AHMEDABAD: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday submitted its status report on the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case to the Supreme Court.
According to television reports, CBI in its status report has asked for the case to be shifted out of Gujarat as it feels that investigation cannot be carried out in an impartial manner in the State.
The CBI is also learnt to have said that it will investigate the fake encounter of Tulsiram Prajapati, the man who allegedly witnessed the killing of Sohrabuddin.
The apex Court had set July 31 as the deadline for the CBI to submit its status report into the case.
According to sources, former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah, who is in judicial custody till August 7, was not cooperating in the probe and there was a need to interrogate him.
Most of Shah’s replies according to the agency were evasive.
"He has feigned ignorance and loss of memory and is getting away by saying that that `I do not know or I do not remember," sources said.
Earlier, the CBI summoned Geetha Johri, the first woman IPS officer of Gujarat, in connection with the case.
Johri, who was the part of Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case, has been asked to appear before the CBI on August 10.
Earlier, the CBI has also summoned former Gujarat Director General of Police (DGP) P C Pandey and asked him to appear before it on August 11.
Pandey was DGP of Gujarat when the state CID was investigating the fake encounter case.
Meanwhile, the CBI team is likely to seek permission from its headquarters to question Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the case.
The investigating agency may want Modi to answer some questions in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.
The CBI wants to know if Modi was aware of the attempts being made by top police officials to scuttle the probe.
If Modi is summoned for questioning, it will be for the second time this year. He was earlier questioned by a Special Investigation Team in 2002 Gujarat riots case.
Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausar Bi were killed in an alleged fake encounter in 2005. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6237100.cms?prtpage=1
2. HC judges used staff PF to buy groceries, pay beauty bills
NEW DELHI: Six district judges, three of whom later became Allahabad High Court judges, seldom spent on grocery and vegetables as everything, including beauty treatment of their family members, was paid through money illegally withdrawn from the PF accounts of class III and IV employees of Ghaziabad district court.
The tenure of three former HC judges — Justices A K Singh, R P Yadav and R N Mishra — as district judge of Ghaziabad between January 14, 2003 and November 19, 2006, saw them sanction fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 2.73 crore from PF accounts in collusion with then treasury officer Ashutosh Asthana.
The CBI made a detailed inquiry into their spending habits and tracked the money spent to the PF money of the employees. It gave details to the Supreme Court on Wednesday in an affidavit filed through counsel Chinmoy Sharma and T A Khan. The charges against each judge were:
"Justice Yadav obtained monthly ration and other requirements of vegetables, fruits and other eatable items, gold jewellery, crockery, clothes from Asthana for himself and his family members, which were procured from the proceeds of the crime. He also got furniture items prepared at his residence in Ghaziabad and got wood work done worth Rs 1-1.50 lakh at the Allahabad residence of his son Nikhil Yadav.
"Justice Mishra obtained monthly ration, vegetables, fruits and other eatable items, crockery, jewellery, clothing and furniture worth Rs 1.5-2 lakh prepared at the residence of his son Sunil Kumar at Allahabad. Justice Mishra also got furniture items transported from Ghaziabad to Dhanbad for his son Anil Kumar Mishra and also his household items from Ghaziabad to Allahabad for which payments were made from the proceeds of crime."
Justice A K Singh allegedly followed the corrupt practices of his predecessors Justices Yadav and Mishra. Though he was district judge for just nine months in 2006, over Rs 82 lakh was fraudulently withdrawn from the PF accounts. He added a new dimension to the spending by allegedly asking Asthana to pick up bills worth Rs 1.68 lakh for the beauty treatment of his family members at Myra Mabin Gym, Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad.
Justice Singh’s son Abhishek Gautam stayed rent-free in a Noida house owned benami by Asthana. Gautam also purchased a Bajaj Pulsar bike for which Rs 36,500 was paid from the illegally withdrawn PF money, the CBI alleged.
The other three district judges chargesheeted by the agency in the PF scam are R P Mishra, R S Chaubey and Arun Kumar. During Mishra’s tenure as district judge between March 9, 1999 and June 30, 2002, Rs 29.87 lakh was fraudulently withdrawn from the PF accounts.
R S Chaubey was the district judge from November 30, 2006 to December 31, 2007 and a whopping Rs 1.47 crore was fraudulently withdrawn from the PF accounts of unsuspecting class III and IV employees. Apart from buying grocery and furnishing his son’s office and house at Allahabad, Chaubey allegedly made Asthana foot the bill for photography of his daughter’s birthday party.
Arun Kumar was district judge for just 34 days and presided over fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 5.9 lakh from the PF accounts. "Arun Kumar obtained services of Tyagi Travels, Ghaziabad, for himself and for others during the marriage ceremony of his daughter which were provided by Asthana and payment to the tune of more than Rs 23,760 was made from the proceeds of the crime," the CBI claimed.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6233934.cms?prtpage=1
3..India objects to Sino-Pak road and rail link
NEW DELHI: India has protested to China over a China-Pakistan highway, saying the Karakoram transit passes through a part of territory in Jammu and Kashmir which is ‘illegally occupied’ by Pakistan, Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna told parliament on Thursday.
“India has clearly conveyed to China its consistent position that Pakistan was in illegal occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947 following reports that China was building a rail line and highway in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” Mr Krishna told the Rajya Sabha. The written statement came in response to questions by deputies. He said that India had conveyed its concern to China and asked it to cease such activities.
He said the government had seen reports to the effect that China was seeking to build a railway line and highway projects in PoK, New Delhi’s name for Azad Kashmir, and it had taken up the issue with them.
Answering a related question, Mr Krishna said India had taken up the reports of China building a dam on the upper reaches of Tsangpo/ Brahmaputra, known as Tsangpo in Tibet, with China during his visit to Beijing in April. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/india-objects-to-sinopak-road-and-rail-link-070
4.No. of Indian students going to US falls, rises for UK
MUMBAI: Europe, after ages, has upstaged the US as the preferred campus destination for Indians. More than twice the number of desi students who applied to fly abroad for entry into colleges this year chose the UK over America.
Data on the fresh visas for entry into colleges in 2010 reveals that the US issued 32,000 student visas, a little more than half the number issued by the UK (57,500). In 2009, the number of new student-entrants stood at 34,000 and 27,000 for the US and the UK, respectively.
The number of people going to Australia has dropped following the recent spate of race attacks, say education consultants, explaining that a majority of these students now opt for the UK over the US.
In her report, Institute of International Education director (research and evaluation) Rajika Bhandari noted: "There are indications that enrolment from Indians at US institutions for the 2009/10 academic year may see either decline at certain academic levels or, at least, slower rates of growth."
Recent information released by the Council of Graduates Schools, an American body, stated that it had seen a 4% decline in total enrolments among Indian graduates and a 16% drop among the newly enrolled Indians for the 2009/10 academic year. One of the reasons could be that US is still more expensive to study in than Europe, and also there are shorter courses available outside America.
But what may be heartening is, as Bhandari observed, "There may have been declines in offers of admission to Indian graduate students and the corresponding declines in enrolment but some top institutions saw increases." On the other hand, the UK has been seeing a large number of Indian graduates flying down to pursue the one-year business management course followed by those wanting to pursue a post-graduate education in engineering and technology.
Till 10 years ago, said an education consultant, students would either want to go to the US or the UK. Down Under was nowhere on their radar. The attitude then was that an Indian degree was preferable to going all the way to Australia; for a while that had changed till Australia became too unsafe. "After a slew of racist attacks, parents are not ready to send their children there," he added. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6234927.cms?prtpage=1
