Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday gave an earful to Army Chief General Bipin Rawat for criticizing people leading protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), asking him to “mind his business.”

Speaking at a ‘Maha Rally’ organized in Thiruvananthapuram by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) against the CAA he asked, “Now, the Army General is being asked to speak up. Is it the job of the Army General?”

“It is not the business of the Army to tell politicians what we should do. Just as it is not our business to tell you how to fight a war. You fight war according to your ideas and we will manage the politics of the country,” he said.

“The DGP… the Army General are being asked to support the government. It is a shame. Let me appeal to General Rawat. You head the Army and mind your business… what politicians will do, politicians will do”, he added.

#WATCH P Chidambaram: DGP&Army General are being asked to support govt, it’s a shame. Let me appeal to Genaral Rawat,you head the Army&mind your business. It’s not business of Army to tell politicians what we should do, just as it’s not our business to tell you how to fight a war pic.twitter.com/MgjkeSPBPn

— ANI (@ANI) December 28, 2019

General Rawat, last week, had accused certain “leaders” of instigating people to indulge in violence during the CAA protests. He had said, “Leadership is all about leading. When you move forward, everybody follows… But leaders are not those who lead people in inappropriate directions, as we are witnessing with a large number of students the way they are leading masses of crowds to carry out arson and violence in our cities and towns. This is not leadership.”

The Congress leader, slamming General Rawat’s statements, also voiced his support for the students who have taken the charge of this movement saying, “India’s students and youth decided to oppose this law because they understand the grave danger it poses to the Indian constitution. The Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens are conjoined twins that pose a direct threat to Muslims. The law is unconstitutional, and I’m sure that it will be struck down by the Supreme Court.”

General Rawat’s comment also drew flak from other Opposition leaders. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress leader in Lok Sabha also criticized the General for his statement.

He said –

Army Chief’s remark on CAA is highly objectionable, unethical and beyond his remit, he is appeared to be a BJP leader who is going to be promoted or rewarded as cds. Rawat needs to be restrained to maintain the impartiality of our army

— Adhir Chowdhury (@adhirrcinc) December 26, 2019

Manish Tewari, national spokesperson for the Congress said in a tweet, “Since when have Army Chiefs started commenting about internal affairs? It undermines Civil-Military Relations whose cornerstone is that Armed Forces neither comment nor interfere in domestic politics. This has been our singular success going back to 1947.”

Yashwant Sinha, the Former Minister for Finance and External Affairs tweeted –

There are many ways in which democratic norms are being destroyed in India. But Army Chief Bipin Rawat wading into the current political controversy is a new low. Must be nipped in the bud.

— Yashwant Sinha (@YashwantSinha) December 26, 2019

AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi too questioned General Rawat’s statements on the matter. He said, “Leadership is knowing the limits of one’s office. It is about understanding the idea of civilian supremacy and preserving the integrity of the institution that you head.”

Yogendra Yadav, the National President of Swaraj India too took a potshot at Rawat saying, “I agree with him. Yes, leaders should lead (people) in the appropriate direction. I am absolutely sure, he has the prime minister of this country in mind when talking about that.”

The General’s statement and the stinging attack on it by the Opposition has come at a time when the country is embroiled in turmoil over the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the implementation of a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC). He has earlier too faced allegations of not remaining politically neutral and siding with the ruling government. Set to retire as the Army Chief on December 31, he is now tipped to become India’s first Chief of Defence Staff and be the one-point military advisor to the government on matters pertaining to the Army, Navy and Air Force.

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“The government is wrong. It is wrong because it is clueless. It is unable to look for the obvious clues because it is stubborn and mulish in defending its catastrophic mistakes like demonetisation, flawed GST, tax terrorism, regulatory overkill, protectionism, and centralized control of decision-making in the PMO,” Chidambaram said.
 

