he said.
‘Ties unchanged'
Meanwhile, Ms. Natarajan told journalists that she had met Mr. Karunanidhi as a matter of courtesy and that the ties between the Congress and DMK remained unchanged.
“The DMK has said that it will fight the case legally,” she said.
Party spokesperson Manish Tewari, stressing the need for “sensitivity” on the issue, said the “pain” of a father should be understood. However, he added that the Congress was clear: the law would take its course.
Echoing Mr. Azad, Mr. Tewari said: “It is a strong alliance. We have fought elections together and we are participating in government together. Victory and defeat are part of the natural rhythm of the democratic process and it will not affect our equation.”
Reference from The Hindu.
Kanimozhi’s bail plea hearing posted to May 30
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the CBI on the bail petitions of DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV director Sharad Kumar, who are in custody in the 2G spectrum allocation case. It also posted the matter for further hearing to May 30.
Justice Ajit Bharihoke issued the notice, after briefly hearing senior counsel R. Shanmugasundaram and counsel V.G. Pragasam, appearing for Ms. Kanimozhi, and senior counsel Altaf Ahmed for Mr. Kumar. The judge asked the CBI to file a status report, detailing the stage of the investigation, the role of the two accused and the judicial proceedings in the case at the next hearing.
In her appeal filed on Monday against the CBI Special Court's order dated May 20, she said she had “no role in the alleged conspiracy in the allocation of the Unified Access Services (UAS) licences, the valuable and scarce spectrum in various telecom circles and other undue favours to M/s. Swan Telecom Pvt. Ltd. [A-6] during 2007-2009. She is only a 20 per cent shareholder of Kalaignar TV and has no active role in its operations, management of offices and operations of the channel.”
Ms. Kanimozhi said she was entitled to merely furnishing bail bonds in terms of Section 87/88 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which she was willing to do. Once the judge applied his mind to the materials available before the court on April 25, took cognisance of the case and decided to issue only summons, the next step (for him) was to proceed as per Section 309 (2) of Cr.PC by accepting bail bonds from the accused and grant bail. “It is well settled that no court has any inherent power of remand of an accused to any custody.”
In his appeal, Mr. Kumar said the Rs. 200 crore Kalaignar TV received from M/s. Cineyug Pvt. Ltd. was purely a loan and not a bribe as claimed by the CBI in its charge sheet, and the entire amount was repaid in due course.
Reference from The Hindu.
Raina powers CSK into final
CHENNAI: Powered by an amazing 50-ball unbeaten 73 from Suresh Raina, Chennai Super Kings defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets with two deliveries remaining in the thrilling first qualifier of the Indian Premier League Season-4 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The defending champion is through to the final that will be played in Chennai on Saturday. RCB can still progress to the summit clash if it wins the second qualifier at Chepauk on Friday.
Pursuing a stiff 176, CSK needed 33 from the last two overs and 12 from the final over sent down by RCB captain Daniel Vettori. The blazing left-handed duo of Raina and Albie Morkel (28 not out off 10 balls) dazzled. Morkel concluded the match with a exciting six off the cunning Vettori. The brave Raina, who lived cramps in the final moments of the gripping contest, was declared Man of the Match. The southpaw struck four boundaries and a stunning six sixes. The Chennai side, recovering from seven for two, looked hard knocks in the eye.
Reference from The Hindu.
Mumbai Indians will be under pressure
Mumbai: Black caps all-rounder James Franklin leads the Mumbai Indians batting averages after playing remarkable game-twisting roles in the last league fixture of the IPL-IV against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens.
Off and on, Franklin was named in the team sheet skipper Sachin Tendulkar carried with him to hand over to his counterpart at the toss in the lead-up to the play-off match, prompting wisecracks in the press box to comment on the utility of the Kiwi bought at a mere $100,000 on the second day of the auction in Bangalore almost four months ago.
Match-winner
Apart from practising hitting sixes at net-sessions at the Wankhede stadium, Franklin has hardly managed to catch the attention, on occasions as an opener and getting out cheaply, when operating with the ball and while fielding in the deep. But turning out in his sixth match, Franklin became MIs' match-winner against KKR, after exhibiting nimble work with ball that removed key KKR batsmen in Jacques Kallis and Yusuf Pathan and then hitting hefty shots that sent Laxmipathy Balaji to the far corners of the Eden four times before Ambati Rayudu clinched victory with a six.
Franklin's heavy-duty shots gave him and MI 45 runs in an aggregate of 62 in six matches and high average of 62.00. It's on the back of this magnificent show with the bat and ball (two for 35) that MI will take on KKR in the IPL-eliminator.
