Jail the Judges

S.O.S   e - Voice For Justice - e-news weekly

Spreading the light of humanity & freedom

Editor: Nagaraja.M.R.. Vol.12..Issue.51........31/12/2016

 

Traitors  in   Indian  Judiciary & Police

https://www.scribd.com/document/329980170/Traitors-in-Judiciary-Police 

 

Crimes  by  Khaki

https://www.scribd.com/document/334590032/Crimes-by-Khaki  ,

 

 

 

Editorial :  Human Rights Violations by  Judges & Police

The public servants & the government must be role models in law abiding acts , for others to emulate & follow. if a student makes a mistake it is excusable & can be corrected by the teacher. if the teacher himself makes a mistake , all  his students will do the same mistake. if a thief steals , he can be caught  , legally punished & reformed . if a police himself commits crime , many thieves go scot-free under his patronage.  even if a police , public servant commits a crime , he can be legally prosecuted & justice can be sought by the aggrieved.  just think , if a judge himself that too  of apex court of the land  himself  commits crime - violations of RTI Act , constitutional rights & human rights of public  and obstructs the public from performing their constitutional fundamental duties , what happens ?         

Our whole hearted respects to honest few in judiciary , police & public service who are an exception.          

           Judges & Police themselves must first learn to respect  human beings  as human beings. When you treat them like animals  they will also reciprocate do remember.  Or else  the almighty will ensure DOG’S DEATH to corrupt judges & police. On the D Day in the Almighty’s court  corrupt judges & police will face  ultimate punishment , no match fixing.

            Judges & Police must do their constitutional duties  without bias , refer following case details and  act  :

Traitors  in  Judiciary &  Police

https://www.scribd.com/document/329980170/Traitors-in-Judiciary-Police  ,

           

         The public servants & the government must be role models in law abiding acts , for others to emulate & follow. if a student makes a mistake it is excusable & can be corrected by the teacher. if the teacher himself makes a mistake , all  his students will do the same mistake. if a thief steals , he can be caught  , legally punished & reformed . if a police himself commits crime , many thieves go scot-free under his patronage.  even if a police , public servant commits a crime , he can be legally prosecuted & justice can be sought by the aggrieved.  just think , if a judge himself that too  of apex court of the land  himself  commits crime - violations of RTI Act , constitutional rights & human rights of public  and obstructs the public from performing their constitutional fundamental duties , what happens ?

          It gives a booster dose to the rich & mighty , those in power , criminals in public service to commit more crimes. that is exactly what is happening in india. the educated public must raise to the occasion & peacefully , democratically  must oppose this criminalization of judiciary , public service. then alone , we can build a RAM RAJYA OF MAHATMA GANDHI'S DREAM.

        Day after day we are seeing allegations against judges  in crimes against women , sex crimes , judicial orders for money , etc in the media.  There is total secrecy in the functioning of judiciary in india  with regards to disciplinary proceedings , promotions  and selection of judges.  We the public don’t know whether proper investigation / enquiry is done in such cases of allegations against judges , what action taken against the guilty judges ?

        Hereby , we demand  code of conduct for judges &  police  with  provision of  criminal prosecution of  violators.  

Regard for the public welfare is the highest law (SALUS POPULI EST SUPREMA LEX).

 No man shall be condemned unheard (AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM).

No man can be judge in his own cause (NEMO DEBET ESSE JUDEX IN PROPRIA SUA CAUSA).

 An act of the Court  or public office  shall prejudice no man (ACTUS CURIAE NEMINEM GRAVABIT).

 

Your’s

Nagaraja Mysuru Raghupathi

 

 

DECLARATION 

Name : ...........................NAGARAJA.M.R. 



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Body Donation : Physical Body of Nagaraja M R , Editor , S.O.S- e – clarion of Dalit & S.O.S-e-Voice for Justice is donated to JSS Medical College , Mysore ( Donation No. 167 dated 22 / 10 / 2003 ) , In case of either Unnatural death or Natural Death at the hands of criminal nexus , my body must be handed over to JSS Medical College , Mysore for the study purposes of medical students. 



Eye Donation : Both EYES of Nagaraja M R , Editor , S.O.S- e – clarion of Dalit & S.O.S-e-Voice for Justice are donated to Mysore Eye Bank , Mysore , In case of either Unnatural death or Natural Death at the hands of criminal nexus , my eyes must be handed over to Mysore Eye Bank , Mysore WITHIN 6 Hours for immediate eye transplantation to the needy. 



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I ,NAGARAJA.M.R. hereby do declare that information given above are true to the best of my knowledge & belief. If i am repeatedly called to police station or else where for the sake of investigations , the losses i do incurr as a result like loss of wages , transportation , job , etc must be borne by the government. prevoiusly the police / IB personnel repeatedly called me the complainant (sufferer of injustices) to police station for questioning , but never called the guilty culprits , rich crooks , criminals even once to police station for questioning , as the culprits are high & mighty . this type of one sided questioning must not be done by police or investigating agencies . if anything untoward happens to me or to my family members like loss of job , meeting with hit & run accidents , loss of lives , death due to improper medical care , etc , the jurisdictional police together with above mentioned accussed public servants will be responsible for it. Even if criminal nexus levels fake charges , police file fake cases against me or my dependents to silence me , this complaint is & will be effective. 

   Powers that  be , higher ups have referred all my previous cases to police although in most of the cases  police don’t  have jurisdiction over it.  It  sends  a subtle message by police force to  the  complainant  to keep silent . In the remaining cases  which are under their jurisdiction police  don’t act against higher ups , high & mighty. In such cases police lack  practical powers , their hands are tied although they  are  honest.  As a end result , police  have repeatedly called   me to police station  number of  times  ( have never called guilty  influential persons even once)  took  statement  from  me and closed  the files.  Hereby , I do make it clear  the statements made by me  in my original petitions , PILs , news papers  , etc  while I was in  a free & fair atmosphere  are  TRUE  , over rides , prevails over all the statements made by me before police  earlier and  which will be made by me  in future before police.


If I or my family members or my dependents are denied our fundamental rights , human rights , denied proper medical care for ourselves , If anything untoward happens to me or to my dependents or to my family members - In such case Chief Justice of India together with the jurisdictional revenue & police officials will be responsible for it , in such case the government of india is liable to pay Rs. TWO crore as compensation to survivors of my family. if my whole family is eliminated by the criminal nexus ,then that compensation money must be donated to Indian Army Welfare Fund. Afterwards , the money must be recovered by GOI as land arrears from the salary , pension , property , etc of guilty police officials , Judges , public servants & Constitutional functionaries. 

date :  05.12..2016…………………………..Your's sincerely,

place : India…………………………………...Nagaraja.M.R. 

Access to Justice is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 14 & 21 of Constitution: SC Constitution Bench

 

The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has held that access to Justice is a Fundamental Right guaranteed to citizens by Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The five Judge Bench comprising of Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur, Justices Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla, A.K. Sikri, S.A. Bobde, and R. Banumathi has made the above observation while answering a reference to it, which arose from Transfer Petitions, eleven seeking transfer of civil cases from or to the State of Jammu and Kashmir while the remaining two seek transfer of criminal cases from the State to Courts outside that State. The Bench further observed that if “life” implies not only life in the physical sense but a bundle of rights that makes life worth living, there is no juristic or other basis for holding that denial of “access to justice” will not affect the quality of human life so as to take access to justice out of the purview of right to life guaranteed under Article 21. “We have; therefore, no hesitation in holding that access to justice is indeed a facet of right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Citizen’s inability to access courts or any other adjudicatory mechanism provided for determination of rights and obligations is bound to result in denial of the guarantee contained in Article 14 both in relation to equality before law as well as equal protection of laws. Absence of any adjudicatory mechanism or the inadequacy of such mechanism, needless to say, is bound to prevent those looking for enforcement of their right to equality before laws and equal protection of the laws from seeking redress and thereby negate the guarantee of equality before laws or equal protection of laws and reduce it to a mere teasing illusion. Article 21 of the Constitution apart, access to justice can be said to be part of the guarantee contained in Article 14 as well.”, the Bench added. ESSENCE OF ACCESS TO JUSTICE According to the Bench the following are the four main facets that constitute the essence of access to justice (i) The need for adjudicatory mechanism: One of the most fundamental requirements for providing to the citizens access to justice is to set-up an adjudicatory mechanism whether described as a Court, Tribunal, Commission or Authority or called by any other name whatsoever, where a citizen can agitate his grievance and seek adjudication of what he may perceive as a breach of his right by another citizen or by the State or any one of its instrumentalities. In order that the right of a citizen to access justice is protected, the mechanism so provided must not only be effective but must also be just, fair and objective in its approach. So also the procedure which the court, Tribunal or Authority may adopt for adjudication, must, in itself be just and fair and in keeping with the well recognized principles of natural justice. (ii) The mechanism must be conveniently accessible in terms of distance: The forum/mechanism so provided must, having regard to the hierarchy of courts/tribunals, be reasonably accessible in terms of distance for access to justice since so much depends upon the ability of the litigant to place his/her grievance effectively before the court/tribunal/court/competent authority to grant such a relief.  (iii) The process of adjudication must be speedy. “Access to justice” as a constitutional value will be a mere illusion if justice is not speedy. Justice delayed, it is famously said, is justice denied. If the process of administration of justice is so time consuming, laborious, indolent and frustrating for those who seek justice that it dissuades or deters them from even considering resort to that process as an option, it would tantamount to denial of not only access to justice but justice itself. In Sheela Barse’s case (supra) this Court declared speedy trial as a facet of right to life, for if the trial of a citizen goes on endlessly his right to life itself is violated. There is jurisprudentially no qualitative difference between denial of speedy trial in a criminal case, on the one hand, and civil suit, appeal or other proceedings, on the other, for ought we know that civil disputes can at times have an equally, if not, more severe impact on a citizen’s life or the quality of it. Access to Justice would, therefore, be a constitutional value of any significance and utility only if the delivery of justice to the citizen is speedy, for otherwise, the right to access to justice is no more than a hollow slogan of no use or inspiration for the citizen. It is heartening to note that over the past six decades or so the number of courts established in the country has increased manifold in comparison to the number that existed on the day the country earned its freedom. There is today almost invariably a court of Civil Judge junior or senior division in every taluka and a District and Sessions Judge in every district. In terms of accessibility from the point of view of distance which a citizen ought to travel, we have come a long way since the time the British left the country. However, the increase in literacy, awareness, prosperity and proliferation of laws has made the process of adjudication slow and time consuming primarily on account of the over worked and under staffed judicial system, which is crying for creation of additional courts with requisite human resources and infrastructure to effectively deal with an ever increasing number of cases being filed in the courts and mounting backlog of over thirty million cases in the subordinate courts. While the States have done their bit in terms of providing the basic adjudicatory mechanisms for disposal of resolution of civil or criminal conflicts, access to justice remains a big question mark on account of delays in the completion of the process of adjudication on account of poor judge population and judge case ratio in comparison to other countries. (iv) The process of adjudication must be affordable to the disputants: Access to justice will again be no more than an illusion if the adjudicatory mechanism provided is so expensive as to deter a disputant from taking resort to the same. Article 39-A of the Constitution promotes a laudable objective of providing legal aid to needy litigants and obliges the State to make access to justice affordable for the less fortunate sections of the society.

 

 

CJAR Demands In-House Enquiry Against Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy For Alleged Atrocities Against Dalits

BY: APOORVA MANDHANI

 

In a letter addressed to the Chief Justice of India, the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms has sought initiation of an In-House enquiry against Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy for alleged atrocities against the Dalit community. The representation refers to allegations of Dalit atrocities and criminal misconduct by the Judge against Mr.Rama Krishna, former Principal Junior Civil Judge, Rayachoti, Kadappa District, currently under suspension. Mr. Krishna had alleged that he was forced by Justice Reddy to remove the name of Mr. Pavan Kumar Reddy who happens to be the brother of Justice Reddy, from a dying declaration recorded by Mr. Rama Krishna when he was posted as Magistrate in Rayachoti. Rayachoti, in Kadappa District is the native place of Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy and his brother Mr. Pavan Kumar Reddy is the Additional Public Prosecutor at Rayachoti courts. The dying declaration had incriminated Mr. Pavan Kumar Reddy, allegedly disclosing that he had doused him with kerosene and set him on fire for not agreeing to sign on a blank paper. It is also alleged that subsequent to the recording of the declaration, Justice Reddy purportedly threatened and abused Mr. Krishna, when he refused to remove his brother’s name from the dying declaration. It has also been alleged that the Magistrate was later summoned to Justice Reddy’s house, where he was beaten up and abused. The Magistrate then approached the High Court Vigilance Registrar, and submitted a written complaint, namingvarious Officers of Court at Rayachoty, who were indulged in illegal acts, misplacing court records and making files disappear. No action was however taken by the High Court on the said complaint. A complaint was also filed with the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High court and the Chief Justice of India. The representation further makes reference to a series of unexplained transfers and suspension, claiming that he was being harassment for complaining against Justice Reddy and his brothers. Furthermore, the representation alleges that the appointment of Justice Reddy’s brother as the Additional Public Prosecutor was in contravention of the provisions of Section 24 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which mandates that a person who has been practicing as an advocate for not less than seven years is eligible to be appointed as Additional Public Prosecutor. This requirement was not fulfilled in the case of Mr. Pavan Kumar Reddy. Listing down several other instances of nepotism and Dalit atrocities, CJAR therefore demands that an in-house enquiry be initiated and that pending enquiry, no judicial work be allotted to Justice Reddy.

 

 

Misconducting judges

BY: SAUMYA DEV

 

Recently, country witnessed the most unimaginable act of bravado from a sitting judge of a High Court. Recommendation for appointment of 12 judges by the collegium in the Madras High Court was questioned by Advocates and their Writ Petition was being heard by a Bench comprising of Justices V Dhanapalan and K Sasidharan. Justice Karnan, sitting judge of the same court, a man not unknown to controversies, barged into the courtroom and started making allegations in open court expressing his objections to the manner of appointment of those 12 judges. He had many other avenues to channelize his feelings, the avenues well within the four corners of judicial conduct expected from a constitutional functionary. And yet he chose this convenient option of whimsical conduct. Had been a member of subordinate judiciary, he would have been shown the door by now. No action can seemingly be taken against a sitting judge when he decides to barge into court room whilst the proceedings are in force and hurl allegations, other than transferring him to another High Court. And even this form of punishment and its form of implementation will not fail to amuse one for its absurdity. There is a general perception in the judicial community that High Court Benches of North-Eastern States are meant for accommodating such judges, which effectively demean such High Courts. Is such High Courts any inferior, or are those areas any less a part of India? These questions remain yet to be answered. Misconduct of Judges of High Court and Supreme Court is a problem with no tangible solution so far. Lawyers may boycott, the public may protest, vigilante namesake committee could be set, unrealistic impeachment proceedings may be initiated, errant judges may be transferred, and nothing beyond. We have enough provisions for disciplining the subordinate judiciary, the High Court is vested with power of superintendence. On the other hand, no disciplinary action can be taken against the judges of the Supreme Court and High Court. Let us hope that the impending the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010 may address many areas of concern. The Constitution provides that judges of the High Courts and Supreme Court can be removed only by Parliament on the basis of a motion in either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. The existing procedure for investigation into allegations of misbehaviour or incapacity of Supreme Court and High Court judges is given in the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 The 2010 Bill replaces the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 and avowed objects are (a) create enforceable standards for the conduct of judges of High Courts and the Supreme Court, (b) change the existing mechanism for investigation into allegations of misbehaviour or incapacity of judges of High Courts and the Supreme Court, (c) change the process of removal of judges, (d) enable minor disciplinary measures to be taken against judges, and (e) require the declaration of assets of judges. It is interesting to study the allegations of misconduct of members of the Constitutional Courts. Studying such instances gives an insight into faulty foundation of our judicial system. In an affidavit filed in Supreme Court by Shanti Bhushan, Senior Advocate who was the Union Law Minister in post emergency period, made a shocking allegation that 8 out 16 Chief Justices we had, were corrupt. In the light of such a revelation, there are two possibilities before the Court to salvage the prestige of Indian judiciary, either convict Shanti Bhshan or order investigation against those 8. Both are not happening in reality except a slow moving contempt proceedings. Why so ? The root of the problem lies in selection method of judges. It saddening to see that many judges of our constitutional courts behave without grace and majesty expected from them. There have been incidents of exorbitant display of rage by the judges acting in impulse against the lawyers. It has now become a common feature in Courts to see Judges and Lawyers argue in a heated atmosphere and judges use words not befitting to the seat they occupy. It is difficult to bring in such misconducts within a legislative framework and find solution. We have seen Punjab and Haryana High Court judges taking mass casual leave to protest against it’s then Chief Justice who allegedly withdrew cases from the board of judges without their notice. It may be difficult to decide here, which instance is worse, the CJI arbitrarily withdrawing cases or the judges resorting to such tactics without paying regard to the court decorum. What ultimately matters is the quality of men and women. Recently, a national daily reported habit of late sitting of a sitting Supreme Court judge. Whatever may be the reasons justifications for continued late sitting, judiciary must have a known system to govern and Court hours should not be judge centric. Most often, Rules and discipline are made by judges according to their personal choice and no one can even beg to differ with the ways of their lordships. We must have uniform court procedure. In the Apex Court, some of the Judges had imposed a Rule that ‘ no Passover for the first ten matters’. Though it caused great inconvenience to the lawyers, the ‘obedient bar’ religiously followed for the fear of displeasing their lordships. Judges remarks to arguments of a lawyer that “don’t give lecture to us”, is thoroughly non-judicial and condemnable, but lawyers for professional sake condone it and move on. What is depressing is that majority of Senior Lawyers swallow such ignominy without a murmur. The press is silent in such aspects for fear of contempt power which is is exploited to bury criticism. It was only after a mass uproar that truth became an exception to the Contempt of Courts Act. There are criticisms on the exercise of contempt jurisdiction, and it is always judge centric. Contempt for one judge need not be contempt for another.So while in the case of P N Dudav v P Shiv Shankar (AIR 1988 SC 1208 at 1213), a cabinet minister was let go off even when he called the judiciary to be full of anti social elements, in the case of Mohd Zahir Khan V. Vyai Singh (AIR 1992 SC 642), a poor man was charged with contempt for calling the judiciary with the same label. And while one may be tempted to argue that it is impossible to completely dispense with discretion, it would be worthwhile to remind ourselves of the fact that judicial discretion coupled with judicial misconduct and the knowledge that one could get away with the same, would be a lethal weapon for judicial disarray. What really amounts to judicial conduct as embossed in the Oath of the judges as given in the third schedule of the constitution, or the Restatement of Values of Judicial Life, 1999’ a code of conduct adopted for the judges, by the judges or the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, 2002. Judges have to abide by the principles of natural justice, be impartial in their judgments or actions while the proceedings are going on. They cannot act upon personal idiosyncrasies, personal bias or whimsical behavior. They have to be consistent in their conduct. They have to rise above narrow considerations and not be prone to external influences or political pressures. Their act cannot prejudice the course of justice or life of any man. They have to mandatorily follow the procedure established by law. They have to be well versed and conversant with the facts of the case and permit unbiased hearing from both sides. Unending cross examinations or infinite arguments cannot form a part of the platter of a judge. A judge has to dissociate himself of all forms of social interactions with persons involved with the case. Now let us consider the real world scenario. In many instances, the judge’s kith and kin become biggest tax payers and busy practitioners during their serving period. It is a common knowledge that in every court in the country, some lawyers are more equal before some judges. Judges should realize that their proximity in some manner is being professionally encashed by a shameless lawyer. It is obviously an ugly seen to watch a designated Senior Lawyer appearing only in one particular court in many matters when he is not engaged in other courts. The Bar Council of India Rules, 1975 in Rule 6, Chapter II mandate that an advocate shall not enter appearance, act, plead or practice in any way before a court, Tribunal or Authority, if the sole or any member thereof is related to the advocate as father, grandfather, son, grand-son, uncle, brother, nephew, first cousin, husband, wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, brother-in-law daughter-in-law or sister-in-law. The law commission in its 230th report has criticized this practice of Uncle Judges. “Often we hear complaints about ‘Uncle Judges’. If a person has practised in a High Court, say, for 20-25 years and is appointed a Judge in the same High Court, overnight change is not possible. He has his colleague advocates – both senior and junior – as well as his kith and kin, who had been practising with him. Even wards of some District Judges, elevated to a High Court, are in practice in the same High Court. ..The equity demands that the justice shall not only be done but should also appear to have been done… In any case, the judges, whose kith and kin are practising in a High Court, should not be posted in the same High Court. This will eliminate “Uncle Judge”. There are many undefined misconducts such as Retiring judges delivering judgments in haste or not delivering judgments at all, delay in delivering judgments etc. A new form of misconduct has born these days, thanks to the media, the Judges commenting on their own judgments post retirement. Judges after having rendered judgments become functus officio in reference to those judgments and should not come up with comments post their retirement. Justice A K Ganguly’s startling rejoinder clarifying and defending the 2G judgment after the same was critized by Lok Sabha speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, was a rather unwarranted affair, as the same could potentially interfere with the precedential value of the judgmen. We need to develop a uniform court procedure and eliminate the personality driven functioning of Judges. Our courts should be more open to public scrutiny. The video recording of court procedure is a good measure to make our judges and lawyers more accountable. We don’t have the system of recording of arguments, unless judges take note of it. It is humanly not possible to remember every word and submissions in all matters and the causality is non consideration of certain points while rendering the judgment. Unlimited and unchecked judicial power, if not bestowed with the right men and women, is bound to cause mischief. Judiciary has fiercely guarded its independence. Rule of law indeed mandates the same. And yet a proper judicial mechanism for addressing the judicial complaints is consistent with the principles of judicial independence. Code of Ethics is a self regulatory tool. May be as evidenced above, it is not a sufficient check. They often say “What cannot be cured must be endured”. It is hard to do that when it relates to important tenets of civil society like Rule of Law and the Sanctity of Justice. Thus it is time that there is someone who could judge these erring and despotic Judges. In the words of Justice M N Venkatachaliah “Sunlight is the best defense”.

 

 

We the People

Reimagining Judicial Reform

 

When the judiciary and the centre argue about the need for transparency and accountability, it seems that both envision these as duties only towards each other, and not towards society generally. This myopia is evident throughout the history of their struggle into the present-day: neither has focused on making information public, let alone thought of other ways to involve a broad cross section of the people, even as this is becoming more commonplace worldwide.

This year, Constitution Day became the latest front in one of the most hotly debated constitutional battles in our history—the tussle between the judiciary and executive over judicial appointments. Using the rather odd metaphor of constitutional Lakshman Rekhas, signifying the separation of powers between the two branches, senior leaders on both sides spent the day insinuating that the other had overstepped its bounds by trying to control appointments (Choudhary 2016). As has become a familiar pattern, the entire exchange centred merely on this, and there was little discussion of the boundaries that matter most to common people, who should presumably be the centre of all constitutional debates—boundaries that bar access to both information and justice.

Such an absence of people-centred measures marks most of the exchanges between the judiciary and executive in the last year, ever since the former struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), which the latter had proposed to replace the judicial collegium in making appointments. In the ensuing deadlock over pending high court appointments and finalisation of the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), which sets out criteria for judicial appointments, Supreme Court judges have repeatedly blamed the centre for overburdening courts by delaying appointments. This is even though an alarming number of seats have remained vacant across courts for years before the NJAC case—a failure for which the judiciary is equally responsible. The centre, for its part, has blamed the high courts for delaying the appointments process and the MoP, while helpfully clarifying that it is not playing any “blame game” (Indian Express 2016).

In this seemingly singular focus on trying to pass responsibility to the other, we see little sense of either branch’s responsibility to the people. While the Supreme Court rather uncharacteristically solicited suggestions for the framing of the MoP from bar associations and civil society groups, the current MoP that is being negotiated between the two branches remains under wraps, making it clear that public consultation on the MoP is not a priority for either (LiveLaw 2016).

We argue that in bandying about the need for transparency and accountability, it seems that both the centre and the judiciary envision these as duties only towards each other, and not towards society generally. This myopia is evident throughout the history of their struggle into the present-day: neither branch of government has focused on making information public, let alone thought of other ways to involve a broad cross section of the people, even as this is becoming more commonplace worldwide. In continuously trying to blame each other for various woes in judicial administration, both have neglected to acknowledge their own failures—in clogging up courts with excessive litigation, for instance, or neglecting to assess judicial merit regularly. Recentring the people in all these discussions can turn the current crisis into an occasion to create systemic, lasting change.

Contested Constitutional Space

The debate between the judiciary and the executive has always centred on primacy, arguably at the expense of civil society and its stake in appointments. In all the landmark judges’ cases, in which the Supreme Court interpreted constitutional provisions on judicial appointment, the main issue was which branch of government had greater control. The first judges’ case came to the Court after a bitter period in judiciary–executive relations, with the executive making controversial appointments and transfers, and judges protesting perceived threats to their independence (Divan 2013). In that case, the Supreme Court held that the executive’s view would prevail over the chief justice’s in matters of judicial transfer and appointment (S P Gupta v President of India & Ors, 1981). In the second and third judges’ case, the apex court reversed this ruling and elaborated the collegium procedures that currently govern appointments, giving primacy to the judiciary to protect its independence and insulating it from political interference (Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association & Anr v Union of India, 1993; In re: Appointment and Transfer of Judges). Civil society received slightly greater attention in the NJAC or fourth judges’ case since, in addition to judicial and executive representatives, the commission comprised two eminent laypersons, to give some space to public participation (Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association and Ors v Union of India, 2015). But the narrow framing of civil society’s role, and the suggested mode of appointment of these eminent persons, came with its own set of problems. Remarkably, the behaviour of the centre and Supreme Court collegium, following the NJAC judgment, indicates that the key concern for both remains control, and not necessarily the people.

Opaque and Exclusionary Appointments

The problem with such a narrow debate is that even if the two branches were to resolve their dispute overnight, it is unlikely that either transparency or accountability would improve meaningfully for the public. The few people-oriented measures in current discourse are limited to talk of disclosing information on candidates recommended for appointment and publishing minutes of appointment proceedings. While this seems like an obvious measure, attaining even this would be a significant achievement in the Indian context. The judiciary has never made such information public, and has purposefully resisted providing related information as well. For instance, it was only after facing intense pressure from the public and from some judges for years that the Supreme Court began uploading its judges’ assets on the Court website. Despite not being covered under any exception, the judiciary has managed to keep itself out of the purview of the Right to Information (“RTI”) Act for over 10 years, by arguing that disclosure of information under RTI could interfere with judicial independence (Bhushan 2009).

This question is still pending, and was referred to a Constitution Bench earlier this year (India Today 2016). While some appointments or judiciary-related information might certainly be too sensitive to make public, the Indian judiciary has responded to this concern by systematically blocking all access to information, instead of selectively keeping some data classified and opening up debate on this classification.

The centre has not been much better at making appointment-related information public. Of the 77 names recommended by the collegium for high court appointments, it recently returned 43 to the judiciary for reconsideration, without divulging any reasons to the public. Much later, the centre clarified its objections to news agencies in extremely vague phrases such as “serious complaints” and “adverse intelligence reports.” The collegium reiterated almost all of the returned names within a week, leaving little time for the reconsideration it had been asked to carry out, and current law dictates that reiterated judges must be appointed (Times of India 2016). With the rest of the country being kept in the dark as to the exact nature of these complaints and their resolution, how can the judiciary or the executive hope to retain public trust and legitimacy in the eyes of the people?

This is in sharp contrast to several other countries like Argentina and the United Kingdom (UK), where publicising appointments-related information is a minimum requirement. Since 2003, in response to a crisis of confidence in the judiciary, Argentina has required judicial nominees to disclose their assets, employers, and potential conflicts, and mandated the government to publish these in leading newspapers and official outlets (Herrero and López 2010). In the UK, the Judicial Appointments Commission regularly advertises vacancies, compiles detailed statistics on its appointments, uploads minutes of meetings on selection mechanisms and so forth. Both the judiciary and executive in India have not only failed to implement this minimum and make appointment proceedings publicly accessible, but they have also failed to imagine going beyond this, to make proceedings participatory. In countries such as Kenya and the United States, government bodies invite law associations to evaluate judicial candidates, and welcome comments from the general public as well (Opiyo 2011; University of Cape Town 2010). Yet others like South Africa even accept nominations from the public, and allow the media and any member of the public to sit in on interviews of candidates, enabling people’s active participation in appointment processes (University of Cape Town 2010). Encouraging broad-based participation has evident benefits: it could reveal that a wide section of lawyers support a candidate’s integrity, legitimising her appointment; or it could allow academics, civil society organisations, or even litigants to raise concerns about her commitment to constitutional values.

Moving beyond Appointments

The anxiety over ceding primacy to the other has sidelined measures either branch can take, independent of each other, to demonstrate real commitment to the oft-repeated buzzwords of transparency, independence, merit, and accountability. Even if our judicial appointment processes were to make room for civil society inputs, it would be impossible for the public to have informed opinions on a judge’s suitability in the absence of systematic and transparent performance evaluation. Assessing judicial performance through periodic reviews is a common practice internationally, and in the Indian lower judiciary. But our higher judiciary has studiously failed to evolve internal mechanisms to appraise Supreme Court and high court judges. Subordinate judges are subject to periodic checks through annual confidential reports (ACRs), which suffer from some imperfections—such as a lack of uniformity and objectivity—but it provides a framework for assessing judges on various objective and subjective criteria. The higher judiciary must prioritise evolving such holistic metrics, and subject its conduct and capability to regular checks as well. This is particularly important for Supreme Court and high court judges, since they determine questions of constitutional importance and since a significant number of them are direct appointees from the bar, whose ability to adjudicate has previously not been subject to review.

The higher judiciary’s actions, unfortunately, seem to suggest that while it expects accountability from other organs of government, it does not hold itself to the same standard. But the exclusion of civil society from appointments increases the judiciary’s burden to be accountable to it, and such accountability would be meaningless if it were granted only at the stage of appointments and the system made completely opaque afterwards. Even if courts deem that these evaluations are too sensitive to be disclosed in full, they can still hold the judiciary accountable to the people in other ways, by providing a robust feedback mechanism to litigants and lawyers, so that they can contribute to the evaluations.

A genuine commitment to people-centric reform would also involve addressing the over-representation of privileged elites and dominant caste groups. Continuing structures of hereditary privilege, and gendered expectations of career choice, have ensured that women and people from socially and economically marginalised groups remain underrepresented in the judiciary. While recommending candidates, judges have been informally advised to duly consider suitable candidates from amongst Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), minorities and women, but this seems to have had little effect on their inclusion (Chawla 1999).

The judiciary has often taken on significant social justice causes, but if its internal elevation does not reflect the same self-professed commitment, the public can rightly question its legitimacy and authority in claiming to uphold civil society’s interests. Reservations do exist for certain groups in the subordinate judiciary, and their promotions are supposed to be based on merit. But there have been several allegations of caste-based discrimination against high court judges who evaluate and determine the career progression of subordinate judges, which makes it hard to place complete confidence in the fact that deserving, meritorious judges will be elevated to higher judiciary posts. For instance, in 2011, the Chhattisgarh High Court ordered the compulsory retirement of 17 SC and ST judges for poor performance, while higher-caste judges with lower grading continued on the service (Umar 2011).

Further, a disproportionate number of higher court judges are appointed directly from the bar, since these appointments are governed by an informal and self-evolved 60:40 split between members of the bar and district judiciary (Kuldip Singh v Union of India, 2002). Combined with the self-appointing system, this has also resulted in several instances of sitting judges appointing close relatives, in clear violation of merit-based appointment principles. The creation of insulated judicial dynasties, where a reported 70% of all sitting high court judges come from the same 132 families, has made “climbing the ladder” practically impossible for others, especially women and people from marginalised groups who do not have access to the same networks of privilege (Indian Express 2014).

Against this backdrop, it is hardly surprising that only six women judges have been appointed to the Supreme Court in the past 66 years, and presently, there is one woman judge in the apex court out of 24. The latest data for high courts, from November 2015, presents a similar picture, with merely 62 female judges compared to 611 male judges (Nair 2015). An exact breakdown for caste composition is not available, though certain figures can shed light on the larger picture. In the last six years, no SC judge has been elevated to the Supreme Court, and as of May 2016, there were no SC chief justices in the high courts either (Chhibber 2016).

Legitimacy

Any democratic institution in a deeply divided society derives its legitimacy in the eyes of the public from its representation and inclusiveness. For this reason alone, judicial dynasties and structures that enable them must be disabled. Proactive measures are necessary to change modes of judicial training, career progression and socialisation that reinforce dominant attitudes, which compromise the neutrality and independence that the judiciary prides itself on. But despite several calls for such measures in this year alone, neither branch of the government has brought up this issue in any depth.

The executive too has failed to capitalise on opportunities underlying its stalemate with the judiciary, in focusing its energies on securing a veto in judges’ appointments. Granted, the executive has limited control over judicial matters, but there are still a number of initiatives within its powers that it can expedite. For decades, the government has issued documents recognising the potential of technology and citizen–centric services to transform access to justice, expedite justice–delivery, and improve accountability and transparency for litigants. But of the four pillars of the Technology for Justice Initiative (a part of the larger Digital India project)—namely, ePolice, eProsecution, eCourts, and ePrisons—only eCourts seems to have taken off meaningfully. Even this project has been characterised by flawed resource allocation, imprecise budgeting, and a lack of institutional coordination, leading to multiple delays in its completion. The executive’s failure to establish links and interoperability between the police, prison, and courtroom services means that digitisation and integration of India’s justice system remains a distant dream.

In recent spats with the judiciary, the centre has been quick to pass back any blame for delaying appointments and worsening court backlogs. For instance, the centre recently went as far as to cite how since 1990, it has made the second-highest number of appointments this year, far above the average (DNA 2016). But this statistic merits a closer look, since the increase in high court appointments this year is neither proportional to the increase in sanctioned judge strength nor litigating population. Absolving itself of blame, the centre continues to advise the judiciary on how to reduce backlog, by shortening vacations, etc, while itself burdening the courts with excessive government litigation! The executive had previously acknowledged the mechanical and inefficient manner in which government litigation is often pursued, and even formulated a National Litigation Policy in 2010. But ambiguous language and unmeasurable outcomes rendered the policy a mere piece of paper. Now, when the centre holds the judiciary to task for burgeoning backlogs, it develops selective amnesia about how government litigation, which is reportedly almost half of all litigation in courts, clogs up sparse judicial time and disadvantages other litigants.

The current struggle between the judiciary and executive is in some ways limited by its own history, a rehash of the same fights for control present since the early years of the republic. Both are ostensibly defending two different interpretations of a constitutional provision. But the debate is so entirely subsumed under a concern for primacy that it no longer seems to really hinge on the constitutional text, and it certainly does not centre on the people that the Constitution is about. The failure to imagine an expanded role for civil society is profoundly unjust towards the people these institutions are meant to serve, and often based on downright disdain. In the NJAC judgment, Justice Khehar wrote that civil society “is not yet sufficiently motivated, nor adequately determined, to be in a position to act as a directional deterrent, for the political-executive establishment” (Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association & Ors v Union of India, 2015). Ordinary citizens have been given only a dichotomy, between either executive or judicial dominance. It is in departing from this binary, and centring the conversation on the public, that any meaningful solutions to this tussle will lie.

 

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Crimes by Khaki

S.O.S   e - Voice For Justice - e-news weekly

Spreading the light of humanity & freedom

Editor: Nagaraja.M.R.. Vol.12..Issue.50........24/12/2016

 

 

Crimes by policemen, a matter of concern

 

By D V Guruprasad,  , Former DG & IGP Karnataka

 

 

Sometime ago, when Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made a comment that “policemen are criminals in uniform”, there was outrage in the Delhi Police. A similar comment made earlier by a judge resulted in similar reactions. 

Recent incidents in Bengaluru involving policemen, both serving and retired, in criminal activities makes one feel that may be such comments are not entirely unfounded. In the last week alone, Bengaluru police arrested a retired deputy superintendent of police (DySP) and seven serving policemen on charges of robbing businessmen post demonetisation drive.

Few years ago, some police officers in Mysuru allegedly stopped a bus going to Kerala, detained a passenger and knocked off a huge amount of cash he was carrying. On his complaint, an investigation was conducted and some serving police officers were charged for the crime.

Earlier in the past, crimes alleged against police personnel used to centre around their corrupt activities or custodial violence. We had even heard of cases where stolen property recovered from the accused were misappropriated by unscrupulous police officers. 

However, policemen themselves planning and plotting robberies and dacoities were rare indeed. The fact that such incidents are now occurring frequently indicates that something is seriously wrong. 

There is no easy answer to the question as to why policemen turn criminals. Lure of quick and easy money, constant interaction with criminals and inherent behavioural problems may be cited as some reasons. 

But the larger question is how do such people get into the police force in the first place? Is there no system to screen such people from entering the system? Police recruitment does not have a system of identifying potential wrong doers. 

Usually physical efficiency test, written test and personal interviews are held for selection. Police departments of five states are now incorporating questions related to assessment of a person’s psychological makeup into the written test. 

But potential misfits are not flagged and removed based on their answers. In personal interviews of police sub-inspectors in Karnataka, a psychologist is part of the interview board. But no candidate seems to have been rejected based on the psychologist’s assessment.

Since it is difficult to prevent a person with criminal mind in getting selected into the police wing, it is incumbent upon police top bosses to inculcate values during induction training. While some states have introduced ethics as one of the subjects for police training, many still concentrate on subjects like law and police duties. 

It is also a well-known that police training does not get the importance it deserves. Hence even at this stage, undesirable persons do not usually get weeded out. 

If a person with a criminal mind manages to get selected and gets confirmed in the police force, the only way to make him pursue a path of law is by constant supervision. It is a pity there are no periodical assessments to gauge the mental makeup of a police constable or a sub-inspector. 

The department normally goes by whatever is written by seniors in the Annual Appraisal Reports (ARRs). More often, these reports are written routinely. In the armed forces or in the central police forces, an assessment of a person’s performance and mental makeup is periodically made and black sheep are mercilessly weeded out. 

As per the data of the National Crime Research Bureau (NCRB), the total number of criminal cases registered against policemen were 1,989 in 2013; 2,600 in 2014 and 5,526 in 2015. Of these 5,526 cases, Kerala itself accounted for 3,080 cases, whereas Karnataka reported only 84 cases. Considering that people in general do not make complaints against policemen in India, this figure is alarming. 

Rare punishments
Out of the 5,526 cases, 4,367 cases were charge sheeted and in 1,512 cases police personnel were arrested. However, the total number of police personnel convicted is only 25. These figures indicate that wrongdoers rarely get punished. 

Can such crimes be stopped? The answer is ‘no’. There will be black sheep in the department. However, such crimes can be minimised. 

This can be done by screening the applicants for police jobs by using well established psychometric tests, instilling strong sense of values during training and having periodic refresher training courses, taking strict action including dismissing from the service against those with criminal bent of mind and constantly monitoring the activities of at least those police men who come to adverse notice. 

Whistle blowers in the department need to be encouraged and protected. Efforts should be made to see that those police men charge sheeted for serious crimes do not escape punishment. 

Merely having a Police Complaints Authority in every state does not solve the problem. A system of policing the police needs to be introduced. If police leaders do not sit up and take corrective measures, the situation will go out of hand.

 

 

CRIMINALS IN POLICE UNIFORM
- An appeal to union home minister & Karnataka state home minister

The ABC of police force in India is apathy ,
brutality & corruption . in India, police are not impartially enforcing
law instead are working as hand maidens of rich & mighty. The corrupt
police officers are collecting protection money from criminals ,
collecting money to go slow on investigations , to file B- reports , to
fix innocents in fake cases , to murder innocents in lock-up /
encounters . they are hand in league with land mafia , today C.M of
Karnataka himself issued a warning to police officials about this.
Even in lock-ups , jails, the rich inmates bribe
officials get better food from outside , mobile phones , drugs , drinks
, cigareetes , etc. they get spacious cells & get best private medical
care . where as the poor inmates are even denied food , health care ,
living space as per the provisions of law. The corrupt jail officials
instigate rowdy elements in the jails to assault poor inmates & to toe
their line. More corrupt the police more wealthier he is. Even CBI
officials are no different. The only beacon of hope is still there are
few honest people left in the police force.
Hereby , e-voice urges you to make public the following
information in the interest of justice.

1.how many CBI officials & Karnataka state police officials are facing
charges of corruption , 3rd degree torture , lock-up/encounter deaths
, rapes , fake cases , etc ?

2.how you are monitoring the ever increasing wealth of corrupt police
officials?

3.how many officials from the ranks of constable to DGP have amassed
illegal wealth?

4.what action you have taken in these cases ? have you got
reinvestigated all the cases handled by tainted police?

5.how many policemen have been awarded death penalty & hanged till
death , for cold blooded murders in the form of lock-up deaths /
encounter deaths ?

6.why DGP of Karnataka is not registering my complaint dt 10/12/2004 ,
subsequent police complaints ?
is it because rich & mighty are involved ?

7.e - voice is ready to bring to book corrupt police officials subject to
conditions, are you ready ?

8.how many police personnel are charged with violations of people's
human rights & fundamental rights ?

9.how many STF police deployed to nab veerappan were themselves
charged with theft of forest wealth?

10.how you are ensuring the safety , health , food , living space of
inmates in jails?

11.how you are ensuring the medical care , health of prisoners in
hospitals & mental asylums?

12.How you are ensuring the safety , health , food , living space of
inmates in juvenile homes ?

 

Ten reasons why criminals in khaki get away

 

Behind every man like S.P.S. Rathore who abuses his authority stand the generals and footsoldiers who help and support him. We need to take them all down.

S.P.S. Rathore, the criminal former top cop of Haryana, may appear alone today but we must never forget that he was able to get away with the sexual molestation of a young child and the illegal harassment of her family for 19 years because he had hundreds of men who supported him in his effort to evade justice.

The fact that these men – fellow police officers, bureaucrats, politicians, lawyers, judges, school administrators – were willing to bend the system to accommodate a man accused of molesting a minor speaks volumes for the moral impoverishment of our establishment and country. Decent societies shun those involved in sexual offences against children. Even criminals jailed for ‘ordinary’ crimes like murder treat those serving time for molesting children as beyond the pale. But in India, men like Rathore have their uses for their masters, so the system circles its wagons and protects them.

The CBI’s appeal may lead to the enhancement of Rathore’s sentence and perhaps even the slapping of abetment to suicide charges, since his young victim killed herself to put an end to the criminal intimidation her family was being subjected to by Rathore and his men. But the systemic rot which the case has exposed will not be remedied unless sustained public pressure is put on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, two men who have it in their power to push for simple remedies in the way the Indian law enforcement and justice delivery system works.

First, abolish the need for official, i.e. political sanction to prosecute bureaucrats, policemen and security forces personnel when they are accused of committing crimes. The original intent behind this built-in stay-out-of-jail card was to protect state functionaries from acts done in the course of discharging their duties in good faith. Somewhere along the line, this has come to mean protecting our custodians of law and order when they murder innocent civilians (eg. the infamous Panchalthan case in Kashmir where the trial of army men indicted by the CBI for murdering five villagers in 2000 still cannot take place because the Central government will not grant permission), or assault or molest women and children. No civilised, democratic society grants such impunity. It is disgusting to see former officials and bureaucrats from Haryana saying how they had wanted Rathore prosecuted but were prevented from doing so because of pressure. Such officials should either be made formally to testify in a criminal case against the politicians who so pressured them or they should themselves be hauled up for perverting the course of justice.

Second, stop talking about how making the police and army answerable to the law will somehow demoralise their morale. Does anybody care about the morale of ordinary citizens any more? Or the morale of upright police and army officers, who do not think it is right for their colleagues to be able to get away with criminal acts?

Third, bring an end to the cosy relationship between the police and politicians. Rathore was protected by four chief ministers of Haryana. He served them and they served him by ensuring his unfettered rise. It is absurd that the Indian Police is still governed by a colonial-era Act dating back to 1861. A number of commissions have made recommendations for reforming the police over the years; but no government or political party wants to give up its ability to use and misuse the police for their own benefit.

Fourth, ensure that police officers who abuse their authority and engage in mala fide prosecutions are dismissed from service and sentenced to jail for a long period of time. Mr. Chidambaram should use the considerable resources at his command to find out who were the policemen involved in filing 11 bogus cases against the teenaged brother of the young girl Rathore molested. He should then make sure criminal proceedings are initiated against all of them. The message must go out to every policeman in the country: If you abuse the law at the behest of a superior, you will suffer legal consequences.

Fifth, ensure that criminal charges against law enforcement personnel are fast-tracked as a matter of routine so that a powerful defendant is not able to use his position to delay proceedings the way Rathore did for years on end. The destruction or disappearance of material evidence in such cases must be treated as a grave offence with strict criminal liability imposed on the individual responsible for breaking the chain of custody.

Sixth, empower the National Human Rights Commission with teeth so that police departments and state governments cannot brush aside their orders as happened in the Rathore case. This would also require appointing to the NHRC women and men who have a proven record of defending human rights in their professional life, something that is done today only in the breach. The attitude of the Manmohan Singh government to this commission and others like the National Commission for Women (NCW) and National Commission for Minorities is shocking. Vacancies are not filled for months on end.

Seventh, ensure the early enactment of pending legislation broadening the ambit of sexual crimes, including sexual crimes against children. Between rape, defined as forced penetrative sex, and the vague, Victorian-era crime of ‘outraging the modesty of a woman’, the Indian Penal Code recognises no other form of sexual violence. As a result, all forms of sexual molestation and assault short of rape attract fairly lenient punishment, of the kind Rathore got. In his case, the judge did not even hand down the maximum sentence, citing concerns for the criminal’s age. Sadly, he did not take into account the age of the victim and neither does the IPC, which fails to distinguish between ‘outraging the modesty’ of an adult woman and a young child.

A draft law changing these provisions and bringing India into line with the rest of the modern world has been pending with the NCW and Law Ministry for years. Perhaps the government may now be shamed into pushing it through Parliament at the earliest.

Eighth, take steps to introduce a system of protection of witnesses and complainants. The fate that the family of Rathore’s young victim had to endure is testament to the fact that people who seek justice in India do so at their own peril.

Ninth, ensure that robust interrogation techniques like narco-analysis, which are routinely used against other alleged criminals, are also employed against police officers accused of crimes.

Tenth, the media and the higher judiciary must also turn the light inward and ask themselves whether they were also derelict in their duty. The Rathore case did not attract the kind of constant media attention it deserved, nor do other cases involving serving police officers accused of crimes against women, workers, peasants and minorities. As for the upper courts, their record is too patchy to inspire confidence. It was, after all, the high court which chose to disregard the CBI’s request for including abetment to suicide charges.

 

To,

Shri  Justice T S Thakur ,

Honourable Chie Justice of India ,

No.5 , Krishna Menon Marg ,

New Delhi – 110011.

 

 Honourable Sir,

Subject : Honourable Chief Justice of India  Resign from judicial service

 

Read  the following articles  it shows the ugly face , criminal  face of Indian Police & Indian Judges.  Ofcourse , there are honest few in police service & judiciary , but their numbers  are dwindling day by day.  Their  voices  are  muted. A crime  can happen without the knowledge of police ,  but a crime cann’t continue for years without the knowledge , connivance of local police.

Inspite of repeated  appeals  , show cause notices by  our publication  to you , you have not replied let alone take action. You & your  office staff  lack  decorum , etiquette  , duty consciousness   of  replying  to  letters. You  are making contempt of citizens of india.  But  remember the basic fact  that you are enjoying 5 star pay , perks  at the expense of public.

 

Throughout  this  petition &  in our past appeals , the term “JUDGE”  includes  all public servants  right from  revenue inspector ,  officials performing quasi  judicial functions  right up to chief justice of india. 

 

In the following articles we have clearly shown  how   justice is  delayed  &   justice manipulated  in india.  SCI & CJI  is not even bothered about health conditions , life of   applicants.  I  am suffering from health problems  caused by   my previous  occupation  at M/s RPG Cables Ltd  and  am in my final days  ,  authorities   , SCI  , CJI   is not  bothered  to give justice  inspite of my repeated appeals  for  more than  a decade. 

 

Following  two   examples , actual cases  highlighting  the  judicial  delays :

1.     In Mysore  ideal Jawa Factory , company was locked out.  Huge amounts were outstanding to banks , suppliers , employees.  The  land  usage , alienation could have been converted from industrial use to commercial  to get higher market price  and then auctioned.  We appealed for same to  authorities including SCI , but they didn’t heed. It was auctioned off  for lesser price , proceeds earned was far  less to  fully  pay outstanding amounts to banks , suppliers and employees. They were only paid less amounts , thus  public banks , suppliers , employees were cheated of  their  rightful  dues. Afterwards the new buyer got the alienation , converted  it from industrial use to commercial usage , demolished factory building built huge residential complex and earned crores of rupees profit.

2.     In mysore  BEML   quarters  lake  &  Hebbal  lake  are  encroached. In the beginning itself , I have appealed to authorities  ,  SCI , CJI   to stop the encroachments.  District magistrate at that time threatened me. Even some citizens groups led protest marches. Nobody was botherd. Today  both lakes are encroached , huge buildings , factories are functioning.

 

It is the duty of Supreme Court of India to Protect , Guard the constitutional rights , fundamental rights of every Indian citizen . Since 25 years  I am  appealing  to SCI  about  issues concerning public welfare , national security , etc and as a result suffering injustices , my constitutional rights , human rights are repeatedly violated  but SCI is mum even when repeated appeals were made to it. Paradoxically , after these appeals for justice , I have suffered more injustices , attempts on my life were made ,  physically assaulted , livelihood  / jobs were  denied , news publication closed , press accreditation denied ,  received threatening  calls , blank calls, even to date  rough elements follow us , rough elements  scout  near home at mid night. Does  not these indicate some ties between rough elements & SCI  Judges ?

Mr.T.S.Thakur , You personally as  CJI  is responsible for protection of our whole family & must ensure protection of our  whole family. Please don’t send police once again to our home , they  lack practical powers , failed previously to enquire high & mighty. They are only interested in taking my statement & closing the case. I have given enough statements  to police , IB. Based on those statements , a supreme court monitored  CBI enquiry is appropriate, to prosecute corrupt public servants.

1.    Why  not police are given enough powers to summon , enquire high & mighty  VVIPs ? Why my decade old complaint to DGP is not acted upon ?

2.    Why  the  enquiry of higher executive in M/s RBI Curreny Note Press (BRBNMPL) , PES Engineering College , NIE , RPG Cables , Mysore District Court  is not done ? These people illegally denied me job opportunities  under the behest of criminals , if they are enquired they will point to the criminal behind.

3.    Why the enquiry  of concerned judges is  not made , who are denying  information  and delaying to act upon our PILs , under whose behest ? If enquired these judges will spill the beans  about criminals behind.