Full Text of the press conference held today by former union finance minister PC Chidambaram:

“I am glad to speak to you exactly 106 days after I last spoke to you. As I stepped out and breathed the air of freedom at 8 pm last night, my first thought and prayers were for the 75 lakh people of the Kashmir Valley who have been denied their basic freedoms since August 4, 2019. I am particularly concerned about the political leaders who have been detained without charges. Freedom is indivisible: if we must preserve our freedom, we must fight for their freedom.

“I am grateful for the clear and comprehensive order yesterday of the Supreme Court. The order will clear the many layers of dust that have unfortunately settled on our understanding of criminal law and the manner in which criminal law has been administered by our Courts.

“I have never commented on cases that are sub judice and I shall continue to adhere to that principle. To many of your possible questions on the case, the answers can be found in the lucid order of the Supreme Court pronounced yesterday.

“In the last 106 days, I was strong in spirit and I have become stronger because of the following:

1. My record as Minister and my conscience are absolutely clear. Officers who have worked with me, business persons who have interacted with me and journalists who have observed me know that very well.

2. My family trusts in God.

3. We have total confidence that the Courts will, ultimately, render justice.

“Let us leave the matter at that and turn to the most pressing and explosive issue of the day — which is the state of the ECONOMY.

“The place to start is the diagnosis. If the diagnosis is wrong, the prescription will be useless, maybe even fatal. Even after 7 months into the fiscal year, the BJP government believes that the problems faced by the economy are cyclical. The government is wrong. It is wrong because it is clueless. It is unable to look for the obvious clues because it is stubborn and mulish in defending its catastrophic mistakes like demonetisation, flawed GST, tax terrorism, regulatory overkill, protectionism, and centralized control of decision-making in the PMO.

Please reflect on each one of the charges that I have made. In the days to come, I shall speak, give interviews and write elaborately on each of them.

Nothing sums up the state of the economy better than the following series of numbers: 8, 7, 6.6, 5.8, 5 and 4.5

Those are the quarterly growth rates of GDP in the last six quarters. The third and fourth quarters of 2019-20 are not likely to be any better. We will be lucky to end the year if growth touches 5 per cent. And please remember Dr Arvind Subramanian’s caution that 5 per cent under this government, because of suspect methodology, is not really 5 per cent but less by about 1.5 per cent.

The Prime Minister has been unusually silent on the economy. He has left it to his ministers to indulge in bluff and bluster. The net result, as The Economist put it, is that the government has turned out to be an ‘incompetent manager’ of the economy.

The investors of the world — and the bankers, the rating agencies and the Boards of Directors of companies — read The Economist, The Wall Street Journal and TIME.

They also pay close attention to numbers. Every number — and I repeat every number — points in the direction of a floundering economy. Here are some.

There are many more. You have reported many of them, just go back and look at your data. The government alone is in denial.

Rural consumption is down according to NSSO. Rural wages are down. Producer prices are down, especially for farmers. Daily wage earners get work for no more than 15 days a month. Demand for MGNREGA is up. FMCG — both durable and non-durable — are selling less. Wholesale prices are up. CPI is going up. Onions sell at Rs 100 a kg. What do these point to? There is less demand among the people because they have less money and less appetite to consume due to uncertainty and fear.

Unless demand increases, there will not be increased production/output or increased investment. PLF of all thermal plants is 48 per cent. If one-half of installed electricity capacity is shut down, there can be no greater disaster.

Government is calling the present slowdown ‘cyclical’. Thank god they have not called it ‘seasonal’. It is ‘structural’ and the government has no solutions or reforms that would address the structural problems.

The UPA lifted 140 million people out of poverty between 2004 and 2014. The NDA has, since 2016, pushed millions of people below the poverty line.

The economy can be brought out of the slowdown, but this government is incapable of doing that. I believe that the Congress and some other parties are better equipped to pull the economy out of the slowdown and push economic growth, but we have to wait for better times.”

