Land scam case: Inspector sent to CBI custody for taking bribe

New Delhi, March 28: A CBI inspector arrested for taking a bribe of Rs two lakh from an accused in the multi-crore rupee land scam was today sent to three days' custody of the investigating agency by a Delhi court.

Inspector D K Thakur, who was investigating Dhirpur and Molarband land scam cases involving scam kingpin Ashok Malhotra, was sent to CBI's custody till March 30 by additional sessions judge I K Kochar.

Thakur was arrested while taking a bribe of Rs two lakh from one of the accused for not arresting him in the land scam cases, the probe agency said in the court.

Bureau Report

http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=433209&sid=REG

Romesh Sharma convicted for evading Rs.500 million tax

March 28, 2008

New Delhi: A city court Friday convicted Romesh Sharma, the alleged front man of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, for evading Rs.500 million income tax in 1996.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Kanwaljeet Arora held Sharma guilty of not depositing the dues amounting to Rs.500 million in income tax.

The court held him guilty under sections 276-C (2) (wilful attempt to evade tax) and 277 (false statement in declaration) of the Income Tax Act.

The court would pronounce the quantum of sentence Monday.

Sharma can be sent to seven years of rigorous imprisonment under these sections along with a fine.

"The Income Tax Department has proved the case beyond reasonable doubt against Romesh Sharma. Thereby I convicted him for these offences under the Income Tax Act," the ACMM said in his 19-page judgement.

Last month, Sharma was awarded life imprisonment for his involvement in the 1999 murder of fashion designer Kunjum Buddhiraja at his farm house. (IANS)

http://samachaar.in/Delhi/Romesh_Sharma_convicted_for_evading_Rs.500_million_tax_30652/

The rich can’t get away

Harish V Nair, Hindustan Times

New Delhi, March 19, 2008

A guilty verdict against former IPS official RK Sharma in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case has strengthened the recent trend of conviction in high-profile cases sending a clear message that the rich and influential can no longer get away with crime.

The fact that the top cop succeeded in evading arrest for three and a half years after the murder till he gave himself up to the police itself demonstrated his influence. During the trial also 51 witnesses, including some key ones, turned hostile. But in the end he was held guilty.

The public outcry after the acquittal of all accused in the Jessica Lall murder case including Manu Sharma and Vikas Yadav, sons of powerful politicians, proved to be a turning point in the history of Indian criminal justice system. It had in some way or the other affected the trial of other pending high-profile cases. Perjury proceedings initiated by the Delhi High Court against 32 hostile witnesses after convicting Sharma and Yadav in December 2006 in fact proved to be a deterrent to witnesses in other cases.

"The Jessica verdict was an eye-opener and the public outrage only shows that the Indian public will no longer remain silent spectators to police sluggishness, shoddy trial and hostile witnesses. Everything is going to be under the public scanner. Being rich or influential is not a passport to immunity", Justice VS Mallimath, famous for his recommendations on reforming criminal justice system, told HT.

The Jessica case acquittals shook the public conscience to the core. It brought into sharp focus a number of issues ailing our legal system and people realized how easy it was for the rich and powerful to get away with anything. The outpour of outrage was spontaneous. For the first time the nation witnessed the middle class involving itself in the process of getting justice for an individual.

Thousands e-mailed and SMS-ed their protest on petitions forwarded by electronic and pring media to every office of consequence including the Chief Minister, Prime Minister and President and others seeking remedies for the miscarriage of justice in other cases. There were demonstrations and candle light vigils. A poll conducted by the Hindustan Times immediately after the acquittals showed that on a scale of 1 to 10, the public's faith in law enforcement in India was about 2.7.

"It seems the new criminal justice rules are being authored by Jessica Lall posthumously", this remark by the lawyer of Vikas Yadav, an accused in Jessica Lall and Nitish Katara cases during his bail hearing more than sums up the existing mood.

After a similar campaign for justice, the CBI brought the appeal in the Priyadarshini Mattoo murder case out of a six-year cold storage. The High Court fast tracked the hearing and sentenced her senior in law college Santosh Kumar Singh to death.

A lower court pronouncing the verdict in a murder case against underworld don Babloo Srivastava and businessman Nitin Shah four months after the Jessica case acquittals convicted them. The duo, however, was however later acquitted by the High Court. Former union Minister Shibu Soren was sentenced to life imprisonment by a lower court on November 28, 2006 on charges of murdering Shashi Nath Jha his former personal secretary. But the HC acquitted him for want of evidence.

