Calcutta High Court Judge Chinnaswamy Swaminathan Karnan, who was sentenced to six months jail on contempt charges by the Supreme Court, is evading arrest by having gone underground. The allegations of Justice Karnan prompted contempt action — the first in the history of Indian courts against a sitting judge. 

This episode brings to the fore the lacunae in the collegium system of appointing judges which needs to be changed as it lacks transparency. The question is can there be a middle path between the National Judicial Appointments Commission, 2014, and the Collegium system needs to re-examined. 

Justice Karnan filed a mercy petition before President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday seeking suspension of sentence.

Those who recommended elevation of Karnan as a judge have erred proving that the collegium system, which was devised by the judges themselves in 1993, suffered from serious infirmities.  

There is no doubt Justice Karnan’s actions have eroded the dignity of the judiciary. A case in point is Justice Chelameshwar Rao boycotting the collegium proceedings on the ground that it lacks transparency. What is bewildering is that the records of these meetings are never kept. 

The CJI cannot recall the records of such meetings. In these circumstances the appointment of Justice Karnan requires a thorough probe. The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill which provides disciplinary action against erring judges needs to be enacted as the in-house mechanism has failed to deliver probity and accountability. 

The Supreme Court could have sought the impeachment procedure to remove Justice Karnan instead of contempt action. The decisions taken at the collegium is not always unanimous to elevate a particular judge to the Supreme Court. 

It is shocking that dissenting voices are suppressed and secrecy leads to partiality giving a go by to transparency. It is widely believed that Justice Karnan must accept responsibility for the difficult situation that he has created for himself. He is now seeking leniency from the Apex court. 

The Supreme Court had directed that Justice Karnan be examined by a panel of Doctors in the Eastern metropolis which he refused on the specious plea that there was nothing wrong with him physically or mentally. 

The Kolkata police is on the lookout for him to take him into custody as directed by the Supreme Court. There is a police jeep parked in front of his residence in Chennai along with a close watch being kept in Kolkata. 

Having cooked his own goose by carrying things to absurd lengths, initial reports suggests Justice Karnan travelled from Kolkata to Chennai in his home state of Tamil Nadu and then to Andhra Pradesh. There have been suggestions he might have crossed over to Nepal or Bangladesh. 

This is in the wake of Justice Karnan’s unprecedented ordering of non-bailable warrants against the Chief Justice of India J S Khehar and six other judges of the Apex court on the second of May. 

It is rather late in the day now to regret what he has done and if he finds the atmosphere conducive there are indications he might tender an apology to the Supreme Court. He claimed he was being victimised being a Dalit and that was the reason for his transfer from the Madras High Court to the Calcutta High court. Countering the order of the seven-judge bench headed by CJI Khehar, Justice Karnan filed an affidavit explaining his remarks and allegations against fellow judges. He accused the seven judge bench of robbing him of his mental and physical balance. He also accused the bench of depriving him of his dignity and stripping him of his judicial powers. He went on to order five years rigorous imprisonment for all the seven judges including the CJI inviting the wrath of the Apex court. 

It did not end there. Justice Karnan contended that the Supreme Court had no powers to arrest him. The 62-year-old judge demanded an investigation into the corruption charges against 20 judges of the Madras High Court whom he had named. 

CJI Kehar said they would examine Justice Karnan’s plea to recall its order sentencing him to six months imprisonment. “We will consider it and take a decision,” the CJI told Mathew Nedumpura, appearing for Justice Karnan. 

It is also speculated Justice Karnan will come overground only when the President gives him an appointment to seek pardon.

NEW DELHI : The 14^th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council Meeting, chaired by the Union Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley, was held at Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir yesterday. The fitment of rates of goods were discussed during the Council meeting. The Council has broadly approved the GST rates for goods at nil rate, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% to be levied on certain goods. The Council has also broadly approved the rates of GST Compensation Cess to be levied on certain goods.

With the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council deciding the tax rate on 1,211 goods on Thursday, there is cheer for the common man as 81 per cent of the goods are below 18 per cent, though people will have to shell out more even for small segment cars with additional cess levied on them.

Milk, eggs, salt, fresh vegetables, fruits, contraceptives, organic manure, earthen pots, coconut, prasadam supplied by religious places like temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and dargahs have been exempted under GST.

Live animals, fruit juices and meat will call for a 12 per cent tax while fish has been put in the 5 per cent tax rate.

Butter and cheese have been placed under the 12 per cent tax rate and condensed milk under 18 per cent. 