I ,NAGARAJA.M.R. hereby do declare that information given above are true to the best of my knowledge & belief. If i am repeatedly called to police station or else where for the sake of investigations , the losses i do incurr as a result like loss of wages , transportation , job , etc must be borne by the government. prevoiusly the police / IB personnel repeatedly called me the complainant (sufferer of injustices) to police station for questioning , but never called the guilty culprits even once to police station for questioning , as the culprits are high & mighty . this type of one sided questioning must not be done by police or investigating agencies . if anything untoward happens to me or to my family members like loss of job , meeting with hit & run accidents , loss of lives , death due to improper medical care , etc , the jurisdictional police , revenue officials , District Magistrate & Chief Justice of India together with above mentioned accused public servants will be responsible for it. Even if criminal nexus levels fake charges , police file fake cases against me or my dependents to silence me , this complaint is & will be effective.

If I or my family members or my dependents are denied our fundamental rights , human rights , denied proper medical care for ourselves , If anything untoward like hit & run cases , murder attempts , unnatural deaths , etc happens to me or to my dependents or to my family members - In such case  Mr.T.S.Thakur , Chief Justice of India together with the jurisdictional revenue & police officials will be responsible for it , in such case the government of india is liable to pay Rs. TWO crore as compensation to survivors of my family. if my whole family is eliminated by the criminal nexus ,then that compensation money must be donated to Indian Army Welfare Fund. Afterwards , the money must be recovered by GOI as land arrears from the salary , pension , property , etc of guilty police officials , guilty Judges , guilty public servants & guilty Constitutional fuctionaries. 

You   are   delaying  taking  action  with  respect to  PILs , appeals   made by us   concerning public welfare , national security, loss to public exchequer , etc.  Where as  courts have enough  time  to  hear  trivial cases  of cricket  boards , etc. When  you  cann’t work  without  fear or favour   of criminals  inside & outside government , you are  unfit  for  the  post . Your continuation  in office  only serves your  self  interest not the country.  Hereby , we request you to  RESIGN from the position  of chief justice of india and  to pave  the way for  may be to a person who can work , uphold law. But  you can  still  continue in office  as a burden   on  public exchequer , society   as  some of the previous CJIs  did.

We  are  witnessing  unfit  people being selected as judges by collegiums , public  service commissions. Till  rot  in  judiciary is cleared , judges  lack  moral , legal  right to prosecute , punish others.  Only when  we  have honest  persons in judiciary , police service    then alone  we can clean criminals  in judiciary , police service , government.  Then  alone we will get RAM RAJYA , a just  society  envisioned  by  our  constitution  framers.

 

Against  common people ,  you  judges make  harsh comments , strict enforcement of law   ,  police  cruelly  treat commoners  , use 3^rd degree  torture   on  commoners. Whereas  against  rich  crooks  , mafia   you  judges &  police fail , lack  spine  to  uphold  law.  You are zeroes  before  rich  crooks  , valor of  judges , police  is  only  before commoners.  Still  if you have  little  sense  of  duty  take  action  on  following  PILs  , previous  appeals for  justice by us , reply  to  our  show cause  notices ,  issue  writ of mandamus  to concerned  public servants  to  give  full  truthful  information  to  our   following & previous  RTI  applications.

You have failed in your constitutional duties as Chief Justice of India. It will be better if you resign from judicial services immediately, it will be good for the society  the nation as a whole. or else you can continue in service as a burden on the public exchequer  , the society as some of previous CJIs did.

    Still  now also you can change your work style and sincerely do your duties  upholding rule of law IMPARTIALLY. Please read the details at  following web pages :

 

Justice  Thakur  RESIGN

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/justice-t-s-thakur-resign ,

https://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/supreme-court-apologise-to-public  ,

 

Rot in judiciary is decades old. Honourable CJI sir , weeping is not right constitution of india has given you  the authority , TAKE ACTION DO YOUR DUTY.  People , History will remember you forever with respect. Anyway you are getting very good 5 star pay & perks , will also get decent pension after retirement from government. First  forget about post retirement  postings , discretionary allotment of sites , etc from government then you can work fearlessly. Both central & state governments are  biggest litigants in the country , IAS babus make wrong application , interpretation of laws  leading to litigations. Start by clearing the rotten eggs within the judiciary. When judiciary & police  in a country strictly uphold law , work impartially that country  surpasses even heaven.

Do remember on the D Day , in the   Court of Almighty  everybody CJI , Judges , prime ministers , common man alike  has to bow his head. In who’s  court there is no match fixing , no technicalities , no vociferous hi fi advocates , no bias based on caste , religion , region , community , etc , only  straight simple account of wrongs & rights. Guess  his judgement in your case. GOD  BLESS US  ALL.

Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.

Date :  07.07.2016………………..Your’s sincerely ,

Place : Mysuru………………………..Nagaraja.M.R.

 

Karnataka DySP hangs self after being suspended for kidnapping, extortion

 

Kalappa Handibag, deputy superintendent of police (DySP) of Chikkamagaluru Rural in Karnataka, committed suicide on Tuesday by hanging after he was suspended from duty for his alleged connection in the case of abduction and extortion of a financier.

Relatives of his wife, Vidya, claimed that Kallappa committed suicide around 8.30 a.m. when his wife was in the bathroom. He was subsequently rushed to the Muragod Primary Health Centre and then referred to KLE Hospital in Belagavi. However, doctors at the hospital declared him brought dead, as reported by the Hindu.

Handibag's suspension was issued after a departmental inquiry was ordered against him, following a complaint by 37-year-old resident of Kempanahalli, Thejas, who alleged that Kalappa was one of the six men who abducted him and tortured and extorted money from him.

As disclosed by Thejas in the FIR, he was picked up by a gang of six men around 2 a.m. on June 28 when he was parking the car near his house. He was shoved into a Scorpio (KA 20 N 3657) and taken to an old warehouse in Bengaluru, where he was thrashed by the gangsters who also demanded a ransom of Rs. 25 lakh.

The gangsters told Thejas that he was being punished for duping people through his chit fund business and cricket betting. Thejas negotiated the ransom down to Rs. 10 lakh and called his friend identified as Shivu or Pavan to follow the kidnapper's instructions and deliver the money.

Thejas's friend was then given a mobile number (9480805120) and a voice from the other line asked him to deliver the cash to the police quarters behind Mathias Tower on IG Road. Thejas was eventually freed.

DySP Handibag's role came to light after Thejas and his friend used the car's registration number and the mobile number to investigate the kidnapping. Thejas's friend also recorded the mobile conversation with Handibag, according to a report by the Times of India.

Covert op on Dawood compromised by some Mumbai cops: RK Singh

 Noting that Dawood and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed were protected by Pakistani forces, Singh said a secret operation must be carried out in the manner the United States did to kill terrorists Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar.

 

India had planned a covert operation to take down underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, but the operation was compromised by some Mumbai Police officials. These are the explosive revelations made by former Home Secretary and now BJP leader RK Singh in an interview to Seedhi Baat on Aaj Tak.

RK Singh revealed details of how corrupt elements of the Mumbai Police foiled a secret operation to take down Dawood. The operation was launched when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister and current NSA Ajit Doval was at the IB. Indian government had roped in some elements from the Chota Rajan gang and they were being trained at a secret location outside Maharashtra. But Mumbai Police officials who were in touch with D-company landed up at the training camp with arrest warrants for the covert operatives who had been engaged by India. The entire operation to take down Dawood failed due to these rogue elements in Mumbai police. This is the first time that there is confirmation of a botched covert operation to take down Dawood by someone who has held a position of authority.

Noting that Dawood and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed were protected by Pakistani forces, Singh said a secret operation must be carried out in the manner the United States did to kill terrorists Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar. He added that Pakistan will never admit that Dawood is in Pakistan. Similarly, it will shamelessly deny the presence of other terrorists despite funding and training these terror groups on its soil. "India must repeat the Myanmar operation in Pakistan," he maintained. He added if one operation fails, the government shouldn't be disheartened but launch another operation right away.

Singh said Modi's advisors are not giving him the right advice on this issue. "Nothing will be achieved by handing over dossiers to Pakistan. It is globally recognised as a snake pit. We can't depend on the US to fight India's battles. India has to fight its own enemies," Singh added.

Singh also said the neighbouring country needs to be wise and avert a possible war by not shielding a terrorist. "Pakistan has to calculate the cost of a war. I don't think Pakistan is such a big fool that it would engage in a war with India," he said. "If America sees any threat from Pakistan, it will act. Similarly, Israel can kill its enemies. We need to develop this mentality," he added. The retired bureaucrat revealed that specially-trained private security men comprising mostly ex-army men protect Dawood in Pakistan under the supervision of the ISI. Singh exuded confidence that Modi's visit to the UAE would yield desirable results. He did acknowledge though that Dawood still has significant influence in Dubai.

Coming down heavily on Pakistan, Singh said India must stop dialogue with its neighbor and instead deal with the situation in a strategic manner. "India must hit back in a way that hurts Pakistan the most," he said while suggesting that the dialogue process only helps Pakistan restore credibility which it has lost all over the world. "Pakistan believes in a constant war with India. We have the capability to hit back hard. Any dialogue with Pakistan is futile. For a discredited country like Pakistan, dialogue process is an opportunity to regain its credibility and strike parity with India," Singh said. He said the elected government in the neighbouring country had no control over its military force and the ISI.

Singh lauded the central government's firm stand on separatists in Kashmir. He said the Pakistani government was using separatists to claim in international platform that it has the support of a section of people in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian government has done the right thing by not talking to separatists, he said.

 

 

Lottery Scam: Retired IPS officer who introduced  Alok Kumar to Pari Rajan was major beneficiary

An IPS officer who retired in 2010 is said to be the major beneficiary of the single-digit lottery racket that was unearthed recently. If sources are to be believed then it is this retired officer who had held several positions in the Bengaluru City Police Commissionerate, who introduced the kingpin of the lottery racket, Pari Rajan, to fellow IPS officer Alok Kumar. 

The investigation carried out by the CID has indicated that the retired IPS officer was one of the biggest beneficiaries in the scam and his name figured in the list of 12 serving/ retired IPS officers whom the CID intended to summon for interrogation, the sources said. 

Alok Kumar, too, is said have disclosed the name of the officer, when he was grilled by the CID on Sunday. 

There are also reports that Rajan, a native of KGF was into hawala transactions and this was a major reason why many officers had links with him.

The suspicion is that Rajan used his contacts with the police top brass to ensure a safe hawala transaction. Hawala operators considered Bengaluru as a safe transit point and it had a well-oiled network.

With the CBI probe being ordered, there are possibilities of various aspects relating to lottery scam and hawala business to come out.

The Excise and Lottery Enforcement Cell was set up immediately after the ban on the lottery business in 2007. 

For the first two years, the cell had no station or power to arrest. One of the senior officers, who was in the Enforcement Cell between 2007 and 2010, said that until 2011 there wasn’t much illegal lottery business reported from across the State.

“Matka and single-number lottery were very much in existence, but they used to be handled by the respective district police. As far as lottery was concerned, there was no case registered at least till 2009-10,” an official said.

 

Two More Senior Cops Involved In Racket, Says Kumaraswamy

 

with Pari Rajan. The police have recently arrested Rajan in connection with the scam. Arun Chakravarthy, who was IGP, Lottery Squad, prior to Agrawal, had also taken bribe, he charged. According to Kumaraswamy, 30 to 40 senior police officers, including many IPS officers, are involved in the scam. Despite a TV channel conducting a sting operation in March this year, the government took no action for two months. During this period, the ruling party MLC took Pari Rajan and Matrin to the son of the influential person to strike a deal. When Martin and Rajan refused to pay Rs 100 crore, the scam gradually came out in the open, he said. Paying hafta The JD(S) leader said suspended police officer Dharanesh (who was then Superintendent of Police, Lottery Squad, southern range) and Pari Rajan had been paying hafta (bribe) to a minister in the Siddaramaiah ministry. Dharanesh was recently suspended in connection with the lottery scam. The officer wanted to continue in the post. The then Superintendent of Police, Lottery Squad, northern range, Chandrakanth was trying to get the post held by Dharanesh, he said. "The chief minister and Home Minister K J George should now disclose the name of the minister who was collecting the hafta. He should tell why Pari Rajan was not arrested all these days." Simmering differences He said the scam emerged due to the simmering differences among the police officers in sharing the bribe money paid by the mafia. Two cases filed initially in KGF in connection with the illegal lottery sale were fake and they were only meant to cover up the scam, he added. Later speaking to the media after the chief minister's decision to refer the scam to the CBI, Kumaraswamy said the government should get ready to face more embarrassment. However, he welcomed the decision to refer the racket to the CBI. Scam chronicle, according to HDK A constable in Kolar, Manjunath, was regularly taking bribe from Pari Rajan during June or July 2014. Rajan stopped giving him money after he developed contacts among higher-ups. Manjunath informs about illegal activities of Rajan to Singh, a head constable with anti-lottery squad. Singh, brings the matter to the notice of Ramappa Guttedar, the inspector of the squad. When questioned, Rajan he offers big money as bribe. Then he takes these policemen to Chennai where they meet one Martin, one of the key operators. Martin gives Rs 40 lakh as bribe and the three policemen sincerely inform about it to lottery squad SP Dharanesh and IGP Arun Chakravarthy. All the policemen share the money: Manjunath and Singh get Rs two lakh each, Ramappa gets Rs five lakh and the rest was shared by Dharanesh and Chakravarthy. Upset with the small share they got, Manjunath and Singh inform about the illegality to northern range SP Chandrakanth. Chandrakanth tries to get the post held by Dharanesh but fails. He then helps a TV news channel to conduct a sting operation. Six cases referred to CBI by Siddaramaiah government Misappropriation of over Rs nine crore by the officials of Ramanagaram-Channapatna Urban Development Authority with the support of bank officials in 2013. Misuse of over Rs five crore by the officials of Mandya Urban Development n Authority with the help of banks in 2013. Officers of many nationalised banks were said to be involved in the irregularity. Rape and murder of Sowjanya, a 17-year-old pre-university course student of SDM College, Ujire in Dakshina Kannada, on October 9, 2012. The theft of 12 historic idols from Siddhanta Darshan Block of a Jain Basadi at Moodbidri in September 2013. Death of IAS officer D K Ravi in April, 2015. Single-digit lottery scam. H D Kumaraswamy, JD(S) leader: The chief minister and Home Minister K J George should now disclose the name of the minister who was collecting the hafta. He should tell why Pari Rajan was not arrested all these days.

 

DGP son has links with Lokayukta scam accused kin

 

State police chief Omprakash’s son, Karthikesh Omprakash, has business relations with the kin of N Narasimha Murthy, a clerk at the State police headquarters, who has been arrested by the SIT probing the Lokayukta corruption scam.

Documents available with the Deccan Herald show that Murthy's brother-in-law Ashwath and Karthikesh are partners in a quarrying and crusher unit in Ramanagara. Incidentally, a complaint by the villagers of Hanchikuppe in Ramanagara district against this quarrying firm for violation of rules is still pending before the Upalokayukta.

The application for quarrying and stone crushing unit was filed in the name of Karthikesh in 2009. The Mining Licence (Number 1354 and 1353) was issued in favour of the firm Magadi Quarry and Crusher, owned by Karthikesh and Ashwath. Around five acres of gomala land at Hanchikuppe was allotted to the firm. 

When villagers objected to the quarrying unit within the prescribed safe zone, a proceeding by the Ramanagara Deputy Commissioner held on March 1, 2013 relaxed certain conditions. The area was declared as safe zone. The same day, based on the recommendation of the DC, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board accorded certification for the safe zone. The decision was so fast that both the offices passed orders in favour of a quarry owner in just one day, the documents reveal. Despite this, the Tahshildar had submitted a report that the unit fell within 500 metres of residential area, which is not permissable under Karnataka Regulation of Stone Crushers Act, 2011. 

The Hanchikuppe villagers had also filed a PIL in the High Court. The court dismissed the petition on the grounds that since the villagers are the concerned parties a PIL cannot be entertained. The villagers also filed a complaint before the Upalokayukta (Compt/Uplok/BD/459/2011) and the next date of hearing is September 23, 2015.
 
On the day Omprakash took charge as DG&IGP, Loksatta Party had complained to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that he had prima facie misused his position to get clearances for the unit owned by his son. 

When contacted, Omprakash said that it was a personal business issue of his son. Asked if he is aware of his son's business partnership with the brother-in-law of a clerk in his office, the DG&IGP answered in the negative. 

“You have to ask this question to my son. He may have a business relationship with a private person. Moreover, if it is illegal, let the law take its own course,'' he said.

 

Karnataka Lokayukta Bhaskar Rao’s son held in ‘extortion’ racket

 

The arrest of Ashwin Rao was made in Hyderabad, as the SIT, formed to probe the alleged racket that has also led to clamour for the resignation of Bhaskar Rao, intensified the investigation

 

 

A special investigation team (SIT) of Karnataka police, which is probing an extortion racket in the state Lokayukta, Monday arrested Ashwin Rao, son of Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao and the prime accused in the case.

Ashwin was arrested from Kukatpally near Hyderabad.

“On Monday morning, we picked up Ashwin from his residence,”a senior SIT official said. An advocate for Ashwin, who moved an anticipatory bail plea in a special Lokayukta court after his client was detained, was informed in court by the SIT investigating officer Labhu Ram about the arrest.

 

 

Ashwin is prime accused in an extortion case filed by a government executive engineer, M N Krishnamurthy, who has alleged that Ashwin demanded a Rs 1 crore bribe from him to prevent initiation of corruption proceedings against him.

The SIT, however, informed the special court Monday that Ashwin had not been arrested in connection with Krishnamurthy’s complaint, but in a fresh extortion complaint against him by P B Channabasappa, a government executive engineer involved with the Upper Tunga irrigation project in Haveri district.

“It is not clear how the arrest could have happened in the second FIR because the SIT was in Hyderabad early on Monday and the second FIR was filed around 10.30 am. The anticipatory bail plea in the Krishnamurthy case is still valid if the arrest is in the second case. The SIT has been asked to file objections to the anticipatory bail plea,” Ashwin’s advocate Sandeep Patil said.

SIT sources indicated that Ashwin would be placed under arrest in the Krishnamurthy case as well after he is brought to Bengaluru Tuesday.

The SIT has so far arrested five people in connection with the case.

The alleged racket had multiple layers, with one group filing RTIs to identify allegedly corrupt persons as targets, a second group calling up officials and summoning them to the Lokayukta offices, and a third group allegedly demanding money to prevent initiation of cases against them.

On Sunday, the SIT had arrested the public relations officer in the Lokayukta, Syed Riyazatullah, a police officer of the rank of joint commissioner, on charges of extortion and cheating.

Riyazatullah was produced in court Monday and remanded in SIT custody till August 5. The court overruled his bail plea, saying there was need for effective investigation in the case.

 

Karnataka extortion case: Lokayukta’s son part of larger conspiracy, says SIT

 

Ashwin Rao alias Yerabati Ashwin has been arrested by a SIT in connection with an attempt to extort money from a government official in the Lokayukta.

 

The SIT in its objections has stated that Ashwin Rao “misused the premises and office of the Lokayukta and meeting hall adjacent to the chambers of PRO of Lokayukta” as part of the alleged extortion conspiracy.

 

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) which arrested Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao’s son Ashwin Rao in an extortion case stated on Monday that he is a prominent member of a larger conspiracy.

Ashwin Rao alias Yerabati Ashwin has been arrested by a SIT in connection with an attempt to extort money from a government official in the Lokayukta. The SIT objected to an anticipatory bail plea filed by Ashwin Rao to pre-empt his arrest in a second extortion case.

 

The SIT in its objections has stated that Ashwin Rao “misused the premises and office of the Lokayukta and meeting hall adjacent to the chambers of PRO of Lokayukta” as part of the alleged extortion conspiracy. The call detail records obtained during investigations “clearly establishes” that Rao was in constant touch with three other key accused in the extortion racket – middlemen V Bhaskar and Ashok Kumar and Lokayukta PRO Syed Riyazathullah, the SIT has stated.

According to the SIT, though Ashwin Rao has been arrested only in connection with an extortion attempt on one government official, his arrest in a second case is likely at any time. “Considering the fact that petitioner is the son of the Hon’ble Lokayukta and he is in a position to wield influence on the prosecution witnesses he in not entitled to anticipatory bail,” the SIT has argued. The SIT has also claimed to have unearthed incriminating material against Ashwin Rao in the course of a search of his house in Hyderabad.

While a case was initially registered against Ashwin Rao and others for summoning Bengaluru Urban district executive engineer M N Krishnamurthy to the Lokayukta office on May 4, 2015 to place a demand for a bribe of Rs one crore to prevent initiation of Lokayukta corruption proceedings the son of the Lokayukta was eventually arrested by the SIT in connection with another case registered on the basis of a complaint by an irrigation department engineer PB Channabasappa who alleged that Ashwin Rao and others demanded Rs 20 lakh to make a Lokayukta corruption case go away.

The SIT has in other statements of objection to bail applications said that cell tower analysis had revealed that three of the middlemen, including realtor Ashok Kumar who allegedly made the telephone call summoning executive engineer Krishnamurthy to the Lokayukta office were together on May 4 when the government official was called to the Lokayukta’s office. The trio of middlemen were also frequently in touch with the Lokayukta PRO and Justice Bhaskar Rao’s son Ashwin Rao, the SIT has stated.

The SIT also informed the special Lokayukta court that middlemen Ashok Kumar and Shankare Gowda, and Lokakyukta PRO Riyazathullah had destroyed crucial evidence including some SIM cards and mobile handsets used in the conspiracy.

  

Gali Reddy cash-for-bail scam nets two more Andhra judges

 

More skeletons are tumbling out of the closet in the cash-forbail scam involving former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy. 

On Thursday, the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) arrested two more judges who allegedly made parallel attempts to secure bail for the mining baron in the Obulapuram Mining Company's illegal mining case. 

The two judges - D. Prabhakar Rao, a family court judge in Srikakulam and K. Lakshminarasimha Rao, the chief judge of the city small causes court, were taken into custody by the agency from their respective residences in Hyderabad. 

While Prabhakar Rao was suspended by the Andhra Pradesh High Court on July 6, Lakshminarasimha Rao was suspended late on Wednesday, after the ACB probe unearthed his role in the scam. 

The ACB authorities are questioning him. The ACB had already arrested suspended CBI special court judge Talluri Pattabhirama Rao, who had allegedly received a bribe for granting bail to the former Karnataka minister on May 11. 

Retired judge T.V. Chalapathi Rao, who mediated in the cash-for-bail deal, has also been arrested. Pattabhi's son Ravichandra, rowdy sheeter-turned-realtor P. Yadagiri Rao and realtor Ravi Suryaprakash Babu were arrested and remanded in judicial custody. 

According to the ACB sources, the former Karnataka minister and mining baron had approached Pattabhi through two different routes: one involving Chalapathi Rao and Yadagiri; and the other through Lakshminarasimha Rao and Prabhakar Rao. 

While Yadagiri offered Rs5 crore to Pattabhi, Prabhakar offered to strike the deal for Rs10 crore. However, Pattabhi preferred Yadagiri's offer because it was a safer deal as Chalapathi happened to be his friend. 

Janardhan Reddy was arrested on September 5, 2011, by the CBI. He is accused of being involved in the illegal mining and export of iron ore in Bellary and Anantapur.

Rs 100cr offered for Gali Janardhan Reddy’s bail: Arrested judge

 

More skeletons are tumbling out in the murky cash-for-bail scam involving mining baron and former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy as a lower court judge, arrested in the case, disclosed to the ACB that Gali's men were ready to offer as much as a staggering Rs 100 crore to secure bail for him. Earlier, the deal amount was put at Rs 15 crore.

T Lakshminarasimha Rao, the arrested judge, disclosed that Dasaradharami Reddy, a relative of Gali, had made the Rs 100 crore offer, according to the confession statement recorded by the ACB. Krishna Prasad, an auditor, who is known to him and another relative M Venkateswara Rao approached Lakshminarasimha Rao in the second week of April with a request to look for a `channel' to influence the CBI judge for Gali's release on bail. "They were in touch with Dasaradharami Reddy who was willing to pay even Rs 100 crore for securing the bail," the confession statement of Rao said. Though the deal initially came as a shock to the arrested judge, who at the time was registrar (enquiries), high court, he was later attracted towards the deal, it said.

Lakshminarasimha Rao called the CBI court judge B Nagamaruti Sarma to his residence on April 18 and tried to convince him on granting of bail to Gali. Sarma did not agree for the deal and went away rejecting the offer. He had, in fact, dismissed the bail plea. Then another person Raavi Surya Prakash Babu, a real estate dealer, who was taken to Bellary MLA Sriramulu by his associate Kolli Lakshmaiah Chowdary for striking the deal, approached Rao again. Surya Prakash had already met Sriramulu's nephew and Kampli MLA T H Suresh Babu who, too, was trying to secure bail for Gali and advised him to wait as Nagamaruti Sarma was not of 'their type'. But he requested Lakshminarasimha Rao to keep the `channel' open as the deal was "too lucrative to be ignored".

Later, in a strange sequence of events, Nagamaruti Sarma was shifted out of CBI court and a fresh bail plea was filed which came before another special judge T Pattabhirama Rao. Lakshminarasimha Rao roped in Pattabhi's batchmate D Prabhakar Rao, another district judge, who was with the state election commission as its secretary (legal). He also tried to push the deal but failed as Pattabhi told him that he would decide the matter on only `merit'. It turned out later that Pattabhi chose a 'route' planned by his friend Chalapati though the deal was only for Rs 5 crore. This was mainly because his friend did not put any precondition that he should meet Gali Somasekhara Reddy, brother of Gali Janardhana Reddy, before giving bail as was done by Prabhakar Rao, who was also arrested in the case. Prabhakar in his confession spoke of only Rs 15 core implying that he too was unaware of the whopping Rs 100-crore deal. While the ACB arrested Lakshminarasimha Rao on July 12, Pattabhi was arrested last month.

Interestingly, the ACB sleuths seized some cheques bearing the names of Lakshminarasimha Rao's family members with some complaint letters written by advocates against some AP high court judges. The letters were addressed to the President of India.

 

Cash-for-bail scam: CBI Judge Pattabhi Rama Rao arrested

In a case of corruption seeping into the lawmakers psyche, the Andhra Pradesh anti-Corruption bureau arrested Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge Justice Pattabhi Rama Rao in the cash-for-bail scam. He was suspended after the allegations surfaced that he accepted a bribe of Rs 6 crore to grant bail to mining baron Janardhana Reddy in the illegal mining case. Raids were earlier carried out in Rao's residence and the arrest is the third in the case. Rao was hearing the case related to the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) scam. Retired district judge T V Chalapathi Rao and Pattabhirama Rao's son Ravichandra was also questioned by ACB sleuths. Pattabhirama and Chalapathi were classmates at A C College of Law in Guntur and the latter allegedly brokered the multi-crore bribe. On a tip off that a deal has been struck between Reddy and the judge, the CBI had earlier recovered a cash of nearly Rs 1.80 crore from a bank locker here, the keys of which were allegedly in Ravichandra's possession.   

300 Delhi lower-court judges under probe in laptop scam

 

Nearly 300 Delhi lower-court judges are under the scanner of the high court for alleged financial irregularities in purchase of computers and laptops from funds provided by the Delhi government and Delhi high court in 2013.

A high-level panel comprising three HC judges has been set up by chief justice of Delhi high court Justice G Rohini to look into how the money was spent by each of these judges. The panel will scrutinize documents submitted by the judges on purchase of these items.

Under the scheme, each judge was sanctioned Rs 1.1 lakh for upgrading their computer infrastructure. The idea was to give the judges the freedom to opt for computers, laptops or iPads so that their efficiency in disposal of cases improves.

 

Sources told TOI that the probe panel has issued memos to judicial officers under the scanner, asking for detailed explanation on the manner in which they spent the money.

"All judges were initially under probe but the panel has now zeroed in on roughly 300 officers against whom preliminary discrepancies have been found. The focus is on correctness of the utilization certificate given by them to HC relating to the purchases," said an authoritative source.

 

"It has emerged some may have bought TVs or home theatre systems out of the sanctioned sum instead of computers," the source added.

The irregularities came to light during a routine vigilance inquiry conducted by court officials. When the evidence was shown to the chief justice and other senior judges including the computer committee, it set alarm bells ringing.

Taking a serious view of alleged financial misdemeanours by city court judges, Justice G Rohini set up a panel comprising justices Vipin Sanghi, Rajiv Shakdher and VK Rao to conduct a swift but wide ranging inquiry.

In response to the memos issued by the panel, sources said, many judges have sent detailed replies with annexures explaining what was purchased and even showing debit/credit details from their official bank accounts that tally with the date of purchase. Details of vendors have also been provided which is being checked individually.

 

"Since there was no specification of how much money is to be used for maintenance of the new equipment, the panel is likely to give a leeway of Rs 10,000-15,000 that may have been kept reserved for annual maintenance charges by a judge. But beyond that, the charges if proved, may lead to the guilty judge's dismissal from service because financial fraud or providing forged certificates is a very serious crime," the source pointed out.

The Delhi government had extended a similar scheme for its bureaucracy. City bureaucrats were empowered to buy computers and related equipment out of the sum allocated.

 

`Copy cat' judges suspended by HC

 

Five judges belonging to the state's subordinate judiciary were suspended by the AP High Court on Wednesday for allegedly copying while writing their LLM examinations at the Arts College of Kakatiya University in Warangal on Tuesday. 

The judges were doing this course under distance mode from Kakatiya University as the degree would help them gain some increments in their careers. 

Those placed under suspension include K Ajitsimha Rao, senior civil judge, Ranga Reddy district, M Kistappa, principal senior civil judge, Anantapur, P Vijayendar Reddy, second additional district judge, Ranga Reddy district, M Srinivasachary, senior civil judge in Bapatla of Guntur district and Hanumantha Rao, the additional junior civil judge in Warangal. 

They were allegedly caught red-handed in the act of copying on Tuesday by the authorities and upon receipt of this information, the HC suspended them from service pending an inquiry. The HC would soon launch disciplinary proceedings against all these judicial officers, sources said.

 

DSP among six held on charge of hunting deer

 

Forest Department authorities on Friday arrested Deputy Superintendent of Police (CID), Mysore, T.K. Dharmesh and five others for allegedly hunting down a spotted deer in the Omkara forest range of Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR).

The carcass of the male deer with a bullet injury was found in Naganapura third block in the forest range, according to Forest Department sources.

They said the Forest staff saw the accused in the forest range during routine patrolling early on Friday and took them into their custody. They later combed the area and found the deer carcass. Senior Forest officers rushed to the spot on getting the information and conducted investigation.

“The deer carcass had entry and exit bullet wound. The post-mortem was performed and the viscera samples have been preserved,” the sources said. A case under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, has been booked against the accused.

The names of other accused were given as Manjaiah, Raghu, Hanif, Atiq and Farid.

“A .303 service rifle and a multi-utility vehicle used for committing the alleged offence have been seized from the accused,” the sources said. Repeated attempts to contact the Forest officers investigating the case went in a vain.

When contacted, D. Rajkumar, Honorary Wildlife Warden, Mysore district confirmed that six persons, including Mr. Dharmesh, were arrested on charges of alleged killing of deer. “The deer was found hunted with a service rifle,” he said.

 

Raid on bus: Six police officers charged with dacoity

 

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has chargesheeted six police officials and some other private persons in the infamous inter-State dacoity case of Rs 2.27 crore from a Kerala-bound bus in Yelwala police station limits in Mysore in January this year. The chargesheet was submitted in the jurisdictional court in Mysore after the Department obtained government permission to prosecute the accused police officials – the then sub inspector C.D. Jagadish, four constables – Satish, Manohar, Ravi and Latif of Mysore South police station and Prakash and the gunman of the then Southern range Inspector General of Police Ramchandra Rao under Sections 395 (dacoity) and 120A (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.  

Rao, who was transferred after he came under scanner for his alleged involvement in the crime, does not figure in the chargesheet. “There is no legal admissible evidence against the then IGP or the then deputy superintendent of Police (Mysore rural) Srihari Baragur. The investigation is however on and it will be early to come to any conclusion,” said an official source. He added that it is a complex case because there are no independent witnesses.

A Kerala-bound bus carrying about Rs 2.27 crore of four jewelers was ‘raided’ by the police in Yelawala police station limits in Mysore on January 4, who seized six bags of cash from inside the bus and arrested the driver and the cleaner of the bus for “illegal” transportation of cash.

The police showed a recovery of Rs. 20 lakh, but the Kerala jewelers told their Home Minister that the amount was around Rs. 2.27 crore. “There is no clinching evidence on the exact amount, which was reportedly being transported in the bus. We can only surmise from the statements of the victims and the accused,” added the officer.

 

Rs 2.26-crore theft by cop: IGP, DySP under scanner

 

CID focuses on duo after gunman, informant confesses

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Karnataka Police is thoroughly probing the alleged roles of K Ramachandra Rao, Inspector General of Police (southern range) and Srihari Baragur, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Mysore rural), in the sensational Rs 2.26-crore robbery that took place on a Kerala-bound bus at Yelawala, Mysore, on January 4 this year. The needle of suspicion pointed strongly towards the duo following a confession by Rao's gunman, Prakash, who was arrested by the CID on Tuesday along with three informants. 

Statements made by the arrested gunman and the informants in their confessions indicate that the plundered loot was shared between the IGP and DySP. According to highly placed sources, Prakash and one of the three informants, gave minute-by-minute accounts to the CID sleuths about the robbery that occurred two months ago. 



"We have recorded their confession statements. Before laying our hands on the IGP and DySP, we need to collect further corroborative evidence. At this juncture, we can neither rule out their involvement nor give them a clean chit," a top-ranking CID official, who is part of the investigating team, told Bangalore Mirror. 



However, when BM spoke to IGP K Ramachandra Rao, he denied all the allegations. "I am not aware of what Prakash has said in his statements to the police. He is in the CID's custody, and they are conducting a detailed probe. Let them come out with the truth," he said. 

METICULOUSLY EXECUTED 



The meticulously executed robbery unfolded on the night of January 4, as a group of policemen led by Mysore South SI, C D Jagadish, stopped a bus that was en route to Kerala from Bangalore, near Yelawala on the Mysore-Hunsur state highway. They later diverted the bus to a road near Yelawala police station and took out six bags containing hard cash from its luggage compartment. The driver and cleaners of the bus were taken into custody and a case slapped against them for ferrying large amounts of cash illegally. But the cops showed a recovery amount of a mere Rs 20 lakh, whereas the actual amount was Rs 2.26 crore. 



The cash belonged to four Kerala-based jewellers who had reportedly selected the bus to transport it from Bangalore to Kerala. It is alleged that they had taken the owner and the driver of the bus into confidence in order to ferry the cash. 



The jewellers, to whom the cash belonged, got the shock of their lives when they found out that the Yelawala police had stopped the bus and booked a case against the driver and cleaners, showing a paltry sum of Rs 20 lakh as recovery. 



Upon making enquiries, they learnt that the remaining Rs 2.06 crore had been pocketed by the policemen themselves. The agitated jewellers proceeded to get in touch with Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, who personally knows Karnataka Home Minister K J George. Chennithala brought the matter to the notice of George, who was reportedly infuriated with what had happened. He immediately informed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah — who hails from Mysore — of the incident. 



ENRAGED CM SUMMONS DGP 

An enraged Siddaramaiah and George are then said to have summoned State Police Chief Lalrokhuma Pachau and asked him to get the matter examined. Pachau got in touch with IGP Rao, and subsequently, a case was taken up. But the top brass smelled a rat during the investigation, and a CID investigation was ordered. 



The CID sleuths conducted a methodical investigation for a month before laying their hands on the IGP's gunman, Prakash, and his gang of informants. Investigation by the CID also revealed that Prakash resorted to these kinds of crimes involving Kerala jewellers regularly over the past two years. He had allegedly taken the help of DySP Srihari Baragur, and other policemen, to conduct false raids and clean out cash. In the past, the gang had looted small amounts running into a few lakh. But since the amount involved now was a staggering Rs 2.26 crore, the jewellers mustered the courage to lodge a complaint. 



"The crime does not stop with the gunman. It appears that they got support from higher-ups. It is here we are examining the involvement (if any) of Prakash's boss Rao, DySP Baragur, and other seniors," the officer added. After the matter reached the CM's table, the culprits tried to reach a compromise with the jewellers by offering to return the money. This, however, failed to go through because some of the policemen had taken large amounts of cash with them, and had subsequently gone absconding, said the CID police. The absconding policemen, four in number, are not be confused with the three informants. 



Additional Director General of Police (CID) P K Garg said, "The IGP's gunman, Prakash, was arrested two days ago. So far, we have arrested four persons whom we are questioning and whose statements we are recording. The money is yet to be recovered. We believe that the cash is with the absconding policemen, and we have laid a manhunt for the four policemen, whose names and ranks I cannot reveal." 



According to sources, Prakash and his gang shared the booty among themselves, the informants, and senior police officers. The informants said they got around Rs 20 lakh as their cut, but claimed the rest is with policemen of different ranks. 

 

ROGUE COPS DON’T GIVE A BUCK

 

Old habits die hard: Even as the average Bengalurean stands in long queues to withdraw his hard-earned money, corrupt policemen and babus are busy converting or hiding their black money




Cop, 2 KRV men held for black ops; may have converted up to Rs 2 crore

 

It’s a classic case of the fence eating the crop: a policeman, instead of being on the vigil himself, was arrested for working in cohorts with a group that helps those with black money exchange it for new notes.


The 43-year-old police constable, B Shesha, attached with the Central Crime Branch (CCB), was arrested for facilitating illegal cash conversion, along with four accomplices, two of whom were members of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedhike (KRV), Shivarame Gowda faction.


All of them were booked for assaulting and robbing a businessman after promising to help him exchange in old currencies with the new.


Shesha was suspected to be a major operative in the illegal cash conversion racket, mainly targeting businessmen and trader community in the city. It is believed that he had had helped exchange currency worth at least Rs 2 crore for a fixed commission, since November 8 when old notes of 500 and 1,000 denominations were rendered obsolete. At least four more suspects are yet to be arrested.


The Magadi Road police, who arrested the constable, said he was attached to the Organised Crime Wing (OCW) of the CCB. Also arrested were G Byresha, 37, of KP Agrahara, P Vijay, 27, of Gopalapura, K Mannivannan, 36, of Bhuvaneshwari Nagar and Pavan. Byresha and Vijay are the KRV activists.


The police are yet to arrest four other accused. The issue was reported after a fall out between the racketeers and their clients over commission, leading to the abduction and assault of Jaishankar (42), a resident of KG Nagar, who owns Shreyas Electrical shop in Vijayanagar.


He was in contact with the accused and was assured that he would be given Rs25 lakh in new notes in exchange of Rs30 lakh of demonetised tenders. They offered him Rs5 lakh as commission for the deal. Jaishankar pooled in much as Rs25.2 lakh from his trader friends in the locality, but decided to take his cut of Rs5 lakh and told the accused that he will handover only Rs21.5 lakh. This led to an argument when Jaishanker along with his friend, Girish, came near Star Bazaar in Magadi Police station limits to hand over the collected amount on Saturday.


“There was some misunderstanding between both parties over the missing Rs5 lakh and the gang forcibly took Jaishankar and his friend near Madanayakanahalli and robbed them of the cash and were released with life threat. The businessman had filed a complaint with the Magadai Road police on Tuesday and identified the accused as they were known to them,” said an officer who was a part of the investigations.


The police managed to arrest the four accused, including KRV members Mannivannan and Pavan immediately. They revealed Shesha’s name during interrogation. They also claimed that they thought Jaishankar will not dare to lodge a complaint since the amount collected was unaccounted for. Later, Shesha was picked up and his mobile phone was seized.


“Shesha is a 1996 batch police constable and has served at Chitradurga, Chickpet and Kengeri police stations before coming to CCB. He has been taken into police custody and we are trying to ascertain if he was involved in similar incidents,” deputy commissioner of police (West) MN Anucheth told BM.

 

Retired  DySP   raids  Businessmen

 

The city police have detained a retired deputy superintendent of police (DySP) for allegedly posing as a fake Central Crime Branch (CCB) official and forcefully decamping with Rs83 lakh of unaccounted cash collected from 20 individuals, including realtors and businessmen, to be exchanged into legal tender at a residence in JP Nagar last Thursday.


The former police officer’s involvement with the currency exchange gang is also being probed and he is expected to be formally placed under arrest late on Wednesday night.


The former officer, identified as Babu Noronha, retired from police service as DySP CID early this year. He was also one of the main accused in a fake encounter of interstate gangster Sagayam near Ramamurthy Nagar in 2003. He was posted as inspector at Commercial Street Police Station at that time and was also the recipient of the President’s Police Gallantry Award in 2004. However, doubts were raised over the encounter and CBI registered a case against him in which he was acquitted last year, after a prolonged trial.


More arrests are likely to be made in connection with the case in the coming days, claimed investigating officers.


The accused was picked up on the basis of the complaint filed by Shivaraj, a realtor who was one of the 20 people who had pooled in as much as Rs83 lakh in demonetised currency to be exchanged at 25 per cent commission. The deal was finalised through Karthik, who had contacted them claiming to be a facilitator for illegal cash exchange, for a fixed commission. The cash was to be exchanged at the residence of Satish on Thursday night and was to be handed over to Lohith, one of the main accused in the case. 


However, after Shivaraj showed the cash bundle to Lohith, a group of men entered and claimed that they were from the Central Crime Branch (CCB) and staged a fake arrest, asking Shivaraj to accompany them in their vehicle. They drove around for a while and pushed Shivaraj out of the vehicle at a deserted spot near JP Nagar and sped away with the cash. An official complaint was filed with JP Nagar police station.


“There were six people involved in the scam and one of the main accused, Lohit, is closely associated with Babu Noronha. We have detained him in connection with the case,” said SD Sharanappa, Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru City (South).


Sources added that Babu Noronha was waiting inside a car outside and handed his old police identity card to Lohith when he went inside and announced to the victims that they were from the police department. Investigating officials are also probing if any other serving or former police official was involved in the crime.

 

Edited, printed , published owned by NAGARAJA.M.R. @ # LIG-2  No  761,HUDCO FIRST STAGE ,

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HC Judges Favoring Mafia ?
Topic: human rights , media

S.O.S   e - Voice For Justice - e-news weekly

Spreading the light of humanity & freedom

Editor: Nagaraja.M.R.. Vol.12..Issue.49........17/12/2016

 

Editorial : Are  Karnataka  HC  Judges  favoring  Land Mafia ?

Recently  Karnataka high court  gave  clearance to Karnataka government’s  regularization of illegal buildings  ( AKRAMA  SKRAMA ) scheme.

1.      Law is one & same for all.

2.      Government  authorities , police razes down , demolishes  small temporary hutments built by tribals , dalits without  mercy ,  takes suo motto action.  No  court comes to their rescue.

3.      Till date  bagar hukum  lands  are not given to dalits , tribals  are not given land rights over their huts in forests. Is Cout  blind , deaf ?

4.      However  when rich crooks build  bungalows , commercial complexes  illegally , no suo motto action  taken by government authorizes , police , why ? Courts go a step further it gives  stay orders against demolition  of rich crook’s illegal buildings , asks government to modify plan , law itself  to save illegal buildings of rich crooks.

5.      Does Karnataka HC  has  details of exact number of building violations , buildings built on forest lands , lake beds , raja kaluves  with  respective  after  affects on neighbouring buildings , road traffic , ecology , etc  and contingency plan by authorities to overcome those  after affects  casewise backed by technical studies. Make it public.

6.      What criminal  action initiated against revenue , police & other officials  who failed in their  duties at the first instance  to stop the  illegal building construction.

7.      Small houses  of  poor people  who have  smaller building violations  but  who failed to bribe officials  were dealt mercilessly. Their houses were razed down . Now , will the HC order the government to compensate them , to rebuild houses for them  as the court is now saying they are legal now.

8.      Government & HC has given a  cut  off  date  for consideration of  regularization of illegal buildings. When a crime before that cut off date becomes legal , why cann’t it be legal  after that date ?

9.      What  guarantee  HC gives no illegal  buildings  has  come up after cut off date  and will never come in future ?

10. If comes what criminal action  against the concerned officials ?

Bottomline : Judges open your eyes , listen , think & then act.

 

Shift raja kaluves if buildings are built on them: HC

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday suggested shifting of raja kaluves (stormwater drains) if buildings have come up on them, to places where no buildings exist.

While hearing a petition on December 16 in connection with the alleged encroachment of raja kaluve by Mantri Developers for their Mantri Tranquil project at Gubbalala village off Kanakapura Road near Uttarahalli, Justice Ram Mohan Reddy suggested: “I am reminded, in almost identical circumstances, the BBMP spent about Rs 182 lakh (Rs 1.82 crore) in forming the raja kaluve, man made, so as to ensure draining of storm water into Parappana Agrahara lake and if that can be done, why should it not be done here, not only here, but everywhere where raja kaluves are said to be existing and over which buildings have been erected. If alternatives are permissible, then the respondent BBMP must exert itself to make available such alternatives as long as the water course is not obstructed.”

During the hearing, the court sought details about the raja kaluve from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Engineer H C Ananthaswamy, who submitted that there is a material to establish the starting and ending point of the raja kaluve in question.

The court also asked him whether any alternative could be suggested, “in the sense, that the raja kaluve could be shifted to a place where no buildings exist while retaining the gradient and ensure flow of storm water through the said drain to the lake, the Chief Engineer submits that he would have to look into records and make an appropriate survey and thereafter make suggestions.”

Aerial survey
Senior counsel D N Nanjunda Reddy submitted that Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), while preparing the master plan, had conducted an aerial survey over the topography of all properties, subject matter of master plan through the help of a French organisation whose services were engaged by BDA. 

Justice Reddy noted, “If this piece of material is secured from BDA, it is certain, would assist the Chief Engineer in bringing about an alternative to the course of water other than a raja kaluve.”

Mantri Developers had approached the High Court after the BBMP served two notices on it stating that it has encroached upon the raja kaluve by constructing C and D Block of Mantri Tranquil, which should be removed. The notice was based on a High Court division bench order, headed by Chief Justice, to evict encroachment of all the raja kaluves in the City.

The second notice of the BBMP stated that the untreated sewage is let directly into the storm water drain, which has polluted the Subramanyapura Lake in the downstream.

 

Diddali eviction issue threatens to blow up

 

The eviction of tribals in Diddalli, Kodagu, turned into a state issue with activists demanding that the Karnataka government regularise the land and houses of all tribal people living in Karnataka, and accept the existing place of dwelling as permanent and give them the right over property documents.

The fight will continue till this demand is met, the activists announced, while protesting near Ashrama School in Maldare village near Diddalli.

Leaders like Kandagal Shrinivas, former MLC AK Subbaiah, Noor Shridhar, Sirimane Nagaraj, Udupi Chalo leader Harshakumar Kugve, Kiran Gajanooru, P Murthy and others participated.

Meanwhile, on December 7, the day the tribals were evicted, the police denied there was any nude protest. They said the attempt was foiled.

On Sunday, a secret video shot by a local was released to the press to prove that a nude protest by a tribal woman and man was held, a clear witness of the day's extreme protest by the harassed tribals.

Deputy commissioner RV D'Souza reiterated that the evicted tribals would be rehabilitated in any other suitable place identified by the revenue department, but clarified that the reserve forest area where they had built huts, could not be allotted to them.

MP Pratap Simha assured the activists that he would visit the spot of agitation on Monday and work out a compromise after discussions with them and the officials. Kodagu district in-charge minister MR Seetharam also assured them that the tribals would be rehabilitated soon, and if there was any slip-up by the forest officials, action would be taken.

On Sunday, the leaders called a meeting, and called it 'Sankalp' day, which was presided over by Sirmane Nagaraj, and attended by activists, human rights commission members, tribal rights awareness panel members and local leaders.

AK Subbaiah warned that if the government did not sanction land for tribals, the activists would know how to grab it. Agitation committee convener Noor Shridhar pushed for a criminal case against officials who ill-treated the agitators on the day of eviction. Vijayamma alleged that tribals are treated by the government as bonded labourers. Ambedkar Sene president Murthy warned that shortly, tribals from 30 districts join hands to protest in front of the Kodagu deputy commissioner's office.

Meanwhile, Kodagu assistant commissioner Nanjunde Gowda on Sunday visited the agitation spot and assured the deputy commissioner that he had identified a suitable place for rehabilitation, and work will be completed within one month. Virajpet taluk tahsildar Mahadevaswamy and social welfare officer Mayadevi Galagali accompanied them. When the officials arrived, the agitators started shouting slogans against the district administration. They demanded the visit of the DC and district in-charge minister immediately.

 

Who Will Judge the JUDGES ?

 

Mr.Arvind Kejriwal & Mr.Winston Churchill are Almost RIGHT – Criminals  have entered Indian Parliament        - Legislate  LOKPAL  Bill

 

With whole hearted respects to the parliament & all constitutional bodies , hereby we are appealing to the honest few in public service , honest few in parliament , honest few in judiciary & honest few in police , to legally prosecute their corrupt colleagues , to legislate  “ LOKPAL  BILL”  with  full powers to enforce accountability of  all public servants , MPs , MLAs , Police , etc to  the citizens of india. Contempt of Parliament & other constitutional bodies is being made by some of the Corrupt MPs themselves. Therby these MPs are making contempt of Indian Parliament , 105 crore Indian citizens , Constitution of India  and Obstructing the Indian Citizens from performing their FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES to uphold constituion of india , it’s dignity. These Corrupt Public Servants are doing more damges to India’s National Unity & Integrity  than naxals & terrorists . These Corrupt Public Servants are more deadlier & greater threat to india than Pakistan & China. The honest few in parliament  & other constitutional bodies are either keeping mum or not taking appropriate steps to intiate criminal legal prosecution against their corrupt colleagues , this is aiding those criminals to do more crimes , to go unpunished , to manipulate legal system , to manipulate evidences / records , to get acquitted by courts for lack of evidences , to influence police to withdraw cases against them or to file B reports , etc. In these ways the corrupt public servants will never be  convicted , they will be either stay as accussed or acquitted for lack of evidences or government withdraws cases against them or police file B report.

 

Citizens of india are supreme in democratic republic of india. parliament , MPs , MLAs are creations of citizens and are subservient , subordinate to the citizens of india. Creations cann’t be supreme than the creator.

 

Vohra committee has officially acknowledged the criminalization of politics , parliament , legislatures. The politicians crave for power because , while in power investigating / prosecuting agencies will be under their control / influence and they can manipulate the legal process , WHITE WASHING all their crimes. Just see , recently union home minister Mr.Chidambaram  influencing the delhi police  for closing a cheating case against a builder by forcing the police to file “B” report. Recent example read vijaya karnataka kannada daily dated 14.04.2012  lokayukta police favoring ex-CM Yediyurappa & Minister Somanna  tried to close a case before lokayukta court by filing B Report although enough evidences are there to prosecute Ex CM & Minister . Politicians stoop low to such levels , to make money Ex :  irregularities in purchase of coffins meant for kargil martyrs , allotment of  flats meant for war widows , war veterans at Mumbai.