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106 days after he was arrested, P Chidambaram walked of Tihar jail a free man on Wednesday after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the money laundering case lodged against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Stepping out of jail, he was greeted by his son Karti Chidambaram and other Congress leaders. The former Finance Minister has been granted bail in the INX Media case on a bond of Rs. 2 lakh with two sureties each and with the condition of him not leaving the country without permission. Other conditions of his bail are as follows:
 

· He shall not tamper with evidence or influence witnesses

· He shall make himself available for interrogation for further investigation whenever required

· His passport shall remain deposited in court

The three-judge bench comprising of Justice R Banumathi, Justice AS Bopanna and Justice Hrishikesh Royset agreed with the HC order that economic offences came under the category of grave offences. However, it noted that denying bail was the exception to the law of basic jurisprudence. It said that the grant of bail continued to hold field to ensure that the accused had their chance at seeking a fair trial.

The senior Congress leader addressed his first press conference after being granted bail on Thursday, December 5, 2019. Expressing gratitude for his release, Chidambaram said that he would not comment on the case as it was sub-judice and instead turned to speak about matters related to the economy.

He said, “The government is wrong. It is wrong because it is clueless. It is unable to look for the obvious clues because it is stubborn and mulish in defending its catastrophic mistakes like demonetisation, flawed GST, tax terrorism, regulatory overkill, protectionism, and centralized control of decision-making in the PMO.”

Calling out PM Modi on his silence related to the economic slowdown he said, “The Prime Minister has been unusually silent on the economy. He has left it to his ministers to indulge in bluff and bluster. The net result, as The Economist put it, is that the government has turned out to be an ‘incompetent manager’ of the economy.”

Speaking about the Modi government, he said, “Government is calling the present slowdown ‘cyclical’. Thank god they have not called it ‘seasonal’. It is ‘structural’ and the government has no solutions or reforms that would address the structural problems.”

Citing that the UPA lifted 140 million people out of poverty between 2004 and 2014, he accused the NDA saying that it has, since 2016, “pushed millions of people below the poverty line.”

Addressing the people, he asked them to pay close attention to the numbers that pointed in the direction of a “floundering economy.”

He expressed his optimism about the economy coming out of the slump and that parties other than the BJP were better for the job, saying, “The economy can be brought out of the slowdown, but this government is incapable of doing that. I believe that the Congress and some other parties are better equipped to pull the economy out of the slowdown and push economic growth, but we have to wait for better times.”

He also attacked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament today for saying that her family didn’t eat onions – this especially at a time when consumers are struggling to buy the key food staple that is priced at Rs. 120 per kg.

“That shows the mindset of this government,” he said and was later seen joining a protest by the Congress at Parliament against rising onion prices.

Speaking to the media about Kashmir he said, “As I stepped out and breathed the air of freedom at 8 pm last night, my first thought and prayers were for the 75 lakh people of the Kashmir Valley who have been denied their basic freedoms since August 4, 2019. I am particularly concerned about the political leaders who have been detained without charges. Freedom is indivisible: if we must preserve our freedom, we must fight for their freedom.”

One cannot forget the witch-hunt the CBI / Ed went on trying to arrest Chidambaram. The event was played on every TV screen in India. After the high-voltage drama that lasted for over an hour, Chidambaram was taken for a medical check-up and then to the CBI headquarters.

Congress leaders had then vehemently accused the BJP of misusing its power and arm-wresting national agencies to fulfil their agenda against the leaders of the Opposition Party.

It looks like the SC has overstepped the BJP and finally taken back charge of the investigation. Will it face any repercussions by the autocratic Centre or will it retain its autonomy in judicial matters?

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What Happened to Tax Investigations on Ambanis?

The post SC releases P Chidambaram on bail appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Today I wish to present my side, which incidentally is the only side of this story.

 
My family has been facing the worst form of witch hunt at the hands of this Srivastava, who seems to be backed by this government. What’s really shocking is that Bharatiya Janata Party’s spokesperson like Sanju Verma reproduce such news items without even confirming the veracity of the article.
SK Srivastava, Commissioner, Income Tax, has pending charge sheets against him and recently the Honourable Supreme Court has in a written order said and I quote , “During the course of hearing , the learned solicitor General has submitted that three chargesheets that have been annexed to the counter affidavit that have been filed by respondent number 2 – department concerned have been filed against respondent number 1 (SK Srivastava) but for some reasons no action has been taken in pursuance of the said chargesheets. The enquiry shall be completed in six months from now.” 