Beverages such as coffee (not instant), tea and groundnut, coal, hand pumps will attract 5 per cent tax under GST.

While jaggery is exempt under GST, cane sugar and beet sugar are in the 5 per cent tax slab. Bio gas plant, wind mills and kerosene lantern will also be under the 5 per cent tax rate.

Mobile phones, fountain pen ink, tooth powder, incense sticks, feeding bottles, Braille paper, children’s colouring books, umbrellas, pencil sharpeners, tractors, bicycles, contact lenses, spectacle lenses, utensils, sports goods, fishing rods, combs, pencils and hand paintings have been placed under the 12 per cent tax rate under GST.

Bindi, vermilion, glass bangles, handlooms, hearing aids and handmade musical instruments have also been exempt under GST. A total of 7 per cent of items have been kept zero rated.

The goods which will fall under 18 per cent tax rate include helmets, LPG stoves, nuclear reactors, clocks, military weapons, electronic toys and plastic buttons.

The items which have been put in the highest tax slab of 28 per cent include aerated drinks, perfumes, after-shave lotions, deodarants, clothing of furskin, razor blades, cars, revolvers, pistols, 

More than 200 products appear in the 28 per cent tax slab. 

“Ideally, few products should have been put in 28 per cent bracket and 18 per cent should have been a miscellaneous schedule (to cover all balance products). The temptation of putting more products under 28 per cent bracket will certainly complicate the Indian GST structure,” GST expert Pritam Mahure told IANS.

Compensation cess: 55 products will attract compensation cess. 

The cess on small cars ranges from 1-3 per cent, 3 per cent on motorcycles with 350 cc engine, personal aircraft and yachts while mid-segment and large cars will attract a cess of 15 per cent. 

All goods, other than pan masala containing tobacco ‘gutka’ will have to bear a cess of 89 per cent while tobacco and tobacco products will call for a cess in the range of 12.5-290 per cent. Cess of 5 per cent has been levied on cigarettes and 60 per cent on pan masala. Aerated drinks will attract a cess of 12 per cent.

Mahure says that it is expected that a few classification disputes may continue like whether groundnut chikki should be classified as ‘sweetmeat’ attracting 5 per cent GST rate or sugar confectionery attracting 18 per cent GST rate. 

Now, the manufacturers/traders will have to quantify the impact of the GST rates on their product prices and update their tax masters/registers with these rates. This is a complex exercise for traders who are not very conversant with tariff codes and classification, he added.

The rate structure for the remaining goods – bidi wrapper leaves, biscuits, bidis, textiles, footwear, natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, imitation jewellery, power driven agricultural, horticultural, forestry, poultry keeping or bee-keeping machinery and harvesting machinery is expected to be decided on Friday in the GST Council’s meeting on the second day in Srinagar.

NEW DELHI : A court here on Friday convicted former Coal Secretary H.C. Gupta and others in a coal block allocation case involving Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Limited (KSSPL).

Central Bureau of Investigation special Judge Bharat Parashar convicted Gupta, two former coal ministry officials K.S. Kropha and K.C. Samria, accused firm KSSPL and its Managing Director Pawan Kumar Ahluwalia, under various charges involving criminal conspiracy and under provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.

The court will deliver order on quantum of sentence on May 22.

Chartered Account Amit Goyal, who was also facing trial in the case, was acquitted from all the charges.

The court was hearing a case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the allocation of Thesgora-B Rudrapuri coal block in Madhya Pradesh to KSSPL.

The CBI had lodged an FIR accusing the company and others of allegedly misrepresenting facts, including inflated net worth, to acquire the coal block.

NEW DELHI : Suspended AAP leader Kapil Mishra on Friday alleged a nexus between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and those involved in hawala transactions.

The sacked minister asked the Chief Minister to step down to ensure a fair probe into the allegations.

“A false video was retweeted by Kejriwalji yesterday (Thursday) claiming that (Delhi businessman) Mukesh Kumar gave Rs 2 crore as donation to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2014,” Mishra told the media.

Mishra’s remarks came a day after Kejriwal retweeted a news report of Mukesh Kumar who claimed to have donated Rs 2 crore to AAP in 2014.

Showing the letterheads of four companies — Skyline Metal and Alloys Pvt Ltd, Glodmine Buildcon Pvt Ltd, Infoline Software Solution Ltd and Sunvision company — from which the AAP received Rs 2 crore donation in 2014, Mishra said he has evidence to back his claims.