MI is disappointed at the fact that it did not sustain its form to be placed among the top two in the league; a string of defeats against Kings XI Punjab, Deccan Chargers and Rajasthan Royals saw it slip from the top of the table to fourth position before the cliff-hanger against KKR.
Rough ride
It has been a rough and tumble ride for MI after Lasith Malinga and its top order worked like a well-oiled machine in the opening matches against Delhi Daredevils at the Kotla and RCB at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
The erratic story thus far would bring it under pressure against the KKR. The Wankhede is not any more its home ground in a way; the stadium does not bear the flex-posters in blue, the shades of India's tri-colours have replaced it with the BCCI-IPL taking charge of the play-off matches.
The winner of this MI-KKR match would proceed to the qualifier 2 match in Chennai and it will play against the loser of the match between RCB and Chennai Super Kings.
For the first time in four seasons, KKR has entered the last four, a feat its owner Shah Rukh Khan would be happy about. Gautam Gambhir has every right to lavish praise on his colleagues, the way they lifted the game after going down to CSK in the opening match of the competition at Chepauk by two runs.
After the victory against Pune Warriors, Gambhir rejected a view that his team's performance has been very changeable. “I do not agree with that at all. We have played excellent cricket on different kinds of surfaces. We are a team that would be most difficult to beat,”' he said without any trace of apprehension and adding that events in an over or two can swing the fortunes of a team.
On Sunday he went out of the way to defend Balaji who sent down the final over of the match and was battered for 23 runs — the same Amit Mishra and Shikhar Dhawan scored against Munaf Patel in the MI- DC match. Balaji is the third highest wicket-taker for KKR after Iqbal Abdulla (16) and Yusuf Pathan (13).
After a three for 15 spell against Rajasthan Royals in which he sent down the dream leg-cutter to dismiss Shane Watson, the former Indian seamer has been in the news and for good reasons.
It's not often that he has been thumped so as to be the cause of defeat. Rightly Gambhir has defended one of his strike bowlers. “He is an experienced bowler, he is not a bad bowler because of one over. In this format such things can happen. It was one of those bad days for us. He gave away 23 runs in that over. Nine times out of ten he would have emerged as a winner,” said Gambhir.
Adequate strength
KKR has the bowling resources to subdue an unpredictable MI on a surface that has encouraged the seamers and spinners. It has adequate strength to post a formidable total too.
MI will have its supporters rooting for it, but Tendulkar's team will take the field with a stark reminder that it could not make 136 while chasing against the Chargers and post only 133 against Rajasthan Royals after which Watson cut loose and made the home team wilt.
It's been more often the case of MI not able to deal with pressure in the tournament and there's no denying that fact.
Reference from The Hindu
Sensational win for Super Kings
MUMBAI: Suresh Raina eased Chennai Super Kings' way into a third final in four IPL tournaments, swinging his way to a match-winning 73 not out (50b, 4x4, 6x6) as the defending champion won by six wickets in the DLF-IPL-IV first qualifier at the Wankhede here on Tuesday.
Royal Challengers Bangalore found the early stranglehold exerted by bowlers slipping away as Albie Morkel joined in the fun, leaping in delight after hitting the winning runs. CSK chased down 175 with just two balls to spare on a night of big hitting.
Man-of-the-match Raina teamed up with Badrinath in a 63-run stand for the third wicket to infuse life into the CSK chase after Zaheer Khan had claimed openers Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay. The left-hander crumbled to the turf with cramps, then got up and went about smashing the bowlers all over the field. Kohli's smile turned into a scowl after conceding 16 runs in his second over and Mithun looked on helplessly as 23 runs were stolen off his third over.
Consistent Badrinath
Badrinath enhanced his reputation as a run-machine, rattling up 34 off 32 balls faced with a slew of fluent drives and unfearing shots. Dhoni entered the battle at 70 for three in the 11th over and kept finding spaces for forceful drives.
Though Vettori and Gayle came on to check the run flow, Raina and Dhoni went on firing away, putting away anything in range to take the score within striking range. Even when Vettori turned to Zaheer for damage control, the CSK duo kept firing away without missing a beat to steal 20 runs off the India strike bowler's fourth over.
The CSK left-hander lashed four boundaries and four sixes to cross the half-century mark off 44 balls as the pair put on 61 runs off 35 balls before the captain departed during the no-holds barred assault.
Morkel took up the baton, with 45 runs needed, to heave two sixes off Aravind and Raina swatted a huge six in the 19th over as the play-off headed for a thrilling climax.