If proper accountability of public servants is legally enacted, independence , autonomy of judiciary & police is  legally enacted , then those in power cann’t WHITE WASH their own crimes. That is the reason many political parties are opposing “LOKPAL BILL” since decades under many pretexts.

Subject to conditions , I do offer my services to the government of india & supreme court of india , to legally apprehend  CRIMINALS , CORRUPT  PUBLIC SERVANTS ,  ARE  YOU  READY  to utilize our services ?

 

Urgent  Need  of   CODE  OF  CONDUCT  FOR  JUDGES  IN  INDIA

   The public servants & the government must be role models in law abiding acts , for others to emulate & follow. if a student makes a mistake it is excusable & can be corrected by the teacher. if the teacher himself makes a mistake , all  his students will do the same mistake. if a thief steals , he can be caught  , legally punished & reformed . if a police himself commits crime , many thieves go scot-free under his patronage.  even if a police , public servant commits a crime , he can be legally prosecuted & justice can be sought by the aggrieved.  just think , if a judge himself that too  of apex court of the land  himself  commits crime - violations of RTI Act , constitutional rights & human rights of public  and obstructs the public from performing their constitutional fundamental duties , what happens ?

 it gives a booster dose to the rich & mighty , those in power , criminals in public service to commit more crimes. that is exactly what is happening in india. the educated public must raise to the occasion & peacefully , democratically  must oppose this criminalization of judiciary , public service. then alone , we can build a RAM RAJYA OF MAHATMA GANDHI'S DREAM.

   Day after day we are seeing allegations against judges  in crimes against women , sex crimes , judicial orders for money , etc in the media.  There is total secrecy in the functioning of judiciary in india  with regards to disciplinary proceedings , promotions  and selection of judges.  We the public don’t know whether proper investigation / enquiry is done in such cases of allegations against judges , what action taken against the guilty judges ?

   Hereby , we demand  code of conduct for judges with  provision of  criminal prosecution of  violators.  

Regard for the public welfare is the highest law (SALUS POPULI EST SUPREMA LEX).

 No man shall be condemned unheard (AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM).

No man can be judge in his own cause (NEMO DEBET ESSE JUDEX IN PROPRIA SUA CAUSA).

 An act of the Court shall prejudice no man (ACTUS CURIAE NEMINEM GRAVABIT).

 

Your’s

Nagaraja Mysuru Raghupathi

 

 Editorial :  Why NOT  Demolish  Minister’s illegal  Bungalows

    There are  cases of present ministers , past ministers , MLAs , IAS , IPS officers encroaching government land , lakes , etc and have built palatial bungalows , commercial complexes. Why revenue officials , police are  NOT showing guts ,  performing impartial duty by demolishing those  illegal structures as they do mercilessly with houses of commoners , poor ?

   Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.

 

Your’s sincerely,

Nagaraja.M.R.

 

PIL – Land Mafia and Judges

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. OF 2015


IN THE MATTER OF 


NAGARAJA . M.R 

editor SOS e Clarion of Dalit & SOS e Voice for Justice
# LIG 2 , No 761 ,, HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,
Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State
.
....Petitioner

Versus 

Honourable Chief Secretary , Government of Karnataka & Others 

....Respondents 



PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 12 to ARTICLE 35 & ARTICLE 51A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA. 


To ,
Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship's Companion
Justices of the Supreme Court of India. The Humble petition of the
Petitioner above named.

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :
1. Facts of the case:
"Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for
power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed." Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt public servants. 

2. Eventhough , I have repeatedly appealed to government of karnataka authorities , MUDA , BDA , KIADB , MCC , BBMNP , etc seeking information regarding illegal buildings , land encroachments specifically in mysore & bangalore , they didn’t provide me information. Now one land scam after another are tumbling out. 

3. I have given certain details to authorities including judiciary , SCI regarding land , lake encroachments in mysore when encroachment was at preliminary stage. The authories could have stopped it , but they didn,t. Now , the hinkal lake , hebbal lake , hootagalli lake & BEML Quarters lake have been encroached to maximum extent and criminals have made crores of rupees profit. 

4. Government authorities has not given title deeds to tribals living in forest since centuries , government authorities has not given title deeds to landless people , dalits who are cultivating on government land since decades.

5. Government authorities , police immediately evict , take suo motto action when a poor family , nomadic family just erects a hutment on government land. The same public servants , police don’t take action when a rich crook palatial bungalow , business complex on government land , lake bed. Cann’t they see it. , they can but are hands in glove with looters.

6. even some of the judges don’t take action when appeal for justice is made to them , to evict encroachers , to stop encroachment. It may be quid pro quo arrangement with crooks. See how many judges have benefitted from government discretionary quota allotment of sites , illegal judicial layout , etc.

7. The land encroachers are not poor people below poverty line , they don’t even have ability to build a pucca house. Encroachers are rich crooks , greedy individuals with political connection. So they don’t deserve compassion.

8. Now , government of karnataka is trying to legalise illegalities in buildings , land encroachments , which gives a booster dose to criminals to commit more crimes.

9. As per equitable law if present land encroachments are legalized , in future too government must legalize future land encroachments when ever it takes place.

10. Prior to enactment of AKRAMA SAKRAMA SCHEME of government of karnataka legalizing illegal constructions , land encroachments, MUDA , BDA , MCC , KIADB officials evicted , demolished buildings of encroachers who didn’t cough up bribes. The one who paid bribes , their encroachments , illegal buildings survived and now getting legalized by government.

11. Now , as per equity who ever have been evicted from encroachments , who’s illegal buildings demolished must get compensation from government. If not all encroachers must be evicted & illegal buildings must be demolished.




2. Question(s) of Law:

Is robbing another’s property right , legal ? is robbing land , lake – a public property for private , individual use right ? 


3. Grounds:
Requests for equitable justice , Prosecution of master minds of land grabbing ,frauds. 


4. Averment: 

Covering up Land Frauds & Land Mafia . Please read details at :

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rti-first-appeal---muda-bda-kiadb ,


Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions. 


The Petitioner has sent many letters / appeals / petitions to supreme court of india & other courts through e-mail , DARPG website & through regular mail requesting them to consider those as PILs. But none ofthem were admitted , even acknowledgement for receipts were not given. See How duty conscious ,our judges are & see how our judges are sensitive towards life , liberty of citizens , commonmen & see howcareless our judges are towards anti national crimes , crimes worth crores of rupees. That the present petitioner has not filed any other petition (which are admitted by courts) in any High Court or the Supreme Court of India on the subject matter of the present petition.

PRAYER:
In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased:


a . Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants , Government of Karnataka authorities in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.
b . to pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case. 

FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY. 

Kindly read full details at following web page : 

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rti-first-appeal---muda-bda-kiadb ,





Dated : 23rd July 2015 ………………….FILED BY: NAGARAJA.M.R.

Place : Mysuru , India…………………….PETITIONER-IN-PERSON 

 

 Infosys  SAVE   Hebbal  Lake  in  Mysuru  from Land Mafia

 

   As part of  it’s  CSR  initiative,   Infosys  the software giant has recently  agreed to fund the  beautification , preservation of  Hebbal  Lake in  Mysuru city of Karnataka state , India. We welcome the good move by  Infosys.

   However  various lakes  including  Hebbal  lake  in mysuru city built by erstwhile  rulers  are encroached by land mafia. The good brand name  of  Infosys  should not be   misused by  authorities  or powers that be  to cover up the crimes of  Hebbal  lake encroachments.

  Till date  “Raja Kaluve” encroachments , encroachments of Hebbal lake , hootagalli lake , hinkal lake , BEML Quarters lake Ningaiah lake , etc  are not cleared.  Public Interest Litigation (PIL)  in this matter  is pending before the  Honourable Supreme Court of India for admission.  Hard earned Infosys share holders money should not be wasted on  disputed location.

    Even after years ,  MCC , MUDA , BDA & KIADB  are not giving  full information / answers to our following RTI  questions regarding  Land crimes. To begin with let MCC , MUDA , KIADB  answer  following  three questions :

1.     Where  are the encroachments of  various lakes , Raja Kaluve in mysuru  city  has taken place ? who are  the encroachers ? what action taken by authorities ?

2.     How much land belonging  to Sri Laxmikantaswamy Temple , Hebbal , Mysuru  has been encroached ? who are the encroachers ? what action by authorities ?

3.     How many commercial complexes , big residential apartments  in Mysuru city are built  without provision for fire exit , parking lot ? what action by authorities ?

 

   To preserve lakes Government of Karnataka must  :

1.     First conduct survey of sites / lakes  , clearly marking the encroachments.

2.     Make the name of encroachers public. Name them & Shame them.

3.     Evict the encroachers & initiate legal prosecution against them.

4.     Finally invest public funds or corporate funds  for preservation  &  beautification of lakes.

 

     Till such time we urge  the  Infosys  management  to with hold  CSR funding of  MCC  or MUDA  or  KIADB   for the purpose of Hebbal Lake  preservation.  Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.

 

 

Your’s  sincerely ,

Nagaraja.M.R.

 

 

 Save  Hebbal  Lake  Save  BEML Quarters Lake  in  Mysore            –  An  Appeal  to  Honourable Supreme Court of India

     In the  past , Mysore Maharaja & other philanthropists  have donated  their personal lands , properties , built many lakes & ponds in mysore , bangalore  and other places with public concern  ,  public  wellbeing  in their mind . They built  these lakes & ponds  in addition to preserving the natural lakes & ponds.  They  knew  about the importance of ecological balance & environment. The present rulers , IAS & KAS  babus  have even failed to  preserve  the lakes & ponds  built  decades ago , let alone build one.   These  Public servants have extended their tacit  support to building mafia , to   kill these lakes & ponds , to fill those  lakes with industrial effluents ,  sewage  & building  mud wastes. After killing those lakes & ponds , the building mafia encroaches on it  & usurps  that  public property  in turn selling it for crores of rupees.

 

    In this way , Hootagalli lake was killed  &  encroached by Kaynes Hotel  ( now silent shores hotel) ,  Hebbal Lake  is being  killed & encroached  from all sides by industries  and  the lake infront of BEML Quarters  is being killed  &  land  demarcation for selling those  land has already begun.

 

The public servants  were totally  indifferent  towards  public outcry against this . The IAS & KAS  babus  who are also magistrates  with judicial authority  have failed  in preserving these lakes & ponds inspite of appeals  to them.  These death of lakes resulting in their encroachments could have been prevented earlier  by DC , Tahsildar , MUDA Commissioner & KIADB Officers. Even I have appealed to them through my web news paper , they didn’t take action at all.  I have made RTI request to those authorities  to give me information regarding status of those lakes  years ago , fearing  truth will come out  they didn’t answer my questions in full , they only gave half truths. When I persisted with  my  RTI request  the Mysore District Magistrate at that time  Mr. P.Manivannan repeatedly called me over phone , abused me & threatened me .  Even threats were made by some policemen  in mufti .  Finally that lake land was allotted to a person  supposed to be close to  the Industries minister at that time.  The courts  are dispassionate & inhuman , while passing eviction orders against poor people , the  police are full of guts  & show their full bravery , valour against these poor land encroachers. Fine , let us appreciate their duty consciousness . However  rich & well connected criminals have illegally encroached upon  public lands , the same  courts  and police are not taking  appropriate action  inspite of repeated appeals , why ?  Even the  Supreme Court of India & Police are Weak & Meek before Land Mafia. Don’t the same Judges & Police have Guts , Bravery , Duty Consciousness & Integrity to take action against such  rich land grabbers ?  The answer lies in the following articles. Once again  we offer our conditional services to Supreme Court of India  , to legally apprehend criminals while the respective public servants have failed to do the same.

 

Hereby , we request the honourable Supreme Court of India ,

1.      To  initiate criminal prosecution  against  Mysore  district magistrate , Mysore  taluk magistrate , MUDA  Commissioner  , Jurisdictional Police Officers & KIADB Officer  , for making contempt of  Supreme Court of India  Order  applying throughout  india to preserve lakes & ponds.

2.      To evict all encroachers forth with .

3.      To  immediately stop all flow of industrial effluents & sewage  to these lakes & ponds.

4.      To initiate criminal prosecution  against  encroachers of these lakes &  pollters , killers of these lakes.

5.      To  preserve  the said  lakes & ponds  , by recovering cost from encroachers , polluting industries  and the  co-conspirators  Mysore DC , Mysore Tahsildar , MUDA Commissioner , KIADB Officer & Jurisdictional Police Officers.

6.      To protect me , my family members & dependents  from  land mafia & co-conspirators of the crime.

7.      To  order , to issue Writ of Mandamus  to  Mysore District Magistrate , MUDA Commissioner  & KIADB Officer to disclose all the information  sought by me in my RTI request publicly. The copy of my RTI request is reproduced below.

 

Date : 17.11.2012                                                         Your’s  Sincerely,

Place : Mysore                                                              Nagaraja.M.R.

 

Top companies in Byrasandra lake encroachers' list

 

A Karnataka High Court commissioner’s report has confirmed encroachment of Byrasandra lake and identified Bagmane Tech Park, Congnizant Technologies Pvt Ltd and Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE) among the “occupiers” of the encroached lake area.

The commissioner, who submitted his report to the court recently, has identified 3.95 acres of encroachment on the lake, which is located on survey number 112 of Byrasandra village, Varthur hobli, in Bengaluru East taluk.

The total area of the lake has been identified as 12.21 acres, including the encroached portion, as per the report, a copy of which is available with DH.  The report has identified seven different “occupiers” of the encroached lake area. Another public sector undertaking Bharath Earth Movers Ltd is also listed.

Bagmane Tech Park, which is one of the prominent IT parks in Bengaluru and houses many top IT companies, has occupied 36 guntas of land (approximately 39,207 sqft).

A portion of the LRDE campus, a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, is located on the lake area too. It has occupied 19.5 guntas, as per the report.

The court had in January 2014 appointed Commissioner of Survey Settlement and Land Records (SSLR) as its commissioner and directed him to conduct a re-survey of the lake and submit a report.

The court had ordered the re-survey as some aggrieved private companies challenged a move by the revenue authorities to recover the encroached lake land in 2013. Encroachment of Byrasandra lake was first identified in 2007 by the then legislature committee on encroachment of government lands headed by A T Ramaswamy.

The court commissioner has prepared a sketch and a map of the lake, identifying the exact boundary. The report has identified and measured encroached and unencroached portions.

Encroachments have been marked on the spot as per the sketch. A prior notice was also issued to all the aggrieved persons before conducting the re-survey. The re-survey was carried out by the then SSLR commissioner Munish Moudgil.

Bengaluru Urban DCShankar said the re-survey has proved encroachment of the lake by Bagmane Tech Park and others.

“Nearly one acre of encroached vacant land of the lake has been already recovered. Now action should be taken on recovering areas where buildings are located. We have brought the issue to the notice of the legislature committee on lake encroachment headed by Speaker K B Koliwad. Action will be taken as per the committee’s directions,” Shankar said.

 

Judicial Layout Site Allotment – BRIBE TO JUDGES ?

  Throught this publication term JUDGE  includes public servants performing quasi judicial functions also. Supreme Court & High Court judges are  repeatedly neglecting our appeals for justice , to  reign in land mafia.

Is the  allotment of  residential plots to Judges @ yelahanka Judicial Layout , a mode of  paying bribe to judges by the biggest litigant government itself & the  corrupt public servants in the government. So that the government can pass illegal laws like “Regularization of Illegal Buildings” , “ Illegal Appointments to Medical colleges in Hassan , Mysore” ,etc &  ministers , IAS officers  can indulge in illegal unconstitutional acts , but the courts will not  take any  appropriate action suo motto or based on any petition. IT IS  MUTUAL HELP , NEXUS OF TWO CRIMINALS – JUDICIARY & GOVERNMENT. Ofcourse , there are honest few exceptions in judiciary & government. We Respect those honest few.

 

 

 Just months back , we have witnessed the collapse of a multi storied building in bellary ,Karnataka & we have witnessed  a fire tragedy in a  multi-storey building in Bangalore,  months ago there was collapse of a huge building under construction in Bangalore , all resulting in loss of human lives. Recently we have seen de-notification scam involving VVIPs . All these are the result of violations of Urban Town Planning Laws , Building bye-laws which  are observed more in breach by the criminals & conniving public servants .  The authorities are behaving like real estate agents of criminals , by-passing norms , framing laws to the tune of criminals . Authorities are not honoring RTI requests & even high ranking IAS officer  repeatedly threatens a commoner  seeking information under RTI ACT .

 

Before embarking on land acquisition for any projects government authorities must plan & assess what are the actual requirement of land for that particular project. After finding out the actual requirement of land , they must  assess the loss of forest area , cost of compensation pay-out , cost of rehabilitation of people , environmental damages & resultant health damages to people in surrounding areas ,it’s resultant losses when the project gets running , if at all the benefits , profits from that project far outweighs the losses ,then only project should be put before the public for their consent. Ministers & IAS officers must not take these decisions all by themselves in a hush – hush manner.

 

Even when a project is downsized , from the previously approved size , the land left over , surplus land must be given back to the original owner on first priority . The project managers must not sell those surplus lands to third parties for a premium .

Even when KIADB ,BDA ,MUDA & other authorities acquire lands from farmers ,for constructing industrial  parks or residential layouts , etc , has framed comprehensive development plans (CDP) for their respective cities , clearly demarcating land usage pattern . However after acquisition of land , the KIADB , BDA , MUDA , etc are selling those very lands to private third parties for different land usage purposes ,completely violating CDP. Are these KIADB , BDA , BBMP , MUDA ,MCC real estate agents of Rich people ?

 

Now , consider NICE – BMIC SCANDAL or MINING Scandals , public servants in responsible positions are accusing each other , there by proving that almost all of them are criminals. In democracy , ministers & IAS officers are public servants , MLAs , MPs are not leaders just public servants  - representative of people. They must represent people’s wishes & must order the IAS & other officers to fulfil the wishes of people as per legal provisions.

Information input  forms part of process of one's expression. One's expression in any forms – written , oral , etc becomes information input to the opposite person , in turn he expresses his reply. Information & Expression are inseparable parts & form lifeline of a democracy. That is the reason , Right to Expression is the basic fundamental right as well as human right of every Indian citizen. When a person's  right to expression is violated , his other rights to equality , justice , etc also  are violated. Suppression of Information amounts to curbing of Expression.

 

In a democracy , people have a right to know  how the public servants are functioning. However till date public servants are hiding  behind the veil of  Officials Secrets Act (which is of british vintage created  by british to suppress native indians). By this cover-up public servants are hiding their own corruption  , crimes , mismanagement , failures , etc. even RTI Act is not being followed intoto by public servants. However the recent delhi high court ruling affirming that CJI is under RTI purview & bound to answer RTI request , is noteworthy.

 

Our previous RTI request to CJI , union home secretary of GOI, President of India  , DG & IGP of GOK and others were not honored. The information I sought were answers to the following questions mentioned in the below mentioned websites . the questions concerned the past , present continuing injustices meted out to  millions  of Indian citizens , due to wrong / illegal work practices of  Indian judges , police & public servants  .   The  information we sought would expose the traitors , anti-nationals , criminals  in public service.  The information we are seeking are no defense secrets , no national secrets. The truthful information exposes the anti-nationals , traitors in the public service & strengthens our national security , national unity & integrity.

 

Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : "writ of Mandamus" and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the  following   Cross -  Examination / RTI  questions. 

 

:    https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/chief-justice-above-law                      

Jai  Hind.  Vande  Mataram. 

Date :  05.03.2015                                                Your’s  sincerely, 
Place : Mysuru                                                       Nagaraja.M.R.

 

 Sign  to  Save  Hebbal  Lake  &   BEML  Quarters  Lake  in  Mysore

http://www.change.org/petitions/honourable-supreme-court-of-india-save-hebbal-lake-save-beml-quarters-lake-in-mysore# 

 

 

To,

Honourable  Chief  Justice  of  India ,

c/o  Registrar,

Supreme Court  of  India,

New Delhi.

 

Honourable   sir ,

 

Subject :  -  PIL Appeal To Honorable Supreme court of India For Writ of Mandamus

LITMUS  TEST   for   HONESTY   of   SUPREME  COURT  OF  INDIA        

 

AKRAMA SAKRAMA  /  REGULARISATION  OF  ILLEGAL LAND ENCROACHMENTS  ILLEGAL LAND CONSTRUCTIONS   BUILDING BYE-LAW VIOLATIONS  

 KIADB de-notification scandal , BMIC – NICE SCANDAL  , MINING SCANDALS and Threats to RTI Applicant

 

 Rich builders , crooks in their  greed for more money  ( knowing fully well the illegalities )  have constructed  buildings  on public land  ,  constructed  buildings violating  the building  bye-laws.  Now , those crooks are earning  lakhs of rupees rental income .  The  government  law enforcement agencies  were mum , didn’t demolish such buildings  in time , allowing time for crooks  to  benefit from  anticipated regularisation.  However   the same government agencies  have not shown kind consideration  to  poor  people  who have  constructed temporary  hutments  on public land . Those hutments were immediately demolished & people evicted.

 

These building  bye-law violators , Land grabbers are not poor people  living below poverty line  earning  only rupees 32  per day as per planning commission of india. These rich crooks don’t deserve sympathy , kind consideration  as they  have committed the crime knowing fully well the illegalities  and they  can  bear the loss due to the demolition of their illegal buildings. The government must  also recover rent & other monetary gains  made out of those illegal buildings by the  builder.

 

The recent  move of Government of Karnataka  to regularize  building bye-law  violations  &  Public Land Grabbers amounts to :

1.      Rewards  for illegalities , crimes  if  one is rich.

2.      Punishes , demotivates  honest law abiding citizens.

3.      Double standards in law – one set for rich & one set for the poor.

4.      Total  disregard  to safety  of  people  in those illegal buildings  .

5.      Total disregard to safety  of  people  in the neighbourhood  and  people using  roads  passing  by those  illegal buildings.

 

 

Bangalore Rural DC Aiyappa, three revenue officials held

BANGALORE: Lokayukta police have arrested Bangalore Rural district deputy commissioner MK Aiyappa, a special tahsildar, a revenue inspector and a sub-registrar for allegedly changing records pertaining to 32 acres of land in Survey No. 62 of Madappanahalli, near Yelahanka.

Lokayukta additional director general of police HNS Rao said they registered a case against 15 persons, including IAS officer Aiyappa (then Bangalore Urban deputy commissioner), special tahsildar (Bangalore North) K Gopalaswamy, revenue inspector N Balakrishnamurthy of Arakere circle, Hesaraghatta, and sub-registrar (Hesaraghatta) KV Ravi Kumar. 

The arrested officials were produced in the Lokayukta court, which remanded them to a day in police custody. The Lokayukta court had on November 5 last year ordered that a case be filed under Sections 13 (1)( c), (d), (e) and 13(2) read with Section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act as well as criminal Sections 406, 409, 420, 426, 463, 468, 471, 474 read with Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy). 
The Lokayukta court order followed a private complaint by P Anil Kumar, a resident of Hesaraghatta. 
Preliminary investigation revealed the land was gomala land (common property resource used for livestock grazing), but a person named Narasimhaiah claimed ownership of all the 32 acres. Records were created and the land restored to him, but the then revenue inspector restored the title to the government. Even as the legal dispute was pending, the land was purchased by private individuals. The Hesaraghatta sub-registrar registered the land in their names in 2009. 
"The present rate for the land is about Rs 60 crore. Bigwigs named in the complaint will be questioned, including the purchasers. Everything is on record, and nobody can deny their responsibility in taking away government land and restoring it to private individuals," a Lokayukta police official privy to the investigation told TOI. 
There will be some more arrests, he added, as there's ample documentary evidence and other witness accounts available.

 

NICE Corridor Questions to former  CHIEF MINISTER .Mr.Yediyurappa

Read full questionnaire
http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/nice-corridor-questions-to-chie\
f-minister

 

 

LAND SCAM   IN   TAMILNADU   One for my officer, one for my boy…

 

Land and property are coveted assets. So why are chief ministers allowed to give these away as favours? JEEMON JACOB tracks how Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has been using his quotas

IN NOVEMBER, Chief Minister of Karnataka BS Yeddyurappa almost lost his job, due to the uproar over preferential allotment of land and property to his sons and close associates. He has since cancelled the allotments, asked his children to move out of his official residence, and retained his seat through some deft political manoeuvring and muscle-flexing. At the height of the campaign against him, as political opponents paraded on apparent moral high ground, TEHELKA published details of plots similarly allotted by previous Karnataka chief ministers, both of the Congress and the JD(S), to relatives, servants, drivers, maids and partymen (LAND SCAM 2.0, 4 December). The purpose was not to make Yeddyurappa’s wrongdoings look less shocking, but to show that the problem was endemic and needed rooting out. The right given to chief ministers to hand out public land to a favoured few — relatives, bureaucrats, judges, police officers and others — smacks of nepotism and arbitrary feudal power structures that should have no place in a modern democracy. (Though there is no immediate proof of this, some of these allotments could also be benamitransactions, in which the ultimate ownership remains with the distributor of the largesse, camouflaged by a stack of fake documents.)

This power — euphemistically called “discretionary quota” — has even been used to favour allegedly corrupt army officers like General Deepak Kapoor (AT EASE WITH GREASE, TEHELKA, 20 November), who was given a large 500 sq yd plot in Haryana by the Hooda government, which then faced the embarrassment of refusing him permission to sell it off before five years had elapsed, as per rules. The plot was given to him by the government as preferential allotment in recognition for his ‘outstanding achievement’.

This week, continuing its campaign against out-of-turn allotments of land and property, TEHELKA has an exposé on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. The Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) which commands a large land bank, has a government discretionary quota (GDQ) under which 15 percent of all allotments can be recommended by the CM. Eligibility for allotment under GDQ is as follows: single/deserted women; widows; social workers; physically handicapped persons; defence personnel; ex-servicemen; eminent persons in the field of science, arts, literature, economics, public administration and sports; freedom fighters; government servants with unblemished service records; employees of PSUs, central government undertakings and nationalised banks; PF institutions; journalists; university staff; and employees of local bodies and municipalities.

While some of these categories sound kosher, most of them raise a fundamental question: why should the government have the power to give coveted land to select employees and journalists over others? The only rationale could be proximity — which is an untenable reason for being the beneficiary of political favours, often worth several crores.

Setting this aside, even within the legal ambit of the GDQ, TEHELKA’s investigation shows that many of the allotments in Karunanidhi’s tenure have violated the rule book. Many bureaucrats and their relatives have been given plots or flats under the category of “social worker”. Some of these last did social work when they were in college; many of them claim to be volunteers in such routine activity as helping in blood donation or eye camps. Many have issued certificates to themselves; some have acquired letters from the Lions and Rotary Clubs with vague endorsements. In other violations, the rules say that no one who has any other land or property in Tamil Nadu or any other capital city, in either their own or spouse or minor children’s name, can apply for GDQ allotments. TEHELKA found this is routinely violated.

Many of the allottees issued certificates to themselves, while some got letters from Lions and Rotary Clubs

The other brazen violation lies in the claim of “unblemished” service records as a qualification for allotment. When RTI activist V Gopalakrishnan sought a list of such bureaucrats, Additional Secretary S Solomon Raj said, “As no unblemished government servant certificates are issued, the question of furnishing a list of names does not arise.” The additional secretary also clarified that the home department didn’t have such a list. This is the phantom category under which many public servants like Jaffar Sait, 1986 batch IPS officer, now Inspector General of Police–Intelligence, got large allotments of land in prime locations. Why them more than hundreds of others? That’s a democratic question the chief minister will have to answer.

jee…@gmail.com

 

 

‘GDQ is a way of making you part of the syndicate’

BY JEEMON JACOB

C Umashanker PHOTO: JEEMON JACOB

A1990 batch IAS officer, C Umashanker shot to fame during the AIADMK regime when he exposed a scam in the construction of sheds in a cremation ground under the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana when he was additional collector in Madurai. His brush with AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa’s partymen resulted in his transfer out of the district.

Later, when the DMK came to power, he was appointed managing director of the state-run Electronic Corporation of Tamil Nadu and put in charge of procuring colour television sets for free distribution to the poor in the state, in keeping with an election promise of the DMK. He was transferred with immediate effect after he exposed corporate fraud committed by the joint venture promoter ELNET Technologies Ltd.

Later, he was posted as managing director of the state-run Arasu Cable TV Corporation. In this capacity, he opposed the monopoly of Sumangali Corporation run by Kalanidhi Maran. He also took steps to nationalise Sumangali Cable Vision. By that time, Maran had a patch-up with the Karunanidhi family and Umashanker was transferred with immediate effect.

Later, the anti-corruption and vigilance department registered a case against him for disproportionate assets. The government suspended him for claiming fake caste certificate as a Dalit when he is a practising Christian.

Plots are allotted even without any formal applications. There is no transparency at all

He lodged a complaint with the National Backward Commission against his suspension and got a favourable order from the High Court. At present, he is managing director of Tamil Nadu Small Industries Corporation.

Umashanker was allotted a plot (under government order 2D 325) on 3 April 2008 at Thiruvanmiyur Extension when he was in charge of the free colour television for the poor programme. For this, he would have had to pay 55.12 lakh. He wrote to the chief minister that he could not afford to pay such a huge amount. Later, his allotment was cancelled without stating any reason.

Umashanker revealed he had an MIG flat in his name when the plot was allotted and he was not aware about the rule of Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) that he can’t claim a plot when he has another flat in his name.

It certainly seems commendable that Umashanker turned down a chance to own a plot in Thiruvanmiyur Extension, one of the poshest areas of the city. The plot is just 300 metres from the beach.

Though the entire colony has been parcelled out to those close to the ruling establishment, it is the nouveau riche and the industrialists who dream of owning a house in Thiruvanmiyur, where they can rub shoulders with former judges, bureaucrats and political power brokers. If and when the allottees decide to sell their plots, they can demand extremely high prices.

In a frank chat, Umashanker talks about how the government discretionary quota has been misused. Excerpts:

Why are bureaucrats, judges, former judges and politicians given housing plots in posh localities under government discretionary quota?
Who can refuse a good piece of land in Chennai city? It’s a way of rewarding people for good work done. No inquiry has been conducted in this matter so far. Discretionary quota is the prerogative of the government. After RTI came into existence, several activists are taking up the matter in court. Basically, there is no control mechanism or checks and balances. There is little transparency while awarding the GDQ — the plots are allotted without formal applications.

You were also allotted a plot in 2008 under the ‘unblemished government servant’ category. What happened to the allotment?
Yes, I was allotted a plot in Thiruvanmiyur Extension. Initial payment for the plot was Rs. 25 lakh. I never had that much money. So I requested the government to reduce the price. But there was no response. I did not want a house to compromise my integrity. So I never took possession. Later, in 2009, the government ordered a vigilance inquiry against me and cancelled the allotment. Frankly, I was not aware about the TNHB rules that bars a person having a plot, a flat or a house from claiming another plot.

Do you think the GDQ quota is a way of silencing people, buying them out?
Yes, it is a way of making you a part of the syndicate. Plots or flats are given to those civil servants, judges or relatives of the bureaucrats or politicians for complying with certain requirements. There is no procedure for IAS or IPS officers to get a land or plot or flat in a transparent manner. So everybody uses short cuts.

 

Minister’s DQ proves judges are more corrupt than civil  servant

 

NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: An investigation by Cobra post and IBN Network has revealed how former and sitting judges of Orissa, police officers and bureaucrats have received flats from the DiscretionaryQuota (DQ) of ministers. As a matter of fact, successive Urban Development Ministers in the Naveen Patnaik government have misused the discretionary housing quota.

According to the revelation, the judges have got the ‘minister quota’ flats out of turn and at cheaper rates.

The IBN Network accessed letters of judges written to the government asking for prime property in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

Prime properties were acquired in Cuttack at concession rates, bypassing the Cuttack Development Authority. In fact, Sectors 10, 11 and 13 of Cuttack’s Abhinav Bidanasi project has practically become a judges’ residential colony.

Former Chief Justice G B. Patnaik is a resident of flat 1B/22 in Sector 11 while former Orissa High CourtJudge Radhakrishna Patra has flat 1B/23 in the same sector, given out on lease.

Supreme Court judge Deba Priya Mohapatra, Orissa High Court judges Sanju Panda, Madan Mohan Das, Nityanand Prastuti also own flats in Sector 10 and 11.Papers for the flats were prepared quickly and some judges even got preferred plots.

Most of the allotments took place between 2000 and 2007, under the BJP  cadre Urban and Housing Development Minister  Sameer De who was State Development Minister from 2000-2004 and then Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo who called the shots from 2004 to 2007.

All that the judges had to do was written to the Minister. The CNN-IBN has a letter written by Justice Madan Mohan Das to the CDA Chairman and to Minister Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo, asking for a B-Category Flat in Sector 10, saying he would ensure a third party transfer of a C-Category Flat already owned by his wife.Justice Das was allotted the flat in just six days.

 

When asked why the discretionary quota was used to make the allotments, Sameer Dey, former Orissa urban development minister, said, “The Orissa act does not have any such rule. There is 5 per cent and 10 per cent allocation in discretionary quota. Apart from that we don’t have any rule.”

Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, former Orissa urban development minister, said, “The rule is that only those who apply for the project can be allotted land via Discretionary Quota. So if any such person does not apply what can we do?”

CNN-IBN has also found that many of the judges who were allotted land through the discretionary quota already own ancestral property in Cuttack. Yet the ministers were allotted the land they asked for.

 

Mysore DC indicted for illegally delisting Rs 6k crore land

 

BANGALORE: A major land scam worth nearly Rs 6,000 crore, involving about 2,000 acres at the foothills of Chamundi Hills in Mysore, has been unearthed.

Mysore deputy commissioner P S Vastrad is in the spotlight for illegally delisting in June nearly 2,000 acres of prime government land in favour of the Mysore royal family. The land in question is 1,541 acres in Kurubaralli, 259 acres in Chowdahalli and 173 acres in Alanahalli. The market value of an acre in these areas is between Rs 1 crore and Rs 3 crore.

Some top state BJP leaders and influential religious leaders are said be behind the illegal conversion of the land from 'B' kharab to 'A' kharab. According to the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964, 'B' kharab land is property reserved for a public purpose. Any conversion of this to 'A' kharab - making it private property - needs government authorization. But Vastrad passed the order without bringing it to the notice of the government.

"This happened when DV Sadananda Gowda as chief minister held more than 20 portfolios, including revenue. Lack of monitoring in the revenue department enabled the deputy commissioner to change the format," government sources said. Following complaints against the change in land use, deputy chief minister in charge of revenue K S Eshwarappa ordered a probe by chief secretary S V Ranganath, who has given a report indicting Vastrad of being "guilty of misconduct".

The land was mentioned as kharab in survey records dating back to 1861. Later, during a resurvey between 1920 and 1930, the same land was shown as 'B' kharab.

"It appears the DC executed the order in undue haste. Any decision with respect to such land can only be taken by the government under Section of 86 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act. The delisting of land from 'B' kharab to 'A' kharab without considering the original survey records of 1861 is illegal," the chief secretary said in his report.

Sources in the government said the Mysore royal family had been claiming right over the land after the death of the Mysore Maharaja in 1974, but several orders of the department of personal and administrative reforms clearly state the land belongs to the government. "The heir of the last Maharaja had been raising disputes. Due to this and multiple litigation, unscrupulous elements are trying to falsify records to gain control over this precious land," they added.

Interestingly, the DC withdrew his June order on August 18 on being indicted. Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court ordered the status quo.

Chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who wanted to suspend Vastrad, is said to have dropped the idea following pressure from top BJP leaders. The government feels that shunting him out at a time when Dasara preparations are under way would mar the festivities.

"I will urge the CM to convene a meeting and take action against the DC," Eshwarappa told TOI.

 

DC Vastrad yielded to real estate lobby: MLC

 

Mysore: BJP MLC G Madhusudan on Friday accused Mysore DC P S Vastrad of succumbing to the real estate lobby in a case related to some 2,000-acre land at the foothills of Chamundi Hills. 
He has complained to CM Jagadish Shettar in this regard. The BJP leader has also asked for a stay on the proceedings following the order by Vastrad. 
In his complaint to Shettar, the MLC said: "The land at the foothills is quite precious and costs several thousand crores as per the present market... You are requested to go through the documents and take up investigation into the matter." In the strongly-worded letter, he has told the CM that "people are alleging that the DC has succumbed to the real estate lobby." 
Releasing the copies of his petition, and that of related documents to the media on Friday, Madhusudan asked the CM to intervene. According to him, the court of the deputy commissioner has declared it as B-kharab land and has directed the authorities concerned to issue khathas in the name of Srikantadatta Narasimharaaja Wadiyar, the scion of Mysore royal family and other respondents. In 1935 -- when Maharaja was ruling the state -- the said land was declared as B-kharab, which remained the same all these years. In fact, Maharajas Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar and Jayachamaraja Wadiyar wanted that to be maintained as a green belt to guard the sanctity of the sacred site. "To ensure this, maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar did not make any attempt to register the property in his name till his death," he contended, adding that he didn't even go in for partition of the land in Kurburhalli. 
Claiming that it is a public property, the MLC accused the DC of taking arbitrary decisions. "First of all, he can't review any decisions made in the district magistrate court. Secondly, he has to call public objections or have to seek opinion of public prosecutor before conversion of land from B-kharab (unusable land) to A-kharab, which he has not done."
"There real estate lobby is behind it to usurp the property which needs to be probed," the BJP leader said. He, however, was evasive when asked to name those involved. When asked whether district minister S A Ramdas is aware of it, he accused him of being negligent on the issue.
Meanwhile, deputy CM K S Eshwarappa, who also holds the revenue portfolio, said that he has convened a high-level meeting, and directed both the DC and the MLC to attend the same.

 

 

BMIC by NICE & land scams  in Karnataka  – an appeal to honourable supreme court of India & H.E.Honourable Governor Of Karnataka

 

When a crime is noticed , it is the duty of the government to investigate who did it ? and to legally prosecute them in court & provide justice . if  thousands of criminals , lakhs of criminals  got together & did the same type of crimes , all of them must be legally prosecuted. Just  for the overwhelming numbers of criminals law of the land cann't be changed. However  in the Karnataka state , many political bigwigs , rich crooks have done the same crime , LAND GRABBING – illegal possession of government land & illegal constructions over it. Important land records of those government lands , lands belonging to poor are lost in record rooms of civic bodies ( cunningly destroyed by corrupt officials ) Now, their political masters are legalizing the crimes . what a shame to the government of Karnataka ?

 

The  shri.A.T. RAMA SWAMY , (M.L.A) standing committee in the Previous legislative assembly probed  the land grabbings in Karnataka & gave it's report to the government . However the government in a hurry , is auctioning – off  those government lands without proper publicity  to the auction process , sufficient time for bidder's expression of interest. In some cases , a pittance is levied as penalty for the illegal occupation to get it legalized. The government is not bothered about legally prosecuting the illegal  occupier  of those lands. In many civic bodies , important property documents belonging to the government  & poor are missing from the record rooms. All these point towards the government intention , to legalise the crimes of  illegal land occupiers who are nothing but their own political  cronies.

 

The recent ordinance by government of Karnataka to regularize land deals is envisaging to legalize the crimes of rich. The illegal land conversions , land encroachments , encroachment of civic amenities made by the rich are being legalized with levying a pittance as penalty in the name of public welfare . Whereas the land worth at today's market prices are 10's of thousands of crore it is only wefare of the rich & mighty . IT IS GOING TO BE MOTHER OF ALL SCAMS.  The authorities evict poor tribal people from their ancestral forest area in the name of conservation , evict tribal people from villages in the name of development without proper rehabilitation measures. The government is not giving land rights to slum dwellers , poor , dalits over the land they are dwelling , the government is deaf to appeals of dalits for land rights. However the same government is sympathetic to rich who have encroached land & built huge commercial complexes worth crores violating all norms with total disregard to civic amenity or safety.

 

ILLEGALITIES IN AUCTION OF M/S IDEAL JAWA LTD MYSORE

 

During the auction of above sick industry the land usage was for industrial purpose only. so, people with other commercial objectives were not allowed to participate in the auction. Thereby, the final auctioned amount was very much less than the market value. This has a direct bearing on employees of that industry , lending banks , govt dept , etc who have all put forward their claims for dues from that industry. noW, all of them are getting very much less than what is due from the closed company. A loss of crores of rupees to banks , government , employees has been made by the cunningness of civic bodies.

Now in a backdoor move the M.U.D.A , K.I.A.D.B , M.C.C are moving to give land usage conversion to the new occupier, who is building posh villas & resorts here. Is it right & justified ? should not they conduct auction once again or charge market value to the new owner.

 

LAND MAFIA IN KARNATAKA

 

 

 

The land mafia which has links with political leadership & top govt servants in the state, is running business widely in & around bangalore,mysore & other major towns. The authorities like city corporation , B.D.A, M.U.D.A , K.I.A.D.B , etc are denotifying the lands meant for public welfare in favour of land mafia. The authorities have earmarked these lands for public welfare ie parks , schools , hospitals at the planning stage itself for current & future needs of the people. In most cases the land mafia has illegally occupied the lands , built commercial complexes & sold it for crores of rupees.

 

1. the authorities are not demolishing these illegal structures & prosecuting the occupiers.

 

2. In some cases the authorities are denotifying , regularizing those illegal occupations by levying a pittance as penalty which is very much less than the market value.

 

3. In some cases for example a notified site for school is alloted to an educational trust. They build 2 rooms in 25% of the site & state that this is free school meant for weaker sections. After a year or two , they state before the authority that to run this school they need funds. So they are planning to build commercial complexes around the school site & by the rent collected from shops they will run the school. In this manner sites meant for schools , hospitals , temples & other social organisations apply for conversion of land usage & use major portion of the land for commercial purposes.

 

Hereby , e-voice  urges the govt of karnataka & other authorities ,

 

1. to clearly demarcate the govt lands & announce it boldly to the public.

 

2. To clearly demarcate lands meant for public amenities both for current & future usage.

 

3. To clearly demarcate lands required for town planning say 20 years down the line.

 

4. To clearly mention in such plans the purpose it is reserved for ie parks , hospitals , schools , etc.

 

5. To impartially act against illegal occupiers – rich or poor.

 

6. Say while denotifying a land meant for school an alternate land for school must be incorporated in the original plan.

 

7. Before denotification public objections must be called for & considered responsibly.

 

8. After denotification the land must be sold at the market rate not the govt rate.

 

9. In case of land usage conversion also the objections from the public must be called for & considered responsibly.

 

10. After land usage conversion an alternate land must be incorporated in the plan for the original use.

 

11. In case of land usage conversion also the occupier must be charged at the market value.

 

12. To declare annually the property details of all officials with denotifying / land usage conversion authorities together with details of their family member's properties with provision for public scrutiny, cross checking.

 

13. To ruthlessly prosecute the corrupt officials & ministers.

 

14. To make public the report of past district magistrate mysore mr. T.M. VIJAYA BHASKAR about illegal land dealings in & around mysore. Also the action taken report.

 

ILLEGALITIES IN BANGALORE-MYSORE EXPRESSWAY PROJECT BMIC by NICE

 

Different political parties are trading charges against each other about illegalities in the mysore-bangalore expressway project. Grave mistakes have been committed by the previous state governments. The saving grace is judiciary has taken note of it. The fundamental principle behind land acquisitions by the governments is to use that acquired lands for public welfare. As the govt acquires the land with this noble intentions even the land looser contents himself with compensation at govt rate. Always the govt rate is much below market value. If at all the govt wants to give out that acquired land to a private party for private use or for the use of a selected few, the govt must give prevailing market rate to the land looser. In such cases the govt does not have authority to force the land owner to sell his property.

 

In this mysore-bangalore 4 lane expressway project, following inconsistencies are there,

 

1.   this road is not for free public use, but only for those who pays the toll fees.

 

2.   The luxurious resorts , townships , etc which are to be built alongside this road are not open for free public usage but only for the rich who can afford it.

 

3.   The govt has concluded this deal in a hush-hush manner.

 

4.   Any disputes raised by this project should be addressed to international arbiter at london which a poor land owner or general public can ill-afford.

 

5.   The govt has not paid the prevailing market value to the land loosers.

 

6.   The govt has not given the option to land owners not to sell their property.

 

7.      This whole project is for rich , built by the rich for the rich & not meant for public welfare.

 

The govt must give back the lands to the owners who wants it back & must pay the market value to those willing to sell. As this project is built by wealthy people for wealthy people why cann't they cough- up market value?

 

CRIMES BY BANGALORE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY ( B.D.A)

AGAINST A POOR WOWAN

 

The B.D.A flouts it's own rules & spreads red carpet for big land developers & land grabbers. B.D.A posting is a huge money spinner for corrupt officials. The corrupt B.D.A officials work hand in glove with criminal elements & rowdies. They illegally evict genuine allottees who are poor & without any connections from allotted prime lands & sell-off those prime land to the highest bidder of bribe. The poor fellow is re-alloted lands in backward areas & in some cases left in the lurch.

 

Now , take the following case. Mr. S.D. chandrashekaraiah a poor old man aged around 80 years was allotted with house no.185, kumaraswamy lay-out, first block, bangalore in 1978 vide letter no.

310/267/BDA/ADM/KMRSL(H)/78-79 dt 11/08/1978.

 

The chairman of B.D.A has allotted the built house on lease cum sale basis. The poor old man mr. S.D.chandrashekaraiah complied with all the rules & in accordance with it even deposited 25% of the house cost in B.D.A'S account. However when he went over to his allotted house for residing in it, he found out some rowdy elements were already residing there. He complained about this matter to the legal owner of the house ie B.D.A . the B.D.A officials didn't take steps to evict the illegal encroachers nor did they make any complaint to the police. His appeals to B.D.A, chief minister of karnataka , etc fell on deaf ears. Hurt by this gross injustice & mounting financial burdens the poor old man died.

 

Subsequently, the poor man's daughter smt. Nagalakshmi who was also very poor , appealed to the B.D.A authorities once again , to evict illegal encroachers from her father's allotted house. This time the corrupt B.D.A officials played a different game. They showed her a vacant house, gave her oral instructions to live in that vacant house & told her that they will regularise it in due course. The hapless poor woman took huge loans & repaired the house fit for occupation.  Just before she was to occupy that house , corrupt B.D.A officials once again planted rowdy elements in that house. Once again the poor woman was cheated. She lost her house, on top of it her loan burden mounted.

 

Till date, that poor woman is suffering from these gross injustices of B.D.A . SHAMELESS B.D.A OFFICIALS who take thousands of rupees salary & perks every month, all at the expense of tax-payer has not even cared to rectify the injustice. Thereby, they are violating the poor woman's fundamental & human rights.

 

Hereby,  e-voice urges  the honourable chief minister of karnataka, honourable lokayuktha for karnataka , honourable chairman national human rights commission , honourable chairman national commission for women & honourable chairman state commission for women karnataka, to take the appropriate action & to speedily provide justice to this poor woman.

 

 

 

MLC alleges encroachment of 15,000 acres of forest land in Chamarajanagar District

 

After exposing alleged encroachment of large areas of land in Survey No. 4 of Kurubarahalli in Mysore, BJP MLC G. Madhusudhan has come up with another exposure of about 15,000 acres of forest land encroachment in Chamarajanagar District. These lands were encroached by private parties owing to an order passed by a former Deputy Commissioner.

This was disclosed by MLC G. Madhusudan at a press meet at Pathrakarthara Bhavan here today.

Elaborating on the issue, Madhusudan said “The 15,000 acres of land covers Survey No. 1 in Palya Hobli of Kollegal taluk and Survey No. 174 in Shivanasamudra forest area in Chamarajanagar district. In fact, Kollegal Assistant Commissioner, in an order passed through the DC Court on Dec. 13, 2011, had reiterated that the said area was a government forest land. However the then DC M.V. Savithri bowing to the pressure of a few vested interests had issued an order on July 8 stating that the said land was not a government property which subsequently let in many private parties to encroach upon the land threatening the rich flora and fauna of the forest region.

Continuing, Madhusudan said that any such important order should have come from the High Court. Hence he urged the government to initiate a CBI inquiry into the case by cancelling the former DC’s order and booking her for criminal offence.

Expressing apprehension that the forest land would become a haven for land mafia, he alleged that former Senior Police officials, rich industrialists and influential politicians were involved in the deal. He, however, did not mention names.

Madhusudan said that he would submit a detailed letter to the Chief Minister enclosing the relevant documents to initiate immediate action.

Referring to the scam of land at the foot of Chamundi Hill, Madhusudan said that he was happy that a departmental enquiry would begin soon on the former Deputy Commissioner Vastrad who was involved in the issue.

 

BDA a den of corruption: T B Jayachandra

Author: ‘BDA a Den of Corruption’

• Published Date: Jul 28, 2012 8:48 AM
• Last Updated: Jul 28, 2012 8:48 AM

Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has become a den of corruption and the government needs to take steps to check large scale irregularities in the authority, said Deputy Leader of Congress in the Assembly T B Jayachandra.

 Speaking on the demands on departments in the Assembly, the Congress leader on Friday urged the government to constitute a House Committee to look into the irregularities.

 “The BDA has unlawfully de-notified hundreds of acres of land to help builders to form private layouts.

 It is a big business involving hundreds of crore of rupees,” he alleged.

 He added that many people whose lands were acquired for developing layouts were made to run from pillar to post to get compensation.

 “Many allottees have to run around seeking alternate site as in many instances after allotting sites to people the BDA de-notifies land,” he said.

 Jayachandra said that during a recent visit to BDA’s Arkavathy layout, he found a big building in the land meant for developing a park.

 “It is a 10-year-old project.

 Now all that has come up there are buildings in the site meant for park and an IAS Officers House Building Cooperative Society.

 BDA has allotted sites in bulk to the society.

 Why is BDA selectively helping officers and not common people?” he questioned.

 Jayachandra said that former chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda had assured the House of ordering a probe by Corps of Detectives (CoD).

 “Why the CoD inquiry was not ordered? Is the government trying to protect the corrupt? Everyone knows no work can be done in BDA without paying bribe,” he added.

 According to him, will get `2 lakh crore if it regularises the illegal BDA layouts.

 “Many real estate agents are entering into politics and want to contest elections.

 This is a big lobby and they can spend crores.

 It is a scary trend and we need to stop it,” he added.

 

 MUDA LAND IS EASY GRAB !

RTI exposes 4-storey apartment built on MUDA’s encroached land

 

Caption: RTI activist B.N. Nagendra

Mysore, Jan. 8- With the land value in city shooting to the skies, the land mafia continues to encroach upon vacant government lands through dubious means. Despite the land-grabbers encroaching upon the government lands and building multi-storey buildings upon them, the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and Mysore City Corporation (MCC) authorities are sitting tongue-tied and hands tied, which has further emboldened the land grabbers who are hand in glove with some unscrupulous officials to create fake records.

It has come to light of late that fake documents were created for two MUDA sites in Chikkaharadanahalli (Aravindanagar) First Stage at Chamaraja Mohalla, on which a four-storey building with 12 apartments have been constructed and all of them are occupied now.

The alleged fraud came to light after an RTI activist B.N. Nagendra, resident of Yadavagiri in city, sought information about the building from the MUDA.