Srivastava’s case was being investigated by the vigilance wing of the income tax department, where my wife and the other officer were posted at that time. It was then that he started intimidating Shumana and others by writing the worst possible dirt and filth about them. We challenged this man and the High Court pronounced a 15-day jail term for him, which is now pending in Supreme court. I am now quoting from the record of the High court judgement that was in our favour. Sample the filth Srivastava threw at two women officers who have been named X and Y:

1.    It is brought on record that to wreak havoc upon me and to intimidate others into silence lest the illicit sexual intimacies between Sri BK Jha and Ms “X” and Sri  SS Rana and Ms “Y” in organized prostitution wherein Sri  BK Jha and Ms “X” is practicing the illegal trade of prostitution is objected to and punished as per law, 

2. Both these women, i.e., Ms “Y” and Ms “X” apart from being in extra-marital sexual intimacies with Sri PK Misra and a large number of other male colleagues are also involved in organized prostitution and are prostitutes in terms of clause (f) of Section 2 of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956. … Ms “X” … garishly painted and gaudily attired befitting a prostitute of her caliber, is visiting various places including premises of Ld. CAT,  Principle (sic Principal) Bench, Delhi acting in most suggestive and provocative manner offering immoral gratification if person upon whom she is working agreed to conspire with her against me.  Log record of operational vehicle assigned to Ms Y would reveal her nocturnal trips to various places and people to canvass support against me through illicit and extra-marital sexual favours….   

How does a BJP spokesperson support someone who thinks like this? My wife is a government servant – bound by rules of conduct – and she has no right to reply. Is it fair of Verma to support Srivastava as he targets an officer?
The previous government did not encourage Srivastava, but at the same time, it refused to sack him, displaying a lackadaisical attitude as far as defending women officers in their departments. Although he was suspended in 2007, after the suspension was revoked due to technical reasons, Srivastava was posted to Ranchi by the previous administration. This government, shockingly, brought him back in 2015 and posted him in Noida. Now let’s talk about the charges.

The entire case against us is built around the allegation that we indulged in money laundering. Srivastava has been dramatically changing this figure over the years – from Rs 100 crores to Rs 5,500 crores, to… now I have really lost count.

The Central Bureau of Investigation’s special court judgement clearly rubbished the case and imposed a Rs 10,000 fine on him. Here’s the gist:
“In view of the aforesaid reasons and to prevent recurrence of such frivolous and mischievous appeals, all the four applications deserve to be dismissed with exemplary costs. However, the costs is concerned I am inclined to take a lenient view. Accordingly all four applications are dismissed subject to cost of 10,000 rupees to be deposited within seven days from now.” 

I know Srivastava’s supporters will say the court did not comment on the merits of the case . So my humble submission is, why not challenge this decision in a higher court of law? Why indulge in propaganda on social media? It’s obvious with no facts to back him, it was only vile propaganda that he could rely on to target us.

Interestingly, the Supreme Court had accepted a petition by Shumana Sen and another complainant, pleading that they were being harassed and that the government was doing nothing about it. In the course of the hearings , everyone from S Gurumurthy and KPS Gill filed interventions, and each and every intervention was thrown into the dustbin.

The Honourable Supreme Court had this to say about the entire matter in September 2015, and I quote,
“In the circumstances, we direct that the chairperson of the CBDT, will nominate an officer higher in rank that respondent 1 who will look in to the grievance of the petitioners within six months from today and shall suggest appropriate action, if any, which shall be initiated against the concerned persons”.

Now the matter is being investigated, but the government is obviously dragging its feet. It has already failed to meet the court’s deadline to file a report – could it be because it cannot blatantly deny what these women officers have been undergoing? – and the Supreme Court has asked the government to submit a report by December as the noose around Srivastava’s neck tightens in the defamation case that involves a jail sentence. This explains his desperation to seek publicity on malafide income tax assessments that have been made by the authorities at the behest of Srivastava himself. In fact, it is a classic case of the department being used as a tool to harass honest taxpayers, who just happen to be officers themselves or related to them. This is the worst form of tax terrorism one can witness anywhere.