With 12 runs required off six balls, Vettori brought himself on. Morkel smashed one boundary past mid-wicket, ran singles hard and pulled CSK past the tape with a six off the fourth ball.
Earlier, Ashwin was held back till the fourth over by Dhoni. Gayle, who could not contain his patience after blocking the off-spinner's first ball, swatted the second over mid-wicket. But he fell for the bait immediately.
The breakthrough delivery, pitched on leg-stump, slipped after pitching to hit Gayle's front pad below the knee roll after the West Indian failed in his attempt to sweep. The off-spinner roared in joy when umpire Simon Taufel upheld the appeal.
Meanwhile, young opener Mayank Agarwal flexed his muscles against the pace bowlers. He quickly got into position and hit on the rise against Morkel and Bollinger. He stepped out to clear long-off twice effortlessly, showcasing power in his arms for 34 off 33 balls (5x4).
Bravo preyed on the young opener's anxiety to cash in by stepping out and shortened the length. Bollinger on the fence did his part coolly as the ball soared high towards the floodlights. Murali Vijay then kept his nerve on the ropes at long-on to pouch a heave from A.B. de Villiers.
At the other end, Virat Kohli, who took charge in the fourth over, kept his focus on rotating strike and punished the bowlers.
Pomersbach stepped in to strike lusty blows, displaying his value as a hard-hitter (29, 18b, 2x4, 2x6). The left-handed Aussie used the bounce off the track for back-to-back shots against Bravo. A delicate cut past Dhoni to third man and then a brutal pull left the fielders keeping track of the ball flying over their heads. However, Bollinger's persistence paid off when Pomersbach swung and missed.
Then Ashwin was escorted off the field, somewhat disoriented, after a shot from Saurabh Tiwary caught the off-spinner on the head.
Kohli matched Tiwary's assault with forceful strokes down the straight in a 42-run stand. Two sixes off Morkel in the penultimate over showcased his form in an unbeaten knock of 70, laced with five fours and three sixes. RCB's top-scorer walked off with head held high, proving once again that the team's high expectations from him were not misplaced.
SCOREBOARD
Royal Challengers Bangalore: M. Agarwal c Bollinger b Bravo 34 (33b, 5x4), C. Gayle lbw b Ashwin 8 (9b, 1x6), V. Kohli (not out) 70 (44b, 5x4, 3x6), A.B. de Villiers c Vijay b Jakati 11 (10b, 1x6), L. Pomersbach b Bollinger 29 (18b, 2x4, 1x6), S. Tiwary (not out) 9 (6b, 1x6); Extras (b-2, lb-7, w-5): 14; Total (for four wkts. in 20 overs): 175.
Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-65, 3-85, 4-133.
Chennai Super Kings bowling: Morkel 4-0-40-0, Bollinger 4-0-20-1, Ashwin 4-0-33-1, Bravo 3-0-28-1, Jakati 4-0-37-1, Raina 1-0-8-0.
Chennai Super Kings: M. Hussey lbw b Zaheer 0 ( 4b), M Vijay lbw b Aravind 5 ( 5, 1x4), S. Raina (not out) 73 ( 50 balls, 4x4, 6x6), S. Badrinath c Aravind b Mithun 34 ( 32b, 5x4), M.S. Dhoni c Mithun b Zaheer 29 ( 19b, 3x4, 1x6), A. Morkel (not out) 28 ( 10b, 1x4, 3x6); Extras (b-1, lb-1, nb-2, w-4): 8. Total (for four wkts in 19.4 overs): 177.
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-7, 3-70, 4-131.
Royal Challengers bowling: Zaheer 4-0-31-2, Aravind 3-0-32-1, Mithun 3-0-32-1, Kohli 2-0-19-0, Vettori 3.4-0-42-0, Gayle 4-0-19-0.
Man-of-the-Match: Suresh Raina .
Reference from The Hindu.
Chandy sets law-enforcement priorities
Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Tuesday said the police would go the extra mile to ensure justice to victims of violence, trafficking, and sexual exploitation, particularly those hailing from the poor and marginalised sections of society.
Speaking to newspersons after chairing a top-level police meeting here, Mr. Chandy said the police would stringently enforce the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act and ensure that victims of crime hailing from such sections of society received special protection and financial and legal aid as envisaged in the Act.
(A Crime Branch investigation team headed by Deputy Inspector-General of Police S. Sreejith had found that there were not less than 1,000 unwed mothers in the tribal settlements in north Kerala. Most had been sexually exploited when they were minors. Many had been sexually exploited by their employers at workplaces. Their children were marked, pushing the youth into crime and drug addiction. The police feared that divisive forces could radicalise the impressionable youth for their political causes if the government dithered in addressing their social problems.)