The two sites measuring 50x80 ft in Aravindanagar are close to Kuvempunagar. MUDA had formed the layout during 1988-89. At that time, Sites No. 700 and 701 in Chikkaharadanahalli First Stage were not allotted to anyone.

In reply to the Nagendra’s query under the RTI provisions, the MUDA Public Information Officer replied that MUDA had no records or documents to say that the said two sites were not allotted to anyone.

The sites were formed during 1988-89 and the building on it is eight years old. So, does it mean that the MUDA authorities were blind to the encroachment all these years? Or, is it that they are not aware that the sites belong to the MUDA? Or, does it imply that they are involved with the land-grabber?

The MUDA does not have records of allotment, possession certificate, sale deed, Khata-revenue letter or receipts for cash transactions made. However, the City Improvement Trust Board (CITB) ledger shows the names of Chikkathayamma, resident of No. 818, New Kantharaj Urs Road, Mysore, along with Mahadevamma, Lakshmi and N. Shivakumar, residents of No. 555 of the same address, written by hand. The ledger shows that the two sites were purchased for a mere sum of Rs. 39,366 on April 4, 1988; the Khata and revenue have been fixed based on this document alone. The building was constructed by getting the building plan approved in the names of Mahadevamma and Chikkathayamma. The four-storied building is named as Shashank Paradise.

The site and building was inspected this morning by MUDA Superintending Engineer Shivakumar, Zonal Officer of Zone-1 Bhaskar and other MUDA officials. The 12 families residing in the flats are now an anxious lot after realising that they have been cheated and they do not possess relevant documents for the flats they purchased.

Some of the residents of the building whom SOM spoke to said that they had purchased the apartments based on sale agreements and paid Rs. 25 to Rs. 35 lakhs in advance. They confessed that the low prices lured them to buy the apartments as the actual price in that area was much higher. Each apartment has a master-bedroom, another smaller room, a living room, puja room, kitchen and a toilet.

Meanwhile, MUDA Commissioner S. Palaiah told SOM that he will investigate the matter and take suitable action.

 

 

Muda Land Encroachment: Criminal Case Booked against Housing Society President

 

Mysore, Sept. 20- In view of the allegation of encroaching 27 guntas of MUDA land close to Vijayanagar 2nd Stage, the Vijayanagar Police have booked a case against the President of Sri Mahadeshwara House Construction Co-operative Society, R. Shankare Gowda.

A written complaint filed by MUDA Zone 4 Zonal Officer R. Rajashekhar yesterday, following which a case was registered by Sub-Inspector Kumar.

The land is a portion of the land under survey number 120 in Hinkal, measuring 3.25 acres. Out of this, 1.16 acres of land was acquired on June 20, 1974 under LAC 10. Remaining 2.09 acres was acquired by MUDA from one Puttathayamma through mutual agreement on Oct. 31, 1985.

A 1.14 acre land was given to the Karnataka Water Board where a road and park have been developed. The remaining area lies vacant, of which Shankare Gowda allegedly created fake documents to stake claim on 23 guntas of land in the name of the Housing Society.

RTI activist B.N. Nagendra had sought information about the said land under the Right to Information (RTI) Act which brought to light the alleged irregularity.

Response to MLA Vasu’s letter: Chamarajanagar MLA Vasu had written a letter to Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake, urging him to probe the irregularities in sites allotment, suspecting the involvement of some MUDA officials.

The Minister directed the Urban Development Department Secretary to probe the matter, who in turn asked the MUDA Commissioner to submit a report regarding the allegations. A directive was issued to the DC too to probe the matter, following which a complaint was lodged against the Housing Society President.

 

Bid to usurp MUDA corner site using fake documents

 

With the real estate prices in city skyrocketing, efforts to usurp sites and government land by hook or by crook are on too, despite several precautionary measures taken up by the MUDA.

Here is an incident of a person trying to acquire a corner site in Jayalakshmipuram, measuring 110x120 ft, by not paying a single paisa to MUDA but by merely paying Rs. 27,540 in an auction. The matter came to light when a citizen named B.N. Nagendra applied for information under the Right To Information (RTI) Act. It is said that he took interest in digging out information about the site after an acquaintance of his disclosed about the fraudulent deal.

Thanks to the efforts of MUDA Secretary Basavaraju who made meticulous investigations of the documents, the MUDA property worth several crores was saved from being usurped.

The site is in Jayalakshmipuram, which was formed about 40 years ago. It is a corner site off the road leading to The Green Hotel on Hunsur road. The site bears the number 23/A, having site number 23 towards the east, another site on the north and roads on the western and southern sides.

The fraud was committed by Raju, 60, a resident of Paduvarahalli 2nd Main, Door No. 54. He is said to have forged the signature of MUDA Zone 4 Special Tahasildar Devaraj and also used a duplicate rubber stamp for the fake documents.

The truth is that no auction was held for site no. 23/A. However, the accused Raju is said to have created fake documents that claimed that he had purchased the site in an auction for Rs. 27,540 on Jan. 3, 1979. A title-deed for the site was prepared at Zone 4 office under Form-2 (5) in Kannada dated Jan.2, 2013.

The site, for which fake documents were prepared in January, was registered three months later — that is on Mar. 22, 2013, at 4.30 pm, at the Sub-Registrar’s office in MUDA. It is said that the letter written by Special Tahasildar Devaraj to the Sub-Registrar to get the site registered was also forged.

Soon after the fraudulent deal came to the fore, MUDA Secretary Basavaraju placed a signboard at the site four days ago, stating that the land belonged to the MUDA. A complaint was lodged at the Lakshmipuram Police Station yesterday.

It is surprising that the title-deed for the site was prepared despite any auction conducted by the MUDA, no application submitted, no notes written by the officials concerned and no entry made about cash payment. The Police have launched a hunt for the accused who is at large.

 

MUDA employees booked for forgery, cheating

 

Mysore Urban Development Authorities (MUDA) have filed a police complaint against one P Nagaraj son of Puttaswamygowda and two employees of MUDA staff who supported the accused in creating fake documents at Lakshmipuram police station.

MUDA commissioner C G Betsurmath said a site in Gokulam III stage was allotted to one M K Ranganayaki in 1973 through auction and she had obtained title deed in 2002. But in the meantime, the accused Nagaraj has created fake documents about the site and made the authorities believe that he had purchased the said land in 1979 in an auction. Later he has taken title deed for it and then sold it to another party.

But the crime has come to light after the actual owner approached the authorities only recently. When the documents were verified, MUDA authorities found that site number has been forged from 37 to 73.

The commissioner said the title deed of the said site obtained by Nagaraj has been cancelled and we are investigating on this score.

Krishnaraja subdivision ACP A N Prakashgowd said MUDA has given against three persons and we are investigating it.

 

Fraudster sells government land, dupes MUDA

 

The Mysore City Corporation almost lost a huge site because of the negligence of the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) before the fraud was discovered in the nick of time.

The accused Krishna had forged documents of 1.13 acres in Survey No 505 in Kesare village and sold it to one Parveez who started constructing a building when it was stopped by MCC officials. The accused had even got an NoC to sell the land from MUDA, which did not bother to find out the real owner. 

Krishna is said to be a relative of the man to whom the land originally belonged before it was acquired by the erstwhile City Improvement Trust Board (CITB) for civic purposes about 58 years ago.

Finding the land vacant for many decades, the accused created fake documents and tried to sell it.

Sources in the MCC said that after obtaining information through RTI about the land, Krishna, along with his relative Chennaiah, obtained an NoC from MUDA and got the Khata made for the land from the taluk office by producing fake documents.

The property was registered in Krishna’s name in 2009.

Krishna then sold the illegal property to Parveez in 2011-12. After realising that he had been cheated, Parveez filed a suit in court, getting a permanent injunction restraining the defendant from interfering with his peaceful possession of the property. 

Revenue Assistant Commissioner R Lokanath said that when he inspected the place, he found that Parveez had occupied the land and even fenced the property that belonged to the Corporation. Upon questioning, he produced the clearances obtained from MUDA, Taluk office and even the court.

After being alerted, MCC officials registered a land grab-cum-cheating complaint against Krishna and Parveez. They have even approached court and the case is pending.

 

THE CLOUT OF LAND MAFIA IN INDIA -the governments daring to by-pass judiciary

An appeal ( PIL ) to the honourable supreme court of India

 

The recent attempts by government of India & other state governments to legalise land grabbings by enacting new land laws in the name of public welfare is farce . while crores of people are without shelter & are living on streets , people in slums , tribal lands are struggling for land rights since decades the governments were mum & deaf. Now , as the rulers themselves & their cronies have built illegal constructions running into crores they are shedding crocodile tears in the name of public welfare. In india, various state governments have enacted " town municipal / city corporation laws & building laws" , to ensure orderly growth of cities & towns , to ensure the safety of buildings & it's occupants , to ensure the safety of pedestrians & road users.

 

Numerous educated people , ruling elite – ministers , police , government officials , M.Ps , M.L.As , etc knowing fully well about the laws have illegally built bungalows , commercial complexes , throwing to wind all laws. In their greed they have shown utter contempt towards law. They have encroached dried –up lakes , rivulets , rain flow paths , drainages , foot paths , civic amenity sites. In their building there are violations of- lack of fire safety exits , lack of parking space , encroachment of foot paths , conservancy line , drainages , etc.

 

There is wide spread corruption in the corporation / municipal authorities. For a price officials have converted  CA sites to commercial purposes , authorised deviations / encroachments of public

lands like foot paths , drainages , parking space , set-off , etc. The corporation officials themselves are violating city master plans. Even before authorising the conversions & encroachments of lands , the

corporation officials are not making alternate arrangements. By all these corrupt deeds many of the corporation officilas have become millionaires . however more & more road accidents are taking place , building collapses & fire tragedies are occurring , during heavy rainfalls water is getting  clogged – ALL THESE RESULTING IN LOSS OF HUMAN LIVE & PROPERTIES. In recent days numerous murders have taken place over the real estate issues . THE CRIMINAL LAND GRABBERS MADE DEATH THREATS & FORCED THE PIL APPLICANT IN THE KARNATAKA HIGH COURT ABOUT LAND GRABBINGS IN KORAMANGALA LAYOUT BANGALORE. The government of karnataka instead of protecting the PIL applicant & upholding the law has taken sides with the land grabbers.

 

 

The state governments of karnataka & delhi has got M.L.As & officials who have themselves violated building laws & grabbed govt lands. Now , the two govts are contemplating to bring in laws regularising these land grabbing crimes for a pittance as penalty. All to by-pass judiciary. The governments are least bothered about the lives of poor & only too caring towards the land grabbing criminals.  The same governments have not yet given land rights to poor slum dwellers / dalits , land rights to tribals living in forest since centuries , land rights to poor agricultural labourers, where as it is full of concern towards rich & mighty land grabbers – criminals.  Bottom line – whatever be the magnitude of crime if you are rich & mighty law will be bended to suit you , by bad luck if you are a poor folk you are bound to suffer being on the right side of law also.  Hereby , e-voice  urges requests the honourable supreme court of india , to register this as a PIL , to provide protection to the PIL applicant in bangalore & to take appropriate actions against the GOK & GOD nipping at bud their illegal motives to regularise land grabbings.

 

Instead  of  answering  our  RTI  questions , the  officials  are  giving  half  truths , vague answers  to our questions , some of the serious questions they are not answering at all.  Even  Mr. P. Manivannan past deputy commissioner of Mysore District & Chairman of MUDA , failed to uphold justice . He threatened me for asking truth , but he didn’t answer the  RTI questions. Through media management he has cultivated a clean  public image of demolishing man of illegal structures , whereas during his time only some illegal structures were raised.

 

Due to Criminal nexus of  Some MUDA officials – Politicians – Police , these  illegal land grabbings are happening , the honest  among MUDA , POLICE  & Politicians must raise to the occasion . They must  save government land , first of all ask MUDA  Chairman / commissioner  to answer the above RTI  Questionnaire publicly.

 

 

Hereby , e-voice urges the  concerned authorities  , to answer the following questionnaire about BMIC project by NICE

 

http://www.vijaykarnatakaepaper.com/svww_zoomart.php?Artname=20100214a_009101001&ileft=50&itop=56&zoomRatio=130&AN=20100214a_009101001 

 

Hereby ,e-voice  appeals to honourable supreme court of India , to annul the bid process of government of Karnataka with respect to illegally occupied government lands &  to annul this ordinance of government of Karnataka which seeks to legalize land crimes. Jai hind . vande mataram.

 

 

Your's sincerely,

Nagaraja.M.R.

 

To,

Shri. Dr.Sindhe Bhimsen Rao . H ,

RTI APPELLATE  AUTHORITY &  CPIO ,

Additional Secretary to Chief Minister ,

Room No 236 , 2^nd Floor ,

Vidhana Soudha , Bangalore – 560001.

 

APPEAL UNDER SEC 19 (3) OF RTI ACT 2005 OF GOVERNMENT OF INDIA & GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA 

 

FULL NAME OF THE APPLICANT : NAGARAJA.M.R.

ADDRESS OF THE APPLICANT : NAGARAJA.M.R.,

EDITOR , SOS E-VOICE JUSTICE  & SOS E-CLARION OF DALIT ,

# LIG-2 / 761, OPP WATER WORKS OFFICE,

HUDCO FIRST STAGE, LAXMIKANTANAGAR,

HEBBAL, MYSORE , KARNATAKA  PIN – 570017.

 

Please  go through  the  some of  actual criminal cases of  land grabbings   enclosed herewith.

  "Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts.  They will fight among themselves for power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed." Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the  forewarning of  Late Winston Churchill  has been proved right by  some of our  criminal , corrupt people’s representatives , police , public servants &  Judges.  Some of the below  mentioned  officials  fall among the category of churchill’s men –  Rogues  , Rascals & Freebooters. To my previous RTI requests & appeals  they  tried covering – up crores worth  SCAM   by transferring application from one to the other at the end  by denying  information to me, Does not the Revenue  department  possess  information ?

We salute honest few in public service , our whole hearted respects to them.  HEREBY , I DO HUMBLY REQUEST YOU TO GIVE ME WRITTEN STATEMENTS / ANSWERS TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS – WHICH IN ITSELF ( ie answers ) ARE THE INFORMATION SOUGHT BY ME. HERE WITH I AM SEEKING NOT THE OPINIONS ABOUT SOME HYPOTHETICAL ISSUES , BUT YOUR OFFICIAL STAND , LEGAL STAND ON ISSUES WHICH ARE OF FREQUENT OCCURRENCE WHICH ARE VIOLATING PEOPLE’S FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS & HUMAN RIGHTS. WE DO HAVE HIGHEST RESPECTS FOR JUDICIARY & ALL PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS , THIS IS AN APPEAL FOR TRUTH , INFORMATION SO THAT TO APPREHEND CORRUPT FEW IN PUBLIC SERVICE, WHO ARE AIDING & ABETTING TERRORISM , UNDERWORLD & CRIMINALS. I  HAVE SHOWN IN DETAIL WITH LIVE , ACTUAL CASES , EXAMPLES , HOW INDIAN LEGAL SYSTEM IS MANIPULATED BY CRIMINALS  WITHIN JUDICIARY , POLICE , PROSECUTION , ETC. READ DETAILS  AT  :

https://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/wheeling-dealing-judges-police ,

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/judges-cover-up-land-scams ,

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/land-grabbers-in-m-u-d-a  ,

 

Main  A  :

1.      The land encroachments & illegal buildings  and  it’s continued existence  since years  is not possible  without  tacit , covert  support  of  jurisdictional  revenue  officials. What  disciplinary action has been taken  against concerned officials with  respect to each case of land  encroachment &  illegal buildings , case wise ?

2.      If not , why ?

3.       Is not “land AKRAMA SAKRAMA SCHEME” itself illegal ?

4.      Is not the move of government of Karnataka to legalise land encroachments & illegal buildings , in itself illegal ?

5.      Till date in some cases of land encroachers are evicted & some buildings  violating building byelaws demolished , you could have spared them to enjoy the benefit of land akrama sakrama scheme. Why you didn’t spare them ?

6.      Is this scheme applicable for only chosen few ?

7.      Does this scheme also benefit rich people above BPL ?

8.      Does this scheme also benefit big land developers , land developing companies ?

9.      To my previous RTI appeals to MUDA , BDA only partial information was given , conveniently hiding the truth. Is it not violation of RTI act ?

10.   Does not hiding information about land crimes , in itself  also a crime ?

11.  I have shown in detail some land crimes in Karnataka. What action by government of Karnataka , casewise ?

12.  https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/judges-cover-up-land-scams ,

13.  https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/land-grabbers-in-m-u-d-a  ,

14.  Does not hiding a land crime , embolden land grabber to commit more land crimes ?

15. What action taken against BDA , MUDA & Revenue department officials  who are covering crores worth land scams inspite of my repeated appeals & RTI  Requests ?

 

Main  B  :  RTI QUESTIONS  Mysore DC , COMMISSIONER OF MUDA ( MYSORE URBAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY ) & COMMISSIONER OF MCC ( MYSORE  CITY CORPORATION ) ARE AFRAID TO ANSWER

  1. how many times since 1987 , MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT has revised / modified the mysore city's comprehensive city development plan ?

2. how many cases of CDP violations were registered by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT since 1987 till date ?

3. how many cases of CDP violations were legalized in the CDP revision / modification by the authorities ?

4. when an application for alienation of land is made to you , say from civic amenity site to commercial , what norms are followed by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT ?

5. how do you provide alternate civic amenity site in the locality , if the area is already full ? do you deprive people of civic amenities ?

6. during such alenation , is the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT collecting market rate difference between civic amenity site & commercial site ? if not why ?

7. in mysore city , many building complexes , buildings have been built fully violating building bye-laws – no set off , no parking space , no emergency fire exit , no earthquake tolerant . what action by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT ?

8. how many cases of building bye-laws violations has been registered by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT since 1987 ? what is the action status report yearwise ?

9. how much of MUDA's / MCC's / GOVERNMENT's lands , sites , buildings & houses have been illegally occupied by criminal tresspassers since 1987 ?

10. has the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT registered criminal cases against each such illegal occupation ? if not why ? provide status report yearwise ?

11. in how many cases of such illegal occupation MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT has legalized , regularized such illegal occupation just through MUDA's / MCC's resolution instead of of reallotting the same through public notification to the next senior most in the waiting list , after giving notice of allotment cancellation to original allottee ? if not done so why ?

12. has the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT followed all legal norms in reallotment of lands , sites , houses , etc to the illegal occupiers ? what is the procedure followed ?

13. in mysore city , numerous housing societies & real estate Developers have mushroomed , Land allotments of how many housing societies , real estate firms among them are legally authorized by MUDA , MCC , GOVERNMENT & how many not ? since 1987 till date ?

14. has the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT filed criminal complaints against such illegal housing societies & illegal real estate firms ? if not why ?

15. what action MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT has initiated against real estate firms & housing societies who have violated MUDA norms , layout plans , etc ? if not why ?

16. the government has framed building bye-laws like width of road , space for civic amenities , parking space , emergency fire exit , etc keeping high in the mind safety of people first. MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT is in the practice of levying a pittance as penalty on the building byelaw violators , layout Development plan violators & legalizing those
violations. Safety of public & amenities of public are totally neglected by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT . When public people die , suffer injuries / accidents – say during a fire tragedy in a complex due to lack of fire exit , when people park vehicles on pavement in front of a business complex as the complex doesn't have a parking space of it's own , the pedestrians going that way are forced to come down on road resulting in accidents , injuries & deaths . is not the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT responsible for those accidents , injuries & deaths ?

17. what is the criteria adopted by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT for out of Turn allotment of Lands , sites , houses to renowned sports persons , judges , journalists , politicians , artists , etc ?

18. how many judges , artists , politicians , journalists , sports persons , etc have benefited from these out of turn allotments by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT ? specific figures yearwise since 1987 ?

19. what action has been taken against developers , housing societies , who have violated MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT norms ?

20. when poor scheduled caste , scheduled tribe people , minority people illegally live On MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT sites building temporary huts , MUDA / AUTHORITIES with the help of police razes down those huts & evicts the poor by brute force. Whereas , when cronies of political bigwigs illegally occupy MUDA , MCC / GOVERNMENT lands worth crores of rupees & build big complexes earning thousands of rupees monthly rent , MUDA or authorities not even files police complaint against them instead regularizes the illegal occupation by levying a pittance as fine. Why this double standard by MUDA / MCC GOVERNMENT ?

21. HOW MANY CASES OF ILLEGAL OCCUPATIONS are regularized by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT since 1987 till date ? yearwise figures ?

22. how much of MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT lands , sites , houses are under illegal occupation ? status report yearwise since 1987 ?

23. how much of those has been recovered ? has the MUDA ,AUTHORITIES recovered the rents earned by illegal occupation ?

24. have you filed police complaints against those criminals – tresspassers ? if not why ?

25. is the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT giving wide publicity & sufficient time to bidders about it's auction schedules ?

26. is the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT giving market value to land loosers ?

27. is the MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT exactly using the acquired lands , for the same purpose mentioned in the project plan ?

28. is the MUDA / AUTHORITIES acquiring lands at lower rates from farmers & selling it at a premium , by way making profits just like a real estate agency ?

29. in villages , there are cattle grazing grounds meant for the usage of whole villagers, forest for the usage of whole village , lands belonging to village temples. Some villagers have donated their personal lands to village temples , cattle grazing for the benefit of whole villagers. All the villagers are stake holders , owners of such lands. When MUDA / MCC /
GOVERNMENT acquires such lands to whom does it pay compensation ? what about welfare objectives of those lands ?

30. till date , how many lakes , ponds , how many feeder canals have been closed , filled with mud , developed , sold as sites , etc by MUDA MCC or other land developers ?

31. has the MUDA , MCC taken alternate steps to create new lakes , ponds ? how many are created till date ?

32. in & around mysore city , high tension electric lines are there in busy residential areas . as per Indian electricity act , no permanent structures should be under the HT lines. However there are buildings under it. In some places , HT lines runs in the middle of the road. The authorities Have developed those areas beneath HT lines as parks , rented out
advertisement spaces & built permanent fencing of those areas spending lakhs of taxpayer's money. This fencing obstructs the movement of service personnel of electricity board , to service HT line. Are all these structures under
& surrounding HT lines legal ?

33. till date how many burial grounds are acquired & sold as sites by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT or other developers ? specific figures yearwise since 1987 castewise , religionwise ?

34. in & around mysore city , in how many areas developed by MUDA & private developers , the sewage water generated in those areas is directly let into lake , ponds ?

35. how many tributaries , lakes , ponds are killed in this fashion by MUDA , MCC & other developers , housing societies ?

36. how many business complexes , flats , residential layouts developed by private real estate developers , housing societies are dumping the sewage , / waste generated in their buildings , into unauthorized dumping grounds , lakes , etc . thus disturbing the environment & creating public health hazard ? how the MUDA / MCC is monitoring sewage / waste disposal ? status report yearwise since 1987 till date .

37. how many unauthorized housing layouts are there in & around mysore city ? what action by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT against them ? action taken report yearwise since 1987 till date .

38. around mysore city , vast areas of village farm lands , agricultural lands are acquired by private real estate developers for non agricultural purposes by a single firm or single owner. Are these actions legal ? some of these real estate agents have sold those lands to private industries , multinational companies for crores of rupees. Has the MUDA / MCC /
GOVERNMENT given alienation of land ie conversion from agricultural to industrial usage. Has KIADB given consent to it ?

39. can a single individual / firm can purchase such vast tracts of agricultural lands , is it legal ? is it within the KIADB's
comprehensive industrial area development plan ?

40. has the MUDA / MCC , KIADB given wide publicity , public notice calling for objections before alienation of such lands ?

41. are all those alienations , strictly in conformance to MUDA's / MCC's CDP & KIADB's industrial area development plan ? violations how many ?

42. is the MUDA & KIADB revising / modifying CDP & INDUSTRIAL AREA DEVELOPMENT PLAN , to suit those real estate developers & Private companies ? on what legal grounds ?

43.what action has been taken based on mysore district magistrate mr.T.M.Vijaya Bhaskar's report on land grabbings in mysore ?

44.in mysore city , hebbal-hootagalli industrial area , a lake has been destroyed while building kaynes hotel , hinkal lake is shrinking , lake in front of BEML Quarters has been alloted to M/S THRILLER CLOTHING CO, are all these actions legal & in conformance to MUDA's CDP ? if not why ? what action ?

45. while auctioning off the lands of sick industrial unit M/S IDEAL JAWA LTD , was there any pre-qualification to bidders that after purchase of lands only it must be used for industrial use or only industries can participate in the bidding process ?

46.why not it has been clearly mentioned in the tender document that , said land is open for alienation ?

47. about this issue , our publication has even raised it's objections , in it's newspaper . no action , why ? as a result , the government , banks , employees were cheated off their dues & the private firm made huge profits. is this auction & alienation legal ?

48.numerous NGO's , trusts promoted by religious bodies , mutts are allotted prime lands at preferrential rates , for the reason that they will use it for public / social welfare. however many of the trusts are using the whole or part of the land for commercial purposes other than the stated public / social welfare purpose. what action has been taken by MUDA , MCC or government in such cases ?

49.how many trusts have violated government norms in this way since 1987 till date? what action taken by MUDA , MCC & government action taken report yearwise since 1987 till date ?

50.how many such illegalities / violations by trusts are regularized by MUDA , MCC or authorities , on what legal grounds ? ATR since 1987 till date ?

51.before regularizing such violations have you sought public objections & given media publicity ? if not why ?

52.how you are monitoring the net wealth growth of some MUDA / MCC / REVENUE officials & their family members , who have land acquisition / denotifying , land usage conversion authorities ?

53.how many trusts , NGOs are allotted prime residential / commercial lands by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT on lease basis , in turn the said trusts , NGOs have sulet it either partly or wholly to others ?

54.how many such lease allotments are sold by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT before the expiry of lease period , without public auction ?

55. what are the norms followed by MUDA / MCC / GOVERNMENT for the sale of leased lands to the lessee before the expiry of lease period ?

 

Main  C :  RTI – QUESTIONS COMMISSIONER OF BANGALORE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY  ( BDA ) , COMMISSIONER , BRIHATH BANGALORE MAHANAGARA PALIKE ( BBMP ) & CHAIRMAN , KARNATAKA INDUSTRIAL AREA DEVELOPMENT BOARD ( KIADB)  ARE  AFRAID TO ANSWER

 1. how many times since 1987 , BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT has revised / modified the Bangalore city's comprehensive city development plan ?

2. how many cases of CDP violations were registered by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT since 1987 till date ?

3. how many cases of CDP violations were legalized in the CDP revision / modification by the authorities ?

4. when an application for alienation of land is made to you , say from civic amenity site to commercial , what norms are followed by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT?

5. how do you provide alternate civic amenity site in the locality , if the area is already full ? do you deprive people of civic amenities ?

6. during such alenation , is the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT collecting market rate difference between civic amenity site & commercial site ? if not why ?

7. in bangalore city , many building complexes , buildings have been built fully violating building bye-laws – no set off , no parking space , no emergency fire exit , no earthquake tolerant . what action by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT?

8. how many cases of building bye-laws violations has been registered by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT since 1987 ? what is the action status report yearwise ?

9. how much of BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT lands , sites , buildings & houses have been illegally occupied by criminal tresspassers since 1987 ?

10. has the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT registered criminal cases against each such illegal occupation ? if not why ? provide status report yearwise ?

11. in how many cases of such illegal occupation BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT has legalized , regularized such illegal occupation just through BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT ` s resolution instead of of re-allotting the same through public notification to the next senior most in the waiting list , after giving notice of allotment cancellation to original allottee ? if not done so why ?

12. has the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT followed all legal norms in reallotment of lands , sites , houses , etc to the illegal occupiers ? what is the procedure followed ?

13. in bangalore city , numerous housing societies & real estate Developers have mushroomed , Land allotments of how many housing societies , real estate firms among them are legally authorized by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT & how many not ? since 1987 till date ?

14. has the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT filed criminal complaints against such illegal housing societies & illegal real estate firms ? if not why ?

15. what action BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT has initiated against real estate firms & housing societies who have violated BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT norms , layout plans , etc ? if not why ?

16. the government has framed building bye-laws like width of road , space for civic amenities , parking space , emergency fire exit , etc keeping high in the mind safety of people first. BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT is in the practice of levying a pittance as penalty on the building byelaw violators , layout Development plan violators & legalizing those violations. Safety of public & amenities of public are totally neglected by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT. When public people die , suffer injuries / accidents – say during a fire tragedy in a complex due to lack of fire exit , when people park vehicles on pavement in front of a business complex as the complex doesn't have a parking space of it's own , the pedestrians going that way are forced to come down on road resulting in accidents , injuries & deaths . is not the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT responsible for those accidents , injuries & deaths ?

17. what is the criteria adopted by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT for out of Turn allotment of Lands , sites , houses to renowned sports persons , judges , journalists , politicians , artists , etc ?

18. how many judges , artists , politicians , journalists , sports persons , etc have benefited from these out of turn allotments by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT? specific figures yearwise since 1987 ?

19. what action has been taken against developers , housing societies , who have violated BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT norms ?

20. when poor scheduled caste , scheduled tribe people , minority people illegally live On BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT sites building temporary huts , BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT with the help of police razes down those huts & evicts the poor by brute force. Whereas , when cronies of political bigwigs illegally occupy BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT lands worth crores of rupees & build big complexes earning thousands of rupees monthly rent , BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT or authorities not even files police complaint against them instead regularizes the illegal occupation by levying a pittance as fine. Why this double standard by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT?

21. HOW MANY CASES OF ILLEGAL OCCUPATIONS are regularized by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT since 1987 till date ? yearwise figures ?

22. how much of BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT lands , sites , houses are under illegal occupation ? status report yearwise since 1987 ?

23. how much of those has been recovered ? has the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT arecovered the rents earned by illegal occupation ?

24. have you filed police complaints against those criminals – tresspassers ? if not why ?

25. is the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT giving wide publicity & sufficient time to bidders about it's auction schedules ?

26. is the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT giving market value to land loosers ?

27. is the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT exactly using the acquired lands , for the same purpose mentioned in the project plan ?

28. is the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT acquiring lands at lower rates from farmers & selling it at a premium , by way making profits just like a real estate agency ?

29. in villages , there are cattle grazing grounds meant for the usage of whole villagers, forest for the usage of whole village , lands belonging to village temples. Some villagers have donated their personal lands to village temples , cattle grazing for the benefit of whole villagers. All the villagers are stake holders , owners of such lands. When BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT acquires such lands to whom does it pay compensation ? what about welfare objectives of those lands ?

30. till date , how many lakes , ponds , how many feeder canals have been closed , filled with mud , developed , sold as sites , etc by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT or other land developers ?

31. has the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT taken alternate steps to create new lakes , ponds ? how many are created till date ?

32. in & around bangalore city , high tension electric lines are there in busy residential areas . as per Indian electricity act , no permanent structures should be under the HT lines. However there are buildings under it. In some places , HT lines runs in the middle of the road. The authorities Have developed those areas beneath HT lines as parks , rented out advertisement spaces & built permanent fencing of those areas spending lakhs of taxpayer's money. This fencing obstructs the movement of service personnel of electricity board , to service HT line. Are all these structures under & surrounding HT lines legal ?

33. till date how many burial grounds are acquired & sold as sites by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT or other developers ? specific figures yearwise since 1987 castewise , religionwise ?

34. in & around bangalore city , in how many areas developed by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT & private developers , the sewage water generated in those areas is directly let into lake , ponds ?

35. how many tributaries , lakes , ponds are killed in this fashion by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT & other developers , housing societies ?

36. how many business complexes , flats , residential layouts developed by private real estate developers , housing societies are dumping the sewage , / waste generated in their buildings , into unauthorized dumping grounds , lakes , etc . thus disturbing the environment & creating public health hazard ? how the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT is monitoring sewage / waste disposal ? status report yearwise since 1987 till date .

37. how many unauthorized housing layouts are there in & around bangalore city ? what action by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT against them ? action taken report yearwise since 1987 till date .

38. around bangalore city , vast areas of village farm lands , agricultural lands are acquired by private real estate developers for non agricultural purposes by a single firm or single owner. Are these actions legal ? some of these real estate agents have sold those lands to private industries , multinational companies for crores of rupees. Has the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT given alienation of land ie conversion from agricultural to industrial usage. Has KIADB given consent to it ?

39. can a single individual / firm can purchase such vast tracts of agricultural lands , is it legal ? is it within the KIADB's comprehensive industrial area development plan ?

40. has the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT given wide publicity , public notice calling for objections before alienation of such lands ?

41. are all those alienations , strictly in conformance to BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT's industrial area development plan ? violations how many ?

42. is the BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT revising / modifying CDP & INDUSTRIAL AREA DEVELOPMENT PLAN , to suit those real estate developers & Private companies ? on what legal grounds ?

43.what action has been taken based on mysore district magistrate mr.T.M.Vijaya Bhaskar's report on land grabbings in mysore ?

44.in mysore city , hebbal-hootagalli industrial area , a lake has been destroyed while building kaynes hotel , hinkal lake is shrinking , lake in front of BEML Quarters has been alloted to M/S THRILLER CLOTHING CO, are all these actions legal & in conformance to MUDA's CDP ? if not why ? what action ?

45. while auctioning off the lands of sick industrial unit M/S IDEAL JAWA LTD , was there any pre-qualification to bidders that after purchase of lands only it must be used for industrial use or only industries can participate in the bidding process ?

46.why not it has been clearly mentioned in the tender document that , said land is open for alienation ?

47. about this issue , our publication has even raised it's objections , in it's newspaper . no action , why ? as a result , the government , banks , employees were cheated off their dues & the private firm made huge profits. is this auction & alienation legal ?

48.numerous NGO's , trusts promoted by religious bodies , mutts are allotted prime lands at preferrential rates , for the reason that they will use it for public / social welfare. however many of the trusts are using the whole or part of the land for commercial purposes other than the stated public / social welfare purpose. what action has been taken by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT in such cases ?

49.how many trusts have violated government norms in this way since 1987 till date? what action taken by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT action taken report yearwise since 1987 till date ?

50.how many such illegalities / violations by trusts are regularized by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT, on what legal grounds ? ATR since 1987 till date ?

51.before regularizing such violations have you sought public objections & given media publicity ? if not why ?

52.how you are monitoring the net wealth growth of some BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT officials & their family members , who have land acquisition / denotifying , land usage conversion authorities ?

53.how many trusts , NGOs are allotted prime residential / commercial lands by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT on lease basis , in turn the said trusts , NGOs have sulet it either partly or wholly to others ?

54.how many such lease allotments are sold by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT before the expiry of lease period , without public auction ?

55. what are the norms followed by BDA / BBMNP / KIADB / GOVERNMENT for the sale of leased lands to the lessee before the expiry of lease period ?

56. what is the status of house allotted to sri.chandrashekariah vide BDA allotment letter no: 310/267/BDA/ADM/KMRSL(H)/78-79 dt 11/08/1978.

57. why BDA didn't file police complaint to evict encroachers?

58. why BDA didn't inform the descendents of original allottee about the cancellation of their allotment ?

59.what happened to the money deposited by original allottee?

60.is the action of BDA allotting the said house to an illegal encroacher just by the resolution of BDA committee legal ?

61. in case the BDA wished to re-allot the said house , first it must have informed the original allottee about cancellation of allotment allowing them sufficient time to reply with public notice in news papers , then they should have allotted the said house to the senior most in the waiting list. But BDA has just allotted the house to an illegal encroacher by the resolution of BDA committee. Is it legal ?

62. BDA officials gave half truths to my RTI request & stated that the said file concerning this issue cann't be found ie lost . is it legal ?

63. has the BDA filed police complaint regarding theft of file from the record room ? HONOURABLE COMMISSIONER OF BDA PLEASE REFER THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE.

https://sites.google.com/site/eclarionofdalit/wheeling-dealing-judges-police ,

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/judges-cover-up-land-scams ,

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/land-grabbers-in-m-u-d-a  ,

 

YEAR TO WHICH ABOVE PERTAINS : DOCUMENTS PERTAINS TO YEAR 1995 -  2015 .

 

PUBLIC INFORMATION  OFFICER  WHO FAILED TO  GIVE   INFORMATION  :

PIO , CHIEF MINSTER’S OFFICE , GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA , VIDHANA SOUDHA , BANGALORE.

 

FEES PAID : IPO 16G 733464  for Rupees  TWENTY  only

 

DATE :  28.03.2015 ……………..………………………NAGARAJA.M.R.

 

PLACE : MYSORE , INDIA….. ……………………….( APPLICANT)

 

The Art of Living Illegally

 

THE ‘GURU of joy’ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been found guilty of encroaching more than five acres of government land worth Rs 50 crore in Karnataka. The land meant to be distributed to the poor and landless has been illegally acquired by Sri Sri, who has constructed an Art of Living meditation centre on it, violating the law.

 

Even though the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) wanted to fine ‘Guruji’ and had asked for the demolition of the building, a timely intervention by former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa has saved the Art of Living Foundation from facing legal action.

According to documents obtained by TEHELKA, MUDA had acquired 100 acres at Alanahalli village near Mysore in 1985, ’92 and ’97 for the development of residential colonies for 1.5 lakh landless poor. Out of the 100 acres notified by MUDA, 70 were developed and the rest was denotified and restored to the original owners.

“The land that Sri Sri acquired was left as a buffer zone and not developed as a residential layout as it allowed for the free flow of water from Chamundi Hills to Alanahalli tank. It was supposed to be converted into a botanical park,” says M Lakshmana of the Association of Concerned and Informed Citizens of Mysore.

However, in 2002, the land was acquired by the Art of Living through a proxy by the name of R Raghu, even when the land was in the possession of MUDA. And a building was constructed for conducting yoga and meditation classes.

Taking note of this, on 20 December last year, the then Deputy Commissioner of Mysore Harsh Gupta wrote to MUDA directing it to reclaim the government land from the Art of Living, and sought a response within seven days. Following the order, MUDA wrote to the tehsildar instructing him to serve a notice to Art of Living. The tehsildar’s office did so on 4 January, stating that the building constructed at Alanahalli was illegal and slapped a fine of Rs 1,000 on the organisation as per the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964.

Apart from this penalty, Art of Living was given two days time to demolish the building, failing which the department would clear the encroachment and slap an additional fine of Rs 25 per day.

Shunted out of the deputy commissioner’s post, Gupta, now assistant director of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, says, “During my tenure, a survey was being conducted of the 1,500 acres of government land. And wherever discrepancies were found, notices and orders were issued. During that survey, we found out that the Art of Living had encroached upon five acres of government land.”

Gupta’s orders were not carried out. The same day, a letter from the chief minister’s office signed by Principal Secretary ISN Prasad prevented the deputy commissioner and the taluka administration from carrying out its duties.

The letter instructed the district and taluka administration against demolishing the Art of Living building on survey No. 41/F block (P6) in Alanahalli, saying, “The chief minister will take a decision on it.” However, Yeddyurappa did not bother to take any decision and the Art of Living continued construction activities on the land.

“It was done to stop the precipitate action,” says Prasad. An Art of Living delegation had met Yeddyurappa and he had asked the district administration to refrain from action till a further decision is taken.

“That didn’t happen due to various reasons. But the current Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda will call a meeting with all the local officials,” says Prasad.

Responding to the claims, Karthik Krishna of the Art of Living’s bureau of communication says, “Since 2003, we have been working to denotify this land that was falsely notified to extract a bribe, which we fought tooth and nail and were also slapped with a fine.”

The Art of Living has not encroached on any land, he says. The 5-acre plot was purchased by R Raghu from Gangu Belli Belliappa on 25 November 2002. Since then, the premises have been utilised with the permission of the landlord for conducting yoga and meditation classes, says Krishna.

 

“This is not the first time a case of land-grab has been brought against the Art of Living,” says Lakshmana. In Mandya district, the organisation has been accused of grabbing 20 acres. And a 2006 report on government land encroachments in the state had also found discrepancies in its Bengaluru ashram. In Mysore, apart from the five acres of government land, the Art of Living has encroached around seven acres worth Rs 70 crore near the tourist spot of Chamundi Hills.

V Balasubramaniam, former chairman of Land Task Force, says the AT Ramaswamy Committee report had found that the organisation had encroached upon 6.35 acres of government land in Agara village in Kengeri, Bengaluru. The committee claimed that the land encroached by the Art of Living was worth more than Rs 8 crore.

Lakshmana has filed a criminal complaint against Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Yeddyurappa. “I have also lodged a complaint with the state Human Rights Commission, asking how a high-flying organisation like the Art of Living could obtain a site when poor and landless people are waiting for the past 30 years,” says Lakshmana.

 

YET ANOTHER MUDA SITE GRABBED 

Mysuru, Mar. 26- In yet another case of land grabbing that has now come to light, a 50’x80’ site (No. 5491) in Vijayanagar second stage, adjoining site No. 5490, which was allegedly grabbed by unscrupulous persons using forged documents (reported in SOM on 24.3.2015), too has been reportedly grabbed.

One B. Thimmappa, a resident of 9th main, Saraswathipuram, is alleged to have grabbed site No. 5491 measuring 50’x80’ located near the water tank in Vijayanagar second stage, using forged documents.

The hand of unscrupulous MUDA employees is suspected in this case too.

MUDA Commissioner S. Palaiah, after coming to know of the fraud, has annulled the allotment letter, Sale Deed and other documents pertaining to the site.

B. Thimmappa is said to have taken the site into possession under the Asha Mandira Scheme on 17.2.2003, with unscrupulous MUDA employees allegedly joining hands with him in creating fake documents. Thimmappa later sold the site to K. Kantharaj and S. Vinutha on 13.5.2010, with the khata transfer too done.

Later, Kantharaj and Vinutha sold the site to P. Gopal Rao, M. Ravishankar and Prabhushankar.

Thereafter, the buyers Gopal Rao, Ravishankar and Prabhushankar sold the site to one D. Diwakar, along with khata transfer. Despite all these transactions taking place, the unscrupulous MUDA employees and the fraudsters have taken enough care to ensure that the cheating does not come to light.

However, the fraud came to light when the documents came under thorough scrutiny of MUDA Commissioner.

With the grabbing coming to light, the authorities have erected a shed in a portion of the site.

The grabbing of a site adjacent to another allegedly grabbed site on which a building has come up, has caused concern amongst the public, who are now left wondering on how to distinguish between genuine and fake documents. The MUDA officials are coming across such site grabbing cases, even as they dig deeper into the mess.

Even as MUDA authorities are unearthing site grabbing case, MUDA Commissioner S. Palaiah has appealed the buyers to thoroughly check the documents with MUDA for authenticity.

Meanwhile, Pooja Prabhakar, who claims to be the owner of site No. 5490 in Vijayanagar second stage, which was found to have been grabbed using forged documents, during a scrutiny on Mar. 10, is reportedly all set to drag the MUDA to the Court over the issue.

Pooja Prabhakar is said to have cited a case where in a person is said to have allegedly built an unauthorised commercial structure on an illegally purchased site and thus earning a huge sum of money after letting out the structure on rent/lease.

Illogical land laws fostering mafia, says High Court judge

 

 

Acting Chief Justice of High Court of Karnataka, Justice K Sreedhar Rao on Saturday said lack of logic in several laws, including land reforms and acquisition laws, is encouraging land mafia, especially in urban centres. 

“The existing Land Acquisition Act is the greatest enemy of the common man. We have only encouraged land mafia through legislation,” he said, while addressing the National Consultation on “Urban Poor and the Law,” organised by National Law School of India University (NLSIU) here.

Justice Rao said laws related to land need an overhaul, to ensure owners of the land get a share of development. “The growth of real estate mafias and skyrocketing property prices hindered average income earners from purchasing property. By creating mega cities, we have done a great damage to the country,” he added.

Justice Rao said various governments have failed to develop district and taluk head quarters as a result of which we are not able to prevent migration to cities. “Bangalore has developed as a cancerous slum. The urban areas are not having the infrastructure or facilities to deal with this massive population inflow,” he said. The judge also pointed out that the zoning laws often allow arbitrary classifications without taking into account the real situations on ground.

P K Mohanty, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Housing and Poverty Alleviation, said the proposed law for property rights for urban poor, to ensure spaces for street vendors, was under consideration and it would be soon placed before the Parliament. 

A major issue that needs to be addressed is residency rights of urban poor in the context of vulnerabilities that they face. Though several governmental programmes, specially JNNURM were designed for this purpose, there was a lack of sufficient response from the States to avail the funds and use them in time, he said.

 

BMTF proposes, government disposes

 

Siddaiah was brought back to BBMP despite request for his suspension for his role in DLF case

Senior IAS officer H. Siddaiah, who returned as Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner for a second stint, has come under the scanner of the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) as a ‘suspect officer’ for his alleged role in the DLF case.

The BMTF, probing the DLF scam that involved illegal widening of a road to facilitate an increase in the floor area ratio (FAR) of an apartment complex, had named Mr. Siddaiah, his predecessor Bharat Lal Meena, besides the former Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) Commissioner Pradeep Singh Kharola among the three IAS officers whose role had surfaced during its investigation “based on oral and documentary evidence”.

BMTF letter

In a letter to Chief Secretary S.V. Ranganath, dated November 29, 2012, the BMTF had sought to place under suspension these three officials, besides 23 others of the BDA and BBMP, to facilitate fair probe.

However, the government chose to ignore the BMTF’s recommendation and brought Mr. Siddaiah back to the BBMP from the Higher Education Department where he was serving as Principal Secretary, thus replacing Commissioner Rajneesh Goel.

The report also names several senior officials of the BBMP and the BDA as “suspect officials” for having allegedly colluded to allow the DLF to up the FAR for its projects, violating BBMP bylaws and BDA’s master plan.

Charge against Shettar

Meanwhile, RTI activist Dinesh Kallahalli accused Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar of trying to hush up the matter by bringing back the same “suspect” officials. He plans to seekGovernor H.R. Bhardwaj’s intervention in the matter as the Chief Minister was involved.

Speaking at a press conference here on Saturday, Mr. Kallahalli said Tirakana Goudar, Town Planning Member (TPM) in the BDA, who was reinstated to his post while he was out on bail, was also being favoured by the Chief Minister.

DLF violations

The BMTF has arrested Mr. Goudar, who was charged with helping DLF Southern Homes legalise construction beyond what was permitted on a civic amenity (CA) site. He was accused of approving the widening of the Hulimavu-Begur Road to legalise DLF Southern Homes illegal construction.

“DLF constructed 1,962 flats instead of the 440 for which they had taken permission. We are not even able to get documents under the Right to Information Act. We want the Governor to intervene,” Mr. Kallahalli said.

 

‘CCTV cameras in BDA are covered with cow dung’

 

The government will cancel alternative land and sites allotted by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) in “prestigious extensions” in lieu of private land acquired for the development of Sir. M. Visvesvaraya, Kempe Gowda, Jnanabharathi and Banashankari extensions.

Making an announcement in this regard in the Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah promised to order a probe into alleged violation of norms and irregularities committed by BDA and punish the guilty.

Responding to a calling attention notice moved by S.T. Somashekar, K.N. Rajanna and K. Shadakshari of the Congress, Mr. Siddaramaiah admitted that there were illegalities and irregularities in allocation of sites and land for the land acquired in BDA.

The government would order a probe into the scam and action would be initiated against those involved in it. He would direct the senior officials to inquire into the misuse of incentive scheme of allotting land for land losers. Irregularities in revenue land scam would also be probed and all allotments made under this category would be cancelled forthwith, Mr. Siddaramaiah said.

Detailing the allotment made by BDA since 2008, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that 3,314 sites had been allotted under the categories of alternative sites, incentive schemes, land to land and revenue sites. “The government will not spare anybody who has misused the schemes in connivance with the officials”, he said.

Initiating the debate, Mr. Somashekar alleged that BDA had flouted norms while allotting sites and land for acquisition of land without notification.

“BDA officials used the scheme to their convenience, which are meant for helping the poor farmers and land owners”, he lamented.

Accusing BDA of generously giving sites and land to GPA holders in posh localities, Mr. Rajanna, alleged that the authority had not followed guidelines and officials allotted sites and land at their whims and fancies. “The close circuit cameras installed in BDA are being covered with cow dung to gloss the murky dealings. It is scam worth Rs. 1,000 crore and needs comprehensive investigation”, he said.

Violation of order

Pointing at the violation of Mr. Siddaramaiah’s order, Mr. Rajanna said that, through the Chief Minister issued order against allotting sites and land under the category on July 11, BDA allotted six sites on the same evening and issued possession certificates on July 13. This clearly exhibits the uncanny knack of BDA officials to circumvent the directions of the Chief Minister and shows that BDA was above government, he observed.

 

Reclaim 308 G category sites, says Padmaraj panel

 

BANGALORE: In a big blow to allottees of G category sites, the Justice B Padmaraj Committee recommended to the state government it cancel and reclaim 308 sites allotted under the chief minister's discretionary quota. These sites in prime localities were allotted between 2004 and 2011.

Three beneficiaries, who have already constructed houses, have been asked to cough up twice the current market price of the sites if they want to retain them.

 

The panel has reserved its decision on two sites allotted to former CM DV Sadananda Gowda and BJP MLA DN Jeevaraj as their cases are pending before the Supreme Court.

In all, 313 sites/plots were allotted under G category of BDA rules by previous CMs N Dharam Singh, HD Kumaraswamy and BS Yeddyurappa. The beneficiaries included a present minister, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, political party leaders, bureaucrats, police officers, doctors, journalists and even personal assistants, cooks, drivers and peons of powerful politicians.

In Mysore on Saturday, chief minister Siddaramaiah said he would study the report and take necessary action.

Based on a petition filed in 2010 by advocate Vasudev Murthy, the Karnataka High Court directed the state government to form a committee to look into the matter and submit a report. Accordingly, the government constituted the Justice B Padmaraj Committee. By then, many allottees who bagged these prime sites worth crores of rupees had sold their plots in the open market for 10 times that amount.

Though the panel submitted its report on August 26, 2013, the government has dithered taking action. Though the issue was part of the agenda in cabinet meetings, it was kept aside reportedly under pressure from the beneficiaries.

There are even allegations of beneficiaries influencing chief minister Siddaramaiah to bring an amendment to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) Act, 1976 so that they can hold on to their sites.

According to BDA rules, a person who owns a site or a house in Bangalore is not eligible for allotment under the G category. But, the majority of beneficiaries owned a site or house in the city. The committee report has pointed out that persons who gave a false declaration on this count should forfeit their sites.

Some prominent allottees

Visveshwar Anantha Hegde Kageri (BJP)

Murugesh R Nirani (BJP)

MP Renukacharya (BJP)

Prahalad Joshi (BJP)

R Roshan Baig (Cong)

R Ashoka (BJP)

Sharan Prakash Patil (Cong)

Shakuntala Shetty (BJP)

MT Krishnappa (JDS)

M Srinivas (JDS)

G category site

Rule 5 of BDA (Allotment of Sites) Rules, 1984, lays out various categories under which it can dispose of stray sites. There are seven categories: A (via auction), B (for sportspersons), C (for those who excel in arts, science, literature, education, medicine and public administration), D (for ex-servicemen); F (for dependents of government servants who die in the line of duty) and G (for persons in public life as may be directed by the government). While A, B C, D, E & F category sites are allotted on the recommendation of a BA sub-committee, G category site allotments are the prerogative and discretion of the chief minister.