Relatives of the victims of the Uphaar cinema fire tragedy also benefited from the charged atmosphere. Acting on their petition, the Delhi High Court ordered a fresh investigation into tampering, mutilation and destruction of evidence by a trial court staff. He has now been arrested and investigations are on. A court convicted cinema owners Sushil and Gopal Ansal on November 20, 2007 in the fire case for negligence.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=5f2b060a-17e9-4f93-b465-60942ad5408f&&Headline=The+rich+can%e2%80%99t+get+away

Man sent to jail for taking Rs 300 bribe

Wed, Mar 5 12:45 AM

AN EMPLOYEE of Pusa Polytechnic has been sentenced to two years in prison for taking a bribe of Rs 300 from a student who wanted good marks in his practical examination. A court sentenced Senior Programme Assistant Vishal K.

Narula to two years' rigorous imprisonment (RI) for taking a bribe from Srikaram Sheel in 2002. Special Judge A. S. Yadav held Narula (39) guilty and said, "The prosecution has been able to prove its case against Narula.

He be sentenced to two years in prison for the offence." "Deterrent punishment should be imposed to curb the evil of corruption.

Today it seems that honesty is a very rare deed. Very few persons muster the courage to report the matter regarding demand of bribe.

Otherwise, under compulsion they are forced to pay the bribe," the Judge said, while slapping a fine of Rs 10,000 on Narula. Narula had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 500 from Srikaram Sheel to give him good marks in his practical examinations scheduled for January 2003.

MP from Haryana fined Rs 1,500 for dangerous driving

Who says law is different in India for poor and rich or normal joe and influential politicians. Here is one such example where politician is not spared for traffic offence. Long live the law in India.
SPL

The Hindustan Times, February 17, 2008, Nivedita Khandekar

NEW DELHI, India, Feb. 17 -- A young MP from Haryana was among 33 persons prosecuted for rash, dangerous driving and drunk driving as part of the continued crackdown on traffic violators by Delhi Traffic Police.

The MP and six others were booked for rash and dangerous driving apart from 26, including a woman, booked for drunk driving in a late night drive that started at 12.30 a.m. on Saturday and continued till 4.00 am in Chanakyapuri area.

"The MP from Haryana (name withheld) was booked for driving his car dangerously and fined Rs 1,500 on the spot," said DCP Traffic (New Delhi) Suvashish Choudhary.

It took 20 yrs to get back rented house

Fri, Feb 29 01:20 AM

A civil suit over a prime property located on Amrita Shergill Marg, fetching a monthly rent of over Rs 3 lakh, ended after a city court ordered M K Modi, chairman of Modipon, to vacate the premises. The suit for possession against Modi took 20 years to end.

The premises whose market value is over Rs 150 crore was on rent since 1977 at a measly amount of Rs 7,000. Taking account of financial loss incurred by the property owners, the court of civil judge Gaurav Rao also awarded damages of Rs 69 lakh which will be paid by Modi.

Rao said: "Taking into consideration that the property is located in one of the most posh localities of NDMC and consists of an area of 3,500 square yards, I award average damages at the rate of Rs 30,000 per month." The damages shall be paid retrospectively, with effect from April 1, 1989, the day when landlady Pushpa Guglani filed a suit for possession against Modi.

The case was dragged into a controversy after it was revealed that the acknowledgement cards proving termination of Modi's tenancy were missing from the judicial file. During his defence, Modi had cited absence of the cards to prove that his tenancy was never terminated.

Guglani had approached the court seeking eviction of Modipon after ending her agreement with the company through a notice issued on February 22, 1989. The dispute began much prior to the filing of the suit.

Guglani had on two different occasions filed cases under the Delhi Rent Control Act alleging the tenant had got unauthorized construction done in the premises. Both the suits were, however, withdrawn.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/hindustantimes/20080229/r_t_ht_nl_general/tnl-it-took-20-yrs-to-get-back-rented-ho-7244580.html

Cop sent to judicial custody

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: A court here on Wednesday remanded Assistant Sub-Inspector Ravinder Kumar Singh, who has been charged with extorting money from a kidney racket accused for letting him off, to 14-day judicial custody.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate A.K. Kuhar remanded the accused to judicial custody following expiry of his police remand.

Earlier, the Economic Offences Wing, which had registered the case against Ravinder Kumar and six team members, had got two-day custody of the ASI twice.

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/28/stories/2008022861080300.htm