Mr. Chandy said various departments would work in tandem with the police to protect and uphold the rights of the underprivileged sections of society.
The special team investigating the ice cream parlour sex scandal case would continue its work unobstructed and in accordance with law.
Internal vigilance
Commenting on the arrest of a police officer on the charge of leasing gangsters to murder a journalist in Kollam, Mr. Chandy said the police would strengthen its internal vigilance mechanisms to check corruption and criminalisation of the force from within.
Important junctions, bus stops, roads and shopping localities in the five municipal corporations in the State would come under nonstop surveillance of police security cameras. The police would directly recruit proficient helmsmen to man its 24 seafaring patrol boats.
The training period of policemen would be considered as service with retrospective effect, thereby causing a considerable increase in the pension of those who have already retired from the force.
The police would hire qualified personnel to operate its Regional Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Kannur and depute more men at the police station level to strengthen its neighbourhood watch scheme.
The police would crack down on organised crime, child beggary and burglary.
Mr. Chandy announced a reward of Rs.5,000 for actionable intelligence that led to detection of crime or apprehension of wanted men.
He urged the public to capture images of crime, criminal activity and wanted men on mobile phone and send it as a multi media message to a dedicated police website, which would be soon announced. Director-General of Police Jacob Punnose was present.
Reference from The Hindu.
Lottery case: CBI to take over investigation
Kochi: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court disposed of two writ petitions seeking a CBI probe into the irregularities indulged in by the promoters of Bhuttan lotteries in the State in the light of the submission by the Union government that the CBI had been instructed to take up the investigation despite shortcomings in the procedure adopted by the State government.
The Bench comprising Chief Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice P.R.Ramachandra Menon disposed of the writ petitions filed by Congress MLA V.D. Satheesan and V.M. Sivankutty, a lottery vendor, after recording the submissions made by Gopal Subramaniam, Solicitor General made on behalf of the Union government.
In his petition, Mr. Satheesan sought a directive to the State government to make a request under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act for issuing an order for a probe into the illegal conduct of lotteries of other States. According to him, a Vigilance probe had found various irregularities committed by the promoters of other State lotteries. Mr. Satheesan pointed out that the Vigilance had also recommended prohibition of the sale of Bhutan and Sikkim lotteries in the State. No action had been taken by the State government on the basis of the Vigilance report submitted in 2006.
The Solicitor General had earlier submitted during the hearing of the case that the Centre was ready to order a CBI probe into the issue. But, the State government was yet to furnish the details of the cases, such as First Information Reports (FIRs) etc., relating to the illegal acts perpetrated by the promoters of the lotteries.
The State government needs to follow with the procedure such as registering FIRs, etc., to enable the Union government to advise the CBI to take over the lottery-related cases. He submitted that the Union Home Ministry wrote to the State government explaining the procedure to be adopted by it to enable the Centre to entrust the investigation of the case with the CBI.
The State government had submitted that in view of the undertaking given before the Supreme Court, it could not file any FIRs against the promoters of Bhutan lotteries who had violated provisions under the Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998 or the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The government undertook in 2005 that no FIRs would be registered for violations of Section 4 of the Lottery Regulation Act and that no further steps would be taken on the FIRs already registered. The undertaking was given in the wake of contempt of court cases filed by the promoters.
The Solicitor General made the submission that the CBI was instructed to take up the investigation despite the shortcomings in the procedure adopted by the government when the petitions came up for hearing in April 2011.
The court also observed that both the writ petitions had “political overtones” and were motivated at least to some extent by the desire to take advantage at the hustings or pre-empting adverse propaganda during the electioneering.
Reference from The Hindu.
CBI probe must be comprehensive, says Isaac
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The former Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac said here on Tuesday that the CBI investigation into the lottery scam, if any, should be comprehensive and must cover actions of both the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) governments, particularly the reasons why the last UDF regime failed to collect taxes promptly and why the State's powers to initiate legal action against the lottery mafia were abdicated.
Dr. Thomas told a news conference that he also had no problem in the CBI investigation covering the decisions taken by him.
The demand for a CBI investigation was first raised in 2005, but the then Oommen Chandy government had not taken any action in the matter.
Further, though there was no legal obstacle to collection of taxes from the lottery operators, the Chandy government had not done so causing huge loss to the State.
His government also withdrew all cases charged against lottery mafia and also gave an undertaking to the Kerala High Court to the effect that no further cases would be charged against them.
The forces that blocked the CBI investigation sought by former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and himself should also figure in the probe, Dr. Isaac said.
Reference from The Hindu.