Who is eligible

* Domiciled in Karnataka for not less than 10 years

 

* Neither allottee nor family should own a site or house in Bangalore metropolitan area

* Allottee or family should not have been allotted a site or house by the BDA, or any other authority within Bangalore metropolitan area. Allottee has to submit affidavit to this effect

 

Read  articles  on  BDA  :

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/keyword/bangalore-development-authority 

 

 

Ex-MUDA chairmen feel heat over site scam

 

Former chairmen of Mandya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) are in a state of panic as the Urban Development Department has sent a proposal to the Home Department seeking  a CBI probe into illegal financial transactions and distribution of sites.

Ten days ago, the Urban Development Department had sent a letter to the Home Department seeking it to hand over the investigation of the irregularities in MUDA and Ramanagaram-Channapatana Urban Development Authority to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The Police Department has already submitted the preliminary report to the court.

As money was invested in foreign banks, huge irregularities had taken place in the site allotment.

Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake had provided details of the irregularities to the Home Ministry and requested them to hand over the case to the CBI.

In 1998, the then irrigation minister K N Nagegowda had closed a lake (432 acres, 10 guntas) belonging to the department and handed over 232 acres and 10 guntas to MUDA and 200 acres to the Housing Board for construction of houses for the poor and middle classes.

The then MUDA chairman P M Somashekar took a loan of `5 crore from State Bank of Mysore, Mandya branch, and through a contractor from Andhra Pradesh developed Vivekananda Nagar layout with 2,600 sites in the 232 acres. 

Later, when Asadulla Khan was MUDA chairman, 2,200 sites were distributed through lots.

When Hansiyabanu was MUDA chairman, under the ‘Nimma Aayke’ scheme, 200 sites were distributed.

During the BJP government, MUDA chairman Vidya Nagendra had distributed 107 sites even be fore the final date for the submission of applications.

This illegal distribution of sites was also discussed at the Vidhana Soudha.

Advocate T S Satyananda had lodged a case against three members of the Legislative Assembly and several others in the Mandya Lokayukta Special Court for illegal distribution of sites. The government had directed the authorities to withhold the distribution.

Recently, financial irregularities of Rs 5 crore in MUDA and Rs 16.90 crore by the Ramanagaram-Channapatna Urban Development Authority have come to light.

The local police investigated the case and filed a chargesheet.

The minister said: “We have sent a proposal to hand over the case to the CBI. In a few days, with the CM’s approval, the case will be handed over.”

 

 

Probe panel yet to scratch surface of MUDA ‘irregularities’

 

It’s been a month since a high-level committee was formed to probe allegations of irregularities in land acquired by Mangalore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) for Chelyar Layout. It is operational only on paper.

The grandiose plan of MUDA to form a layout and distribute sites to applicants at Chelyar and Madya villages near Surathkal comes at a cost: Rs. 75,000 monthly outgo to service a Rs. 12 crore loan taken for it.

In an order sent by the Urban Development Department, on August 5, a committee was to deliver a report on the legality of the project within 15 days. The committee is headed by Regional Commissioner (Mysore) M.V. Jayanthi, with Deputy Commissioner N. Prakash and Deputy Director of Land Records B.K. Kusumadhara as members.

After allegations that the price paid for the land in 2008 was too high and favourable to private players, Minister for Urban Development Vinay Kumar Sorake promised a probe in June.

The project envisaged buying 200 acres of private land at an agreed rate of Rs. 25,500 a cent. After the approval of the erstwhile BJP-led government, nearly 73 acres of land had been bought.

‘Unscientific project’

While most MUDA officials who talked to The Hindu claimed to have been transferred to the Authority only after site formation, one senior official said: “The entire project was approved by the State government. And so, in this respect, the papers are clean. However, there is a need to ask why the ambitious layout was formed when the Authority was reeling under debt.” Already burdened with a Rs. 4 crore loan, in 2008, MUDA took an additional Rs. 12 crore.

Many officials view the inquiry as a political witch-hunt: aimed at the now-out-of-power party, rather than the Authority itself.

‘Report soon’

With not one meeting called so far, Mr. Kusumadhara said there was little clarity on the scope of inquiry.

However, the Deputy Commissioner said, “We only have to clear the suspicions. We will collect the required documents, and present it before the Regional Commissioner during her visit on September 12.”

 

DLF-Robert Vadra controversy: LAND  SCAM

 

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/bIyiB4vh8SxBgjy54H1BGP/DLFRobert-Vadra-controversy-A-news-roundup.html 

 

LAVASA  LAND  SCAM 

https://sites.google.com/?pli=1  ,

http://www.newsbullet.in/india/34/35975  ,

 

Probe into bogus bill scam will cover larger picture: BMTF

 

Bangalore: Attempting to clear the air on speculations regarding the alleged multi-crore bogus bill scam in three assembly constituencies, Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF) inspector general of police RP Sharma said the investigation will not be restricted to Rajarajeshwarinagar, Gandhinagar and Malleswaram constituencies. The probe will also include other areas, he clarified.

Speaking at the BBMP head office on Wednesday, Sharma said even though the FIR filed on November 4 by the additional commissioner (administration) pertains to only three constituencies, sleuths will look into other areas if necessary. "The C(TVCC) had mentioned only three constituencies in its report pertaining to irregularities from 2008 to 2011. The FIR was only an instrument to take up investigation, but it does not restrict us from taking up the investigation in other areas," he said.

 

Town planners' help to be sought

He said even though there is a delay in filing a case, BMTF is trying to clear all hurdles and expose those involved in the scam. The BMTF has seized 153 files pertaining to the irregularities from the three constituencies. Eleven persons and TVCC officials were interrogated and 153 files verified by sleuths in 20 days, Sharma said.

Reacting to a question raised on BMTF's ability to investigate financial crimes and demand to hand over the probe to the Lokayukta, Sharma said the sleuths would seek help from town planners. Currently, there are only two town planners of the 15 sanctioned posts. The investigation team will also include a superintendent of police, deputy superintendent of police (who will join the team shortly), two inspectors, four sub-inspectors and 15 head constables. A fair and impartial investigation would be conducted by the investigation team, he assured.

"We can ascertain the quantum of money that is involved in the scam only after the investigation," Sharma said.

BBMP commissioner Siddaiah entrusted the BMTF to carry out inquiry into the `1,539 crore scam after it was unearthed by the TVCC. The BMTF is an autonomous agency under the state government. It is alleged that bills were sanctioned even though works were not completed in the three assembly constituencies. The irregularities took place during the administrative period when BBMP remained without people's representation. With no corporators, MLAs looked after project works in the wards. The elections to BBMP were held in 2010 after a gap of three years.

Last Friday, leaders of the ruling and opposition parties and civic officials participated in a two-hour meeting called by BBMP mayor R Shardamma to discuss the probe. It was decided to set up a house committee, consisting of five ruling party corporators, two from the opposition and two officials, to investigate the scam, before BMTF took up the case. The move was seen as a delaying tactic by the ruling party in the BBMP council.RK Sharma, IGP, Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force, after a press conference at Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike headquarters on Wednesday.

 

Bangalore: BMTF Registers FIR Against Suresh Kumar, Krishnaiah Setty

 

The Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force has registered an FIR against Minister for Urban Development Suresh Kumar, former Housing Minister M Krishnaiah Setty and senior IAS officer V P Baligar for allegedly returning four acres 20 guntas of land, which was acquired by the government under the Karnataka Urban Land Ceiling Act to construct houses for the slum dwellers at Laggere, to the original owner.

The case was lodged based on a complaint by Dinesh Kallalli, a social worker, who stated that Kumar, in his capacity as Urban Development Minister, granted permission to return the land to the original owner, while then Housing Minister Krishnaiah Setty halted the process of constructing houses for the urban poor.

The BMTF has registered a case against the trio under Sections 13 (1) and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 157 of the CrPC on Saturday. Kallalli told Deccan Herald that in 1982, the government acquired 4.2 acres of excess land in survey number 19/2, which belonged to K Gopinath to build houses for the financially weaker and downtrodden people. In 2003, the Karnataka Slum Development Board (KSDB) started the process of constructing houses.

When the process reached the stage of inviting tenders, the Yeddyurappa government took the decision to return the land to the original owner.

It is learnt that under the Karnataka Urban Land Ceiling Act, no one can hold more than 59 acres of land and the excess land should be confiscated. Gopinath had reportedly possessed 4.2 acres in excess, which the government took it in its custody in 1982. Once the land is in government’s custody, it cannot be returned to its original owner, although the government has the power to allot it to other individuals.

Kallalli alleged that the decision was taken to help Gopinath, who is the brother of senior RSS functionary K Narahari. He claimed that the KSDB had objected to the decision, reminding that it was not only illegal, but would also affect the weaker sections of the society. The board also said that the tender process was almost over.

However, the government set aside the objections of the KSDB and the tender process to construct houses. When contacted, Kumar said he had no information about the case since he was away in Bellary. He said he would find out once he returned to Bangalore.

A few months ago, Kumar had tendered his resignation after it was alleged that his family was the beneficiary of a ‘G’ category site. However, the chief minister refused to accept the resignation as no substance was found in the allegation.

Setty, who was in jail over a land denotification case, is out on bail. Baligar is the Managing Director of Housing Urban Development Company (HUDCO) in New Delhi.

When contacted Dr R P Sharma, Additional Director General of Police, BMTF was not available for comments.

 

JUDGES  COVER-UP  LAND  SCAMS

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/judges-cover-up-land-scams

Muda Land Encroachment: Criminal Case Booked against Housing Society President

 

Mysore, Sept. 20- In view of the allegation of encroaching 27 guntas of MUDA land close to Vijayanagar 2nd Stage, the Vijayanagar Police have booked a case against the President of Sri Mahadeshwara House Construction Co-operative Society, R. Shankare Gowda.

A written complaint filed by MUDA Zone 4 Zonal Officer R. Rajashekhar yesterday, following which a case was registered by Sub-Inspector Kumar.

The land is a portion of the land under survey number 120 in Hinkal, measuring 3.25 acres. Out of this, 1.16 acres of land was acquired on June 20, 1974 under LAC 10. Remaining 2.09 acres was acquired by MUDA from one Puttathayamma through mutual agreement on Oct. 31, 1985.

A 1.14 acre land was given to the Karnataka Water Board where a road and park have been developed. The remaining area lies vacant, of which Shankare Gowda allegedly created fake documents to stake claim on 23 guntas of land in the name of the Housing Society.

RTI activist B.N. Nagendra had sought information about the said land under the Right to Information (RTI) Act which brought to light the alleged irregularity.

Response to MLA Vasu’s letter: Chamarajanagar MLA Vasu had written a letter to Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake, urging him to probe the irregularities in sites allotment, suspecting the involvement of some MUDA officials.

The Minister directed the Urban Development Department Secretary to probe the matter, who in turn asked the MUDA Commissioner to submit a report regarding the allegations. A directive was issued to the DC too to probe the matter, following which a complaint was lodged against the Housing Society President.

 

d to usurp MUDA corner site using fake documents

 

With the real estate prices in city skyrocketing, efforts to usurp sites and government land by hook or by crook are on too, despite several precautionary measures taken up by the MUDA.

Here is an incident of a person trying to acquire a corner site in Jayalakshmipuram, measuring 110x120 ft, by not paying a single paisa to MUDA but by merely paying Rs. 27,540 in an auction. The matter came to light when a citizen named B.N. Nagendra applied for information under the Right To Information (RTI) Act. It is said that he took interest in digging out information about the site after an acquaintance of his disclosed about the fraudulent deal.

Thanks to the efforts of MUDA Secretary Basavaraju who made meticulous investigations of the documents, the MUDA property worth several crores was saved from being usurped.

The site is in Jayalakshmipuram, which was formed about 40 years ago. It is a corner site off the road leading to The Green Hotel on Hunsur road. The site bears the number 23/A, having site number 23 towards the east, another site on the north and roads on the western and southern sides.

The fraud was committed by Raju, 60, a resident of Paduvarahalli 2nd Main, Door No. 54. He is said to have forged the signature of MUDA Zone 4 Special Tahasildar Devaraj and also used a duplicate rubber stamp for the fake documents.

The truth is that no auction was held for site no. 23/A. However, the accused Raju is said to have created fake documents that claimed that he had purchased the site in an auction for Rs. 27,540 on Jan. 3, 1979. A title-deed for the site was prepared at Zone 4 office under Form-2 (5) in Kannada dated Jan.2, 2013.

The site, for which fake documents were prepared in January, was registered three months later — that is on Mar. 22, 2013, at 4.30 pm, at the Sub-Registrar’s office in MUDA. It is said that the letter written by Special Tahasildar Devaraj to the Sub-Registrar to get the site registered was also forged.

Soon after the fraudulent deal came to the fore, MUDA Secretary Basavaraju placed a signboard at the site four days ago, stating that the land belonged to the MUDA. A complaint was lodged at the Lakshmipuram Police Station yesterday.

It is surprising that the title-deed for the site was prepared despite any auction conducted by the MUDA, no application submitted, no notes written by the officials concerned and no entry made about cash payment. The Police have launched a hunt for the accused who is at large.

 CID to probe Rs 6,697 crore KIADB denotification scam

 

Lokayukta directs the agency to submit a report within July 30

Irregularities to the tune of Rs 6,697 crore in land acquisition and compensation by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) between 2006 and 2011 - the span of the BJP government - will be investigated by the CID. The land involved is a whopping 26,674 acres. 

A petitioner, Jayakumar Hiremath, filed a complaint with the Lokayukta last August following a directive from the Karnataka High Court. He had sought a CBI probe into the issue. 

"The matter is now referred for a CID probe," Hiremath told Bangalore Mirror. "I welcome this. As the deadline is set now, it has set the ball rolling into the probe." 

In an order dated 29 May 2014, A C Vidhyadhar, additional registrar of enquiries (ARE), Karnataka Lokayukta, has referred it to the CID with a July 30 deadline to submit a report on the case. ''Honourable Lokayukta has taken up the matter for investigation and requisitioned your services under section 15 (3) of Karnataka Lokayukta Act for a further investigation and report.

In this context, I would like to bring to your notice that under sec 15 (3) of Karnataka Lokayukta Act, the Honourable Lokayukta and Upa Lokayukta can avail the services of any agency for the purpose of investigation. As the matter pertained to economic offences, the Honourable Lokayukta has felt it is necessary to utilize your services for investigation," says the communication sent by the Lokayukta to the CID, a copy of which is with Bangalore Mirror.

 

Karnataka HC summons MD of Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board

 

BANGALORE: Strongly observing that KIADB (Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board) has failed to ensure the benefits of land acquisition reached the targeted groups, including farmers as envisaged in its schemes, the Karnataka high court has directed the managing director (MD) of the board to appear before court on Friday. 

A division bench headed by Justice K L Manjunath gave an oral direction to this effect while hearing a writ appeal filed by two persons whose lands were acquired in 1996 for setting up a sugar factory at Kaliganahalli and Hattna villages of Bellur hobli, Nagamangala taluk in Mandya district. 

The bench also noted that the board has not been able to justify the acquisition as despite lapse of many years as the projects do not start within the stipulated time and other allied conditions like providing jobs to land losers etc are not implemented. 

Extension withdrawn 

Meanwhile in a related development, a memo has been filed in court stating that two year extension granted in favour of M/s Prem Sugar and Chemicals Corporation Ltd for setting up 5,000 TCD sugar factory with 32 MW co-generation plant has been withdrawn on the ground that the company had misrepresented that there are no cases pending before court. 

This order came to be issued after the division bench pulled up the authorities and even warned of contempt proceedings after it was stated that two year extension was granted to M/s Prem Sugar and Chemicals Corporation Limited during the pendency of proceedings before the court. 

As per the terms of allotment of 86 acres of acquired land, M/s Prem Sugar and Chemicals Corporation Ltd should have operationalized its unit within 36 months from 1996, by 2000. 

Though the company got this period extended through a court order and the Board twice on its own extended the deadline, the company has not even laid a foundation stone for its project despite passage of 16 years after allotment, the court had noted earlier.

 

CAG Finds Lapses in PWD, KIADB Works

 

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has come down heavily on the Public Works Department and the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) for causing losses worth crores of rupees to the exchequer. The KIADB alone caused losses to the tune of Rs.104 crore, it said.

The PWD had implemented road works in its Magadi sub-division in a fraudulent manner and the KIADB allotted land to three industrial units at Narasapura Industrial Area in violation of rules, it said.

The report was tabled in both houses of the state legislature on Wednesday. It pointed out serious lapses by the chief engineer, superintending engineer and executive engineer in implementing works worth Rs.250.62 crore in Magadi sub-division in Ramanagaram district during 2011-12.

“There was a total lack of monitoring and supervision by higher authorities during the course of execution of works although the SE/CE were required to regularly monitor and supervise these works. Quality control reports were not available for any of the works claimed to have been executed,” the CAG stated.

The Internal Finance Advisor and secretary also failed to correlate monthly expenditure statements received from subordinate officers with details of works in progress. “The CE allocated grants to the extent of Rs.212.13 crore without prioritising works according to prescribed procedures and did not submit any budget estimates to the government,” the report said, indicting the department officials.

Total grants of Rs.250 crore were allotted for the Magadi sub-division — 27 times the average grants released over the past three years. 

The grants were allotted irregularly by the Internal Financial Advisor and the CE, SE without obtaining a list of works. Fraudulent payments of Rs.1.70 crore were made preparing fake bills, it said.

The entire work was split into 1,311 small works with each estimate below Rs.20 lakh to avoid competitive bidding. In 189 cases, more than one estimate was prepared for the same work leading to fictitious estimates. Surprisingly, 891 of the 1,311 contracts were awarded to just 3 contractors without even collecting the EMD and performance security, it said.

Check measurements were done on a single day by the department officials in 25 to 85 works and bills were paid without obtaining quality control test reports.

It said surprise checks were not undertaken by superior officers.

The inspection team constituted by the department had observed irregularities and recommended recovery of the amount from the contractors as works were neither executed nor identifiable during physical verification.

KIADB Land Fiasco

The CAG report on Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board’s allotment of plots at Narasapura Industrial Area at a subsidised rate has exposed the loss of Rs.104 crore to the exchequer.

While the government had approved the allotment of undeveloped land, KIADB allotted 128 acres of well developed plots for three industrial units at a concessional rate, thus resulting in a loss of Rs.104 cr. KIADB had incurred an expenditure of Rs.1.10 cr for developing each acre of land.

 

Fresh panel to probe into irregularities in site allotment by Shimoga Urban Development Authority

 

The meeting of Shimoga Urban Development Authority (SUDA) convened here on Tuesday has decided to constitute a new panel to probe the alleged irregularities in the allotment of sites in Atal Bihari Vajpayee Layout.

It may be mentioned here that Deputy Commissioner Vipul Bansal, who is also in-charge President of SUDA, had formed an inquiry panel under retired Judge H.B. Ravindranath to probe the irregularities in site allotment.

The panel, in its report, had said that of the total 1,800 sites in the layout, 1,305 sites were allotted in violation of the law.

The committee had pointed out 22 different types of lapses in site allotment. Based on the report, Mr. Bansal had said that a complaint would be lodged with the police against the persons indicted in the report.

In the meeting, R.K. Siddaramanna, MLC, said that it was not possible to initiate legal action against erring persons on the basis of the report submitted by the probe panel.

He said that according to Section 9(2) of Karnataka Urban Development Authorities Act, only the president of an urban development authority should head the panel that probes irregularities.

The meeting has decided to form a fresh panel under Mr. Bansal.

The sub-registrar of Shimoga and commissioners of SUDA and Shimoga City Corporation would be the members of the panel.

Meanwhile, Kallur Megharaj, managing trustee of Shantaveri Gopala Gowda Samajawadi Adhyayana Kendra Trust, has demanded a CBI probe into the irregularities in site allotment by SUDA.

Earlier, Mr. Bansal had said that he would initiate action against the erring persons based on the report submitted by the panel headed by Mr. Ravindranath.

Speaking to presspersons here on Wednesday, Mr. Megharaj alleged that Mr. Bansal haddecided to go for a fresh probe yielding to political pressure.

·  Panel to be headed by Deputy Commissioner

Vipul Bansal

·  Sub-registrar of Shimoga and Commissioners of SUDA and city corporation to be members

 

Ambareesh Accused of Cornering 3 Sites

 

MANDYA: An individual is entitled only to one site from an urban development authority (UDA) in the state, but Housing Minister M H Ambareesh allegedly got three large ones.

Recently accused of violating rules to get a site from the Mandya Urban Development Authority, Ambareesh allegedly bent the rules to get sites in two other cities: Mysore and Bangalore. As an actor, Ambareesh rose to fame by frequently playing an angry, upright police officer who takes on a corrupt system, earning the epithet ‘Rebel Star’.

RTI activist K R Ravindra said Ambareesh had procured the sites by submitting false documents.  “The sites are meant for the public. The government should immediately take them back. Ambareesh should resign from his ministership on moral grounds,” he told Express. 

Why Govt Sites?

Sites sold by government-run bodies like BDA are priced way lower than the open market. Ambareesh allegedly got sites from the Mandya, Mysore, and Bangalore Urban Development Authorities. On January 16, 1986, Ambareesh got a 78X 50 ft site (No 1260) in G and H Block Layout, JCST, Kuvempunagar, Mysore.

For Mysore Urban Development Authority records, he gave his residential address as No 172, II Stage, J P Nagar, Bangalore. He paid `36,444 for the site.

Curiously, MUDA handed him the sale deed only on August 12, 2008, 22 years after he was allotted the site. In 1987, just a year after he got a site in Mysore, Ambareesh got another from the Bangalore Development Authority. When he responded to an advertisement offering plots in Sarakki II Stage, he was allotted, on July 28, 1987, a 120X80 ft site. He paid `93,639 for this one.

Woodlands Address

For BDA records, Ambareesh entered his residential address as 412, Woodlands Hotel, Sampangi Tank Road, Bangalore. How a hotel address was accepted by the BDA authorities is a mystery. On March 6, 1999, when Ambareesh was Mandya MP, he again applied for a site. He got a 50X80 site (now with House No 917) on March 23, 2002, under the MP quota. He paid `3 lakh for the site.

Halved and Sold

Later, the site was allegedly divided into two and one portion (25X80 ft) was sold to K Govindaraju, a resident of Mysore, for Rs 1.75 lakh. The other (also 25X80 ft) was sold to S Ajith, a resident of Hindavalu in Mandya taluk, for Rs 3.87 lakh. This sale also violated also rules.

Section 12 (2) of the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities (Allotment of Sites) Rules of 1991 stipulates that any person who owns a site or house in any part of the state becomes ineligible for another site or house from any authority or housing board in the state. Efforts to reach Ambareesh failed.

Self-Housing Minister

Ambareesh allegedly owns three sites in violation of the rules:

n   Mysore: 78X50 ft, Kuvempunagar. Paid Rs 36,444.

n   Bangalore: 120X80 ft, J P Nagar (Sarakki). Paid Rs 93,639.

n   Mandya: 50X80 ft. Paid Rs 3 lakh. Divided it and sold it to two buyers.

 

Full-fledged CBI probe likely in Mandya site scam

 

Urban Development Minister Vin­a­y Kumar Sorake on Tuesday said his department would look into the findings and merits of a report by the Mandya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) commissioner K Mathai on the alleged irregularities and illegal allotment of sites by the Authority.

“We have received the report, but have not accepted it. We will send the report to the Home department for its perusal,” Sorake told reporters here. Sorake said the department had already handed over the initial case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The department is handing over all the documents pertaining to the case to the CBI. 

“Whether this report also warrants to be handed over to the CBI is a decision which will be left to the Home department,” he said. The report, which was submitted on June 4 to the Urban Development department, speaks about a loss of Rs 300 crore to the State government by way of illegalities under various schemes. The report states that the government has already handed over the case pertaining to 107 sites to the CBI. Justifying the decision to hand over the case to CBI, Sorake said that the initial estimates of the scam were to the extent of Rs 23 crore. The misappropriated amount was transferred to accounts outside India, primarily to Australia, said the minister.

 

On Housing Minister M H Ambareesh’s reported request to transfer Mathai from the present post, Sorake said that he had not received any such request. “But he has already been promoted and transferred to Bidar. Due to the Lok Sabha elections, the transfer was withheld,” said the minister.

Sorake said that the department was trying to strengthen the Directorate of Urban Development and streamline the site allotment process in the City Corporations. He said that 50,000 sites in Mysore were remaining vacant, despite them being allotted to beneficiaries.

 

Land mafia grabs Mysore Maharaja Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Bahadur's property

With the last scion of the erstwhile princely state of Mysore, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Bahadur, passing away more than six months ago, the real estate mafia is eyeing his properties running into crores of rupees, in the heart of the historical city of Mysore.

Astonishingly, two prime properties of Wadiyar were alienated just 3 days before he passed away (December 10, 2013) with the sub-registrar's office even giving its approval. This prompted the late prince's widow Pramodadevi to seek a Lokayukta probe. Till recently, the Wadiyar family members were not even aware of their land being usurped by the real estate mafia.

The net worth of Wadiyar's assets (spread across Bangalore, Mysore and Ooty) are estimated to be in excess of Rs.1,600 crore. He also holds a share in the Bangalore Palace grounds, which is embroiled in a legal dispute after the Karnataka Government planned to take over the same. It is not clear as to how many smaller properties the Wadiyar family owns but the land mafia's efforts, has shocked the people of Mysore. Incidentally, both the illegal transactions were brought to the notice of the royal family by an NGO (Karnataka Rajya Hindulida Vargagala Jagruta Vedike).

"It is unfortunate that illegal alienation of properties owned by the Maharaja's family is happening in the CM's hometown. He has agreed to look into the matter and directed the authorities concerned to take up the issue. Hopefully, the Lokayukta should be able to end this menace," said Vedike's president K.S. Shivaram.

Mysore Lokayukta SP S.M. Jagadish Prasad said a probe had already been ordered into the two land transactions and that the properties would be restored to the Wadiyars.

In the first incident, a prime property belonging to the Wadiyars near the Mysore Mall was sold, as if the late prince had given his consent on December 7, 2013 (just three days before he died). The police have arrested two real estate agents and the sub-regitrar concerned.

In the second incident, again on the same day (December 7), another prime property (1.5 acres) was alienated in favour of 70-year-old Siddamma, a gardener in the palace. Apparently, it is shown in the sale deed that Wadiyar granted the land to Siddamma as a gift.

"On December 7, 2013, the late prince was in Bangalore. There is no way that he visited the subregistrar's office to sign the sale deed documents. This is a clear case of forgery. We need to examine all the transactions to detect such cases," said Shivaram.

According to him, the real estate mafia has fenced three other prime properties owned by the Wadiyars in Mysore.

 

Siddu Govt Illegally Denotified 707 Acres, Alleges BJP

The BJP has accused the Siddaramaiah government of illegally denotifying 707 acres of land in the Arkavathy Layout by flouting High Court guidelines. 

This is 166 acres more than what Opposition Leader Jagadish Shettar had mentioned when he raised the issue in the Assembly in July. Shettar had alleged denotification of 541 acres.

The committee, set up by the BJP to unearth alleged illegal denotification in the layout, and comprising party legislators S Suresh Kumar and V Somanna, on Thursday submitted a 12-point report to party president Prahlad Joshi.

The report says the scam was perpetrated by exploiting the High Court direction to review all complaints of irregularities in land acquisition.

Huge tracts of lands have been denotified by marking the note “redo” on these files, making it the new term for denotification in the Siddaramaiah government, the BJP said.

“The Siddaramaiah government has committed a huge scam in which thousands of crores have changed hands and huge tracts of land have been acquired by big builders and developers. The entire deal was done just ahead of the recent Lok Sabha election,” Joshi told reporters.

Joshi and Shettar, who first raised the issue during the last Assembly session said, “It is just the interim report and a more comprehensive, explosive final report would be submitted in January 2015. The state BJP leadership will seek advice from legal experts and decide on its next course of action in the next two weeks.”

BJP, which has not accepted the Justice Kempanna Commission on alleged denotification of land, is contemplating a legal fight and is expected to approach Governor Vajubhai Vala seeking his sanction for prosecution of the Chief Minister. Meanwhile, it may launch an agitation to maintain pressure on Siddaramaiah.

Shettar said there was no question of giving up and the issue would be taken to its logical conclusion “as the government has committed huge irregularities”. Of the 707 acres denotified by the Siddaramaiah government, Special Land Acquisition Officers has recommended denotification of 390 acres during the Shettar regime. “However, I did not approve it when I was the Chief Minister. The Siddaramaiah government has denotified 707 acres, including the 390 acres,” Shettar said.

The BJP released a report on illegal denotification of land in the Arkavathy Layout by the Siddaramaiah government.

The Charges

■ The HC’s six-point guidelines state that denotification could be considered only if:  the said land comes under the Green Belt Area, if the land has already been built up, if the land has been released for charitable trusts, if there is a nursery on the land, if any industry has come up on the land and if the land is contiguous with the above categories, based on the status of the said land as in 2003.

■ For instance, 54 acres of land has been denotified in 2014 ignoring the report of officials who studied the status of the land and had stated that it cannot be denotified. The BJP report says that the land has been denotified flouting the HC guidelines as it involved a deal of hundreds of crores.

■ In a midnight move, 52 acres was denotified without considering any of the guidelines set by the HC based on the only reason that the BDA had received an application seeking denotification.

■ BDA, which had filed an affidavit in the HC to continue land acquisition in Kempapura and Sriramapura villages, later violated its own commitment and denotified huge tracts of land in these two villages after passing a resolution.

■ The BJP report has also suspected malafide intentions in denotification of 20 acres of land in which Tata Housing had shown keen interest.

■ Utter confusion prevails after denotification of land on which Khadi Village Industries Board had allotted sites for about 200

applicants, as there is no clarity on whether the land has been denotified in

favour of the farmers or the board.

■ About 300 site allottees in Arkavathy Layout are left in the lurch as the lands on which their sites have been developed have also been denotified.

 

Who encroached Bengaluru?

 

For 11,595 lake encroachers in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts, February 29th is the deadline. They can submit their grievances or objections in response to the notices served to them by revenue officials, on encroachment. Though this date may be extended for a few more days, not much time is left for those who wish to communicate their version to the committees headed by tahsildars of respective taluks. This also gives a chance to those who have information on encroachments to share it with the committee.

A 11-member Committee of the Legislative Assembly headed by K B Koliwad, Ranebennur MLA and Legislative Assembly Committee chairman, had recently declared that prominent developers are major encroachers of tanks and tank beds in Bengaluru. The statement was based on a physical survey conducted by the Directorate of Survey, Settlement and Land Records in Karnataka. The Committee had also visited several lakes in the city and verified documents from BDA, BBMP and Lake Development Authority. According to the survey by the Directorate of Survey, Settlement and Land Records: Total encroachment in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts: 10,472 acres Encroachment in Bengaluru Rural : 6,195 acres. Encroachment in Bengaluru Urban is 4,277 acres. Encroachment by private parties:  7,185 acres Encroachment by government parties: 3,287 acres. Encroachment in Bengaluru North : 1,171 acres - highest in Bengaluru Urban. Encroachment in Hoskote:3,113 acres - highest in Bengaluru Rural

The committee has been issuing show-cause notices to the encroachers to give them a fair chance to submit their version. Koliwad committee will prepare their final report based on inputs to the data that has been shared now. K B Koliwad informed Citizen Matters that as per the system of natural justice, the Committee decided to give an opportunity to the lake encroachers to submit their objections or grievances. Their responses will be examined and scrutinised by the committees headed by jurisdictional Assistant Commissioners. The Committee, while verifying the claims made by encroachers, will also do spot inspections after March, if the need arises. Based on the reports submitted by ACs of various sub-divisions, the Legislative Committee will prepare the encroachment report and submit it to the legislature, along with recommendations, Koliwad said.

He added that the last date for responding to notices which has been currently set as February 29th, could be extended for a few days, as the government officials are now busy with panchayat elections and are unable to attend to the encroachment issue. People can also share information on encroachments, with the committee. Some of the prominent private and government encroachers listed in the survey report are:

Private: Harmony Developers, Divyashree Tech Park, St Ann’s Junior College (KR Puram), Bagmane Developers, Garden City College Bhattarahalli, National College ground, NICE Road, Shobha Developers, SV Lake View Apartment, JSS High School, Prestige Group of Companies, SLN Public School, Aishwarya Apartment, Oberoi Group, Garden View Apartment, Adarsh Developers, Prestige Group, N D Developers apartments, Sriram apartments,

Government: KIADB, BBMP, Kempegowda Hospital and College, BDA, KSPCB, Slum Board, Education department (various government schools), Railway department, Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd, Karnataka Housing Board, Forest Department, International Airport Authority (for Kempegowda International Airport), various road departments, Indian Oil Corporation, Horticulture Department, BMTC, DRDO.

The survey report with the list of encroachers is available here: http://www.kla.kar.nic.in/assembly/commhc3/bangalore_urban_rural_tanks_report_11012016.pdf   

 

 

All builders have encroached land: KB Koliwad

Bengaluru: House Committee on Tank Encroachment and Rejuvenation, Chairman, K. B. Koliwad on Friday named many big names in the real estate sector for allegedly encroaching lakes in and around city. The names include Sobha Developers, Brigade Group, Prestige Group, Adarsh Developers, DS Max Group, Bagmane Tech Park, among others.

The committee has not even spared government agencies such as Bengaluru Development Authority and BBMP, as these two agencies are major encroachers among the government departments. Both private and government agencies together encroached  10,472 acre, while various government agencies have encroached 3,287 acres and private builders, including slum dwellers, have encroached 7,185 acres in the city.

According to the Committee the encroached land value is estimated at more than `1.5 lakh crore. Doresani Palya Lake was encroached upon by the BDA and developed as a layout with sites allotted to Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself. Though Mr Thimmappa retained the site, Mr Siddaramaiah sold his site sometime back.

Mr Koliwad told reporters that the IT boom contributed to the greed of these private builders and this led to the encroachment of lakes in and around the city.

“During our investigations it was revealed that several forged documents were fabricated within no time to aid these encroachments,” he said.

According to him, Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural districts together had 1,545 lakes, 2,000 small water bodies and rivulets, which measured around 3,000 acres. “All in all 11,595 encroachment cases have been identified, which not only include government agencies or private builders but even slum dwellers.  Therefore we have issued show-cause notices to all 11,595 people, including builders and common people involved in these alleged encroachments. The last date for them to respond to our notice is by the end of this month,” he said in response to a question.

After obtaining the reports, the committee will give a final report within three months. The committee is likely to recommend seizure of the assets of officers involved in lake encroachments.

The disclosure of names of big realtors and details of encroachments during the press conference on Friday raised questions rather than clear the doubts. Generally, the House committees do not hold press conferences before submitting the final reports to the Speaker. On Friday, the committee did not give an interim report or the final report to the Speaker. One of the members, who refused to come on record told Deccan Chronicle that the committee wanted to wipe out the negative campaign being spread against the committee that it was doing nothing. Friday’s press conference was an attempt to clear this, he said.

The synopsis circulated among the media did not have any details of companies that allegedly encroached upon tank beds. However, details were orally shared. This raised question as to why such critical information was not shared. The sudden disclosure ahead of the crucial elections to taluk and zilla panchayats may raise many questions about the political ramifications and the future actions involving this information.

We will prove our point: Suresh Hari, secretary, CREDAI
The Koliwad Committee may have released a survey report, but who knows the basis of this report? The findings of the report are subject to interpretation and have their own issues. At the end of the day, who has sanctioned the buildings and who has verified the title? These are all the acts of the state government and its agencies and we have nothing to worry about. We have procured the land legally, and if the Committee says some of the buildings are on encroached land, we have to remember that it’s not the builder who encroached upon it. We will ensure that the safety of property owners is protected by the association and its builder-members. We have time and again said that our properties were constructed with due diligence. Let the Committee prove that our properties are constructed on encroached land and if it says we are wrong, we will prove our merit and show them we are right. The state government is waking up now and saying that some of the layouts and apartment complexes are constructed on encroached land -- this is nothing but harassment. However, having said that, CREDAI feels it’s a challengeable report given by the Committee.  

Shut down BDA: Ashwin Mahesh, Urban planning expert
The K.B Koliwad Committee has said that the BDA has allotted 65,000 sites on encroached lake beds and over 3,287 acres of land has been encroached by the government bodies itself. Now, what the Committee does not tell us is how these bodies and officials concerned went about the encroachment. The problem is the BDA is both the planning and implementation authority. When the BDA itself is the judge, to decide what job has to be done and how good the job is, where is the question of quality? There are no strengths, skills or trust to the works carried out by the BDA. The solution to this would be in shutting down the BDA. Or at least, it should no longer acquire land but should get involved in infrastructure development. The magnitude of land encroachment and irregularities is so massive that though there are right solutions, they cannot be implemented. Punishment for encroachments cannot be inflicted in accordance to the scale of the encroachments. How can we punish the British for colonialism? The officials who let the encroachments happen have retired and they will say it was not their fault. Maybe we can move the court and the BDA can be penalized. But there’s no way to inflict punishment to the scale of encroachments. The BDA has become a broker agency and it understands that more brokering brings more income. It’s earning its revenue from brokerage and this has to be put to an end.

Demolish all encroachments: V. Balasubramanya, former chairman, Special Task Force
Whether buildings on lake beds have been constructed with government’s consent or not, all illegal buildings have to be demolished. For instance, in Maharashtra, the High Court ordered that encroachments on the banks of the Mithi River have to be demolished and the court order was followed accordingly. Despite land rates being higher in Maharashtra, the encroachments were razed. So, there should be no excuse in Bengaluru; no yielding even to the claims of innocent builders. The individual plot owners should have known that the BDA is a corrupt organization -- when buying plots from them, they should be extra cautious. There’s a legal principle called – ‘buyers beware’ and this should have been followed by individual plot owners. If the state government starts regularizing layouts under the pretext of humanitarian grounds, there will be no end to such regularisation. And getting permissions from government agencies even for an illegal plot is not a tough task any more. If all the violations are regularized in the city, one day, people will have to be evacuated as Bengaluru will start flooding due to the absence of lake beds. Private builders will be aware of the violations and there should be no question of regularizing any layouts or constructions, even if it’s sanctioned by a government agency.

Public consultation next step: Suresh Kumar  MLA, member of Koliwad Committee
We have the data for over 4,000 lakes and the Committee members visited 19 lakes in the city. Interestingly, during our survey, it came to our notice that many lakes have dried up 25 years ago and there’s no way water will accumulate in these lakes again. The Committee is in a fix whether such lakes should still be considered lakes or whether we should allow the layouts to flourish. In the first step, we have released the findings of the survey report and we are yet to tackle the issue of layouts that were formed by the BDA. Since BDA is a government agency, owners who have brought plots from the BDA must be rehabilitated. We have held detailed discussions with the revenue department officials regarding this, and now the officials have been directed to hold public consultations in order to gather objections, feedback and opinions from citizens. Meanwhile, we have also instructed the Revenue department to look for alternatives. We are trying to find out feasible solutions to decide the next course of action.

Brigade Group denies allegation

The Brigade Group has strongly denied the report alleging that it had encroached a lake. The realty firm said it was a mischievous and motivated report. “As a responsible real estate developer of repute for over 29 years, Brigade group has been taking great care to save lakes and conserve the environment. In fact, as part of our CSR Initiatives, Brigade Group has recently rejuvenated 24 acres of Sitharampalya Lake in Whitefield,” the company said. We also wish to inform you that Brigade Group recently won two national awards instituted by CREDAI India for its Corporate Social Responsibility. We won the Environmental Impact Award for the rejuvenation of the Sitharampalya Lake in Whitefield and the redevelopment of the Sangolli Rayanna Park in Malleswaram and the social infrastructure award for the redevelopment of the Sri Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Playground in Malleswaram and the Skywalk with escalator across Dr. Rajkumar Road in Rajajinagar,” the company added 

 

 

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A B C D - Judges & Police

S.O.S   e - Voice For Justice - e-news weekly

Spreading the light of humanity & freedom

Editor: Nagaraja.M.R.. Vol.12..Issue.48........10/12/2016

 

 

 

Editorial :  A B C D  for Judges & Police

         Our whole hearted respects to honest few in judiciary , police & public service who are an exception.           

           Judges & Police themselves must first learn to respect  human beings  as human beings. When you treat them like animals  they will also reciprocate do remember.  Or else  the almighty will ensure DOG’S DEATH to corrupt judges & police. On the D Day in the Almighty’s court  corrupt judges & police will face  ultimate punishment , no match fixing.

            Judges & Police must do their constitutional duties  without bias , refer following case details and  act  :

 

 

Traitors  in  Judiciary &  Police

https://www.scribd.com/document/329980170/Traitors-in-Judiciary-Police  ,

           

         The public servants & the government must be role models in law abiding acts , for others to emulate & follow. if a student makes a mistake it is excusable & can be corrected by the teacher. if the teacher himself makes a mistake , all  his students will do the same mistake. if a thief steals , he can be caught  , legally punished & reformed . if a police himself commits crime , many thieves go scot-free under his patronage.  even if a police , public servant commits a crime , he can be legally prosecuted & justice can be sought by the aggrieved.  just think , if a judge himself that too  of apex court of the land  himself  commits crime - violations of RTI Act , constitutional rights & human rights of public  and obstructs the public from performing their constitutional fundamental duties , what happens ?

          It gives a booster dose to the rich & mighty , those in power , criminals in public service to commit more crimes. that is exactly what is happening in india. the educated public must raise to the occasion & peacefully , democratically  must oppose this criminalization of judiciary , public service. then alone , we can build a RAM RAJYA OF MAHATMA GANDHI'S DREAM.

        Day after day we are seeing allegations against judges  in crimes against women , sex crimes , judicial orders for money , etc in the media.  There is total secrecy in the functioning of judiciary in india  with regards to disciplinary proceedings , promotions  and selection of judges.  We the public don’t know whether proper investigation / enquiry is done in such cases of allegations against judges , what action taken against the guilty judges ?

        Hereby , we demand  code of conduct for judges &  police  with  provision of  criminal prosecution of  violators.  

Regard for the public welfare is the highest law (SALUS POPULI EST SUPREMA LEX).

 No man shall be condemned unheard (AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM).

No man can be judge in his own cause (NEMO DEBET ESSE JUDEX IN PROPRIA SUA CAUSA).

 An act of the Court  or public office  shall prejudice no man (ACTUS CURIAE NEMINEM GRAVABIT).

 

Your’s

Nagaraja Mysuru Raghupathi

 

 

 

Edited, printed , published owned by NAGARAJA.M.R. @ # LIG-2  No  761,HUDCO FIRST STAGE ,

OPP WATER WORKS , LAXMIKANTANAGAR , HEBBAL ,MYSURU – 570017  KARNATAKA  INDIA

 

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http://e-voiceofhumanrightswatch.blogspot.com  , 

 http://paper.li/f-1368369249 ,

 

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Mr. Modi - Big Generators of Black Money

S.O.S   e – Voice For Justice – e-news weekly
Spreading the light of humanity & freedom

Editor: Nagaraja.M.R.. Vol.12..Issue.48….….03/12/2016

 

 

 

Editorial :  Mr. Modi  - Big Generators of Black Money

 

   Mr.Modi  since decades  black money is generated by corporate crimes , illegal trading & Real estate deals.  This  is  also feeding terrorists , anti nationals & mafia.  We  appreciate your first step in curbing black money.

  If you are sincere Why not  curb corporate crimes , illegal commercial  trading  & Real estate deals ?

 

Read :  https://evoiceofhumanrightswatch.wordpress.com/2016/11/16/mr-modi-corporate-criminals/ 

 

 

 

Corporate espionage: Expose those who feed the mouth of corruption

 

By Sanjay Jha

 

 

The case can be a tipping point to expose the huge nefarious nexus between government and India Inc, now a powerful fifth estate.

Shantanu Saikia, one of the principal accused in the unfolding, unravelling  scam called “Corporate Espionage” has made two astounding revelations; one, the scale could peak Rs 10,000 crores, and second, that he has been made to sign blank papers during custodial interrogation. Evidently, this spy-drama has the makings of a murky crime thriller, with several big guns with exorbitant stakes involved. The abrupt, sudden arrest of oil ministry officials, a trade journalist, an overseas energy adviser and corporate officers of leviathan private sector energy firms such as Reliance Industries, Essar and Cairn Energy for surreptitiously obtaining sensitive leaked documents from the Petroleum ministry blows the lid off what has been otherwise publicly speculated upon; the formidable halo of big business lobbies in India’s dark political corridors. Big business has emerged as a formidable power center in the Indian political and social ecosystem; ambitious, creative, cash-rich, talented but greedy, it’s suspect ways concealed by sophistry. Are we seeing the cracking of the Omerta code, or is this just a public relations eye-wash for self-righteous posturing? Time will tell. A rewind before that is necessary.

In early 2004 I was attending a corporate symposium where CEOs moved about with feline alacrity and everyone seemed to have an unusually sunny disposition. People joked that their refulgent countenance was a mirror image of India Shining, that celebrated phrase of unbridled optimism and electoral doom. In several photo-ops, the high profile head honchos did a collective thumbs-up. When I almost nervously protested that this utopia looked grossly exaggerated as it was based on just one year of eight per cent GDP growth of the NDA government in 2003-04 and a convenient tweak of poverty estimates, I was dismissed with contumacious indifference, as if a gate-crashing party pooper. I beat a hasty retreat, and ever since have a guarded reverence for these five-star CII/FICCI/Assocham event managers which I have since believed are just platforms for the self-promotion and private business lobbying by a select group, the Big Boys. I would like to term them as India’s “obnoxious oligopolies”, the MSME (Micro-Small Medium Enterprises) that they are supposed to benefit, remain at the outskirts. A similar group was in full attendance sometime back at the Gujarat Global Investors Summit. The charade continues with even greater crescendo in FY 2015.

At the same venue over several bi-annual events, several heads of their respective conglomerates, publicly adulated the bearded, beaming Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. They looked like smitten by the first flush of love as they serenaded Modi, adding that they would like to see the poster-boy of the saffron party in a galloping hurry unfurl the Indian tricolours at the Red Fort. Of course, they pretended to be blissfully unaware or conveniently forgot that their prime ministerial designate had the dubious ignominy of not being able to shake hands with US President Barack Obama in the White House, as the US state department had refused to grant Modi a US visa for human rights violations apropos the Gujarat riots and after; for a dastardly sequence of events that he perhaps endorsed or deliberately ignored in Gujarat in 2002 as its elected head (that matter is sub-judice despite the clamorous call that Modi has received a clean chit. Of course now, Modi calls President Obama “Barack”). We could well imagine the geopolitical ramifications of that embargo, but obviously India’s leading corporate chiefs did not. The perceptible bonhomie between our Big Boys and Modi is a manifestation of the blinkered vision of India Inc. It also reflects short-term memory loss as they forget that a seething Modi had asked the CII to publicly apologise for social activist and ex-Thermax chairperson Anu Agha’s condemnation of the Gujarat “genocide”. Tragically, CII catapulted before him instantly. Now that Modi is prime minister, the subjugation, subservience and surrender is reaching new lows. Every other day, a leading industrial magnate appears like an epitome of obsequiousness.

India’ s corporate sector has unfortunately a very convenient moral fibre, which is also unusually elastic. They are creatures of extraordinary accommodation. I remember when the erstwhile PM Dr Manmohan Singh’s government took over in 2004 there was a drastic collapse of the stock markets. Bust! Those black-suited merchant bankers and the 20-something bespectacled analysts predicted serious doomsday, a black hole if you will, what with a centrist national party in a fragile coalition supported by withering age-old Marxists on the wrong side of India’s demographic median. Of course, their crystal-gazing were based on facile factors; no one even briefly comprehended the huge premium the think tank of the Singh-P Chidambaram-Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia  combine could bring to India’s economy and its financial markets.

Corporate India, still angry that India Shining, had been grievously derailed by the rural voxpopuli was almost dismissive about the ruling combine’s expertise, competence and longevity. Understandable perhaps, but what was indeed surprisingly palpable was the cosmetic assessment of India’s real issues of poverty, the common man’s dire straits, the onerous burden of improving education, health and removing backwardness, and the challenge of inclusive growth. Our award-winning blue-chip brigade only understands corporate tax, exchange rates, prime lending rates and stock market reforms. Unfortunately, the government has a lot more to do. And one of them is to build an equal opportunities secular foundation and a vibrant civil society, something that Modi has long forsaken. The draconian conduct of Modi government over Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai, or its recalcitrance to criticism, the hounding of Teesta Setalvad, do not augur well for India. But India Inc seems remarkably oblivious to the larger debate of democracy in India. All that matters is that quarterly earnings report and the fat dividend check pay-out.

“Instead of redressing the balance between the poor and the rich, between the disconnected and the well connected, between the powerless and the powerful, the India state, despite all of its socialist rhetoric, often ends up discriminating against the former and in favor of the latter. The government, despite the best intentions of some dedicated officials, has the bicyclist’s mentality of bowing on top and kicking below”, said RBI governor Raghuram Rajan in his book Faultlines. He hit the nail on the head. No wonder, rising inequality remains our most intractable challenge.

Thus, for the Ivy League corporate India, Satyam arrived with blaring horns as a deadly neutraliser. Suddenly that pious façade and casual bravado stood shattered. Satyam was not just an epic corporate fraud by itself, it also had a strong principal cast which included multinational auditors, ritzy merchant bankers, Harvard gurus on shareholder protection, and independent directors who made more money from sitting fees or should we call it “sleeping fees”. The supporting crew was endless and each had their own private agenda. As the Satyam saga unfolded, several leading CEOs were fully aware of that “discretionary element” which is usually co-handled with remarkable dexterity by the prized auditors and the senior management in close cohorts. Insider trading allegations rage because they are true, so before we have more corporate chiefs expressing their political preferences, maybe they should get their boardroom act cleaned up. Rajat Gupta of McKinsey got caught, in India, no one does.

Narendra Modi’s pogrom which consumed more than thousands of innocent lives is essentially a meaningless statistic for India’s business czars. As long as Modi can unlock free land, provide subsidised capital, take unilateral decisions devoid of environmental implications or physical displacement caused by them, and make big commercial announcements, everything is kosher. For them a Singur or Nandigram is a social backlash only for the political class to handle. From a hardcore shareholder standpoint, India Inc are bang-on target. If Modi is attracting foreign capital and domestic investment, by all means, he can be development-driven. However to have championed his name for national leadership revealed either a shocking neglect of social sensitivities or a callous disregard for political morality. The fact that Modi has become a PM does nothing to take away the enormous historical baggage that he transports on his shoulders. The Love Jihad brand of politics which has been unleashed since May 2014, coupled with Ghar Wapsi and attacks on churches even had President Obama reminisce Mahatma Gandhi with sorrowful nostalgia. But India Inc remained mummified. These CEOs speak in national forums, but whatever their private predilections, they need to understand the larger ramifications of their public disclosures.