Let me explain. The entire argument is that the Central Bureau of Investigation will soon file a case based on income tax assessments that have “exposed” some Rs 11 crores of unaccounted wealth possessed by my wife and me. This also includes the name of the other lady officer, who by the way has absolutely no link whatsoever with NDTV. She has never assessed or processed any NDTV tax matter. So why is she named here? Because she was one of the officers posted in vigilance. Srivastava has been intimidating her ever since and he’s now dragged her too in the NDTV matter.

The CBI interrogated my wife for eight hours last year and has been sitting on the matter since. We’ve been told by sources that the CBI didn’t really have a case but left it hanging. We did not attend a single hearing of these assessments as we knew the futility of doing so with Srivastava controlling the strings in the matter. The Circle does not even have the jurisdiction over my case as per the defined jurisdiction chart. But Let me give you an insight into the language of these comical assessments.

“On the other hand, Sri S.K. Srivastava, IRS dug in his heels in the manner reminiscent of the  First World War and accused Ms. Sumana Sen (IRS 99005) of accepting bribe and  illegal gratification from M/s NDTV Ltd. through the conduit of her spouse Sri Abhisar Sharma and employee of M/s NDTV Ltd.”
“The List of Cases as annexed by the Petitioners as Annexure P-4 with their Writ Petition and which the petitioners wanted the Honble Supreme Court to quash and set aside by calling those cases from the lower Courts including Honble Delhi High Court and other Honble High Courts contained cases in which the petitioners had no involvement and to which were not even party. The demand for removal of 93 minute video from the U Tube and Internet which contained mainly the wrongdoing by M/s NDTV Ltd. without letting any agency inquire or investigate the same only reflected the malafide agenda of the assessee.…. The nexus of assessee and M/s NDTV Ltd. and Rs.5,500 crores money-laundering scam is therefore duly made out …”

“I am the victim of faking of sexual harassment, sexual assault, molestation & repeated rapes by Ms. Sumana Sen (IRS 99005) ……  and which she  had faked in lieu of money paid to her by Sri P. Chidambaram, former Union Finance Minister & former Union Home Minister and M/s NDTV Ltd. who hired them  to fake sexual harassment, sexual assault, molestation and repeated rapes  by abusing  official position….”

(Emphases: mine.)

Not a single shred of evidence, documentary, or otherwise, has been either mentioned or discussed in any part of any of the orders.

We are now in appeal and have also filed a grievance with the committee set up for the purpose of looking into high pitched additions. Needless to say, no finding has been given by the committee, though the time limit for the same has expired. It is bizarre how the department has moulded itself into being an extension of Srivastava when it comes to harassment.

I would now like to give an outline of the facts about my employment with NDTV and the much hyped and maligned foreign tours.

As a special correspondent with NDTV, I had been given as part of my salary package from 2004 to 2006, a foreign travel allowance. It was part of my cost to company and was given every year at the time of my annual appraisal. This had no connection with the posting of my wife Shumana Sen as Assistant Commissioner Circle (1) 13, which is evident from the fact that the first such appraisal took place on July 29, 2004, whereas my wife joined that charge on August 13, 2004. Also, these appraisals continued even after she left that charge. Therefore, it is crystal clear that the annual foreign travel allowance was purely on the basis of merit, for my work rather than as a bribe for favours granted to NDTV as has been suggested in smear campaigns. I would also like to say with full responsibility that this allowance was given not only to me, but to many others in NDTV. The facts of the case are documented and I don’t wish to add anything further to this.

The following may be noted:
I joined NDTV in 2003, prior to which I was a Producer in BBC world Service London.  Therefore, I was qualified in my own right to be employed in NDTV. Srivastava, supported by Gurumurthy, has often said I was a small time stringer in BBC. However, I was a full time Producer, in London, and selected out of thousands who appeared for the entrance exam.