Mishra “challenged” the AAP national convenor to tell the Income Tax department that his party received donation of Rs 2 crore from Mukesh Kumar.

He claimed the letterheads of the companies which made donations to AAP were fake.

He also raised questions regarding the identity of Mukesh Kumar, and asked, “Why is Mukesh Kumar being made a scapegoat by Kejriwal? Who is Kejriwal trying to save?”

Mishra alleged that Mukesh Kumar became CEO of one of the companies days before the Delhi civic polls, though the donations were made in 2014.

Launching an attack on Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Mishra said, “Mukesh Kumar was a VAT defaulter with the Delhi government, and his company was sent notices, yet this company was given tenders by the government.”

He claimed Kejriwal and Sisodia were aware of the “corruption activities”.

He questioned Kejriwal’s silence in the matter.

Mishra revealed the name of one more person Hem Prakash Sharma, whose signatures were on two letter heads and said that he was the Additional Director of the companies alongwith Mukesh Kumar — Skyline Metal and Alloys Pvt Ltd and Goldmine Buildcon Pvt Ltd.

The sacked minister said that Hem Prakash Sharma was also Director in a company alongwith lawyer Rohit Tandon, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in December last year for converting black money into white.

“This is the biggest proof of hawala nexus against Kejriwal,” Mishra said.

“The man who donated Rs 2 crore to AAP is wanted by CBI, ED and the IT officials,” Mishra said.

“But he meets Kejriwal,” Mishra added.

“This is the reason why Kejriwal was shouting so much after the government’s demonetisation move and was coming out on the streets against it. If Kejriwal has any shame left he must step down,” Mishra demanded, adding that he has submitted the balancesheet of AAP signed by Kejriwal to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

He said he has also given the details of Rohit Tandon to the CBDT.

He termed Kejriwal a “mafia” and said he fears for his life as he can be attacked.

Brazilian President Michel Temer refused to resign despite being implicated in corruption allegations.

“I will not resign, I repeat, I will not resign.” He also demanded “a full and very rapid investigation for the…Brazilian people,” Xinhua quoted Temer as saying in an address to the nation.

The situation of Brazilian President Michel Temer became delicate on Thursday following a newspaper report that he is accused of taking bribes and endorsing bribes to silence a witness in a corruption case.

When the news broke on Wednesday evening, opponents started to call for Temer’s resignation or impeachment, Xinhua reported.

Local newspaper reported on Wednesday that a leading meatpacking company chairman had recorded his conversation with Temer and turned the recordings over to the Supreme Court.

In the recordings, Temer reportedly endorsed the bribing of former Chamber of Deputies speaker Eduardo Cunha in exchange for Cunha’s silence.

“In the Supreme Court, I will show that I had no involvement with these events. I will not resign. I know what I have done and I know the correctness of my actions,” the president stressed.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court launched an investigation into Temer and he faced four separate impeachment requests in Congress.

LUCKNOW : In a major relief for poor patients in Uttar Pradesh needing emergency medical help, the state’s largest trauma centre here said on Thursday it will not charge for treatment upto Rs 10,000, an official said.
 The King George’s Medical University (KGMU) will treat the poor for free in the first 24-hours of admission to its critical care unit, the official added.   Hundreds of patients, primarily from road accidents, gunshot wounds, burn injuries and other traumatic incidents, are wheeled in at KGMU every day.  Unlike established practice, neither the patients nor their attendants would have to fill any forms or do rounds of various counters for this free treatment.  The doctors at the trauma centre have been authorised to waive off the treatment costs with a simple signatures.  From now on soon after admission of such patients, the doctors will fill up a form for them, take their identity card, note down their telephone numbers, names and address and the fees waiver would be allowed.  In-charge of the KGMU Trauma Centre Haider Abbas said this arrangement has been rolled out to ensure that poor patients are not deprived of treatment for want of money.  The fee waiver also includes the Intensive Care Units (ICU) and ventilator charges for the first 24-hours.  The other prominent trauma centre in the state with a population of 200 million is in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

MUMBAI : Veteran Bollywood actress Reema Lagoo passed away here following a cardiac arrest early on Thursday morning, a family source said.

The 59-year-old Marathi TV and stage actress breathed her last at a private hospital where she was rushed shortly after midnight.

The actor was famous for playing the ‘mother’ in both movies and television.

Her most popular movies were “Hum Aapke Hain Kaun”, “Hum Saath Saath Hain”, “Maine Pyar Kiya” and “Kal Ho Na Ho”.