Instead, I would like it if our jet-setting CEOs talked of creating an RTI Act for corporate India for PPP’s, or at least for large corporations using public assets, natural resources etc, wherein we can find facts, as ordinary individuals and not just as shareholders. Isn’t it the ultimate paradox that while the GOI has installed transparency by steadfastly adhering to RTI guidelines, the constantly jabbering India Inc only pays it token lip-service, and worse, walks away with Golden Peacocks and other shimmering accolades, to ultimately do a Satyam? Or a Sahara?Or steal documents from the Oil and Petroleum Ministry? What are their various items under contingent liabilities, and the cross funds flow between group entities? How have they benefited by certain vested policy changes which have impacted company health? Are ethical standards followed in an unregulated business lobbying industry? Besides published accounts, how do they indirectly fund political parties? Why was CII against transparency in giving political donations? And why, after over a year of the act being passed, is Modi’s government reluctant to implement the lokpal bill and make CBI independent? No answers as yet.

The corporate espionage case can be a tipping point to expose the huge nefarious nexus between government and India Inc, now a powerful fifth estate. It is only a tip of the iceberg. It is time we exposed the supply-side of corruption. And above all, brought in electoral reforms in corporate funding of political parties.

 

Corporate espionage is not new to India Inc, say CEOs

 

Govt depts, banks prone to information leakage

 

By  Dev Chatterjee  &  Ishita Ayan Dutt 

 

 

 

India Inc is not surprised with the corporate espionagescandal now rocking the petroleum ministry, with many chief executive officers (CEOs) saying documents are regularly leaked from the ministries, tax authorities, banks, and regulators – thus giving competitive advantage to corporates with deep pockets.

“This is not the first time that documents are leaking from the petroleum ministry or from other government agencies. Most of the Cabinet note agendas, ministry’s opinions, and government’s stand in the court are regularly leaked to the corporates who make millions on the stock markets,” said a Mumbai-based CEO, on condition of anonymity.  According to another CEO, who also did not wish to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, documents are also regularly leaked from banks, income-tax authorities, stock exchanges and from public-sector units.

Many large corporates have separate teams to gather information from various sources to get advantage while bidding for projects or for simply making a quick buck in the stock markets.  Corporates are regularly spying on their competitors also. In 2007, Tata Communications filed a complaint against its then managing director’s secretary, who was caught sending board meeting agendas to a rival via email. Barring filing a chargesheet against the employee, Mumbai police failed to crack the case.

ALSO READ: Seven arrested for theft, sale of oil ministry papers

Tata Motors had to exchange several letters with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) to protect its 11 pages of the annexure to its lease agreement, when it wanted to set up a plant in Sanand. The pages had detailed calculation of the incentives offered by the state government to the company to match those provided by Uttarakhand. The calculation would have given competitors an indication of the car's profitability and market size of Nano.

WBIDC had to assure the company in writing that no third party would have access to the information.

On Thursday, a Reliance Industries (RIL) official was arrested in the corporate espionage scandal. Reacting to the arrest, the Mukesh Ambani-owned firm said it had launched a “robust internal probe” into the detention of one of its employees by the Delhi police in connection with the alleged official document theft in the oil ministry.

RIL, which is among the largest private-sector players in the Indian oil & gas sector, is also fighting a pitched battle with the oil ministry over allegations of gold-plating its D6 gas blocks off the Andhra Coast and producing less gas than what was promised to the government.

The company also made news when in 2013, the Supreme Court ordered probe into allegations based on Niira Radia leaked tapes that the then oil regulator, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons V K Sibal, favoured RIL in many ways. These charges were not proved.  However, the tapes revealed how corporate lobbyists were taking out information from the Indian government based on their contacts with the media and top officials.

During the gas wars between the Ambani brothers, a lot of sensitive documents made its way into the media. The documents included action planned by the Reserve Bank of India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and even international regulators. “Most of the these documents are highly-confidential. This just shows how well-oiled the information collection machinery is,” said an official with a large corporate.

Citing an example, a source said that during the discussion of a contentious deal in the oil & gas sector, divergent views were exchanged between petroleum and law ministries in a Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs meeting. The minutes were leaked to the company in question. It helped the company identify the people in favour of and against the deal. Subsequently, the ministry in favour of the deal was supplied with more information in support of the deal, while that against it was not only provided with documents stating the benefits of the deal, but also given details of the poor track record of public-sector companies operating in the sector. It ultimately led to a war of white papers.

Many Indian companies are now taking steps to prevent themselves from becoming victims of espionage. This includes setting up the top management’s offices away from the regular employees, access control offices and, if need be, keeping board meetings in secret locations.

 

 

Corporate Espionage Case: Companies Paid Rs. 2.5 Lakh Per Month to Obtain Stolen Documents, Says Delhi Police

 

A "handsome monthly amount" was paid by the arrested corporate executives to those "hired" for obtaining the "stolen documents" from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), Delhi Police said in its charge sheet submitted to a Delhi court in the documents leak case.

An amount to the tune of Rs. 2.5 lakhs per month was being paid to the two accused, Lalta Prasad and Rakesh Kumar, who were the first to be arrested outside Shastri Bhavan in New Delhi, it said.

Shailesh Saxena from Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Vinay Kumar from Essar, KK Naik from Cairns India, Subhash Chandra from Jubilant Energy, and Rishi Anand from Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADAG), energy consultant Prayas Jain, and journalist Shantanu Saikia used to pay the amount to them, the charge sheet said.

"On sustained interrogation, they all admitted that they had hired the services of Rakesh Kumar and Lalta Prasad for obtaining the stolen documents of MoPNG for their business gains," it said.

The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police also did not rule out the possibility of slapping the charges under the Officials Secret Act (OSA) saying that reports pertaining to all the documents have not been received yet from the MoPNG and they have sought further clarifications from the ministry about it.

"The reports received on April 10, April 15, and April 16, 2015 from MoPNG have been analyzed and it has been observed that reports pertaining to all the documents have not been received.

"Further, it has also not been specified as to the documents marked as secret/confidential are covered under OSA or not. Further clarification in this regard is being sought from MoPNG," Delhi police said in its charge sheet filed against 13 arrested accused.

On Monday Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Khanagwal took cognizance of the charge sheet and fixed the matter for further hearing on May 18.

Police said according to ministry reports, documents recovered from the accused were not in public domain and some of them were marked as "secret/confidential in nature."

It also said that due to the conspiracy hatched by the accused, "interests of the government and public at large have been compromised. The accused have been indulging in this cheating affecting public/national interest for many years."

Investigation regarding the role of senior officers and companies was in progress to ascertain their involvement, if any, it said, adding a supplementary charge sheet would be filed later.

Detailing the money transactions, police said that "analysis of bank statements of Lalta Prasad and Rakesh Kumar revealed that there were significant transactions by cash and cheques despite the fact that they were unemployed."

"The money tranactions in their accounts shows that they have procured that money by illegally selling the documents of MoPNG to various prospective buyers of the companies engaged in Petroleum and Gas sector.

"Assistance from chartered accountants has been sought to further analyze the detailed bank statements of the accused persons/companies. Outcome of which will be filed through the supplementary charge sheet," it said.

With regard to the documents being allegedly recovered from the possession of the accused people, it said that 80 sets of documents pertaining to MoPNG were seized from Mr Saikia's house and office while 50 sets of documents were seized from Mr Saxena's office.

It said seven sets of documents were seized from Mr Jain's office while four sets and nine sets of documents were seized from the offices of Vinay Kumar and KK Naik respectively.

Similarly, four and six sets of documents were recovered from Rishi Anand and Subhash Chandra respectively. Some of the other arrested accused were also found in possession of certain incriminating documents.

Most of the documents recovered from Mr Jain were not in public domain and six of these documents were marked secret /confidential, it said, adding, 23 documents seized from Mr Saikia were also marked as secret/confidential.

Similarly, two documents recovered from Mr Naik were marked secret whereas documents seized from Vinay, Anand and Mr Chandra were not marked as "secret/confidential".

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Mobile phones, laptops / computers, and backup of e-mail account data of senior officials of Cairn India, RIL, Reliance ADAG, Jubilant Energy Pvt Ltd and Essar were taken into possession for examination and forensic opinion and result was awaited, police said.

"The back up data of e-mail accounts is being analysed. Investigation into the role of the senior officers and companies is in process. The data is voluminous in nature and painstaking efforts are being made to expedite the analysis," it said.

It also said call detail records (CDR) of accused showed that they were in constant touch with each other over phone.

"Moreover, it is pertinent to mention that CDR analysis reveals that on many occasions the position of the accused was found to be in cell ID of MoPNG even during odd hours at night when they used to criminally trespass and steal the documents," the charge sheet said.

Referring to the ministry report, police said none of the documents recovered from the possession of Lalta Prasad was in public domain and two sets of documents were marked as secret CCEA note.

It said Mr Prasad, Rakesh Kumar and accused Raj Kumar Chaubey were not authorised to possess the documents recovered from their possession.

Police said Mr Prasad and Rakesh Kumar with connivance of co-accused Asharam, Ishwar Singh and Virender Kumar had obtained fake temporary I-card/pass of Audit Department defence service and MHA for gaining access to MoPNG and they had also got prepared duplicate keys of the offices.

Police said the accused had "lured" one Mr Vir Singh, who was a CCTV operator in the MoPNG, to switch off the cameras installed in the ministry to facilitate their movement in the office during night.

It said that the outcome of the probe regarding the alleged role of Mr Singh may be filed through supplementary charge sheet.

Police said a "deep rooted conspiracy" was hatched among the accused and the five corporate executives, Mr Jain and Mr Saikia were also the "perpetrators and conspirators" and they had provided the financial aid for carrying out the illegal activities.

It said ministry reports have been enclosed with the charge sheet in a sealed cover and its confidentiality should be kept.

All the accused have been chargesheeted for the alleged offences under sections 457 (trespass), 380 (theft), 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property), 418 (cheating a person whose interest the offender was bound to protect), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine forged documents), 474 (possessing forged documents with intent to use it as genuine), 34 (common intention), read with 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

All the accused are currently in judicial custody.

On February 20, police had arrested the five corporate executives alleging that they used to procure the classified documents from Lalta Prasad and Rakesh Kumar and used to pay them.

The documents were then supplied to the firms by these officials for their benefit, the police had alleged.

The police had earlier told the court that sensitive documents of Ministries of Coal, Power and others were recovered during the investigation.

In its FIR, the police had said that photocopies of sensitive documents including inputs on the Finance Minister's budget speech were recovered from the possession of accused Rakesh Kumar.

A total of 16 people have been arrested so far in connection with two separate FIRs lodged by the Crime Branch.

2G scam, Spectrum refarming, Sistema controversy, Allocation of Natural Resources explained

1. What is Spectrum?
2. Method #1: First come First Serve basis
3. Method#2: Auctioning method
4. What happened in 2G scam?
5. A.Raja (Telecom Ministry)
6. CAG estimate: 1.7 lakh crore loss
7. Supreme Court verdict
8. Presidential reference on SC verdict
9. Impact of SC verdict
10. Sistema – Russia Angle
11. Spectrum Refarming

 

What is Spectrum?

• Whenever you watch TV, receive phone call, send SMS, surf internet….data is being transferred from one place to another, say Ahmedabad to Mumbai.
• So, If data was a “truck”, how would you transport it from A’bad to Mumbai (or vice versa)?
• Obviously via highway.
• Spectrum is that highway.

Based on the ‘width’ of the highways, we classify them into following

Spectrum range

Cable TV	145-860MHz
2G	800-1900MHz
3G	2100MHz
4G, broadband internet	2300MHz

(^numbers for illustration only. Different websites will give different numbers.)

• So, We first send the truck from A’bad to a Satellite hovering in the sky, and from there, send the truck to Mumbai.
• Problem: satellite=expensive. Private Player(Businessman) cannot afford it.
• Solution: Government launches the satellite using ISRO. Thus the highway (spectrum), is created. Then Government will charge money to whoever(cellphone company) uses this highway (spectrum).

• You’re a businessman, you want to launch your own mobile service (like Vodafone, Airtel etc). Therefore you’re interested in using this 2G highway, to transport your trucks (data). You can also use 3G or 4G, which provide faster data transfer, but they’re more expensive.

New Problem: to access this 2G highway, you need two things

Problem (businessman’s side)	Solution
Driver’s License (to operate the truck)	Apply to Department of Telecom.
Pay rent/toll for using this highway (spectrum). Just like you pay for using Bandra-Worli sea-link or Yamuna Expressway.	Get loan from SBI.Pay the money to Government. Or even better, bribe minister so they give free spectrum.

Highways have fixed capacity. So Government cannot give license to 500000 truck-drivers else, it’ll create traffic jam. So, From Government’s side what should be the “ideal” solution?

1. Check the application of driver: does he have previous experience of running telecom business? and more importantly his class 10,12 and college marksheets and school leaving certificate.
2. After verifying his record, Sell the access to this highway (Spectrum).

Another problem: how should Government sell access to this Highway (Spectrum)?
Ans. Two methods, 1) first come first serve 2) Auction.
Both have their advantages and problems.

Method #1: First come First Serve basis

• You already know how cinema tickets are sold. The person who is first in the line, gets the ticket. If You come late, you don’t get the ticket.
• This also leads to ticket black-marketeering, for example, I come early, buy all the tickets. You come late, all the tickets are sold, I offer mytickets to you @higher price and make huge profit.
• This is not good for economy because I’m making money without producing any new goods/services=inflation.
• But according to a theory propounded by Mr.Sibbal, this is “zero loss”. Because Cinema hall did receive money for ticket sale. So it’s not like Cinema-hall making losses!

anyways, for common men:

1. Buying ticket=not crime.
2. Buying ticket but not watching movie AND selling that ticket to third person @higher price=crime.

Method#2: Auctioning method

• As the name suggest, Auction the tickets. If person A offers Rs.200 for a seat and Person B offers Rs. 500 for the same seat, then sell the ticket to Person B.
• From theatre owner (Govt)’s point of view: this method may look good, because now we can earn more money per ticket sold and use that money to finance whatever Development scheme we’ve in our mind.
• Here is the problem: if Person B was a doctor, and he had to shell out Rs.500 for one movie ticket. Then he may charge more fees from patients @his clinic to keep the profit margin same.
• So overall effect on economy= may not be good.

What happened in 2G scam?
Recall that you needed two things to run telecom business

1. Driver’s license
2. Access to Spectrum (via paying the money to Government)

Government decided that

1. We will give license by “First come first serve basis”.
2. To get this license, you’ll have to apply before 1^st October 2007 and pay money (Entry Fees) for license.
3. And whoever gets the license, he will automatically get spectrum for free. So no need to pay separate money for accessing highway(spectrum). This is known as “Spectrum linked with License”.
4. If we give you the licence (+spectrum), then you’ll have to cover 10 per cent district headquarters within the first year of the allotment (i.e. you start serving customers in that area). This is known as “Roll out Obligation.”

And then, what happened next, is a classic case of cinema ticket black-marketeering.

Swan Telecom(Shahid Balwa)

• A new company, it had no experience of running telecom business.
• Yet it applied for license and got it.
• (officially) SWAN telecom paid about Rs.1,500 crores to Government, as 2G Spectrum License fees.
• But this company did not open a single outlet/mobile tower. So it didnot meet the “Roll out Obligation”.
• It simply sold 45% stakes to UAE’s Etisalat for around 6000 crore rupees. Calculate the profit%.
• Shahid Balwa was arrested in 2011, released on bail, thus proving that he is totally awesome.
• His argument in the court, “Since Mr Sibal and the PM have both said that there was “no loss” to the government from the allcoation of licenses in 2008, so I’m being wrongly accused of corruption and conspiracy.”

Unitech (Sanjay Chandra)

• This company didnot have any prior experiance of telecom business.
• Yet, Applied for license, paid $365 million as licence fee to Government.
• Did not open any outlet/mobile tower.
• Then sold 60% stakes to Norway’s Talenor for $1.36 billion= huge profit without doing anything.
• Thus name of company changes: Unitech+Talenor=Uninor.
• Recall: bought the ticket, did not watch the movie and sold the ticket to third party @higher price.

A.Raja (Telecom Ministry)

• Ignored the advice of PM, Finance Ministry, Law ministry, TRAI etc.
• TRAI had advice Raja to sell the spectrum via ‘auctioning’.
• But Raja used “first come first serve basis.”
• Licenses were sold in 2008 but the price (entry fees) were kept very low @2001’s market rates.
• Initially the last date to apply for licenses = 1^st October 2007. But then Raja changed policy “we’ll give license to only those companies who applied before 25^th Sept.” This way later-comers could not get license (and had to buy it from ‘black market’).
• He allowed ineligible companies to apply and get license (e.g. Unitech)
• The companies who got license but did not start business (UNITECH and SWAN)…Raja did not take action against them. He should have cancelled their licenses or imposed heavy fines on them.
• Companies paid him the bribes, he transferred money to bank accounts under his wife’s name in Mauritius and Seychelles.
• Arrested in 2011, got bail in 2012, came back in parliament, thus proving that he is totally (and that means totally) awesome.

Kanimozhi

• DMK MP, Daughter of Karunanidhi.
• Shahid Balwa (SWAN) got benefit because of Raja. So he had to pay the ‘bribe’.
• He transferred Rs.200 crores to “Kalaignar TV channel”, which is owned by Kanimozhi and her step mom Dayalu Amma and other family members.
• Arrested in 2011, got bail in 2012, came back in parliament, thus proving that she too, is totally awesome.

Neera Radia

• There are some phone-tapes, in which this lady is talking with Barkha Dutt (NDTV fame).
• To put this bluntly, Radia allegedly paid money to Congress party, to get Raja appointed as telecom minister. Then Raja could use the office to benefit particular companies in 2G auction (who had financed his ‘posting’).
• This phone scandal is known as “Radia Gate”.
• Only questioned, not arrested, and it is said that she wore a Kashmiri shawl worth Rs.1 lakh during questioning by Enforcement Directorate, so she too is totally awesome.
• Now that shawl has become so recognisable that Kashmiri shawl sellers have started referring to it as the Radia shawl and sales of it have shot up= good for economy, GDP increased.

There are some other players too- RK Chandolia, Siddharth Behura et al, but you get the idea- they too are totally awesome.
CAG: 1.7 lakh crore loss

• The 122 2G licenses were given by Raja for over Rs 9,000 crore.
• While 3G auctions for a smaller number of licenses had fetched the government a sum of Rs 69,000 crore.
• Therefore Government has lost money (Besides, whatever money made by ticket black-marketeers, is loss to the cinema hall owner)
• The question remains, how much money was lost?
• CAG says Government lost Rs.1.76 lakh crores, it has come to this figure, using extrapolations from

1. licenses were sold in 2008, @the MRP of 2001
2. The money received from 3G auction vs the money recieved from 2G license.
3. 2G Spectrum was allotted for free. (recall Government only asked for entry-fees for licenses. Spectrum was linked with License). 2G-Spectrum should have been auctioned.
4. Profit made by Swan and Unitech etc. through black-marketeering.

Parliament -JPC
In Feb-2011, Parliament Constituted a Joint parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G scam. No “real” progress so far.

Supreme Court verdict

• Subramanian Swami, filled a petition in Supreme court, regarding the irregularities in 2G Auction.
• The case went on, finally in Feb 2012, The Supreme Court cancelled 122 licenses issued in 2008, by A Raja when he was Telecom Minister.
• Supreme Court said, these licenses were granted in an “arbitrary and unconstitutional” manner.
• SC asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to recommend a new process of allocation of licenses, along with guidelines for an auction of spectrum.
• Supreme Court has also ordered Government to finish the auctioning before Jan-2013.

Presidential reference on SC verdict

• After above verdict of Supreme court, Government decided to get clarification, on whether should every natural resources (coal, gas, petroleum, water etc) be allotted through auction only. (although technically “Spectrum” is not a natural resource, it is generated because of man made satellites.)
• But, Mohan cannot just call any SC judge and seek clarification. A procedure has to be followed.
• Through Article 143 of the Indian constitution, the president can refer matters of public interest to the Supreme Court and seek their opinion. This is known as “Presidential Reference”.
• Here, first the Cabinet headed by Mohan approves a resolution that “WE need to send presidential reference in this xyz matter.”
• Letter goes to President of India, then he/she sends a new letter to Supreme court asking “what should be done in this XYZ matter?”

Supreme court on Presidential Reference

• Supreme court said auction cannot be the only method of allocating natural resources, it should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Earning maximum revenue is secondary to serving the public good in allocating natural resources.
• But if allocation of a particular resource is going to get sudden huge profit to a company, then such resource should be allotted through auction only. (for example 2G spectrum).
• In anycase, all decisions and actions of the government are open to being questioned by the court.

Apart from that, a committee on allocation of natural resources, headed by Ashok Chawla, also recommended the adoption of a transparent and competitive process for the allocation of natural resources.
Impact of License Cancellation by Supreme Court
Customers

• Since the license are scrapped, and new auction will be held = input cost of mobile companies will increase.
• So, They’ll increase the call-rates to keep the profit margin same.
• Therefore final consumer (common men) become the innocent victim in this game.

Foreign Investors

• Norway’s Talenor and UAE’s Etisalat Company had paid heavy price to invest in the telecom sector of India.
• But since the licenses are cancelled, in future, the foreign investors will be extremely cautious before investing in India, particularly in the sectors related with “allocation” of spectrum, coal mines etc.

Government

• The reputation of Government =already down. So in terms of reputation they’ve got nothing to lose.
• They make excuse that 1) 2G =Zero loss. 2) Since licenses were not auctioned = companies got them cheap = call rates were cheaper = public benefited from this.
• Congi Government also maintains that we merely followed the policy of NDA (BJP), i.e. spectrum was linked with license and first-come-first serve basis. So, if our seniors did brutal ragging on us in the hostel, then we too will continue the glorious tradition by brutally ragging our juniors.
• Anyway nobody is a saint when it comes to allotment of land, coal reserves, spectrum etc be it congress, BJP, state Government, union Government. because everybody needs truckload of cash to finance election campaigns.
• Now Government will auction some 2G spectrum in Nov 2012 and expects to earn around Rs.40,000 crores.
• And this money could be used to solve the fiscal deficit problem (click me) or to finance any new Government schemes for poor people.

Banks

• SBI, PNB and other banks had landed to some of those telecom companies and now licenses are cancelled, so loan-money is stuck.
• Anyways, nothing new for SBI- their loan-money is stuck with Vijay Mallya (Kingfisher) also.

Innocent aspirants of competitive exams

• They’ve to prepare one more stupid topic for exams/group discussion /interview.
• Anyways, nothing new for them either, they’re used to this irony of life.

Sistema –Russia issue

• Just like Telenor (Norway) and Etilsat (UAE), Sistema (Russia) is also a foreign telecom company.
• Sistema had bought stakes in an India company (Shyam Telecom), but then Supreme court cancelled their license.
• Now Sistema has appealed the Supreme court to restore its license, current matter is pending in court.
• In the light of this event, Russian Government has warned India that

1. “If the issue of cancellation of 2G license to Sistema is not resolved in Indian courts, we will go for international arbitration.” (because Russian Government too holds about 17% in this Sistema-Shyam telecom company.)
2. Row over Sistema will have “great repercussion” not only on Indo-Russian bilateral cooperation but also for foreign investments in India.
3. We will not let Sistema’s USD 3.1 billion investment in its Indian telecom venture go waste due to “internal problems” here.

Spectrum Refarming

• This is a separate issue, not directly associated with 2G Scam of A.Raja.
• In 2001, some companies got License + free spectrum (900 Mhz). (recall that Spectrum was linked with the license.)
• They’ve to renew their license in 2014.
• But now Government has changed policy. According to new policy, Spectrum is de-linked from License. So you’ve to apply for license separately and you have to purchase spectrum separately (through auction).
• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has suggested that existing mobile operators will have to surrender the spectrum in the 900 Mhz band at the time of license renewal in 2014.
• And then, this 900 Mhz spectrum will be auctioned again.
• Under this so called “Spectrum-refarming” process, if the companies manage to win in the auctions, they will be able to retain the spectrum or, in lieu, they would be given the 1,800 MHz spectrum via another auction.
• Telecom companies are against this decision.
• Their argument, “we’ve already invested more than one lakh crore rupees in machinery, mobile tower, other infrastructure for 900Mhz spectrum. If you take this away and give us new type of spectrum, we’ll have to buy new machines=we’ll increase call rate price to cover the losses”.
• The matter will now be decided by Empowered group of ministers (EGoM).

 

Holding companies, not just individuals, responsible for corporate crime

 

By Brandon L. Garrett

 

The OECD Working Group on Bribery (WGB) is correctly interested in examining more closely the question of legal liability of organizations, including corporations. The broad question raised is what makes for an effective system for the liability of legal persons and as the WGB recognizes, there are many choices that follow if corporate criminal liability is adopted. Corporate criminal liability has evolved enormously in the United States, not in the legal standard, but in the details of its implementation, and many lessons can be learned from that experience.

Costs and Benefits of Corporate Criminal Liability

One advantage of entity legal liability for foreign bribery, and a range of crimes, is that often employees and agents are not facilitating the payment of bribers purely or even chiefly for their own benefit, but rather for the benefit of a corporation.  The bribe money may come from the corporation, with the intent of securing business for the corporation, and the employees may at best want to be rewarded in their careers at the corporation.  The corporation may create the environment that encourages employees, officers, and agents to pay bribes to secure business.  The corporation itself must be deterred from promoting bribery.  The corporation may also be in the best position to adopt measures to prevent bribery in the future.  Employees may be fired or prosecuted, but their replacements will continue the same practices if the corporation does not change its own policies and culture.

For those reasons, punishing only individuals may not affect the incentives and the culture that the corporation created.  That said, corporations need not be punished criminally if civil alternative suffice to deter bribery.  Whether civil fines and civil injunctions are adequate to do so, may depend on what penalties are available to civil enforcers and whether they have the investigative resources to effectively uncover and penalize bribery schemes.  In many countries, civil regulators cannot impose punitive fines.  If a company, for example, need only disgorge its gains from bribery when it is caught, there is little incentive not to continue paying bribes to secure profitable business.  However, if civil regulators can impose punitive fines (for example fines up to twice the gains to the company or the losses to victims – the standard under the criminal Alternative Fines Act in the US) then the outcome may not be much different than if the case was denominated as criminal.  The only difference may be the reputational threat of a criminal case, the collateral consequences of a criminal action, and requirements in criminal cases that a company cooperate in any investigations of individuals.  Each of those features of criminal enforcement in the US could in theory be made part of a civil enforcement scheme – even cooperation in any pending criminal investigations of individuals.  Collateral consequences such as debarment or suspension can also (and often are) be associated with civil enforcement.

The main reasons to denominate penalties and sanctions (such as monitoring or compliance) as criminal would be that civil authorities in a given country might not have the enforcement resources, investigative resources, or penalties and sanctions available to sufficiently deter and punish foreign bribery.

Procedure may enhance or limit the ability to adopt corporate criminal liability in a jurisdiction.  For example, if entities have self-incrimination rights, then an entity target will be able to resist providing documents and information about wrongdoing – corporate criminal liability will make it more difficult for enforcers to secure information about what transpired.  Or if corporate criminal liability better incentivizes cooperation in investigation of individual offenders, it may enhance accountability in such cases.

Jurisdictional obstacles to bringing bribery cases against employees of a multi-national corporation may not exist for corporations that have an operating presence in a country.  As a result, jurisdiction may be another practical reason to have corporate criminal liability (however, civil liability could also be premised on the same concept of jurisdiction).

Form of Corporate Criminal Liability

Some countries adopt modified forms of corporate criminal liability in which prosecutors must prove involvement of high level officials, for example, or that the criminal actions were endorsed or ratified by top-level officers.  Such approaches make it far too difficult to impose liability and they lead to complex investigation and litigation of questions regarding knowledge of particular actors within a company.  Individual accountability can and should be investigated separately, but to intermingle such questions with the question of corporate liability hinders effective enforcement.

A strict or respondeat superior standard imposes liability on a company for the actions of agents acting with the scope of their employment and at least in part to benefit the corporation.  That broad standard, adopted in federal court in the United States, makes it clear that a company cannot avoid liability for actions of employees, or of contractors or subsidiaries acting at least in part in the interests of the corporation.  If a jurisdiction is to adopt corporate criminal liability, that liability standard is preferable, in my view.  All conduct by agents, including hired intermediaries, contractors, broadly defined, should support liability.  Nor are such agents “unrelated” if they are hired by the corporation.

There is no reason to excuse bribery when it is a “low-level” employee that commits it.  The problem is not a mere failure to supervise; the low level employee has no reason to engage in bribery except to benefit the corporation.  If there is a low-level employee exception to bribery law then corporations can tacitly encourage the most dispensable low-level employees to violate bribery laws.

Nor is there any reason to excuse successors from the criminal actions of the entity they acquired.  A sale or merger should not wipe the criminal slate clean.  Otherwise, companies would play a shell game, engaging in mergers or sales simply to avoid consequences of their crimes.  Companies should be expected to do due diligence regarding criminal exposure before making a purchase, and that potential liability and need to do due diligence will further encourage compliance to detect and prevent bribery.

More nuanced questions concerning whether the corporation should be fully blameworthy can be addressed as a matter of sentencing or through settlement with prosecutors.  Whether to credit corporate cooperation and self-reporting or existing compliance efforts, for example, can be considered as a matter of sentencing, or in negotiation of settlement agreements.  Keeping such case-specific questions separate from the question of the liability standard, however, has real advantages.

Settlements and Remedies

There is much to discuss regarding how settlements can or should occur and options for guiding and structuring corporate settlements.  I have argued that having judicial involvement in the approval and supervision of settlements enhances the legitimacy of the process and permits the public interest to be better considered.  Purely out-of-court settlements should be avoided.

Compliance may be important to reforming a corporation going forward, and as a condition of resolving a bribery case. Prospective compliance is more important, in my view, than the question whether to reward retrospective compliance.  It is problematic to excuse penalties based on pre-existing compliance – which was by definition ineffective in detecting bribes – and because assessing compliance from the outside is challenging.  It is important to carefully assess a company’s compliance, and if it truly did everything it could to prevent bribers, then it should be mitigating factor, but not a shield from liability.

There should also be clear incentives to audit and assess compliance, even if the result uncovers self-critical information.  Indeed, there should be incentives to share best practices across industry.  Enforcers and prosecutors should make the rewards for sharing best practices clear and they should promote sharing of best practices.

More important will be imposition of deterrent fines – and on the detection side of the equation, rewarding self-reporting by companies, since it can be very difficult for enforcers to know whether bribes were paid.  Enforcers should also reward whistleblowers who report bribery.

General Corporate Criminal Liability

Having a general standard for corporate criminal liability has the advantage that bribery crimes may be accompanied by other corporate crimes, like money laundering, fraud, or antitrust violations, to name just a few examples.  Adopting anti-corruption crimes but not having mechanisms to address accompanying criminal conduct can weaken enforcement. That said, as with any crime, it is far better for bribery crimes to be detailed in statutes to provide clear notice as to what conduct is prohibited.

Finally, I note that as more countries adopt corporate criminal liability for bribery and other crimes, it will be important to develop coordination rules, including double jeopardy norms, so that corporations do not face multiple overlapping punishments for the same conduct.

 

 

Top 10 Corporate Criminals List

2016 Introduction

Many corporations are complicit in violating human rights and the environment. As the free trade market continues to push forward the global economy, holding corporations accountable for their poor practices becomes difficult. Unfortunately, corporations are working harder than ever to cover abuses instead of preventing them.

This does not have to be the reality. People can use their purchasing power to endorse Fair Trade, pressure companies to do the right thing, and boycott those that violate human rights and the environment. In doing so there is potential to pressure these companies to put people and planet ahead of profits.

Global Exchange has compiled a new list of  “most wanted” corporations of 2016 based on issues like unlivable working conditions, low pay, violations of human right and voting rights; climate change denial, and environmental destruction, just to name a few.

Four corporations, Koch Industries, McDonald’s, Chevron and Monsanto were on earlier lists but are included again, as the corporate behavior of these companies has reached egregious levels this year and merits repeat attention. 

The Ten Top Corporate Criminals list is a guide to what companies like Energy Transfer Partners, Exxon Mobil, H&M and others are doing to undermine human rights and the environment. Share the list with friends, family, and co-workers. Use the Take Action section to add your voice and increase the pressure.

We at Global Exchange encourage you to exercise your power as a global citizen to promote social justice and defend the Earth.

 

The List

1. Energy Transfer Partnersfor the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
2. Corrections Corporation Of America (CCA)for profiting off of the incarceration of American citizens and immigrants.
3. DESA (Desarrollos Energéticos S.A.)for the construction of dams on Indigenous Lenca lands in Honduras.
4. Exxon Mobilfor suppressing climate science and delaying action on global warming for decades.  
5. Koch Industriesfor investing $889 million to sway the outcome of 2016 Congressional races. This is an update from 2015. 
6. McDonald's Corporationfor unfair pay practices. This is an update from 2015.
7. PepsiCofor violating worker rights, along with destroying rainforests, harming local communities and Indigenous Peoples’ lands, and causing massive greenhouse gas emissions by draining and burning of peatlands for production of palm oil.
8. Chevronfor its refusal to clean up the Amazon.
9. H&Mfor its failure to ensure the safety of workers in Bangladesh.
10. Monsantofor the development of genetically engineered wheat.
    
    11. Dis-Honorable Mention (Backslider): Dunkin’ Donuts

 

 

Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the Decade
by Russell Mokhiber

 

INTRODUCTION

Every year, the major business magazines put out their annual surveys of big business in America.

You have the Fortune 500, the Forbes 400, the Forbes Platinum 100, the International 800 -- among others.

These lists rank big corporations by sales, assets, profits and market share. The point of these surveys is simple -- to identify and glorify the biggest and most profitable corporations.

The point of the list contained in this report, The Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the Decade -- is to focus public attention on a wave of corporate criminality that has swamped prosecutors offices around the country.

This is the dark underside of the marketplace that is given little sustained attention and analysis by politicians and news outlets.

To compile The Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the 1990s, we used the most narrow and conservative of definitions -- corporations that have pled guilty or no contest to crimes and have been criminally fined.

The 100 corporate criminals fell into 14 categories of crime: Environmental (38), antitrust (20), fraud (13), campaign finance (7), food and drug (6), financial crimes (4), false statements (3), illegal exports (3), illegal boycott (1), worker death (1), bribery (1), obstruction of justice (1) public corruption (1), and tax evasion (1).

We did not try to assess and compare the damage committed by these corporate criminals or by other corporate wrongdoers.

There are millions of Americans who care about morality in the marketplace.

But few Americans realize that when they buy Exxon stock, or when they fill up at an Exxon gas station, they are in fact supporting a criminal recidivist corporation.

And few Americans realize that when the take a ride on a cruise ship owned by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, they are riding on a ship owned by a criminal recidivist corporation.

Six corporations that made the list of the Top 100 Corporate Criminals were criminal recidivist companies during the 1990s.

In addition to Exxon and Royal Caribbean, Rockwell International, Warner-Lambert, Teledyne, and United Technologies each pled guilty to more than one crime during the 1990s.

A few caveats about this report.

Caveat one: Big companies that are criminally prosecuted represent only the tip of a very large iceberg of corporate wrongdoing.

For every company convicted of health care fraud, there are hundreds of others who get away with ripping off Medicare and Medicaid, or face only mild slap-on-the-wrist fines and civil penalties when caught.

For every company convicted of polluting the nation's waterways, there are many others who are not prosecuted because their corporate defense lawyers are able to offer up a low-level employee to go to jail in exchange for a promise from prosecutors not to touch the company or high-level executives.

For every corporation convicted of bribery or of giving money directly to a public official in violation of federal law, there are thousands who give money legally through political action committees to candidates and political parties. They profit from a system that effectively has legalized bribery.

For every corporation convicted of selling illegal pesticides, there are hundreds more who are not prosecuted because their lobbyists have worked their way in Washington to ensure that dangerous pesticides remain legal.

For every corporation convicted of reckless homicide in the death of a worker, there are hundreds of others that don't even get investigated for reckless homicide when a worker is killed on the job. Only a few district attorneys across the country (Michael McCann, the DA in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, being one) regularly investigate workplace deaths as homicides.

Caveat two: Corporations define the laws under which they live.

For example, the automobile industry over the past 30 years has worked its will on Congress to block legislation that would impose criminal sanctions on knowing and willful violations of the federal auto safety laws. Now, if an auto company is caught violating the law, and if the cops are not asleep at the wheel, only a civil fine is imposed.

Caveat three: Because of their immense political power, big corporations have the resources to defend themselves in courts of law and in the court of public opinion.

Few prosecutors are willing to subject themselves to the constant legal and public relations barrage that a corporation's well connected and high-priced legal talent can inflict.

It is a testament to the tenacity of a few dedicated federal prosecutors that Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, for example, was criminally convicted of polluting the oceans.

In the criminal prosecution of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines the company was facing a team of two federal criminal prosecutors.

To defend itself, Royal Caribbean hired Judson Starr and Jerry Block, both of whom have served as head of the Justice Department's Environmental Crimes Section, and former Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti.

Also representing Royal Caribbean were former federal prosecutors Kenneth C. Bass III, and Norman Moscowitz. Donald Carr of Winthrop & Stimson also joined the defense team.

Hired on as experts on international law issues were former Attorney General Eliot Richardson, University of Virginia law professor John Norton Moore, former State Department officials Terry Leitzell and Bernard Oxman, and four retired senior admirals.

As the case proceeded to trial, Royal Caribbean engaged in a massive public relations campaign, taking out ads during the Super Bowl, putting former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrators on its board of directors, and donating thousands of dollars to environmental groups.

Federal prosecutors overcame this legal and public relations barrage and convicted the company. But that was an unusual prosecution and unusually determined prosecutors.

While the 1990s was a decade of booming markets and booming profits, it was also a decade of rampant corporate criminality.

There is an emerging consensus among corporate criminologists.

And that emerging consensus is this: corporate crime and violence inflicts far more damage on society than all street crime combined.

The FBI estimates, for example, that burglary and robbery -- street crimes -- costs the nation $3.8 billion a year.

Compare this to the hundreds of billions of dollars stolen from Americans as a result of corporate and white-collar fraud.

Health care fraud alone costs Americans $100 billion to $400 billion a year.

The savings and loan fraud -- which former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh called "the biggest white collar swindle in history" -- cost us anywhere from $300 billion to $500 billion.

And then you have your lesser frauds: auto repair fraud, $40 billion a year, securities fraud, $15 billion a year -- and on down the list.

Recite this list of corporate frauds and people will immediately say to you: but you can't compare street crime and corporate crime -- corporate crime is not violent crime.

Unfortunately, corporate crime is often violent crime.

The FBI estimates that, 19,000 Americans are murdered every year.

Compare this to the 56,000 Americans who die every year on the job or from occupational diseases such as black lung and asbestosis and the tens of thousands of other Americans who fall victim to the silent violence of pollution, contaminated foods, hazardous consumer products, and hospital malpractice.

These deaths are often the result of criminal recklessness. They are sometimes prosecuted as homicides or as criminal violations of federal laws.

And environmental crimes often result in death, disease and injury.

In 1998, for example, a Tampa, Florida company and the company's plant manager were found guilty of violating a federal hazardous waste law. Those illegal acts resulted in the deaths of two nine-year-old boys who were playing in a dumpster at the company's facility.

This report is only a tiny step in an effort to fill a great void in corporate crime research.

The Justice Department has the information and should get the budget to begin putting out yearly reports on corporate crime.

Every year, the Justice Department puts out an annual report titled "Crime in the United States."

But by "Crime in the United States," the Justice Department means "street crime in the United States."

So, in "Crime in the United States" document you will read about burglary, robbery and theft. There is nothing in it about price-fixing, corporate fraud, pollution, or public corruption.

A yearly Justice Department report on Corporate Crime in the United States is long overdue.

 

THE TOP 100 CORPORATE CRIMINALS OF THE 1990's

1) F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $500 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 21(1), May 24, 1999

2) Daiwa Bank Ltd.
Type of Crime: Financial
Criminal Fine: $340 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 9(3), March 4, 1996

3) BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $225 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 21(1), May 24, 1999

4) SGL Carbon Aktiengesellschaft (SGL AG)
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $135 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 19(4), May 10, 1999

5) Exxon Corporation and Exxon Shipping
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $125 million
5 Corporate Crime Reporter 11(3), March 18, 1991

6) UCAR International, Inc.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $110 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 15(6), April 13, 1998

7) Archer Daniels Midland
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $100 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 40(1), October 21, 1996

8)(tie) Banker's Trust
Type of Crime: Financial
Criminal Fine: $60 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 11(1), March 15, 1999

8)(tie) Sears Bankruptcy Recovery Management Services
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $60 million
13 Corporate Crime Reporter 7(1), February 15, 1999

10) Haarman & Reimer Corp.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal fine: $50 million
11 Corporate Crime Reporter 5(4), February 3, 1997

11) Louisiana-Pacific Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $37 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 23(1), June 8, 1998

12) Hoechst AG
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $36 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 19(6), May 10, 1999

13) Damon Clinical Laboratories, Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $35.2 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 39(6), October 14, 1996

14) C.R. Bard Inc.
Type of Crime: Food and drug
Criminal Fine: $30.9 million
7 Corporate Crime Reporter 41(1), October 25, 1993

15) Genentech Inc.
Type of Crime: Food and drug
Criminal Fine: $30 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 16(3), April 19, 1999

16) Nippon Gohsei
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $21 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 29(3), July 19, 1999

17)(tie) Pfizer Inc.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $20 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 30(1), July 26, 1999

17)(tie) Summitville Consolidated Mining Co. Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $20 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 20(3) May 20, 1996

19)(tie) Lucas Western Inc.
Type of Crime: False Statements
Criminal Fine: $18.5 million
9 Corporate Crime Reporter 4(6), January 30, 1995

19)(tie) Rockwell International Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $18.5 million
6 Corporate Crime Reporter 13(4), March 30, 1992

21) Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $18 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 30(4), July 26, 1999

22) Teledyne Industries Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $17.5 million
6 Corporate Crime Reporter 39(9), October 12, 1992

23) Northrop
Type of Crime: False statements
Criminal Fine: $17 million
4 Corporate Crime Reporter 9(1), March 5, 1990

24) Litton Applied Technology Division (ATD) and Litton Systems Canada (LSL)
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $16.5 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 27(1), July 5, 1999

25) Iroquois Pipeline Operating Company
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $15 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 22(1), June 3, 1996

26) Eastman Chemical Company
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $11 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 38(5), October 5, 1998

27) Copley Pharmaceutical, Inc.
Type of Crime: Food and drug
Criminal Fine: $10.65 million
11 Corporate Crime Reporter 22(1), June 2, 1997

28) Lonza AG
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $10.5 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 10(1), March 8, 1999

29) Kimberly Home Health Care Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $10.08 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 30(6), July 26, 1999

30)(tie) Ajinomoto Co. Inc.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $10 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 40(1), October 21, 1996

30)(tie) Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI)
Type of Crime: Financial
Criminal Fine: $10 million
4 Corporate Crime Reporter 3(1) January 22, 1990

30)(tie) Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. Ltd.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $10 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 40(1), October 21, 1996

30)(tie) Warner-Lambert Company
Type of Crime: Food and drug
Criminal Fine: $10 million
9 Corporate Crime Reporter 46(1), December 4, 1995

34) General Electric
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $9.5 million
6 Corporate Crime Reporter 30(7), July 27, 1992

35)(tie) Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $9 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 23(3), June 8, 1998

35)(tie) Showa Denko Carbon
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $9 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 19(4), May 10, 1999

37) IBM East Europe/Asia Ltd.
Type of Crime: Illegal exports
Criminal Fine: $8.5 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 32(1), August 10, 1998

38) Empire Sanitary Landfill Inc.
Type of crime: Campaign finance
Criminal fine: $8 million
11 Corporate Crime Reporter 39(3), October 13, 1997

39)(tie) Colonial Pipeline Company
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $7 million
13 Corporate Crime Reporter 9(3), March 1, 1999

39)(tie) Eklof Marine Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $7 million
11 Corporate Crime Reporter 37(4), September 29, 1997

41)(tie) Chevron
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $6.5 million
6 Corporate Crime Reporter, 22(1), June 1, 1992

41)(tie) Rockwell International Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $6.5 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 15(4), April 15, 1996

43) Tokai Carbon Ltd. Co.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $6 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 19(4), May 10, 1999

44)(tie) Allied Clinical Laboratories, Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $5 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 45(1), November 25, 1996

44)(tie) Northern Brands International Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $5 million
13 Corporate Crime Reporter 1(1), January 4,1999

44)(tie) Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation
Type of Crime: Obstruction of justice
Criminal Fine: $5 million
9 Corporate Crime Reporter 2(3), January 16, 1995

44)(tie) Unisys
Type of Crime: Bribery
Criminal Fine: $5 million
5 Corporate Crime Reporter 35(11), September 16, 1991

44)(tie) Georgia Pacific Corporation
Type of Crime: Tax evasion
Criminal Fine: $5 million
5 Corporate Crime Reporter 38(8), October 7, 1991

49) Kanzaki Specialty Papers Inc.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $4.5 million
8 Corporate Crime Reporter 29(4), July 18, 1994

50) ConAgra Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $4.4 million
11 Corporate Crime Reporter 12(1), March 24, 1997

51) Ryland Mortgage Company
Type of Crime: Financial
Criminal Fine: $4.2 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 32(1), August 10, 1998

52)(tie) Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $4 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 29(1), July 20, 1998

52)(tie) Borden Inc.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $4 million
4 Corporate Crime Reporter 11(9), March 19, 1990

52)(tie) Dexter Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $4 million
6 Corporate Crime Reporter 35(6), September 14, 1992

52)(tie) Southland Corporation
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $4 million
4 Corporate Crime Reporter 11(9), March 19, 1990

52)(tie) Teledyne Industries Inc.
Type of Crime: Illegal exports
Criminal Fine: $4 million
9 Corporate Crime Reporter 5(3), February 6, 1995

52)(tie) Tyson Foods Inc.
Type of Crime: Public corruption
Criminal Fine: $4 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 1(3), January 5, 1998

58)(tie) Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA)
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3.75 million
5 Corporate Crime Reporter 29(6), July 22, 1991

58)(tie) Costain Coal Inc.
Type of Crime: Worker Death
Criminal Fine: $3.75 million
7 Corporate Crime Reporter 9(10), March 1, 1993

58)(tie) United States Sugar Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3.75 million
5 Corporate Crime Reporter 27(4), December 9, 1991

61) Saybolt, Inc., Saybolt North America
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3.4 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 33(1), August 17, 1998

62)(tie) Bristol-Myers Squibb
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3 million
6 Corporate Crime Reporter 18(3), May 4, 1992

62)(tie) Chemical Waste Management Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3 million
6 Corporate Crime Reporter 40(5), October 19, 1992

62)(tie) Ketchikan Pulp Company
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3 million
9 Corporate Crime Reporter 13(1), April 3, 1995

62)(tie) United Technologies Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3 million
5 Corporate Crime Reporter 21(1), May 27, 1991

62)(tie) Warner-Lambert Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $3 million
11 Corporate Crime Reporter 37(3), September 29, 1997

67)(tie) Arizona Chemical Co. Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $2.5 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 39(5), October 14, 1996

67)(tie) Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail)
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $2.5 million
9 Corporate Crime Reporter 30(1), July 31, 1995

69) International Paper 
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $2.2 million
5 Corporate Crime Reporter 31(7), August 5, 1991

70)(tie) Consolidated Edison Company
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $2 million 
8 Corporate Crime Reporter 46(5), November 28, 1994

70)(tie) Crop Growers Corporation
Type of Crime: Campaign finance
Criminal fine: $2 million
11 Corporate Crime Reporter 4(3), January 27, 1997

70)(tie) E-Systems Inc.
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $2 million
4 Corporate Crime Reporter 33, September 3, 1990

70)(tie) HAL Beheer BV
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $2 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 39(4), October 12, 1998

70)(tie) John Morrell and Company
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $2 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 6(3), February 12, 1996

70)(tie) United Technologies Corporation
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $2 million
6 Corporate Crime Reporter 34(4), September 7, 1992

76) Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi International Corporation
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $1.8 million
8 Corporate Crime Reporter 29(4), July 18, 1994

77)(tie) Blue Shield of California
Type of Crime: Fraud
Criminal Fine: $1.5 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 18(3), May 6, 1996

77)(tie) Browning-Ferris Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $1.5 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 23(3), June 8, 1998

77)(tie) Odwalla Inc.
Type of Crime: Food and drug
Criminal Fine: $1.5 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 30(1), July 27, 1998

77)(tie) Teledyne Inc.
Type of Crime: False statements
Criminal Fine: $1.5 million
7 Corporate Crime Reporter 34(12), September 6, 1993

77)(tie) Unocal Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $1.5 million
8 Corporate Crime Reporter 12(8), March 21, 1994

82)(tie) Doyon Drilling Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $1 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 21(1), May 25, 1998

82)(tie) Eastman Kodak
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $1 million
4 Corporate Crime Reporter 14(1), April 9, 1990

82)(tie) Case Corporation
Type of Crime: Illegal exports
Criminal Fine: $1 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 22(4), June 3, 1996

85) Marathon Oil
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $900,000
5 Corporate Crime Reporter 22(5), June 3, 1991

86) Hyundai Motor Company
Type of Crime: Campaign finance
Criminal Fine: $600,000
9 Corporate Crime Reporter 48(3), December 18, 1995

87)(tie) Baxter International Inc.
Type of Crime: Illegal Boycott
Criminal Fine: $500,000
7 Corporate Crime Reporter 13(7) , March 29, 1993

87)(tie) Bethship-Sabine Yard
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $500,000
9 Corporate Crime Reporter 26(4), July 3, 1995

87(tie) Palm Beach Cruises
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $500,000
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 30(4), July 26, 1999

87)(tie) Princess Cruises Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $500,000
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 30(4), July 26, 1999

91)(tie) Cerestar Bioproducts BV
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $400,000
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 28(3), June 29, 1998

91)(tie) Sun-Land Products of California
Type of Crime: Campaign finance
Criminal Fine: $400,000
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 33(1), August 17, 1998

93)(tie) American Cyanamid
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $250,000
4 Corporate Crime Reporter 46(5), December 3, 1990

93)(tie) Korean Air Lines
Type of Crime: Campaign finance
Criminal Fine: $250,000
9 Corporate Crime Reporter 47(1), December 11, 1995

93)(tie) Regency Cruises Inc.
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $250,000
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 30(4), July 26, 1999

96)(tie) Adolph Coors Company
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $200,000
4 Corporate Crime Reporter 43(3), November 12, 1990

96)(tie) Andrew and Williamson Sales Co.
Type of crime: Food and drug
Criminal fine: $200,000 
11 Corporate Crime Reporter 44(4), November 17, 1997

96)(tie) Daewoo International (America) Corporation
Type of Fine: Campaign finance
Criminal Fine: $200,000 
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 13(3), April 1, 1996

96)(tie) Exxon Corporation
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $200,000
5 Corporate Crime Reporter 12(1), March 25, 1991

100) Samsung America Inc.
Type of Crime: Campaign finance
Criminal Fine: $150,000
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 6(5), February 12, 1996

 

17 of the Worst Corporate Crimes of 2015

The ongoing corporate crime wave shows no signs of abating.