There were absolutely no favours granted by my wife to NDTV. On joining, she met her then Commissioner and informed him of my employment with NDTV. Before she could intimate the same in writing, an order dated 19-8-2004 (documents available) was issued in which he assigned eight cases to the Additional Commissioner Range 13 (my wife’s immediate superior officer) and vide that order, the Additional Commissioner was assigned these cases in capacity of an assessing officer with immediate effect. Out of these eight cases, two were of M/s NDTV and M/s NDTV World, limited for the assessment year 2002-03. There was no time gap in which my wife could have given a written intimation since she had joined on August 13 and the order was passed on the 19th.

The only order passed by my wife in case of NDTV was the intimation under section 143(1) of the Income tax Act and the refund cheque, which was due to the organisation and had to be given on time in order to avoid paying interest to NDTV later on, which would have caused loss to the revenue and monetary benefit to NDTV by way of interest.  To put it simply, she has saved money for the government. Moreover, this refund was granted only after obtaining the approval of the Additional Commissioner Range 13, as per the provisions of the Income Act.

Srivastava sought to defame me and my wife by getting my income tax cases reopened and then conniving with officers to make absurd additions with the view to upload it on the internet, thereby tarnishing our image. A perusal of that order of year 2006-2007 shows that a total addition of Rs 43 lakhs has been made out, of which an addition of Rs 31,90,500 has been made on the issue of ESOPS , quoting a section of the Act which was not applicable in that year. As clarified by NDTV (letter available), fringe benefit tax did not apply for the first two years. Similarly, the assessing officer has made wild estimates while calculating what our expenditure must have been on foreign travels that year (without any basis) and has made additions accordingly.

The assessment order under section 148 in our cases mentions a closure report of the vigilance directorate on the complaint filed by Srivastava containing allegations of corruption and misconduct. To quote the report,
“In this regard, I am directed to submit that the complaint concerning NDTV Ltd made by Sh SK Srivastava  against Ms Shumana Sen was registered as FCR-A/sd/NZ/56/13 and same has been closed by DGIT(vigilance) on 15-02-2013 in absence of any vigilance angle and in view of the honourable High court’s directions.”

It has been the modus operandi of the cartel headed by Srivastava and shamefully supported by Gurumurthy where documents have been leaked deliberately to cause embarrassment to me and my family and in turn to my employer.

The constant leaking of our documents, the absurd  IT assessments and then CBI threats only suggests one thing – a smear campaign, and I will not take this lying down.

There have  been  continuous setbacks that Srivastava has faced from courts and various other tribunals in addition to the fine imposed by the CBI special court in the money laundering case and the jail sentence by the High court. For example, my  wife had filed a  harassment case against him in the Barakhamba road police station. Not only was an FIR filed against him, but the Court ordered for framing of charges.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley spoke out for his officers Arvind Subramanium when he was targeted by a BJP leader. Will now Mr Jaitley defend my wife, as a BJP spokesperson attacks her?

If the cases had an iota of truth, I would have bent over backwards for this government, as some in my community have. Like the one who has been avoiding a second jail term in Tihar and another journalist who had made 500 phone calls to an arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, arrested by Enforcement Directorate and suspected to be a middleman in the Rafale deal. The ED found a money trail that led to a Gurgaon penthouse. It wanted to interrogate and is still waiting for an answer from the Finance Ministry.

I am a fiercely neutral journalist who would continue to question this government on all its wrong doings. I am also fiercely protective of my family. If you attack us, I will defend our honour at any cost. So bring it on. I am also counting on the FIR that the CBI intends to file against us, as mentioned in the PGuru website. I seriously am. The CBI may ignore the facts of the case, but the Courts of this country still demand fact by way of evidence.

Courtesy: Newslaundry.com

http://www.newslaundry.com/2016/08/23/abhisar-sharma-to-srivastava-and-cbi-bring-it-on/

The post Abhisar Sharma to Srivastava and CBI: Bring it on appeared first on SabrangIndia.