(With Inputs from IANS)

MUMBAI : Tightening the screws further on absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday took possession of his seafront farmhouse worth Rs 100 crore in Raigad district of Maharashtra’s Konkan region, an official said here.

The farmhouse, sprawled over 17 acres with a beach, is located in the picturesque Kolegaon village of Mandwa, near the tourist hotspot of Alibaug.

The ED said the property belongs to Mandwa Farms Pvt. Ltd. (MFPL), controlled by the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines’ founder Mallya, who is currently in the United Kingdom and declared “absconder” by a Mumbai court.

On April 25, the ED served an eviction order to ask the company to vacate the property, with a registry value of Rs 25 crore, and provisionally attached the premises.

The provisional attachment order was later confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The MFPL challenged the move before a tribunal and sought a stay, which was rejected on May 16.

This paved the way for the ED to take over the property, the official said.

The latest move comes after a luxurious beachfront bungalow ‘Kingfisher Villa’ in Goa, also belonging to Mallya, was sold for Rs 73 crore in an auction by various banks to Mumbai-based Bollywood and South Indian film actor Sachiin Joshi on April 8 to recover part of the money he owes to a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India.

In the wake of a massive operation to recover Rs 8,191 crore owed by him to Indian banks, Mallya fled to Britain in March 2016. He was arrested in London on April 18 briefly and bailed out by court.

The International Court of Justice here is all set to pronounce on Thursday afternoon its verdict on India’s plea seeking revocation of the death sentence awarded by a Pakistan military court to alleged spy Kulbushan Jadhav.

 The order will be announced by ICJ President Ronny Abraham in a public sitting at 3 p.m. IST.   It comes 10 days after India approached the UN’s top court for “provisional measure” of protection — an interim relief — in the Jadhav case.  In a public hearing on Monday, India accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention by denying consular access to Jadhav and pronouncing him guilty of espionage in a “farcical trial”.  The Indian legal team represented by Deepak Mittal, who heads the Pakistan division of External Affairs Ministry, demanded immediate annulment of Jadhav’s death sentence amid fears that he may be executed even before the world court pronounced its decision.  Pakistan, however, rejected the Indian argument on the ground that New Delhi had no right to invoke the jurisdiction of the ICJ and that the Vienna Convention does not provide for matters relating to spies, terrorists and those who indulge in espionage.  Jadhav was awarded the death sentence by a Pakistan military court in April, a year after he was arrested on espionage charges.   Islamabad has rejected 16 Indian requests for consular access to the former Indian Navy officer, held at an unknown prison in Pakistan. 

New Delhi : The first two of the M777 Ultralight Howitzers landed here on Thursday, bringing an end to the Indian Army’s three decade wait for a new artillery gun.

The two 155mm/39 calibre ultralight Howitzers arrived on a chartered flight. The guns, which have a maximum range of 30 km, will be tested in Pokharan in Rajasthan.

“Two M 777 A-2 (Indian) ULH arrived today for preparation of firing tables. During this event, the guns will fire 155 mm indigenous ammunition,” the Indian Army said in a statement.

As per the contract agreement, firing tables are being prepared by the contracted agency – US Government and BAE GCS Ltd with support of Indian Army.

Three more guns will be received in the second stage in September 2018 for training, the Indian Army said.

Thereafter, induction will commence from March 2019 onwards at the rate of five guns per month till the complete consignment is received by mid 2021.

According to sources, over the next year, another 23 guns will be delivered off the shelf, and another 120 will be sent in a semi-knocked down condition, to be assembled in India by Mahindra.

At 4.2 tonnes, these guns weigh only a third of the normal 155 mm Howitzers, and are expected to add tremendous firepower to the Indian Army.

The M777 guns, which can be carried underslung by heavy lift helicopters, are expected to give the Army tremendous flexibility in operations, specially in mountainous terrain.

On November 30 last year, India signed the Letter of Agreement and Acceptance (LOA) with the US to buy 145 M777s through the foreign military sale (FMS) route.

The $737 million contract has a 30 per cent offset clause worth around $200 million.

India last inducted the Swedish Bofors guns in the 1980s. The deal however got tainted by an alleged scam with allegations of kickbacks being received by Indian leaders.

The Bofors guns however have been a mainstay for the Indian Army for decades, and played an important role in the Kargil conflict.

The M777s would increase Indian Army’s ability in high altitudes. These guns are being used by the US, Canadian and Australian armies.

(With Inputs from IANS)