By Phil Mattera

 

 

The ongoing corporate crime wave showed no signs of abating in 2015. BP paid a record $20 billion to settle the remaining civil charges relating to the Deepwater Horizon disaster (on top of the $4 billion in previous criminal penalties), and Volkswagen is facing perhaps even greater liability in connection with its scheme to evade emission standards.

Other automakers and suppliers were hit with large penalties for safety violations, including a $900 million fine (and deferred criminal prosecution) for General Motors, a record civil penalty of $200 million for Japanese airbag maker Takata, penalties of $105 million and $70 million for Fiat Chrysler, and $70 million for Honda.

Major banks continued to pay large penalties to resolve a variety of legal entanglements. Five banks (Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS) had to pay a total of $2.5 billion to the Justice Department and $1.8 billion to the Federal Reserve in connection with charges that they conspired to manipulate foreign exchange markets. The DOJ case was unusual in that the banks had to enter guilty pleas, but it is unclear that this hampered their ability to conduct business as usual.

Anadarko Petroleum agreed to pay more than $5 billion to resolve charges relating to toxic dumping by Kerr-McGee, which was acquired by Anadarko in 2006. In another major environmental case, fertilizer company Mosaic agreed to resolve hazardous waste allegations at eight facilities by creating a $630 million trust fund and spending $170 million on mitigation projects.

These examples and the additional ones below were assembled with the help of Violation Tracker, the new database of corporate misconduct my colleagues and I at the Corporate Research Project of Good Jobs First introduced this year. The database currently covers environmental, health and safety cases from 13 federal agencies, but we will be adding other violation categories in 2016.

1. Deceptive financial practices. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined Citibank $700 millionfor the deceptive marketing of credit card add-on products.
2. Cheating depositors. Citizens Bank was fined $18.5 millionby the CFPB for pocketing the difference when customers mistakenly filled out deposit slips for amounts lower than the sums actually transferred.
3. Overcharging customers.An investigation by officials in New York City foundthat pre-packaged products at Whole Foods had mislabeled weights, resulting in grossly inflated unit prices.
4. Food contamination.In a rare financial penalty in a food safety case, a subsidiary of ConAgra was fined $11.2 millionfor distributing salmonella-tainted peanut butter.
5. Adulterated medication.Johnson & Johnson subsidiary McNeill-PPC entered a guilty plea and paid $25 millionin fines and forfeiture in connection with charges that it sold adulterated children’s over-the-counter medications.
6. Illegal marketing.Sanofi subsidiary Genzyme Corporation entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and paid a penalty of $32.6 millionin connection with charges that it promoted its Seprafilm devices for uses not approved as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.
7. Failure to report safety defects.Among the companies hit this year with civil penalties by the Consumer Product Safety Commission for failing to promptly report safety hazards were: General Electric ($3.5 millionfine), Office Depot ($3.4 million) and LG Electronics ($1.8 million).
8. Workplace hazards. Tuna producer Bumble Bee agreed to pay $6 millionto settle state charges that it willfully violated worker safety rules in connection with the death of an employee who was trapped in an industrial oven at the company’s plant in Southern California.

 

 

1. Sanctions violations.Deutsche Bank was fined $258 millionfor violations in connection with transactions on behalf of countries (such as Iran and Syria) and entities subject to U.S. economic sanctions.
2. Air pollution.Glass manufacturer Guardian Industries settled Clean Air Act violations brought by the EPA by agreeing to spend $70 millionon new emission controls.
3. Ocean dumping.An Italian company called Carbofin was hit with a $2.75 millioncriminal fine for falsifying its records to hide the fact that it was using a device known as a “magic hose” to dispose of sludge, waste oil and oil-contaminated bilge water directly into the sea rather than using required pollution prevention equipment.
4. Climate denial. The New York Attorney General is investigatingwhether Exxon Mobil deliberately deceived shareholders and the public about the risks of climate change.
5. False claims.Millennium Health agreed to pay $256 millionto resolve allegations that it billed Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health programs for unnecessary tests.
6. Illegal lobbying.Lockheed Martin paid $4.7 millionto settle charges that it illegally used government money to lobby federal officials for an extension of its contract to run the Sandia nuclear weapons lab.
7. Price-fixing.German auto parts maker Robert Bosch was fined $57.8 millionafter pleading guilty to Justice Department charges of conspiring to fix prices and rig bids for spark plugs, oxygen sensors and starter motors sold to automakers in the United States and elsewhere.
8. Foreign bribery.Goodyear Tire & Rubber paid $16 millionto resolve Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that company subsidiaries paid bribes to obtain sales in Kenya and Angola.
9. Wage Theft.Oilfield services company Halliburton paid $18 millionto resolve Labor Department allegations that it improperly categorized more than 1,000 workers to deny them overtime pay.

 

 

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A   Member  of  Amnesty  International 

Mr.Modi & Corporate Criminals
Topic: human rights , media

Editorial :   NO   AMNESTY  to  Back Money  Launderers

–          CORPORATE CRIMINALS /  CORPORATE TERRORISTS /  TAX THIEVES  RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL ILLS IN INDIA

In India , a small shop owner to big industrialist have mastered the art of TAX EVASION . their teachers – some corrupt tax officials & auditors. The black money thus created  is causing inflation, feeding the mafia , underworld. Some industrialists lobby ( bribe ) with the government & gets favourable laws enacted. This black money is the main source of funds for political parties , religious bodies & terrorist outfits.

The recent raids by C.B.I & KARNATAKA LOKAYUKTHA have proved how the tax officials have become multi-millionaires. The sad part is that some of the police officials who are on deputation to C.B.I & LOKAYUKTHA themselves are utterly corrupt.

This scourge can only be cured by corporate accountability intoto. However , all the industrialists , traders who are demanding for more flexible labour reforms , economic reforms , infrastructure , etc are not at all concerned about their own accountability with respect to tax , environment , other laws. The MNCs coming to India are not coming here for best Indian talents or infrastructure alone. In their own countries they are feeling the
heat of strict environment laws , consumer laws , share holder disclosures , corporate accountability. Some of these MNCs are being kicked out of their countries , by it’s own people .These MNCs are aware that in India , by greasing the palms environment laws , labour laws , tax laws , etc everything can be flouted , cases in courts can be dragged on for years . share holder disclosures , corporate transparency is minimum.

 

However when a concerned citizen complains about the crimes of guilty corporates , organizations or corrupt public servants , immediate action is not taken. The file is kept pending for months , years together  , allowing the criminals to manipulate all the evidences , records , ground situations. Finally even if action is taken guilty will be let out due to favorable  evidences , there are chances that the concerned citizen himself is falsely implicated & put behind bars . in all such cases all the involved parties must be subjected to lie detector tests .

 

Black Money & Crime are  inter twined , two faces of the same coin . Amnesty  must not be given to black money launderers , it is nothing  but legalizing the crimes of big criminals & crimes which are sources of black money. Thereby , government is giving legal sanction to those criminals  to commit more crimes to accumulate black money and  government itself is waiving off  it’s  duty  to  legally prosecute those  black money launderers for the crimes  which are  the sources of those ill gotten money. As per  the constitution , government must do it’s duty to uphold law , it cann’t waive off it’s own duties. If a government  cann’t do it’s duty , it must get out of the seat.

 Police , Government , Judges  spend  thousands  of rupees  public money to legally  prosecute a   small thief   caught for stealing  hundred rupees , where as now  letting out big time  looters who have stolen  millions  of rupees public money , who have earned money through swindling banks , share holders , earned money by illegal money lending , rowdyism , drug trafficking , human trafficking , etc.  It is against principle of equitable justice , law. If the government  is not able to   catch , prosecute these black money launderers , it is unfit to be in the  seat.

 

Bottomline : development is a must , it must be all around . but not at the cost of majority to make a few richer. Law  of  the  Land is  one  and  same for all Tom , Dick & Harry.

 Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.

Your’s sincerely,

Nagaraja.M.R.

 

 

PIL –   NO  AMNESTY  to   Black  Money  Launderers

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. OF 2015

IN THE MATTER OF

NAGARAJA . M.R

editor SOS e Clarion of Dalit & SOS e Voice for Justice
# LIG 2 , No 761 ,, HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,
Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State
.
….Petitioner

Versus

Cabinet  Secretary , Government of India   & Others

….Respondents

PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 12 to ARTICLE 35 & ARTICLE 51A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.

To ,
Hon’ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship’s Companion
Justices of the Supreme Court of India.

 

The Humble petition of the   Petitioner above named.

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :
1. Facts of the case:
“Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for
power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed.” Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt public servants.

2. Corruption is  rampant in tax enforcement , law enforcement agencies of the government.

3. In India , a small shop owner to big industrialist have mastered the art of TAX EVASION . their teachers – some corrupt tax officials & auditors. The black money thus created  is causing inflation, feeding the mafia , underworld. Some industrialists lobby ( bribe ) with the government & gets favourable laws enacted. This black money is the main source of funds for political parties , religious bodies & terrorist outfits.

The recent raids by C.B.I & KARNATAKA LOKAYUKTHA have proved how the tax officials have become multi-millionaires. The sad part is that some of the police officials who are on deputation to C.B.I & LOKAYUKTHA themselves are utterly corrupt.

This scourge can only be cured by corporate accountability intoto. However , all the industrialists , traders who are demanding for more flexible labour reforms , economic reforms , infrastructure , etc are not at all concerned about their own accountability with respect to tax , environment , other laws. The MNCs coming to India are not coming here for best Indian talents or infrastructure alone. In their own countries they are feeling the
heat of strict environment laws , consumer laws , share holder disclosures , corporate accountability. Some of these MNCs are being kicked out of their countries , by it’s own people .These MNCs are aware that in India , by greasing the palms environment laws , labour laws , tax laws , etc everything can be flouted , cases in courts can be dragged on for years . share holder disclosures , corporate transparency is minimum.

4. However when a concerned citizen complains about the crimes of guilty corporates , organizations or corrupt public servants , immediate action is not taken. The file is kept pending for months , years together  , allowing the criminals to manipulate all the evidences , records , ground situations. Finally even if action is taken guilty will be let out due to favorable  evidences , there are chances that the concerned citizen himself is falsely implicated & put behind bars . in all such cases all the involved parties must be subjected to lie detector tests .

 

2. Question(s) of Law:

Is it right for banks ,  tax authorities , government  to let out fraudsters , guilty bank  executives  , guilty tax officials  without criminal prosecution  & recovery ?

3. Grounds:
Requests for equitable justice , Prosecution of master minds of financial frauds / tax evasions.

4. Averment:

Covering up Financial Frauds. Please read details at :

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rbi—robberer-s-bureau-of-india ,

https://evoiceofhumanrightswatch.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/rbi-robberers-bureau-of-india/  ,

Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.

The Petitioner has sent many letters / appeals / petitions to supreme court of india & other courts through e-mail , DARPG website & through regular mail requesting them to consider those as PILs. But none ofthem were admitted , even acknowledgement for receipts were not given. See How duty conscious ,our judges are & see how our judges are sensitive towards life , liberty of citizens , commonmen & see howcareless our judges are towards anti national crimes , crimes worth crores of rupees. That the present petitioner has not filed any other petition (which are admitted by courts) in any High Court or the Supreme Court of India on the subject matter of the present petition.

PRAYER:
In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased:
a . Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants ,  Tax Authorities , Law Enforcement  Agencies , RBI authorities  in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the below  RTI  questions.
b . to pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case.

c. To legally prosecute responsible bank executives & fraudsters.

d. To make it mandatory for all bank executives  , tax officials including board members to make their  income , wealth details public every year. This must be disclosed  under RTI A ct.

e. To form a  statutory mechanism to share   information in real time ( through computer networking) about creditors , debtors , borrowers , policy holders , insurers , wealth managers , etc between all financial institutions like SEBI , RBI , IRDA , Banks ,  State and  Central Government Tax Authorities etc. Creditor , debtor information must be disclosed under RTI Act.

f. To  appoint  a person from lending bank to  loan availing companies to monitor it’s daily  financial affairs.

g. To legally prosecute RBI Governor , Chief Justice of India & Union Finance Minister  for  aiding  fund raisers of terrorists , underworld.

h. To order  Government of India to accept our conditional offer  of apprehending corporate terrorists.

i. To criminal legal prosecution against promoters of fraud companies , partners in their crimes supporting company executives and bank executives.

j. To order for recovery of money with interest & penalty  , by confiscation of properties of such company promoters , their family properties , property of concerned bank executives  , tax  officials and most importantly PROPERTIES  OF RBI GOVERNOR , UNION FINANCE  MINISTER & CJI must be attached.

k.  Black Money & Crime are  inter twined , two faces of the same coin . Amnesty  must not be given to black money launderers , it is nothing  but legalizing the crimes of big criminals & crimes which are sources of black money. Thereby , government is giving legal sanction to those criminals  to commit more crimes to accumulate black money  and  government itself is waiving off  it’s  duty  to  legally prosecute those  black money launderers for the crimes  which are  the sources of those ill gotten money. As per  the constitution , government must do it’s duty to uphold law , it cann’t waive off it’s own duties. If a government  cann’t do it’s duty , it must get out of the seat.

l. Police , Government , Judges  spend  thousands  of rupees  public money to legally  prosecute a   small thief   caught for stealing  hundred rupees , where as now  letting out big time  looters who have stolen  millions  of rupees public money , who have earned money through swindling banks , share holders , earned money by illegal money lending , rowdyism , drug trafficking , human trafficking , etc.  It is against principle of equitable justice , law. If the government  is not able to   catch , prosecute these black money launderers , it is unfit to be in the  seat.

m. To  immediately  give a stay  to the moves by  government of india  , giving  amnesty  to black money launderers from  01^st  June  2016.  Also , annul  such  laws  enacted by government of India.

FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY.

Kindly read full details at following web page :

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rbi—robberer-s-bureau-of-india ,

https://evoiceofhumanrightswatch.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/rbi-robberers-bureau-of-india/  ,

Dated : 14^th  May   2016 ………………….FILED BY: NAGARAJA.M.R.

Place :   Mysuru , India…………………….   PETITIONER-IN-PERSON

 

PIL –  BANK ROBBERIES by bank executives

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. OF 2015

IN THE MATTER OF

NAGARAJA . M.R

editor SOS e Clarion of Dalit & SOS e Voice for Justice
# LIG 2 , No 761 ,, HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,
Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State
.
….Petitioner

Versus

Honourable Governor , Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  & Others

….Respondents

PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 12 to ARTICLE 35 & ARTICLE 51A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.

To ,
Hon’ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship’s Companion
Justices of the Supreme Court of India.

 

The Humble petition of the   Petitioner above named.

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :
1. Facts of the case:
“Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for
power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed.” Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt public servants.

2. Eventhough , I have repeatedly appealed to RBI authorities since  years seeking justice regarding illegalities , irregularities  in  recruitment , currency handling , currency theft , etc @ RBI , they didn’t provide justice at all.

3. For a common man  it is a herculean task to get Rs.5000 loan from a  bank , but  rich & connected get lakhs , crores of rupees loan quite easily from banks , how ?

4. When a common man , farmer defaults to pay loan of few thousands of rupees bank immediately dispatches  loan recovery agents / Rowdies , seizes his property & auctions and recover their dues to last penny. Farmers are committing suicide unable to pay loans to escape from ignominy .

5. Huge companies get crores of rupees loan from banks eventhough basically the project report itself is at fault , not viable. Siphons off company  resources by insider trading to their sister concerns although bank representatives are very much their on the board of companies.

6 . Such companies default on loan dues to bank , but no recovery agents / rowdies are sent by banks. Finally the company becomes bust.

7. Bank looses money , the company  is declared as NON PERFORMING ASSET and government + bank  waives off interest or else loan itself.

8. End looser the public whose money went down the drain , profiteers – company promoters , executives and bank manager. No recovery from their personal , family properties why ?

9. Eventhough , I have repeatedly appealed to RBI authorities , Union Finance Ministry  since  years seeking  information under RTI Act  regarding illegalities , irregularities  in RBI , Various banks , RBI Note Press ( BRBNMPL ) , etc , the  RBI authorities  have evaded answering our  questions  lest  the TRUTH come out. Supreme court of India specifically Chief Justice of India  were also approached to order RBI , Union Finance Ministry  to  disclose  information to us in public interest. But  SCI , CJI also failed to do their duties.

10. The money involved here is public money , it is nobody’s papa’s money.

11.  These  swindled monies are finding it’s way to under world , Mafia & Terror outfits. This proves  RBI  Governor , Union Finance Minister  and  Chief Justice of India  are  least  bothered to safe guard  PUBLIC MONEY. They are least bothered about our national security.

12. We have  offered  our conditional services to RBI , Union Finance Ministry & SCI  to apprehend  corporate criminals , to recover money while the  concerned officials have failed to do their duties. Till date  RBI , SCI , Government  have failed to respond to our offer.

13. We  SOS e Clarion of Dalit & SOS e Voice for Justice once again offer our conditional services to authorities , RBI , SCI  to legally apprehend corporate criminals , tax evaders &  corrupt bank executives  and to  recover monies from them.  Are RBI , SCI & Union Finance Ministry Ready to catch tax thieves , corporate criminals ,  corporate terrorists ?  Are  they ready to utilize our services ?

14. By , shielding corporate criminals  RBI , SCI , Union finance ministry  are  shielding  corporate criminals to continue financial aid to terrorist outfits , underworld & mafia. Thereby , RBI Governor  , Union Finance Minister  & CJI , Supreme Court of India have also become parties to those crimes , they themselves have become criminals.

15. These  Huge financial frauds , swindling for years  cann’t happen repeatedly for years  without  tacit understanding , cooperation , collusion , connivance  of RBI GOVERNOR and UNION FINANCE MINISTER. These crimes  are  spared from  fair , timely legal trials  with tacit support  of  Chief Justice of India.

16. These swindled money is destabilizing our economy , funding terrorist outfits , mafia & underworld. These are posing constant threat to our national security , integrity.

17. By financially supporting funding of criminals , terrorists RBI GOVERNOR ,  UNION FINANCE MINSTER & CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA themselves have become   anti nationals , criminals , terrorists.

2. Question(s) of Law:

Is it right for banks , government to let out fraudsters , bank  executives  without criminal prosecution  & recovery ?

3. Grounds:
Requests for equitable justice , Prosecution of master minds of financial frauds.

4. Averment:

Covering up Financial Frauds. Please read details at :

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rbi—robberer-s-bureau-of-india ,

https://evoiceofhumanrightswatch.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/rbi-robberers-bureau-of-india/  ,

Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.

The Petitioner has sent many letters / appeals / petitions to supreme court of india & other courts through e-mail , DARPG website & through regular mail requesting them to consider those as PILs. But none ofthem were admitted , even acknowledgement for receipts were not given. See How duty conscious ,our judges are & see how our judges are sensitive towards life , liberty of citizens , commonmen & see howcareless our judges are towards anti national crimes , crimes worth crores of rupees. That the present petitioner has not filed any other petition (which are admitted by courts) in any High Court or the Supreme Court of India on the subject matter of the present petition.

PRAYER:
In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased:
a . Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants , RBI authorities  in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the below  RTI  questions.
b . to pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case.

c. To legally prosecute authorities of M/s RBI &  M/s BRBNMPL , who denied job opportunities to me under the behest of criminals responsible for late PM Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

d. To legally prosecute responsible bank executives & fraudsters.

e. To make it mandatory for all bank executives including board members to make their  income , wealth details public every year. This must be disclosed  under RTI A ct.

f. To form a  statutory mechanism to share   information about creditors , debtors , borrowers , policy holders , insurers , wealth managers , etc between all financial institutions like SEBI , RBI , IRDA , Banks , etc. Creditor , debtor information must be disclosed under RTI Act.

g. To book criminal cases of Rowdyism , goondaism against rowdy loan recovery agents & respective bank managers.

h.  To  reopen cases of   Currency exchange scandal @ RBI Bangalore incinerator  and currency theft cases @ RBI currency note press , Mysuru. To also legally prosecute  bank executives & CBI investigating officials  who shielded  original criminals in these cases.

i. To order  full payment of  unjustly withheld salary , gratuity , pension dues , etc to victimized  RBI staff Mr. Ganapathi Hariram immediately.

j. To  appoint  a person from lending bank to  loan availing companies to monitor it’s daily  financial affairs.

k. To legally prosecute RBI Governor , Chief Justice of India & Union Finance Minister  for  aiding  fund raisers of terrorists , underworld.

l. To order  Government of India to accept our conditional offer  of apprehending corporate terrorists.

m. To criminal legal prosecution against promoters of fraud companies , partners in their crimes supporting company executives and bank executives.

n. To order for recovery of money with interest & penalty  , by confiscation of properties of such company promoters , their family properties , property of concerned bank executives  and most importantly PROPERTIES  OF RBI GOVERNOR , UNION FINANCE  MINISTER & CJI must be attached.

FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY.

Kindly read full details at following web page :

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rbi—robberer-s-bureau-of-india ,

https://evoiceofhumanrightswatch.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/rbi-robberers-bureau-of-india/  ,

Dated : 12^th  March  2016 ………………….FILED BY: NAGARAJA.M.R.

Place :   Mysuru , India…………………….   PETITIONER-IN-PERSON

PIL – Stop Robberies @  RBI  by  bank staff

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. OF 2015

IN THE MATTER OF

NAGARAJA . M.R

editor SOS e Clarion of Dalit & SOS e Voice for Justice
# LIG 2 , No 761 ,, HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,
Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State
.
….Petitioner

Versus

Honourable Governor , Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  & Others

….Respondents

PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 12 to ARTICLE 35 & ARTICLE 51A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.

To ,
Hon’ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship’s Companion
Justices of the Supreme Court of India. The Humble petition of the
Petitioner above named.

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :
1. Facts of the case:
“Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for
power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed.” Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt public servants.

2. Eventhough , I have repeatedly appealed to RBI authorities since  years seeking justice regarding illegalities , irregularities  in  recruitment , currency handling , currency theft , etc @ RBI , they didn’t provide justice at all.

3. For a common man  it is a herculean task to get Rs.5000 loan from a  bank , but  rich & connected get lakhs , crores of rupees loan quite easily from banks , how ?

4. When a common man , farmer defaults to pay loan of few thousands of rupees bank immediately dispatches  loan recovery agents / Rowdies , seizes his property & auctions and recover their dues to last penny. Farmers are committing suicide unable to pay loans to escape from ignominy .

5. Huge companies get crores of rupees loan from banks eventhough basically the project report itself is at fault , not viable. Siphons off company  resources by insider trading to their sister concerns although bank representatives are very much their on the board of companies.

6 . Such companies default on loan dues to bank , but no recovery agents / rowdies are sent by banks. Finally the company becomes bust.

7. Bank looses money , the company  is declared as NON PERFORMING ASSET and government + bank  waives off interest or else loan itself.

8. End looser the public whose money went down the drain , profiteers – company promoters , executives and bank manager. No recovery from their personal , family properties why ?

2. Question(s) of Law:

Is it right for banks , government to let out fraudsters without criminal prosecution ?

3. Grounds:
Requests for equitable justice , Prosecution of master minds of financial frauds.

4. Averment:

Covering up Financial Frauds. Please read details at :

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rbi—robberer-s-bureau-of-india ,

https://evoiceofhumanrightswatch.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/rbi-robberers-bureau-of-india/  ,

Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.

The Petitioner has sent many letters / appeals / petitions to supreme court of india & other courts through e-mail , DARPG website & through regular mail requesting them to consider those as PILs. But none ofthem were admitted , even acknowledgement for receipts were not given. See How duty conscious ,our judges are & see how our judges are sensitive towards life , liberty of citizens , commonmen & see howcareless our judges are towards anti national crimes , crimes worth crores of rupees. That the present petitioner has not filed any other petition (which are admitted by courts) in any High Court or the Supreme Court of India on the subject matter of the present petition.

PRAYER:
In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased:
a . Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants , RBI authorities  in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.
b . to pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case.

c. To legally prosecute authorities of M/s RBI &  M/s BRBNMPL , who denied job opportunities to me under the behest of criminals responsible for late PM Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY.

Kindly read full details at following web page :

https://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/rbi—robberer-s-bureau-of-india ,

https://evoiceofhumanrightswatch.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/rbi-robberers-bureau-of-india/  ,

Dated : 23^rd July  2015 ………………….FILED BY: NAGARAJA.M.R.

Place : Mysuru , India…………………….PETITIONER-IN-PERSON

4-month window to declare black money opens on June 1: Jaitley

The four-month window for declaring domestic blackmoney will open on June 1 and those opting to come clean by paying 45 per cent tax and penalty will not be subject to scrutiny and enquiry by tax department.

The Income Declaration Scheme 2016 will remain in force till September 30 for filing of declarations and payments towards taxes, surcharge and penalty must be made latest by November 30, the Finance Ministry said in a release.

“No scrutiny and enquiry under the Income-tax Act or the Wealth tax Act (no abolished) shall be undertaken in respect of such declarations.

“Immunity from prosecution under the Income-tax Act and Wealth Tax Act is also provided along with immunity from the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 subject to transfer of asset to actual owner within the period specified in the Rules,” it said.

The scheme was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Budget with an aim to fish out black money from the domestic economy. Earlier, the government had come out with similar scheme for Indian holding undisclosed income abroad.

The scheme will apply to undisclosed income whether in the form of investment in assets or otherwise, pertaining to Financial Year 2015-16 or earlier, the Ministry said.

“Under the Scheme, income as declared by the eligible persons, would be taxed at the rate of 30 per cent plus a ‘Krishi Kalyan Cess’ of 25 per cent on the taxes payable and a penalty at the rate of 25 per cent of the taxes payable, thereby totalling to 45 per cent of the income declared under the scheme,” the Ministry said.

 

This is not so surprising .India is the world`s most corrupt country.Corruption is not new in India.Recently due to international pressure, Swiss government agreed to disclose the names of the account holders only if the respective government formally asked for it.

Black money in Swiss banks — Swiss Banking Association report, 2006 details bank deposits in the territory of Switzerland by nationals of following countries:
Top five
India—- $1,456 billion
Russia —$ 470 billion
UK  ——-$390 billion
Ukraine – $100 billion
China —–$ 96 billion

India has more money in Swiss bank than all the other countries combined.Second best Russia has 4 times lesser deposit. US is not even there in the counting in top five.

609 people in India having legal property more than Rs- 100 crores (Rs- 10 Million). Indian President one day living cost is Rs-8 crore, living in a place where 350 flats.Oneday Indian Parliament running cost is around 9 crore Rupees.Britishers looted 350 Lakh Crore in 250 years whereas Indian himself looted 330 crore. 70 Lakh crore only deposited in swiss bank. 84000 corrupt people in India.India has around 450 Billion dollar of coal deposit & 170 billion of iron ore deposit,looted by state politicians .According to Indian Government around 1 Lakh place in India where people doing illegal mining.

Dishonest persons, scandalous politicians and corrupt IAS, IPS officers have deposited in foreign banks in their illegal personal accounts a sum of about $ 1500 billion, which have been misappropriated by them. From 2003 to 2010 out of 5,635 IPS officers fifty(50) IPS officers were resigned and joined private company.

This amount is about 13 times larger than the country’s foreign debt. With this amount 45 crore poor people can get Rs 1,00,000 each. This huge amount has been appropriated from the people of India by exploiting and betraying them.

Some 80,000 people travel to Switzerland every year, of whom 25,000 travel very frequently.“Obviously, these people won’t be  tourists.

Why our Indian Government is not asking to swiss Bank? Well the answer is simple , our Government is working under the influence of those politicians & industrialists who have huge deposit in Swiss bank.They cann`t expose their own people.

USA have settled their Swiss bank Account & their top Billionares in their countries paid to their country 50% of their Money which includes Gates & Bloomberg.Italy got 6.4 Billion dollar from swiss Bank,Germany got 5.7 Billion dollar from swiss Bank & France got 1.7 Billion dollar from swiss Bank.

Schweitzer Illustrierte, a Swiss news magazine,published on 19th November 1991, has alleged in an old issue that the Soviet intelligence agency KGB had deposited US $2.2 billion in a Swiss bank account in 1985 in the “minor” account of Rahul Gandhi managed by his mother Sonia Gandhi . Janata Party President Dr Subramanian Swamy, who had secured an order from the Delhi High Court to the CBI to investigate alleged receipt of slush money by late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s family, has cited a November 1991 issue of the Swiss magazine in support of his charge.He has further claimed that the payments were authorized by CPSU by a resolution CPSU/CC/No 11228/3 dated 20/12/1985 and the same was also endorsed by the USSR Council of Ministers in Directive No 2633/Rs dated 20/12/1985. He also claimed that these payments had been coming since 1971 as the payments received by Sonia Gandhi’s family “have been audited in CPSU/CC resolution No 11187/22 OP dated 10/12/1984.   Reference:–http://swissprivacy.tripod.com/id8.html

Why Government is not taking action on corrupt peoples ? Why CBI is not independently working? well answer is simple ,Government is taking lots of money in the name of party fund and also taking help from those politicians who are involved in
criminal charges.Whole police in India is working under politicians.  According to RBI(Reserve Bank Of India) Rupees 17,18,826 crore notes print in India between  year 2000-2010. Rupees 10 Lakh Crore money incirculation in India. Generally 2-3 % of  GDP money circulation in other countries. But Indian Government has allowed  four Swiss bank  &  Eight Bank of Italy in India.

Sources says that NGO is also engaged in converting black money into white Money.

swiss bank(ubs) revealed 6000 USA people names . In may 2008 Germany bank revealed 28 people names but government is still hiding their names. Even the Supreme court of India asked for names three times. But Government only make deal with 23 countries of Double Taxation.
                                 USA got his money, France , Italy , countries like Singapore fought and get their money.India has more than 3.5 crore taxpayers. Black Money can be used by terrorists. Probably they are trying to move money to other countries or will invest in real-estate like in dubai or arab countries.After huge pressure from media & civil society Government has joined FATA (Financial Action Task Force) group only to delay issue. 

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/126998/LATEST%20HEADLINES/indian-link-to-swiss-money-trail-revealed.html
In the data shared by Ex-Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer, there are at least three companies that go by the name of Annapurna. These accounts have been opened in the New York branch of the Swiss Bank Julius Baer.These accounts are Annapurna Convertible Ltd, account number 420331. Annapurna Leverage Ltd, account number 427039 .Annapurna Convertible USD, account number 431916.Money running into crores of rupees has been stashed away in these accounts.57million dollars or Rs 259 crore have been stashed away in Annapurna Convertible ltd. 18.6 million dollars or Rs 84 crore are lying in Annapurna Leverage Limited.And 10.3 million dollars or Rs 45 crore are hidden away in the account of Annapurna Convertible.Interestingly, the documents list the same company and same person as managing all the Annapurna accounts.Annapurna Convertible, Annapurna Leverage and Annapurna Convertible USD are all managed by Pius Fisch ofFisch Asset Management.The other name to come out was that of Asad Ali Khan and his wife Zahida, who was a co-account holder.   Headlines Today scoured through the records sent to us by Rudolf Elmer and found out how Asad Ali Khan had siphoned off a huge amount of money to the Julius Baer Bank in Cayman Islands.A company in the name of Unicorp Services was incorporated in Cayman Islands.Its registered address is Post Box 1100, Kirk House, Grand Cayman Island, BWI.According to Elmer’s documents, the registration number of the company is 00233755.In the year 1999, Asad Ali Khan and Zahida were present for the dissolution of this company as directors of Unicorp Services in Cayman Islands.Elmer’s data also shows that the account was being managed by J.M.I. Gillani.The official address is: Banque Julius Baer, 2 Boulevard du Theatre, Case Postale, CH 1211, Geneva 11, Switzerland.

Where Black money is being used? Election, Air  travel , Tour, Restaurants, Land, Jewelery.

Who is involved in Black Money? Senior bureaucrats (IAS,IPS officers), Ministers of Export-Import,Comerce, Chief Ministers, Top Industrialists , Horse Trader, Liquor Trader.

4000 kg gold sold in year 2010 in India.
144 nations signed UNCAC (United Nation Convention Against Corruption) but India is not signing because Indian Government is engaged in corruption. UNCAC Opened for signature from 9 December 2003 by the UN General Assembly & last date was  14 December 2005.

Highly placed sources in New Delhi and Mumbai say much of the money held in Swiss banks, and other tax havens like the Bahamas, have been routed into the Indian stock exchanges throughParticipatory Note (PN) bought in Mauritius through front companies. Since these instruments are not registered to trade in Indian domestic capital markets, the investors’ names remain undisclosed. “The route to take out the money is hawala and to bring it back is Participatory Note ,” says Hemen Kapadia, one of Mumbai’s top stock market analysts. Roughly 50-60 percent of FII investments, aggregating $85 billion till late 2009, were made through the Participatory Note route. And according to Kapadia, this route saw 75 percent traffic in the last few months. A worried market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is now learnt to have asked several FIIs to furnish details of the Participatory Note issued to their clients, but it has been consistently stonewalled. “They will always win by citing client confidentiality agreements, and I doubt whether SEBI has the necessary legal teeth to probe further,” Kapadia points out.

India`s economic debt—http://www.indiabudget.nic.in/es2009-10/chapt2010/tab84.pdf

FII investment in Indian stocks this year touched a record $18.13 billion ( Rs.82,360 crore), according to the SEBI website. In dollar terms the previous high was in 2007 ($17.65 billion) and in rupee terms in 2009. Stock market analysts say FII investment in rupee terms is lower because of appreciation in the Indian currency against the dollar. The Sensex last year gained over 80 percent — a figure it is likely to surpass this year.

Not taking into account the recently concluded Coal India IPO, the FII bids amounted to Rs. 1.20 lakh crore. Some foreign entities that have placed large bids for Coal India through PNs include Citibank ($1 billion), Merrill Lynch ($2 billion) and Deutsche Bank ($3 billion). The Qualified Institutional Buyer (QIB) quota in the Coal India IPO that was oversubscribed 24 times was primarily due to intense FII interest.

In fact, in 2007, when the then National Security Adviser MK Narayanan had spoken of terror funds routinely penetrating and manipulating the markets, he was hinting at PNs. Earlier, the RBI too had come out with a report expressing concern over the illegal traffic. At that time 89 percent of the funds invested by FIIs had come through the PN route, RBI data showed.According to recent estimates, roughly $200 billion — four times the external debt of Pakistan — is stashed away in Swiss banks and is now being withdrawn.

“A major area of vulnerability for us is the high consolidated public-debt to GDP ratio of over 70 percent … (and) consolidated fiscal deficit,” says the Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Mr. Yaga Venugopal Reddy.

According to CIA world fact book, the Current account balance of India is MINUS -37,510,000,000 (minus) while China is the wealthiest country in the world with $ 426,100,000,000 (Plus) . India listed as 182 and China as no.1 . Money inflow in India is currently Rs 7,000 crore.

Total number of registered corruption cases was 64,00,000 in 1989 , now in year 2010 is 1,64,00,000 .
Hasan Ali 6 Billion Dollar swiss Bank account—-
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Hasan-Alis-6bn-in-Swiss-accounts-missing/articleshow/7365076.cms

Surely it`s time to Ban 1000 rupee note—-
http://www.governancenow.com/news/regular-story/check-corruption-ban-rs-1000-note

Sources say that NGO is the main source of Black Money in India.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/833-NGOs-blacklisted-for-misappropriation-of-funds/H1-Article1-488589.aspx

The GFI report says, “From 1948 through 2008, India lost a total of $213 billion in illicit financial flows (or illegal capital flight). These illicit financial flows were generally the product of corruption, bribery and kickbacks, and criminal activities.” The total of $213 billion is a misleading figure because “the present value of India’s illicit financial flows is at least $462 billion,” the GFIreport explains, adding, “This is based on the short-term US Treasury bill rate as a proxy for the rate of return on assets.” The GFI (Global Financial Integrity) report points out that the “total capital flight represents approximately 16.6 percent of India’s GDP as of year-end 2008”; that “illicit financial flows out of India grew at 11.5 per cent per year”; and, that “India lost $16 billion per year between 2002-2006”.The present value of illicit assets held abroad ($462 billion) “accounts for approximately 72 per cent of India’s underground economy — which has been estimated to account for 50 per cent of India’s GDP ($640 billion at the end of 2008)”. Just above a quarter of illicit assets are helddomestically.The fact that deposits in tax havens have increased from 36.4 per cent of illicit financial flows in 1995 to 54.2 per cent in 2009 tells its own story.

Well if Swiss Bank cann`t give information to India then why Indian Government is not stopping money that they are coming from outside India. But how can a corrupt system do?

We need to start a movement to pressurize the government to do so !! this is perhaps the only way, and a golden opportunity, to expose the high and mighty and weed out corruption !!

Is India poor, who says? Ask Swiss banks With personal account deposit bank of $1500 billion in foreign reserve which have been misappropriated, an amount 13 times larger than the country’s foreign debt, one needs to rethink if India is a poor  country?.

 

 

$181 billion Indian black money in tax havens?

 

Between six and seven trillion dollars worth of black wealth lies hidden in tax havens across the world, according to a fresh estimate by a trio of senior economists from the Bank of Italy. Indians’ share in this is estimated at $152-181 billion, by one calculation. This is only wealth invested in shares and debt securities or held in bank deposits. It is impossible to get a handle on other wealth invested in physical assets like real estate, gold or art.

Released this week, these estimates follow the train of several such estimates in recent years with Gabriel Zucman, of London School of Economics, estimating it at $7.6 trillion, Boston Consulting Group at $8.9 trillion and Tax Justice Network at $21 trillion.

All of this wealth is held in tax havens, which are jurisdictions with weak regulations and strong secrecy laws, using shell companies to conceal original identities. The Italian economists analysed data from IMF and the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) to arrive at the figure.

 

When asked by TOI to estimate the Indian share in this gigantic treasure trove, the researchers were cautious.

There can be two ways of doing this, they told TOI via email. One is to assume that the Indian share in this global hidden wealth was simply the same as India’s share in global GDP, that is, about 2.5% in 2013, the year for which this data pertains. By this measure, the Indian share of hidden wealth is $152-181 billion. That’s about Rs 8.9 to 10.5 lakh crore.

 
Another way of finding out the Indian share of undeclared assets is to look at the Indian share in actual declared portfolio assets—about 0.07% of the total—and assume that the same is valid for hidden assets. By this way, India’s share in black assets works out to $4-5 billion or about Rs 25,000-30,000 crore.

 

These figures for India are just indicative and the three economists — Pellegrini, Sanelli and Tosti — were insistent that they “have to be considered with great care and in no way can represent firm data”. But, having said that, there is no other way of getting even a glimpse of the secret stockpile of wealth stashed away abroad by Indians. So, as a ballpark figure, it does give a hint of what lies buried.

 
Why is there a big discrepancy between the two methods of calculating India’s hidden wealth in tax havens? As the Italian researchers explained, Indians seem to have a much lower propensity for investing in foreign financial assets — that’s why their share in global offshore financial assets, as calculated from IMF data, is a puny 0.07%. But will this reluctance extend to secret investments too? Nobody knows.

 

In all probability, Indian share in foreign black money is somewhere between the two estimates computed above. This is supported by estimates of offshore wealth growth by various agencies. In the Global Wealth 2015 Report, the Boston Consulting Group says that shares of offshore wealth from Middle East and Africa region, Latin America and Asia Pacific were higher than Western Europe and North America, although it also points out that Asia-Pacific contribution is not so high.

 

 

Panama Papers: Global tax evaders list belittles PM Narendra Modi’s 90-day black money hunt

 

 

An investigation by an international media consortium, including the Indian Express, has unearthed several names of wealthy individuals across the world, who have hidden their money in holding companies set up in tax havens.

The Indians named in the list include actors Amitabh Bachhan, Aishwarya Rai Bachhan, DLF promoter KP Singh, Indiabulls owner Sameer Gehlaut, Gautam Adani’s elder brother Vinod Adani and politicians and former chief of the Delhi unit of Loksatta Party, Anurag Kejriwal. These individuals, and in some cases their family members, have formed offshore entities in tax havens by paying to a Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca. This is the case in a nutshell.

 

Now, the obvious question is this. Is it illegal to invest in offshore companies if the earnings are legitimate? No. It is not. But, the problem arises if the money is earned in a jurisdiction, where they are liable to pay taxes, and the money is transferred across the border without doing so. In this case, this becomes ‘unaccounted wealth’ or what is informally known as ‘black money’.

In other words, if the individuals mentioned in the Panama list are able to prove that the money invested in these offshore entities is legitimate and already taxed, there are no issues. Else, they can be in serious trouble.

The Narendra Modi-government is under tremendous pressure to win back black money from abroad to fulfill its poll promises in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. A 90-days black money window it announced last year yielded undisclosed foreign assets of only about Rs 3,770 crore from 638 declarations, a mere fraction of the total stock of blackmoney believed to be stashed abroad. In other words, the scheme was largely a flop show. Under the window, those with unaccounted foreign black money had to pay a tax of 30 percent and a penalty of another 30 percent to come clean.

It is important to note that the Panama list also shows the apparent failure of the the 90-days black money window offered last year to draw foreign blackmoney holders. The fate of the 90-day black money scheme was not too hard to anticipate since no one with ill-gotten wealth or unaccounted wealth would want to sacrifice 60 percent of their money to comply with the government regulations. They would find a way out by the time the arms of the law reach their bank lockers in tax havens.

When the window closed, finance minister, Arun Jaitley had warned in tough words that it will not leave any stone unturned to take action against the guilty. “Those who chose to declare between this period would not be prosecuted under the new black money law… These declarants can now sleep well.” Jaitley said, adding, “those with illegal assets abroad, who have failed to make declaration, would now stand the risk of information relating to them eventually reaching the Indian taxation authorities.”

It is not known whether any individuals whose names are included in the Panama list are among the declarants of the 90-days black money window that expired on 30 September, 2015. If they aren’t and if investigations find that they are indeed tax-evaders, its time for Jaitley to do what he said he would do. This isn’t the first time the list of black money holders surfaces in the media. In a similar investigation, a list of 1100 Indians with Swiss bank deposits was unearthed setting stage for larger debate on the black money issue.

The Modi-government has not made any significant progress on the black money hunt as it promised in the beginning, in terms of recovering money. But, it has indeed initiated efforts to do so. Not just foreign black money, the government is facing equal challenges to deal with the domestic black money holders as well.

 

 

This is also a time when Jaitley, in the Union Budget 2016, announced that a four month (June 1 to September 30, 2016) amnesty-like scheme will be given to domestic black money holders in India to disclose their illegal, unaccounted wealth by paying a total of 45 percent tax. Jaitley hasn’t called it an amnesty, but in principle, it is nothing but an amnesty offered to the tax-evaders. In 1997 when P Chidambaram was Finance Minister, a similar exercise had garnered Rs 10,000 crore revenue to the exchequer.

Besides that, after the Narendra Modi-government came to power, it announced a 90-days amnesty-like window for foreign blackmoney holders charging them 60 percent tax. A total of Rs 4,147 crore of undeclared wealth was declared and the government garnered Rs 2,500 crore from the whole exercise, again a paltry sum considering the kind of blackmoney stashed abroad.

In India, political promise of action against black money is not a convincing one since many of the political parties themselves thrive on funding from the same black money holders. The lack of transparency and the give-and-take relationship between politicians and corporations/wealthy individuals makes it even more difficult to cleanse the system and undertake action against the offenders.

The important question that the Panama list brings to the table is this: Can the Modi-government initiate meaningful action against the offenders by investigating their foreign holdings and, thus, show its seriousness on the black money hunt?

 

Indian black money deposits moved out of Switzerland

 

The Swiss National Bank, the country’s central banking authority, has estimated the funds currently held by Indians in Swiss banks at a mere $1.98 billion.

Fear of disclosure due to greater scrutiny of this illicit wealth has played the main role in the flight of capital. Rashme Sehgal reports from Geneva for Rediff.com

 

Narendra Modi had promised that on becoming prime minister he would ensure that Indian black money stashed in Swiss bank vaults would make its way back to India and every Indian would receive a bonanza of Rs 15 lakh (Rs 1.5 million).

Fifteen months have passed into his prime ministership and there are no signs of any undeclared assets having reached Indian shores. Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah has tried to pass off Modi’s promise as being little more than an ‘election jhumla.’

Banking experts in Switzerland point out that the Rs 15 lakh figure for 1.2 billion Indians is untenable since most of the black money Indians had deposited in Swiss banks was cleared out during the last decade.

As per the latest data, the amount held by Indians through fiduciaries in Swiss banks has reached a record low level, while it used to be in the billions of dollars till about seven years ago.

“The figures of Rs 15 lakh would have worked out to several times India’s present GDP,” a senior Geneva-based tax consultant points out. “Switzerland never saw such massive deposits from any country.”

“More than half the undeclared money from India has been moved to Dubai and Singapore where it could have been invested in real estate, gold or re-entered India through the hawalaroute,” says lawyer Nathalie Bersier, a consultant for Swiss investments in India and vice versa.

“I do not know how Modi made such a remark. The Manmohan Singh government also talked about huge amounts of undeclared Indian money,” Bersier adds, “but the truth is that most of the money has moved out in the last decade.”.

The Swiss National Bank, the country’s central banking authority, according to data released last year, has estimated the funds currently held by Indians in Swiss banks at a mere $1.98 billion.

Fear of disclosure due to greater scrutiny of this illicit wealth has played the main role in the flight of capital.

Contesting the large black money amounts being mentioned in Indian newspapers, Bersier says, “In Switzerland, the perception is that the Indian assets vary between $900 million and $4 billion. I believe the amount would be somewhere in between.”

While Indian deposits may have shown a steady decline, the money held in Swiss banks by foreign depositors rose during 2014 to $1.6 trillion or Rs 103 lakh crore from about Rs 90 lakh crore at the end of 2013.

“From 2009, the Indian government has been highlighting this issue of black money without realising that the easiest thing to do is to close a bank account and transfer the money out,” says Bersier.

“Such a flight of capital has already occurred. Many of these deposits are known to have belonged to politicians which is why no government is forthcoming with the names of the depositors,” she adds.

Her belief is buttressed by the release of data from the Zurich-based Swiss National Bank confirming this trend. As per its latest data, the total Indian deposits held in Swiss banks at the end of 2014 included 1,776 million Swiss francs or Rs 12,350 crore (Rs 123.50 billion) held directly by Indian individuals and entities (down from 1,952 million Swiss francs a year ago), and another 38 million Swiss franc (down from 77.3 million Swiss francs at the end of 2013) through ‘fiduciaries’ or wealth managers.

State secretary for International Financial Matters Jacques de Watteville refused to hazard a guess about just how much money has been moved out of Swiss banks to be invested in Dubai or Singapore. “There are no official on the assets transferred out of Switzerland,” says Watteville.

Asked about the Indian names published in the Swiss Federal Gazette, Watteville says, “The publication of names of Indian account holders in the Swiss Federal Gazette is an internal Swiss legal procedure. Names are only published in the Federal Gazette as a last resort when there is no contact address in Switzerland for foreign residents who are affected by an administrative assistance request. The mere fact to have a name published does not prejudge the legal position of the person concerned.”

Does India need to establish a scheme to regularise offshore assets? “Our understanding is that the Indian government recently opened a ‘compliance window’ for taxpayers to regularise their situation,” says Watteville, referring to the government scheme whereby tax evaders can pay a penalty of 20 percent and get their black money regularised.

“Banking circles are aware that undeclared assets by Indians has been moved out,” says Nicolas Stepczynski, a Geneva-based banker and tax consultant with Berger Van Berchem et Cie. “Rich Indian families are already under great scrutiny by their government and therefore known to be very careful with their finances.”

Will the famed secrecy wall of Switzerland’s banking system finally show cracks? The Swiss Federal Council, Switzerland’s highest executive authority, recently declared that it is holding consultations with the Tax Administrative Assistance Act to ease practises with regard to stolen data.

For the present, Switzerland has refused to acknowledge leaked data as was the case of 600 Indian depositors at HSBC whose names were leaked by whistleblower Herve Falciani in 2006.

Falciani gave the list to the French government — who provided the information to the Indian government — rather than to the Swiss government because he felt it would not have investigated the matter further.

Bersier does not see too much emerging from the Federal Council consultations. “They are at a very early stage. Discussions have been held between the Swiss and Indian governments on the need to detect, recover and repatriate illegal deposits, but all the information available with the Indian government is based on stolen documents.”

“The key issue is what pressure the Indian government can exert on the Swiss government,” says Bersier. “The US threatened to close all Swiss banks operating in the US which led to the Swiss immediately signing a treaty with the US and UK. There are no Swiss banks operating in India.”

On the subject of the Automatic Exchange of Information between the Swiss and Indian governments expected to be operationalised by 2018, Bersier is equally cynical.

Erecting the AEOI platform is all very well, she feels, but it is too little too late. “By the time it becomes operational,” Bersier says, “all the illegal deposits will have been moved out. There are any number of countries where this money can be moved to.”

India has set up a Special Investigation Team headed by Justice B M Shah to look into the issue of black money. Justice Shah has welcomed the Swiss Federal Council’s approval of the bill to amend its laws to allow its government to share information with countries on the basis on what is perceived to be stolen data.

Detection and recovery of black money in foreign tax havens is a key concern of the Modi government.

 

India cites UN convention to help unearth black money

 

As Indian agencies look to bring back black money and ‘proceeds of crime’ stashed by individuals and companies in tax havens, the Narendra Modi government has drawn the attention of world leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, to the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) which says that countries should extend cooperation in giving information on stolen or unaccounted assets.

India also pointed to the leaders and their representatives that nations should not hide behind bank secrecy laws when it comes to sharing information on “unaccounted money” lying in their banks and other financial institutions.

Representing India at the global Anti-Corruption Summit in London on May 11-12, central vigilance commissioner KV Chowdary , said, “Mr Prime Minister (David Cameron), India would like to stress that as stated in Article 51, the return of assets is a fundamental principle of UNCAC, and states/ parties must afford one another widest measures of international cooperation in facilitating quick return of stolen assets, including unaccounted assets and particularly assets in safe havens, to the countries of origin.”

Chowdary was accompanied by Enforcement Directorate chief Karnal Singh for the summit.

He said India will support the reporting on “tax information for large multinational enterprises” and that “India will take steps required for preventing corruption in government, its institutions and in businesses”. “We are also committed on the issue of return of unaccounted wealth from safe havens and for persistent and consistent efforts on asset recovery,” he said.

India’s statement in the summit said, “As advised by G20 and endorsed by the Doha declaration adopted at the 13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, India advocates the extending of all assistance to the requesting States in identification, tracing, freezing, seizure, recovery and repatriation of assets.” “We firmly advocate that all State Parties should ensure cooperation in dissemination of information without any impediment of bank secrecy laws, to the requesting country,” said the statement.

