Samajwadi Party to contest BMC elections alone in Maharashtra: Abu Azmi

New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS) The Delhi High Court is set to hear on Tuesday a plea filed by several BJP legislators seeking a direction to the Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly to call for a special sitting for the tabling of the CAG reports.

As per the causelist published on the website of the Delhi High Court, a bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula will hear the matter on December 24.

Earlier in the day, the plea filed by Opposition MLAs was mentioned before Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Vibhu Bakhru, who directed the plea to be listed in the ordinary course.

The much-delayed CAG reports purportedly talk about the alleged lapses of the city government related to the now-withdrawn excise policy, anti-pollution drive and other matters of state finances that may cause embarrassment to the AAP-led government just before the Assembly polls.

The latest plea filed by BJP MLAs Vijender Gupta, Mohan Singh Bisht, Om Prakash Sharma, Ajay Kumar Mahawar, Abhay Verma, Anil Bajpai and Jitender Mahajan said that a special sitting of the Delhi Legislative Assembly was not called by the Speaker despite a statement made before the Delhi High Court in an earlier round of litigation.

“This is a clear violation of the statement/undertaking given by the Senior Counsel on behalf of the GNCTD before this Hon’ble Court for which the petitioners reserve their rights to move contempt of court if advised,” it said.

Last week, the Delhi HC disposed of BJP legislators’ plea seeking direction to the city government to forward CAG reports to the Lt. Governor (L-G) after it was told that L-G Vinai Kumar Saxena has approved the 14 CAG reports forwarded by Chief Minister Atishi.

It noted that Chief Minister Atishi, who also holds the portfolio of Finance Minister, will forward within 2-3 days these approved reports to the Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, who in turn, will promptly take a call on holding a special session for laying down the CAG reports.

The petition had said that the CAG is a “constitutional watchdog” created with the objective of providing independent and credible assurance to the public, the legislature and the executive that the public funds are being collected and used effectively and efficiently.

–IANS

pds/pgh

Belagavi, Dec 20 (IANS) C.T. Ravi, the arrested BJP MLC over ‘derogatory remarks’ against Karnataka women and child welfare minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, claimed on Saturday that he was assaulted and tortured by the policemen during custody.

Ravi made the accusations in a local Belagavi court, where he was produced by the Karnataka police.

Ravi made the statement in the court after Judge Sparsha M D’souza asked him about his arrest. C.T. Ravi claimed that the police took him to three districts for 10 hours, throughout the night.

“The cops took me to isolated places and sugarcane fields,” he added.

Ravi further stated in the court that he was assaulted in the Khanapur police station on head and he was bleeding.

When asked whether he would be able to identify those police personnel, Ravi expressed his ‘inability’ in doing the same.

“I have been tortured, physically and mentally. The police used to get calls every 10 minutes and they acted as per their instructions,” he charged.

“The police have not explained to me, the reason behind my arrest. I have been attacked three times in the premises of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha,” Ravi stated.

“They snatched away my mobile and watch. I had lodged a complaint regarding assault on me and requested the police to file zero FIR. Not registering a case against the minister is a crime. No leaders were allowed to meet me for two-and-half hours,” Ravi stated.

Lawyer M.B. Jirali, who appeared for C.T. Ravi, submitted that his client was boarded into the police vehicle like ‘animal’ and was in clear violation of the protocol.

“It is a violation of Article 21. This is a false case and the police have not allowed the Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka to meet Ravi,” he underlined.

“My client’s mental and physical health should not be affected. The Speaker is the Constitutional head and he knows everything about the incident. No decision in this regard has been taken by him. My client needs medical treatment first and bail needs to be granted to him,” Counsel Jirali stated.

The BJP State President B.Y. Vijayendra, Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka and other MLAs were present in the court hall.

Ravi was also seen getting emotional in the court corridors, with senior BJP leaders like R. Ashoka and others comforting him.

The prosecution is yet to submit its arguments opposing Ravi’s bail petition.

— IANS

mka/mr

Ranchi, Dec 12 (IANS) On the final day of the special session of the Jharkhand Assembly on Thursday, the issue of sand shortage in the state sparked heated discussions both inside and outside the House.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, Babulal Marandi, brought up the crisis during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor’s address.

Marandi stated, “The sand crisis has become a pressing issue across the state. The government has failed to auction sand ghats. Police arrest individuals and file cases against them for transporting sand for house construction. If the government cannot auction the sand ghats, it should consider making sand freely available for construction work.”

He further demanded accountability from the government regarding alleged looting at the sand ghats. “The government talks about schemes like Pradhan Mantri Awas and Abua Awas, but sand is unavailable even for these programs,” he added.

Marandi also raised the issue on social media. In a post on X on Thursday, he said, “The shortage of sand in Jharkhand has increased the difficulties of the people. Out of 444 sand ghats, only 51 have been approved, and out of these, only 24 are producing sand.

“Due to this, construction work in the state has come to a complete halt. Sand prices have reached record levels. In just 10 days, the price of a trolley of sand has increased by Rs 12,000. In other districts of Jharkhand including Palamu, sand is being sold at Rs 25 to Rs 40 per bag.”

“This shortage has affected not only house construction but also important projects like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. If this crisis is not resolved soon, development work in the state may be badly affected. Hemant ji, to provide relief to the people of the state and get the construction sector back on track, it is necessary that black marketing of sand be completely banned and concrete and strict action be taken against the sand mafia,” he added.

Earlier, BJP MLA Kushwaha Shashi Bhushan Prasad Mehta staged a sit-in at the Assembly gate before the session began.

Mehta emphasised the impact of the shortage on key housing projects, including PM Awas and Abua Awas, and called for immediate government intervention. He also raised the matter in the House, stating that in his home district, Palamu, sand is being sold at exorbitant rates of Rs 45-50 per kilogram.

Former Chief Minister and BJP MLA, Champai Soren, speaking to reporters outside the Assembly, hit out at the government’s unfulfilled promises.

“The government announced free sand for house construction, but this is not being implemented. Instead, people transporting sand are being penalised. The government’s words and actions do not align,” he said.

–IANS

snc/skp/rad