 

Global Tax Havens or Havens For Dirty Money

By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

 

Gabriel Zucman, the author of the 2015 book “The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens,” estimates that $7.6 trillion is stashed in tax havens. This amounts to 8 percent of the world’s personal financial wealth. The author believes that if all of this illegally hidden money were properly recorded and taxed, global tax revenues would grow by more than $200 billion a year.

Interestingly, on April 3, 2016, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, leaked massive documents known as “Panama Papers” which reveal the shadowy world of hidden offshore finances of presidents and prime ministers. The biggest leak of financial data in history exposes the offshore holdings of 12 current and former world leaders and provides details of the hidden financial dealings of 128 more politicians and public officials around the world.

The German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), which worked on the leaked documents with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, said the data provides rare insights into a world that can only exist in the shadows. It proves how a global industry led by major banks, legal firms, and asset management companies secretly manages the estates of the world’s rich and famous: from politicians, FIFA officials, fraudsters and drug smugglers, to celebrities and professional athletes.

According to The Guardian, the Panama Papers are an unprecedented leak of 11.5m files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The documents show the myriad ways in which the rich can exploit secretive offshore tax regimes. The massive leak of confidential documents from a Panamanian law firm has shown how some of the world’s richest people hide assets to avoid paying taxes.

Among national leaders with offshore wealth are Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister; Ayad Allawi, ex-interim prime minister and former vice-president of Iraq; Petro Poroshenko, president of Ukraine; Alaa Mubarak, son of Egypt’s former president; and the prime minister of Iceland, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has formed a high-level judicial commission to probe any financial wrongdoing, a day after three of his children were named in the ‘Panama Papers’ for owning offshore companies prompting demands for an enquiry by the opposition. Documents on the ICIJ website said Sharif’s children – Mariam, Hasan and Hussain – “were owners or had the right to authorize transactions for several companies”. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s relatives Samina Durrani and Ilyas Mehraj have also figured in the documents examined.

Iceland’s prime minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, became the first major casualty of the Panama Papers, stepping aside from his office amid mounting public outrage that his family had sheltered money offshore.

A $2bn trail leads all the way to Vladimir Putin’s best friend Sergei Roldugin who is at the centre of a scheme in which money from Russian state banks is hidden offshore. A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin told The Guardian that the media investigation into offshore accounts is motivated by “Putinphobia,” and that he has not been implicated in any wrongdoing.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “it’s obvious that the main target of such attacks is our president,” and claimed that the publication was aimed at influencing Russia’s stability and parliamentary elections scheduled for September. He suggested the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which co-ordinated the international investigation, has ties to the U.S. government.

Family members of at least eight current or former members of China’s Politburo Standing Committee, the country’s main ruling body, have offshore companies arranged though Mossack Fonseca. They include President Xi’s brother-in-law, who set up two British Virgin Islands companies in 2009. China’s foreign ministry dismissed reports of the leaks from the Mossack Fonseca database as ‘groundless accusations’. A Communist party censorship directive instructed news organizations to purge all reports, blogs, bulletin boards and comments relating to Panama Papers revelations.

Twenty-three individuals who have had sanctions imposed on them for supporting the regimes in North Korea, Zimbabwe, Russia, Iran and Syria have been clients of Mossack Fonseca. Their companies were harbored by the Seychelles, the British Virgin Islands, Panama and other jurisdictions.

Tax Havens

Jill Lawless of the Associated Press says there’s one part of the British Empire on which the sun still does not set: its tax havens. Britain’s former world dominance has left it with a string of tiny territories scattered around the globe, and many of them have become hubs for hiding money. Despite growing political pressure, shutting down these and other tax havens may be easier said than done, Jill said.

As Britain’s colonies gained independence after World War II, London encouraged several small Caribbean islands to become tax havens as a means to self-sufficiency. As a result, many of the world’s tax havens have British links, including overseas territories such as the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. The Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey off the French coast, which are possessions of the British Crown, have been havens for the wealthy and their money for almost a century.

More than half the 200,000 companies set up for clients by Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca in the leaked files are registered in the British Virgin Islands, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean.

According to the BBC two broad qualifications for being a tax haven are to have a low or zero rate of income tax and guarantee the rich a cloak of secrecy they would not receive in their own country. They have also been used to cover up criminal activity.

Since 2009, many attempts have been made to crack down on abuses. More than 700 tax transparency deals have been signed globally. Places including Switzerland, the Channel Islands and Luxembourg have tightened the rules, but Panama and the British Virgin Islands are among those criticized for not doing enough. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Group of 20 nations have persuaded more than 90 countries to share financial data in a bid to crack down on secret dealings.

Mossack Fonseca

The Panama Papers make it clear that major banks are big drivers behind the creation of hard-to-trace companies in the British Virgin Islands, Panama and other offshore havens. They list nearly 15,600 paper companies that banks set up for clients who want keep their finances under wraps, including thousands created by international giants UBS and HSBC.

Mossack Fonseca is one of the world’s top creators of shell companies, corporate structures that can be used to hide ownership of assets. The law firm’s leaked internal files contain information on 214,488 offshore entities connected to people in more than 200 countries and territories.

The offshore system relies on a sprawling global industry of bankers, lawyers, accountants and these go-betweens who work together to protect their clients’ secrets. These secrecy experts use anonymous companies, trusts and other paper entities to create complex structures that can be used to disguise the origins of dirty money.

The Mossack Fonseca law firm has worked closely with big banks and big law firms in places like The Netherlands, Mexico, the United States and Switzerland, helping clients move money or slash their tax bills, the secret records show.

Big U.S. firms hold $2.1 trillion overseas to avoid taxes

Not surprisingly, in October 2015, an economic study revealed that the 500 largest American companies hold more than $2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore to avoid U.S. taxes and would collectively owe an estimated $620 billion in U.S. taxes if they repatriated the funds.

The study, by Citizens for Tax Justice and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, found that nearly three-quarters of the firms on the Fortune 500 list of biggest American companies by gross revenue operate tax haven subsidiaries in countries like Bermuda, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Apple was holding $181.1 billion offshore, more than any other U.S. company, and would owe an estimated $59.2 billion in U.S. taxes if it tried to bring the money back to the United States from its three overseas tax havens, the study said.

General Electric has booked $119 billion offshore in 18 tax havens, software firm Microsoft is holding $108.3 billion in five tax haven subsidiaries and drug company Pfizer is holding $74 billion in 151 subsidiaries, the study said.

“At least 358 companies, nearly 72 percent of the Fortune 500, operate subsidiaries in tax haven jurisdictions as of the end of 2014,” the study said. “All told these 358 companies maintain at least 7,622 tax haven subsidiaries.”

Fortune 500 companies hold more than $2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore to avoid taxes, with just 30 of the firms accounting for $1.4 trillion of that amount, or 65 percent, the study found.

In September 2015, a U.S. federal judge authorized the Internal Revenue Service to seek the names of Americans using accounts at two Belize banks.

 

 

US Corporate Tax Cheats Hiding $1.4 Trillion In Profits In Offshore Accounts

By Patrick Martin

 

A report issued Thursday by the British charity Oxfam found that the 50 largest US corporations are hiding $1.4 trillion in profits in overseas accounts to avoid US income taxes, much of it in tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

The biggest tax dodger is technology giant Apple, with $181 billion held offshore. General Electric had the second-largest stash, at $119 billion, enough to repay four times over the $28 billion GE received in federal guarantees during the 2008 Wall Street crash. Microsoft had $108 billion in overseas accounts, with companies like Exxon Mobil, Pfizer, IBM, Cisco Systems, Google, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson rounding out the top ten.

Overseas tax havens have been the focus of recent revelations about tax scams by wealthy individuals, based on the leak of the “Panama Papers,” documents from a single Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca, involving 214,000 offshore shell companies. The firm’s clients included 29 billionaires and 140 top politicians worldwide, among them a dozen heads of government.

But the sums involved in corporate tax scams dwarf those hidden away by individuals. According to the Oxfam report, the offshore manipulations by the 50 largest US corporations cost the US taxpayer $111 billion each year, while robbing another $100 billion annually from countries overseas, many of them desperately poor.

The $111 billion a year in US taxes evaded would be sufficient to eliminate 90 percent of child poverty in America, effectively wiping out that social scourge. It is more than the annual cost of the food stamp program, or unemployment benefits, or the total budget of the Department of Education.

Oxfam timed the release of its report for the April 15 income tax deadline in the United States (actually Monday, April 18 this year), when tens of millions of working people must file their income tax returns or face federal penalties. Working people could face additional tax penalties of up to 2 percent of household income, to a maximum of $975, under the Obamacare “individual mandate,” if they have not purchased private health insurance.

There is a stark contrast between the IRS hounding of working people for relatively small amounts of money—but difficult or impossible to pay for those on low incomes—and the green light given to corporate tax cheats who evade taxation on trillions in income.

 

“As Americans rush to finalize tax returns, multinational corporations that benefit from trillions in taxpayer-funded support are dodging billions in taxes,” said Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America. “The vast sums large companies stash in tax havens should be fighting poverty and rebuilding America’s infrastructure, not hidden offshore in Panama, Bahamas, or the Cayman Islands.”

The Oxfam report, titled “Broken at the Top,” expresses concern that “tax dodging by multinational corporations…contributes to dangerous inequality that is undermining our social fabric and hindering economic growth.”

It continues: “This inequality is fueled by an economic and political system that benefits the rich and powerful at the expense of the rest, causing the gains of economic growth over the last several decades to go disproportionately to the already wealthy. Among the most damning examples of this rigged system is the way large, profitable companies use offshore tax havens, and other aggressive and secretive methods, to dramatically lower their corporate tax rates in the United States and developing countries alike.”

Oxfam collected figures available from the 10-K reports and other financial documents issued by the 50 largest US companies, covering the period since the Wall Street crash, 2008 through 2014, and presented them in an interactive table. The figures included total profits, federal taxes paid, total US taxes paid (including state and local), lobbying expenses, tax breaks, money held in offshore accounts, and benefits received from the federal government, including loans, loan guarantees and bailouts.

Among the most important findings:

* The top 50 companies made nearly $4 trillion in profits globally, but paid only $412 billion in federal income tax, for an effective tax rate of barely 10 percent, compared to the statutory rate of 35 percent.

* The 50 companies spent $2.6 billion to influence the federal government, while reaping nearly $11.2 trillion in federal support, for an effective return of 400,000 percent on their lobbying expenses.

* The overseas cash stashed by the 50 companies, nearly $1.4 trillion, is larger than the Gross Domestic Product of Russia, Mexico, Spain or South Korea.

* US multinationals reported 43 percent of their foreign earnings from five tax havens, countries that accounted for only 4 percent of their foreign workforce and 7 percent of foreign investment. All told, US companies shifted between $500 billion and $700 billion in profits from countries where economic activity actually took place to countries where tax rates were low.

* In the year 2012 alone, US firms reported $80 billion in profits in Bermuda, more than their combined reported profits in the four largest economies (after the US itself): China, Japan, Germany and France. This figure was nearly 20 times the total GDP of the tiny island country.

The Oxfam report also pointed to an estimated $100 billion in taxes evaded in foreign countries, many of them rich in natural resources extracted by such global giants as Exxon, Chevron and Dow Chemical. According to the report, “Taxes paid, or unpaid, by multinational companies in poor countries can be the difference between life and death, poverty or opportunity. $100 billion is four times what the 47 least developed countries in the world spend on education for their 932 million citizens. $100 billion is equivalent to what it would cost to provide basic life-saving health services or safe water and sanitation to more than 2.2 billion people.”

The report cited former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s assessment that “Africa loses more money each year to tax dodging than it receives in international development assistance.”

Oxfam offered no solution to the growth of inequality and the systematic looting by big corporations that its report documents, except to urge governments around the world to close tax loopholes. The group also pleads with the corporate bosses themselves not to be quite so greedy. Neither capitalist governments nor the CEOs will pay the slightest attention. But the working class should take note of these figures, which provide ample evidence of the bankrupt and reactionary nature of capitalism, and the urgent necessity of building a mass movement, on a global scale, to put an end to the profit system.

 

Global Tax Havens or Havens For Dirty Money

By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

 

Gabriel Zucman, the author of the 2015 book “The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens,” estimates that $7.6 trillion is stashed in tax havens. This amounts to 8 percent of the world’s personal financial wealth. The author believes that if all of this illegally hidden money were properly recorded and taxed, global tax revenues would grow by more than $200 billion a year.

Interestingly, on April 3, 2016, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, leaked massive documents known as “Panama Papers” which reveal the shadowy world of hidden offshore finances of presidents and prime ministers. The biggest leak of financial data in history exposes the offshore holdings of 12 current and former world leaders and provides details of the hidden financial dealings of 128 more politicians and public officials around the world.

The German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), which worked on the leaked documents with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, said the data provides rare insights into a world that can only exist in the shadows. It proves how a global industry led by major banks, legal firms, and asset management companies secretly manages the estates of the world’s rich and famous: from politicians, FIFA officials, fraudsters and drug smugglers, to celebrities and professional athletes.

According to The Guardian, the Panama Papers are an unprecedented leak of 11.5m files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The documents show the myriad ways in which the rich can exploit secretive offshore tax regimes. The massive leak of confidential documents from a Panamanian law firm has shown how some of the world’s richest people hide assets to avoid paying taxes.

Among national leaders with offshore wealth are Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister; Ayad Allawi, ex-interim prime minister and former vice-president of Iraq; Petro Poroshenko, president of Ukraine; Alaa Mubarak, son of Egypt’s former president; and the prime minister of Iceland, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has formed a high-level judicial commission to probe any financial wrongdoing, a day after three of his children were named in the ‘Panama Papers’ for owning offshore companies prompting demands for an enquiry by the opposition. Documents on the ICIJ website said Sharif’s children – Mariam, Hasan and Hussain – “were owners or had the right to authorize transactions for several companies”. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s relatives Samina Durrani and Ilyas Mehraj have also figured in the documents examined.

Iceland’s prime minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, became the first major casualty of the Panama Papers, stepping aside from his office amid mounting public outrage that his family had sheltered money offshore.

A $2bn trail leads all the way to Vladimir Putin’s best friend Sergei Roldugin who is at the centre of a scheme in which money from Russian state banks is hidden offshore. A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin told The Guardian that the media investigation into offshore accounts is motivated by “Putinphobia,” and that he has not been implicated in any wrongdoing.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “it’s obvious that the main target of such attacks is our president,” and claimed that the publication was aimed at influencing Russia’s stability and parliamentary elections scheduled for September. He suggested the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which co-ordinated the international investigation, has ties to the U.S. government.

Family members of at least eight current or former members of China’s Politburo Standing Committee, the country’s main ruling body, have offshore companies arranged though Mossack Fonseca. They include President Xi’s brother-in-law, who set up two British Virgin Islands companies in 2009. China’s foreign ministry dismissed reports of the leaks from the Mossack Fonseca database as ‘groundless accusations’. A Communist party censorship directive instructed news organizations to purge all reports, blogs, bulletin boards and comments relating to Panama Papers revelations.

Twenty-three individuals who have had sanctions imposed on them for supporting the regimes in North Korea, Zimbabwe, Russia, Iran and Syria have been clients of Mossack Fonseca. Their companies were harbored by the Seychelles, the British Virgin Islands, Panama and other jurisdictions.

Tax Havens

Jill Lawless of the Associated Press says there’s one part of the British Empire on which the sun still does not set: its tax havens. Britain’s former world dominance has left it with a string of tiny territories scattered around the globe, and many of them have become hubs for hiding money. Despite growing political pressure, shutting down these and other tax havens may be easier said than done, Jill said.

As Britain’s colonies gained independence after World War II, London encouraged several small Caribbean islands to become tax havens as a means to self-sufficiency. As a result, many of the world’s tax havens have British links, including overseas territories such as the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. The Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey off the French coast, which are possessions of the British Crown, have been havens for the wealthy and their money for almost a century.

More than half the 200,000 companies set up for clients by Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca in the leaked files are registered in the British Virgin Islands, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean.

According to the BBC two broad qualifications for being a tax haven are to have a low or zero rate of income tax and guarantee the rich a cloak of secrecy they would not receive in their own country. They have also been used to cover up criminal activity.

Since 2009, many attempts have been made to crack down on abuses. More than 700 tax transparency deals have been signed globally. Places including Switzerland, the Channel Islands and Luxembourg have tightened the rules, but Panama and the British Virgin Islands are among those criticized for not doing enough. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Group of 20 nations have persuaded more than 90 countries to share financial data in a bid to crack down on secret dealings.

Mossack Fonseca

The Panama Papers make it clear that major banks are big drivers behind the creation of hard-to-trace companies in the British Virgin Islands, Panama and other offshore havens. They list nearly 15,600 paper companies that banks set up for clients who want keep their finances under wraps, including thousands created by international giants UBS and HSBC.

Mossack Fonseca is one of the world’s top creators of shell companies, corporate structures that can be used to hide ownership of assets. The law firm’s leaked internal files contain information on 214,488 offshore entities connected to people in more than 200 countries and territories.

The offshore system relies on a sprawling global industry of bankers, lawyers, accountants and these go-betweens who work together to protect their clients’ secrets. These secrecy experts use anonymous companies, trusts and other paper entities to create complex structures that can be used to disguise the origins of dirty money.

The Mossack Fonseca law firm has worked closely with big banks and big law firms in places like The Netherlands, Mexico, the United States and Switzerland, helping clients move money or slash their tax bills, the secret records show.

Big U.S. firms hold $2.1 trillion overseas to avoid taxes

Not surprisingly, in October 2015, an economic study revealed that the 500 largest American companies hold more than $2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore to avoid U.S. taxes and would collectively owe an estimated $620 billion in U.S. taxes if they repatriated the funds.

The study, by Citizens for Tax Justice and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, found that nearly three-quarters of the firms on the Fortune 500 list of biggest American companies by gross revenue operate tax haven subsidiaries in countries like Bermuda, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Apple was holding $181.1 billion offshore, more than any other U.S. company, and would owe an estimated $59.2 billion in U.S. taxes if it tried to bring the money back to the United States from its three overseas tax havens, the study said.

General Electric has booked $119 billion offshore in 18 tax havens, software firm Microsoft is holding $108.3 billion in five tax haven subsidiaries and drug company Pfizer is holding $74 billion in 151 subsidiaries, the study said.

“At least 358 companies, nearly 72 percent of the Fortune 500, operate subsidiaries in tax haven jurisdictions as of the end of 2014,” the study said. “All told these 358 companies maintain at least 7,622 tax haven subsidiaries.”

Fortune 500 companies hold more than $2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore to avoid taxes, with just 30 of the firms accounting for $1.4 trillion of that amount, or 65 percent, the study found.

In September 2015, a U.S. federal judge authorized the Internal Revenue Service to seek the names of Americans using accounts at two Belize banks.

 

PIL – Legal Prosecution of  Government officials , Public Servants  involved in Reliance  Scams

 

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. OF 2015

IN THE MATTER OF

NAGARAJA . M.R  ,

editor  ,  SOS e  Clarion  of   Dalit  &  SOS  e  Voice  for  Justice ,

# LIG 2 , No 761 , HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,

Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State

…..Petitioner

Versus

Honourable  Cabinet  Secretary ,  PMO , Government of  India  & Others

….Respondents

PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 12 to ARTICLE 35 & ARTICLE 51A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF

MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.

To ,

Hon’ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship’s Companion

Justices of the Supreme Court of India. The Humble petition of the Petitioner above named.

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :

1. Facts of the case:

Our  whole hearted respects  to honest few in judiciary , parliament & public service. Our salutes to them , due to  honest efforts of those few  noble persons only at least democracy is surviving in India.

A .  “Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed.” Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt people’s representatives , police , public servants & Judges. Some of the below mentioned judges fall among the category of churchill’s men – Rogues , Rascals & Freebooters.

B . Loot of natural resources , telecom  spectrum  &  public property  in  India  and  illegal aid  to  those criminals by government officials.

2. Question(s) of Law:

Are  government  officials ,  telecom , petroleum , finance department officials  , police & revenue officials who aided  loot ,  above Law & can go scot free ?

3. Grounds:

Requests for equitable justice , legal prosecution & punishment of guilty  government  officials  and public servants .

4. Averment:

Give what action has been taken by government of india  or state governments  or other statutory bodies  against reliance industries  for it’s irregularities in telecom , oil sector , etc.

That the present petitioner has not filed any other petition (which are admitted by courts) in any High Court or the Supreme Court of India on the subject matter of the present petition.

PRAYER:

In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased:

(i) Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.

(ii) Hereby , I do request  the honourble supreme court of india to  legally prosecute  guilty officials  mentioned in the above said report.

(iii) Hereby , I do request  the honourble supreme court of india  to uphold the constitution of india  , to protect natural resources and to protect the constitutional rights of all Indian citizens including mine.
(iv) Hereby , I do request  the honourble supreme court of india  to  immediately keep all government officials mentioned in the above said report under suspension from service & to take necessary steps to protect all type of evidences.

(v) to pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case.

FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY.

Date :  28^th November  2015………………………………Filed By : Nagaraja.M.R.

Place : Mysuru India…………………………………………..Petitioner in person

 

PIL – Legal Prosecution of officials involved in Bellary Mining Scam

 

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO. OF 2015

IN THE MATTER OF

NAGARAJA . M.R  ,

editor  ,  SOS e  Clarion  of   Dalit  &  SOS  e  Voice  for  Justice ,

# LIG 2 , No 761 , HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,

Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State

…..Petitioner

Versus

Honourable Chief  Secretary , Government of Karnataka  & Others

….Respondents

PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 12 to ARTICLE 35 & ARTICLE 51A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF

MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.

To ,

Hon’ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship’s Companion

Justices of the Supreme Court of India. The Humble petition of the Petitioner above named.

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :

1. Facts of the case:

Our  whole hearted respects  to honest few in judiciary , parliament & public service. Our salutes to them , due to  honest efforts of those few  noble persons only at least democracy is surviving in India.

A .  “Power will go to the hands of rascals, , rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight among themselves for power and will be lost in political squabbles . A day would come when even air & water will be taxed.” Sir Winston made this statement in the House of Commons just before the independence of India & Pakistan. Sadly , the forewarning of Late Winston Churchill has been proved right by some of our criminal , corrupt people’s representatives , police , public servants & Judges. Some of the below mentioned judges fall among the category of churchill’s men – Rogues , Rascals & Freebooters.

B . Loot of natural resources in Karnataka state  and  illegal aid  to  those criminals by government officials. Read  Karnataka Lokayukta Mining scam report .

2. Question(s) of Law:

Are  forest officials , police & revenue officials who aided  bellary mining loot ,  above Law & can go scot free ?

3. Grounds:

Requests for equitable justice , legal prosecution & punishment of guilty police , revenue , forest officials.

4. Averment:

GIVE WHAT ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN AGAINST THE GUILTY  GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS  MENTIONED  IN THE KARNATAKA LOKAYUKTA REPORT  submitted by Justice Santosh Hegde &  Shri.U.V.Singh ABOUT BELLARY MINING SCAM. IF NOT WHY ?  REASONS THEROF.

How many guilty government officials mentioned in the above report  got promotions , continuing in service making it easy for them to tamper evidences ?

What action against  public servants , officials who are hushing up the case & protecting the guilty ?

The Petitioner has sent many letters / appeals / petitions to supreme court of india & other courts through e-mail , DARPG website & through regular mail requesting them to consider those as PILs. But none of them were admitted , even acknowledgement for receipts were not given. See How duty conscious ,our judges are & see how our judges are sensitive towards life , liberty of citizens , commonmen & see how careless our judges are towards anti national crimes , crimes worth crores of rupees.

That the present petitioner has not filed any other petition (which are admitted by courts) in any High Court or the Supreme Court of India on the subject matter of the present petition.

PRAYER:

In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased:

(i) Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties & to answer the questions.

(ii) Hereby , I do request  the honourble supreme court of india to  legally prosecute  guilty officials  mentioned in the above said report.

(iii) Hereby , I do request  the honourble supreme court of india  to uphold the constitution of india  , to protect natural resources and to protect the constitutional rights of all Indian citizens including mine.
(iv) Hereby , I do request  the honourble supreme court of india  to  immediately keep all government officials mentioned in the above said report under suspension from service & to take necessary steps to protect all type of evidences.

(v) to pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case.

FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY.

Date :  04^th November  2015………………………………Filed By : Nagaraja.M.R.

Place : Mysuru India……………………………………Petitioner in person

 

Editorial :  Scams , Illegalities in  Trusts , CSR  Funds

   Trusts , Associations  are ideally formed , funded  by noble persons  to  work for achieving certain noble social objectives like education to deprived , health care to poor , etc. Ideally these trusts enjoy the faith , confidence of public and collect donations from them to achieve their stated objectives.

Of late , many NGOs , Trusts  are formed by  rich cunning people , corporate bodies solely to divert the black money. They lack accountability to the public , donors. Religious , charitable trusts  which are formed  to propagate religious preaching indulge in  business of establishing hi fi medical , engineering colleges earning donations to the tune of  millions of  rupees every year. Most of the financial transactions  of these trusts takes place by cash payments without proper documentation to by   pass legal scrutiny.

Many office bearers  / founders of these  trusts  treat  their trusts  as their personal fiefdoms and spend the resources of trust  for their personal hi fi lifestyles. Administrative expenses of these trusts are  much more than the expenses  made towards the  objectives of these trusts.  There are also possibilities of siphoning off money to illegal activities.

 

The tax exemptions given to these trusts by government are in essence a donation made by public exchequer  to the very same trust to the tune  of tax amount if enforced. Government also gives  land  at  concessional rates to these trusts , that subsidy amount is also a donation by public exchequer to the trust. So , naturally  functioning of  all religious , charitable , educational , political trusts must be brought under  the ambit of  RTI. A cap on administrative expenses of trusts must be enforced.  Office bearers of trusts  who violate  the  stated objectives of trusts must be  charged for public cheating & money must be recovered from them. Such trusts should be superseded and brought under the control of government.

Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.

 

Your’s

Nagaraja.M.R.

 

 

PIL –  Scams in Public  Trusts

An  Appeal to Honourable Supreme Court of  India

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO.         OF    2016

IN THE MATTER OF

NAGARAJA . M.R

editor ,  SOS e Clarion of Dalit & SOS e Voice for Justice
# LIG 2 , No 761 ,, HUDCO First Stage , Laxmikantanagar ,
Hebbal , Mysore – 570017 , Karnataka State
.
….Petitioner

Versus

Honourable   Chief Secretary , Government of Karnataka  & Others

….Respondents

PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 12 to ARTICLE 35 & ARTICLE 51A OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF MANDAMUS UNDER ARTICLE 32 & ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA.

To ,
Hon’ble The Chief Justice of India and His Lordship’s Companion Justices of the Supreme Court of India.

 

The Humble petition of the   Petitioner above named.

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH :
1. Facts of the case:

Trusts , Associations  are ideally formed , funded  by noble persons  to  work for achieving certain noble social objectives like education to deprived , health care to poor , etc. Ideally these trusts enjoy the faith , confidence of public and collect donations from them to achieve their stated objectives.

Of late , many NGOs , Trusts  are formed by  rich cunning people , corporate bodies solely to divert the black money. They lack accountability to the public , donors. Religious , charitable trusts  which are formed  to propagate religious preaching indulge in  business of establishing hi fi medical , engineering colleges earning donations to the tune of  millions of  rupees every year. Most of the financial transactions  of these trusts takes place by cash payments without proper documentation to by   pass legal scrutiny.

Many office bearers  / founders of these  trusts  treat  their trusts  as their personal fiefdoms and spend the resources of trust  for their personal hi fi lifestyles. Administrative expenses of these trusts are  much more than the expenses  made towards the  objectives of these trusts.  There are also possibilities of siphoning off money to illegal activities.

 

The tax exemptions given to these trusts by government are in essence a donation made by public exchequer  to the very same trust to the tune  of tax amount if enforced. Government also gives  land  at  concessional rates to these trusts , that subsidy amount is also a donation by public exchequer to the trust. So , naturally  functioning of  all religious , charitable , educational , political trusts must be brought under  the ambit of  RTI. A cap on administrative expenses of trusts must be enforced.  Office bearers of trusts  who violate  the  stated objectives of trusts must be  charged for public cheating & money must be recovered from them. Such trusts should be superseded and brought under the control of government.

 
2. Question(s) of Law:

Why political trusts , religious trusts  lack public accountability ? are they above law ?
3. Grounds:
Requests for equitable justice.

4. Averment:

Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the concerned public servants in the following cases to perform their duties.

That the present petitioner has not filed any other petition (which are admitted by courts) in any High Court or the Supreme Court of India on the subject matter of the present petition.

PRAYER:
In the above premises, it is prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased:
a . Hereby , I do request the honorable supreme court of India to consider this as a PIL for : “writ of Mandamus” and to issue instructions to the chief secretaries of all stae governments ,  the concerned public servants  in the present case , to perform their duties.

b . to pass such other orders and further orders as may be deemed necessary on the facts and in the circumstances of the case.

c. to  order all type of trusts to conduct their financial transactions  through banks only.

d. to order all type of trusts to make their functioning public and  to disclose their activities under RTI.

e. to order trusts  not to indulge in activities other than the stated objectives of trust and not to spend trust money  for the puroses other than mentioned in the objectives.

f. to put a cap on the administarative expenses , office bearers expenses of trusts.

g. to initiate criminal charges against the office bearers of trusts who have misused , diverted trust resources and recover such money from them with penal interest.

h. to supersede all the trusts which violate law and to bring thm under the control of government.

FOR WHICH ACT OF KINDNESS, THE PETITIONER SHALL BE DUTY BOUND, EVER PRAY.

Dated :  13^th  July 2016 …………………….FILED BY: NAGARAJA.M.R.

Place :   Mysuru , India…………………….   PETITIONER-IN-PERSON

 

 

 

 

Donations Scam In  Educational Trusts

–          I-T  Department Exposes  scam worth crores

 

According to I-T officials, the operations were conducted mainly in Karnataka and Maharashtra (including Pune and Mumbai) that have clusters of universities and professional colleges.

 

Educational trusts that run professional colleges, primarily medical and engineering colleges, by collecting donations as high as Rs 1 crore have come under the Income-Tax (I-T) department’s scanner. The I-T department has raised Rs 100 crore in tax demand from some trusts in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru for irregularities and misusing tax benefits meant for charitable trusts. According to I-T sleuths, several institutions were surveyed in the last two months, and, in a few cases, searches were conducted as well. The findings of the survey have been sent to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money. “The total amount of the scam is not yet quantified,” said an official directly involved with the operation. A large chunk of unaccounted money, accepted as donations, is used for personal benefits, and, of course, do not get declared. This results in the generation of black money,” said the official.

 

According to I-T officials, the operations were conducted mainly in Karnataka and Maharashtra (including Pune and Mumbai) that have clusters of universities and professional colleges. The action follows the government’s move to curb black money generation within the country. The finance ministry is of the view that the bulk of black money is still within India. A senior I-T official said, “Investigations have revealed that several trust-run educational institutions accept donations for admissions and deposit them in multiple bank accounts. In some cases, demand draft/bank challans were purchased in favour of the trust president, and they used multiple challans to keep the amounts low.”

“Nobody can object to charity or donations, but, at the same time, when large sums get donated, it rings an alarm bell unless the payments are made by account payee cheques with the donor’s name and Permanent Account Number,” a former DGIT told dna. “Some of these institutions are owned by big corporates and industrialists. In certain instances, it was found that trusts were created to divert funds,” said another official.

Discreet investigations have revealed that there were 3-4 intermediaries, and, quite often, office-bearers of these colleges accepted donations in cash. Admissions to under-graduate and post-graduate programmes were the main focal points for such acceptance of cash donations and done with the knowledge of the president of the trusts.

“There are at 3-4 intermediaries in the entire process – right from office-bearers to trustee owners. The main concern is that, in all cases, co-operative banks are being used to channelise donations. Henceforth, involvement of banks will also be investigated,” said an investigating officer. It has also been observed that many institutions do not specify the sources of income in their income statement and balance sheets.

In many cases, permissions were not taken from the appropriate authority for leasing out property for educational programmes. No plot or land can be leased out for any other purpose than education and without special permission from the leasing authority.

“In a few instances, the trustees have shown demand drafts received as donation from parents but we found that these drafts were from the same bank branch, indicating that they were breaking up cash into smaller drafts and depositing part of the donations back to the accounts maintained by the trust,” said I-T officials.

According to I-T sleuths, trustees created ‘proxy students’ who would take admissions under the government quota, only to be auctioned by the college to the highest bidder. This practice is rampant in private medical institutions. The income of a charitable trust is exempt from I-T, according to the provisions of Section 11, 12 and 13 of the I-T Act. However, to avail of this exemption, the activities of such trust/society should fall within the definition of ‘charitable purpose’.

It is often a topic of dispute among tax authorities whether high-end educational institutions, providing modern and state-of-the-art educational aid, should be allowed to undertake activities that are charitable or commercial in nature

 

 

Government seeks to tighten regulations for charitable trusts

 

The proposal will have implications for the way trusts claim tax exemptions and receive anonymous donations

 

Budget proposals to tighten the regulation of charitable trusts and institutions will have major implications for the way trusts currently claim tax exemptions and receive anonymous donations, experts said.

Aiming to prevent the abuse of tax exemptions, finance minister Arun Jaitley’s budget last week introduced provisions that seek to end the practice of trusts claiming double tax benefits, or tax exemption even when the income is not being used for charitable purposes. The budget also sought to make it easier for the tax department to cancel the registration of such trusts. And in an attempt to check money laundering, the government changed the tax treatment to discourage anonymous donations received by charitable institutions and trusts.

In December, the income tax department was hauled up by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India over the alleged misuse of tax exemptions by trusts, pointing to lapses in the registration process, allowance of exemptions during assessment, non-monitoring of surplus income accumulations and foreign contributions received by trusts. The national auditor had also named a number of trusts who it said were misusing tax exemption provisions.

Rahul Garg, leader, direct taxes at consulting firm PwC, said the budget proposals are aimed at enhancing the compliance and reporting requirements by these trusts and plug some of the loopholes in the current laws.

“There was a perception that the charitable institutions are able to indulge in tax evasion due to the varied interpretation of the existing laws. The amendments clearly spell out what the law is. It will also help in reducing litigation,” he said.

He added that the changes will also address fears of money laundering raised by the home ministry because of the way foreign funds were coming into some charitable institutions. According to the memorandum explaining provisions under the Finance Bill 2014, a registered trust or institution which avails the benefit of exemptions under a specific exemption provision in Section 11 of the Income Tax Act meant for charitable purposes, cannot simultaneously take benefit of the exemption provided under any other provision of the Act.

Also, provisions have been introduced to ensure that a trust which uses tax-exempt income for acquisition of assets, cannot claim double benefit by using a notional depreciation of such assets.

To be sure, Parliament has to pass the Finance Bill 2014 for it to become an Act.

Law firm Khaitan and Co. in a post-budget note, said the changes in regulations around charitable trusts and institutions are aimed at rationalizing the taxation regime and eliminating certain loopholes and ambiguities. The note pointed out that the powers of the commissioner of income tax to cancel the tax exemption certificate of an institution have also been widened.

A commissioner can cancel the registration certificate if the trust does not use funds to benefit the general public; or uses them for a particular religious community or caste; or if the income of the trust is used for the benefit of any trustees.

The government has also moved to amend provisions to discourage anonymous donations to universities, hospitals and other charitable organisations. At present, though only that portion of anonymous donation that exceeds 5% of the total donations is taxed at 30%, the trust or society gets the benefit of reducing its total income by the entire amount that has been anonymously donated.

However, as per the amendment, only that portion of the anonymous donation that is taxed is eligible for reduction from the total income.

 

 

Dirty  Money  in  Trusts

 

Money “laundering”

Only a fool holds dirty money in his own name. The world’s financial system offers safer and friendlier ways to hide the proceeds of crime. Shell companies–those with no real operations–are one, phoney trusts and foundations are another (see “Trusts: The weak link”).

Belatedly, life is getting a bit more difficult for tax evaders, money launderers and those who abet them. One big move–now backed by the British government–is to oblige limitedliability companies to give details of their real owners. This newspaper has argued in favour of such a duty: limited-liability status is a kind of public subsidy (if the firm goes bust, the shareholders are not responsible for its debts). It was never meant to be a means of concealing ownership. Yet in many places it is just that: only six of 69 jurisdictions surveyed last year by Eurodad, an anti-corruption network, required all types of firm to record beneficial-ownership information.

Spurred by complaints from the police, pressure from campaigners and public distaste for tax-dodgers, the British government wants not only to set up a proper registry of beneficial ownership, but also to make its contents public. If the detailed regime matches the promise, this will be an important breakthrough. But Britain should also coax its offshore dependencies into greater openness. Some are conscientious, others less so. Even official investigators can find it hard to get the information they need. America can do more to help, too: states such as Nevada apply scandalously little scrutiny to the identity of those forming companies. European governments are keen to collect more tax, but many have been less eager to make corporate ownership transparent.

Cleaning up corporate ownership will increase public confidence in the financial system. But it is only the start. The misuse of trusts and other non-corporate entities is also a big problem. These have proper purposes, such as managing charitable donations, ring-fencing employee pension plans, safeguarding assets for children or organising wills and bequests. But they too enjoy a legal advantage: they are a way of parking assets. That seems fine as long as the trusts pay tax on profits (just as companies do) and their beneficiaries pay tax on any disbursement or benefit (just as shareholders do).

Instead, trust law has become a murky world. In many places there is no rule that trusts must disclose their existence, let alone pay tax on their earnings. “Orphan assets”, no longer legally owned by the person who put the money into the trust but not yet belonging to the trust’s potential beneficiaries, offer plenty of room for abuse. Some trusts, revealingly, even have flee clauses, where the trustees are obliged to try to change the domicile of the trust if the tax police start asking questions. A structure that was set up to protect the wives of medieval crusaders has ended up being used by the sort of businesspeople who greet the Russian leader as “Vladimir”.

Swiss knives

Far better to concentrate on two simple rules. First, all trusts and foundations should be registered, just as companies are, and their beneficiaries, both actual and potential, should be disclosed. Second, the trustees and the beneficiaries should be legally responsible for reporting any disbursements or benefits, and for making sure the tax is paid on them. Both the European Union and America are tiptoeing in this direction, but Luxembourg, Switzerland and some micro-states are resisting. It would be much better if they worked together. Trusts are a useful vehicle–but not for dodgy goods.

 

How Indian companies are misusing public trusts to launder their CSR spending

The statutory corporate social responsibility (CSR) norms introduced two years ago were expected to revolutionise funding of social causes, but some sections of India Inc may now be abusing these for laundering of black money, according to sources privy to such transactions.

Some companies are using onhire charitable trusts to fabricate CSR spending, at least two sources who have helped craft and execute such transactions said. They spoke to ET on the condition of anonymity.

India is the first and only country to have statutorily mandated corporate social responsibility for certain class of companies but the law allows a lot of leeway. CSR spends disclosed by companies need not be vetted by statutory auditors unlike other spending. Moreover, financials of charitable trusts also come under little statutory scrutiny. This combination of factors has left the new CSR norms wide open for abuse.

“Such abuse in unlikely in trusts floated by companies themselves. But it is possible where they use external trusts,” says Rusen Kumar, founder director of IndiaCSR, a portal that collates information and developments on CSR from across the country.

According to one person, the modus operandi is simple. If a company is obligated to spend, say, Rs 10 crore on CSR, it writes out a cheque in favour of a trust that works in education, healthcare, environment protection or any of the activities specified by the government. The trust, after deducting its commission, discreetly returns the money in cash to the officials or promoters, instantly turning Rs 10 crore of white money into black. The middleman gets a cut as well.

“Often the promoter pockets the money,” says a chartered accountant who has also helped clients with such deals. Often set up by politicians or rich individuals, these trusts also serve as laundering mechanism for unaccounted money. For example, a politician would set up a trust to build an educational institution. CSR funds would flow into the trust through legitimate banking channels. These funds are returned to the promoters in cash and the actual expenditure on the institution is met with the politician’s illicit hoard. The expenditure is then inflated helping launder the black money.

At the end of the year, the trust gives a report to the company which it duly incorporates in its CSR reporting form called AOC-4. “Though the financials are part of the directors’ report which is audited by external auditors, the AOC-4 itself is not subject to external audit. It is a lacuna,” says Bhaskar Chatterjee, director general and CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA).

ET met a middleman who had just concluded two deals—one for a well-known listed company and another for a smaller firm. He said he had already done cash-back deals worth about Rs 40 crore this year.

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This is the first year that the CSR norms have come into play. Rules under Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, mandate that any company with a net worth of over Rs 500 crore or annual revenue of Rs 1,000 crore or net profit of Rs 5 crore has to spend 2 per cent of the average profit of the previous three years on CSR activities.

Public trusts are a favoured route to launder money because they are not adequately governed or monitored. Though some states such as Maharashtra have their own law such as the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950, trusts are not governed by a nationwide law. If a state law doesn’t exist such as in Delhi, these trusts are governed by the Indian Trusts Act of 1882 that applies to private trusts. There is no centralized repository— like the registrar of companies for corporates—of information on public  trusts.

 

They file annual accounts with the charity commissioner in states where it exists. Elsewhere, like Delhi, the only annual filing is income tax returns. An income tax official told ET that unless there is specific information, these are rarely scrutinized. In short, operations of public trusts remain opaque IICA’s Chatterjee, who was instrumental in drafting the CSR law, says that there is no real system to track these trusts. “The law should be tightened to ensure that money reaches the people it is intended to. If there is any leakage it should be plugged.”

Finance minister Arun Jaitley recently wrote in a Facebook post that bulk of the black money is within the country. He is probably right, but it would take tremendous political will and legislative imagination to choke the black money pipelines.

 

Who funds India’s political parties? Report says most donors anonymous

 

 

 

It is the best known secret of Indian politics. And it comes as no surprise that India’s national, state and regional parties earned Rs.4,662 crore in the last seven years, mostly in form of donations and contributions, but there is a huge cover of secrecy and lack of transparency in who gave the money to them, a report released by two NGOs has claimed.

The report shows that the Congress has earned the most, Rs. 2,008 crore, between 2004 and 2011 and its annual income has gone up steadily. At number two is the BJP, which in the same period made Rs. 994 crore. Its finances too improved steadily in the same period.

The report analyses income tax returns of political parties and donation documents made available to the Election Commission. The NGOs, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW), campaign for transparency in the finances and funding of political parties.

The NGOs say that there is no standardised format for political parties to declare their incomes. A major source of income for all parties is the sale of “coupons” instead of receipts. Voluntary contributions and donations are also on top of the list of sources of income. None of these, the NGOs’ report says, are transparent ways to making and declaring money.

To bring some transparency into political funding, the Representation of People Act of 1951 says that political parties must declare details of contributions of more than Rs. 20,000. This report though points out major loopholes, like parties declaring every single contribution ofRs. 20,000 made by any person at one time. But if several donations totalling to more than Rs.20,000 are made by one person or company in one year, then parties interpret it differently. That leaves them the option of breaking up donations into amounts less than Rs. 20,000.

The BSP (which is third on the list in terms of income) for instance, has shown an income ofRs. 172 crore in between 2009 and 2011 but not declared a single contribution of more than Rs.20,000. The CPM, which made almost Rs. 150 crore in that period, has shown only 1.39 per cent of contributions of more than Rs. 20,000. For the same period, Congress has shown 11.89 per cent and BJP 22.76 per cent.

The parties with highest “donations” are the Telengana Rashtra Samiti at 99.98 per cent and Lok Janshakti Party at 89.88 per cent.

The other major source of income for the major parties is also donations from corporate houses. The report has a list of which corporate house made how much donation and to which party. Most of them contribute to both the major national parties, the Congress and the BJP. For instance, the General Electoral Trust made a donation of Rs. 36.41 crore to Congress and Rs. Rs. 26.07 crore to BJP between 2004 and 2011. Torrent Power similarly gaveRs. 14.15 crore to Congress and Rs. 13 crore to BJP. And a lot of the companies are new ones involved in infrastructure like power, steel and construction, beating the traditional firms of Tatas and Birlas.

 

 

Why are political parties not under RTI ambit: Supreme Court asks Centre, EC

 

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses from the Centre, the Election Commission and six political parties, including Congress and BJP, on a plea to declare all national and regional political parties “public authorities” to bring them under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

“Issue notice,” a bench comprising Chief Justice HL Dattu and justices Arun Kumar Mishra and Amitava Roy said.

The Association for Democratic Reforms, an NGO, has also sought a direction that the political parties be asked to declare all donations, including those below Rs 20,000 also.

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, contended that political parties were public authorities and hence amenable to the RTI Act.

The Central Information Commission, in its detailed order, had held that political parties were public authorities and hence should disclose the information under RTI Act.

“Political parties do not have to pay the income tax on the donations and, moreover, the donations below Rs 20,000 are not to be disclosed under the law by them,” the lawyer said, adding that these parties also controlled the legislature and the law-making process.

Earlier, the NGO had approached SC seeking transparency and accountability in functioning of recognised national and regional political parties.

It had claimed that the political parties received huge sums of money in form of donations and contributions from corporates, trusts and individuals but do not disclose complete information about the source of such donations.

In its plea, the NGO had urged the apex court to direct all national and regional parties to mandatorily disclose details about their income as well as expenditure.

It had also sought declaration of entire details of donations and funding received by the political parties, irrespective of the amount donated and details of donors making donations to them and to electoral trusts.

The petition had claimed that political parties enjoyed a stronghold over their elected MPs and MLAs under Schedule 10 of the Constitution that makes it compulsory for members of either Houses of Parliament or state legislatures to abide by the directions of their parties, failing which they stand to be disqualified.

 

 

RTI applicable to Trusts, institutions indirectly funded by govt

 

In a recent judgement, the State Information Commissioner Vijay Kuvalekar has said that Trusts or institutions that are not directly substantially funded by the government, but still indirectly receive funds to run schools, courses, colleges, come under the Right to Information (RTI), Act.

Kuvalekar, in his judgement said that indirectly, since the parent institute is getting the funds for institutes run by them, the RTI is applicable.

 
The judgement came in the wake of former member of Shikshan Prasarak Mandali (SPM), B B Jambhulkar who raised an RTI query with the SPM to get details on admission having cited corruption.

 
Jambhulkar said, “The SPM, however, denied to reveal the information as the SPM Trust was not funded by the government. Besides, I asked the Trust to give me details of the appointment of over 400 members of the Trust.”

 
The information commissioner, however, said that, “It is clear that the Trust is receiving funds to run other institutes as seen in the books of accounts. In such a case, it is liable to reveal any information as sought by the RTI applicant.”

 

Incidentally, the Income Tax department recently cancelled the registration of SPM as a charitable trust’. Jambhular had asked the query regarding a list of names of the students who have sought admission at Ramnarian Ruia college and R A Poddar college of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai. 

 

PILs Covered up by Supreme Court

 

 

“There is a higher court than the court of justice and that is the court of conscience It supercedes all other courts. ”
– Mahatma Gandhi

 

 

 

 

Salary of Chief Justice of India Rupees  100000 per month & salary of  supreme court judge  Rupees 90000 per month plus  5 star heritage bungalow , 5 star air / train travel , 5 star health care facility , etc  all at tax payers expense

 

Hunger Deaths Malnutrition Deaths Poverty  Earning  Less than Rupees 32 per day

 

Honest  Hard Working Child Laborers Earning Less Than Rupees 32 per day

Corrupt Dishonest Criminal Public Servants Earning More than Rupees 5000 per day  Murderers of Justice

 

 Ill-gotten Wealth of  Corrupt Public Servants

 

Murderers of Justice Shame to You

 

 

 

 

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A – Z   of   Manipulation  of  Indian  Legal  System

http://www.scribd.com/doc/187575206/A-Z-of-Manipulation-of-India-Legal-System  ,

http://www.scribd.com/doc/173854541/Chief-Justice-of-India-A-Criminal  ,

 

SHAME  TO  CORRUPT  RAPIST  JUDGES  OF  INDIA

 

 

 

EDITORIAL :  WAKE UP  Corrupt  Judges & Police of India – Bapuji’s dandi march- the origin of civil dis-obedience  movement

Greetings  on the birthday of  our bapuji , Mahatma Gandhi on 02^nd October.   Just hanging  photograph of Gandhi  in  office room  , court  hall or  police station  won’t serve any purpose.  Before gandhi’s  photo only many corrupt practices , injustices are enacted by public servants.  Many  of  our public servants , Judges  &  Police   are  even unfit  to sit before  Mahatma Gandhi’s photograph , let   alone  invoke  mahatma’s name during  speech or court ruling.  Let  those very  Judges & Police   first  learn to  follow ideals  of Mahatma Gandhi  in their  official  capacity  as  well as personal capacity. The public servants  enjoy luxuries ,  5 star non veg meals ,  alcoholic drinks   all at tax payers expense. These judges give judgements  running into  hundreds of pages with moral guidance , great quotes  to commoners , police  use filthy language , 3^rd degree torture methods against  innocents , commoners  , when there are rich crooks , criminals  justice kowtows before  their feet.  No brilliance  , quotes of judges , no bravery , valour of police , why ?

Inspite of our repeated appeals  for justice ,  judges  are mum.

1.       Are judges not interested in   apprehending  criminals & recovering  crores of public money ?

2.       Are   judges not interested in apprehending  master minds behind  Late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination ?

3.       Are judges not  interested  in   prosecuting  greedy , corrupt industrialists ?

4.       Are  judges not interested in  apprehending  greedy  , corrupt  industrialist  of RPG  enterprises ?

5.       Are  judges  not  interested  to  apprehend  criminals  within  RBI & BRBNMPL ?

6.       Are judges not interested to do their duties to protect fundamental , human rights of commoners ?

7.       Are judges not interested to do their duties , to legally prosecute their corrupt colleagues ?

8.       If  not , why those  judges & police are not quitting their jobs  , pave the way for a honest person ? 

It is on this day in 12/03/1930, mahatma gandhi led people to dandi in gujarath state,india , to peacefully protest against the atrocious, illegal tax levied by the occupiers-britishers on natural salt. This non-violent, civil dis-obedience movement soon became a mass movement throught india & shook the very foundations of the colonial british government . it is an important milestone in our freedom struggle.

Today, in india even after 1947’s  independence  commoner’s are yet to relish the fruits of independance. Criminals have occupied the seats of power , in their greed for power & money are violating the fundamental/human rights of commoners. The saving  grace is that still a few honest people are here & there in seats of power. We the commoners must come together & support those honest people in their endeavours. towards , this objective on this holy day   SOS e Voice for Justice   on web  was  born.

Let us build ram rajya of mahatma’s dream through non violent means within the existing democratic framework .that ram rajya is aptly described by poet shri. Ravindranath tagore as,

Where the mind is without fear & the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches it’s arms towards
perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost it’s way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom , my father
Let my country awake.

Jai hind. Vande mataram.

 

Your’s sincerely,

Nagaraja.M.R.

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