The Evening Wrap: Black Monday: Sensex crashes 1,747 points

The BSE benchmark Sensex plunged 1,747 points while the Nifty crashed below the 17,000-level on Monday as escalating Russia-Ukraine tensions sparked a retreat from riskier assets globally. A depreciating rupee and foreign fund outflows added to the gloom, traders said. Plunging for the second straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex nosedived 1,747.08 points or 3% to settle at 56,405.84. This was its biggest single-day drop since February 26, 2021. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty plummeted 531.95 points or 3.06% to 16,842.80, closing below the key 17,000-level for the first time this year. The Sensex has now lost 2,520.19 points in just two sessions. Investors have lost more than ₹8.47 lakh crore in two days, with the market capitalisation of all BSE-listed firms standing at ₹2,55,42,725.42 crore. On the Sensex chart, barring TCS, all shares closed with steep to moderate losses on Monday. Tata Steel was the biggest laggard, tumbling 5.49%, followed by HDFC, SBI, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank and Maruti. “Increased tension between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine sent oil prices rising and forced investors to dump risky assets. Risk sentiment was further dampened ahead of the Fed’s emergency meeting which heightened fears of aggressive monetary tightening. “On the domestic front, the annual WPI inflation eased marginally to 12.96% in January from 13.56% in December, but still stayed high, amid moderation in the fuel and power prices," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. Ajit Mishra, VP — Research, Religare Broking, said, “As anticipated, global cues are now dictating the trend and the prevailing geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine combined with a steady uptick in crude is not going well with the participants. After weeks of consolidation, we feel bears are now in a more commanding position and likely to push the index further lower.” All 19 BSE sectoral indices suffered losses, with realty, metal and banking plummeting over 5%. Broader small cap, mid cap and large cap indices shed as much as 4.15%. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses closed deep in the red after concerns that Russia may soon invade Ukraine, which also sent oil prices soaring. Markets in Europe too were trading with heavy losses in the afternoon session. The U.S. administration has become increasingly outspoken about its concerns that Russia will create a false pretext for the invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. has reaffirmed its commitment to defend “every inch” of the NATO territory. Global crude oil benchmark Brent futures spiked over 1% to $95.44 per barrel on Monday. The rupee plunged by 24 paise to close at 75.60 against the U.S. currency on Monday. The U.S. administration has become increasingly outspoken about its concerns that Russia will create a false pretext for the invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. has reaffirmed its commitment to defend “every inch” of the NATO territory. Global crude oil benchmark Brent futures spiked over 1% to $95.44 per barrel on Monday. The rupee plunged by 24 paise to close at 75.60 against the U.S. currency on Monday. At 7-month high, retail inflation shot past 6% in January India’s retail inflation accelerated past the 6% mark in January 2022 to hit 6.01%, breaching the central bank’s tolerance threshold for consumer price inflation for the first time since June 2021. Retail inflation was 5.66% in December 2021. Rural India bore the brunt of the inflation spike as per official data, with the pace of price rise touching 6.12% from 5.36% in December. Inflation in urban India was virtually unchanged at 5.91% in January, from 5.90% in December. The Consumer Food Price Index saw a significant spike from 4.05% in December to 5.43% in January, with rural India seeing a sharper rise in food prices than urban areas. The RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said earlier today that the inflation print is expected to be around 6% and should not concern or create any alarm, because the central bank has already taken that into consideration. The momentum of inflation in India, he said, is on the downward slope since October 2021. “It’s primarily the statistical reasons, the base effect, which has led to higher inflation, especially in the third quarter (2021-22) and a similar base effect will play a role in the coming months,” Das said. “Food inflation is high mainly due to the higher edible oils component, but the overall basket is below the headline number at 5.6%,” said Bank of Baroda chief economist Madan Sabnavis, adding that inflation is over 6% in most States and the highest in Haryana at 7.2%. Clothing and footwear inflation accelerated to 8.84% in January from 8.3% in December, following the introduction of a higher GST rate on footwear products. A proposed GST hike on clothes from January 1 had been called off by the government after a GST Council meeting in late December. Sabnavis said the main challenge thrown up by the January data are the high 6%-plus numbers in non-food segments like clothing, fuel and light, household goods, health, transport and communication and recreation. “These prices are based on the maximum retail price principle and will not come down once increased, and manufacturers are expected to pass on higher input costs to consumers for the next two months too,” he said. “These prices are based on the maximum retail price principle and will not come down once increased, and manufacturers are expected to pass on higher input costs to consumers for the next two months too,” he said. Hijab controversy: High school classes resume in Karnataka High schools across Karnataka, which were shut following the row over dress code, reopened on February 14. Most students attended classes while there were some instances of girl students returning without attending classes because they were not allowed to wear the hijab (head scarf). Officials of the Education Department said that students attended classes as usual. Bengaluru South Deputy Director of Public Instructions (DDPI) Bylanjanappa said, “The high school section remained closed since February 9. As per the State Government order, classes were resumed on February 14. Students have attended the classes by following the uniform rules.” As a precautionary measure, at Vidyasagar English School in Chandra Layout additional police personnel were deployed. On February 12, some parents had staged a protest alleging that a teacher had made derogatory remarks about hijab. The teacher had dismissed the allegations. In Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, with prohibitory orders in place within a 200-metre radius of schools, classes resumed without any interruption. The genesis of the controversy was in Udupi district with some Muslim girl students not being allowed to enter classrooms wearing hijab. This had escalated after Hindu boys turned up in saffron shawls and insisting that they too should be allowed to wear them in classrooms if hijab could be allowed. At Shivamogga, a few girl students walked out after being asked to remove the hijab at the high school wing of the Government Pre-University College. Some of them even refused to appear for the preparatory examinations. As many as 13 students walked out of the school. Of them, 10 were SSLC students, who refused to appear for the preparatory examination. Similar incidents were reported in Shikaripur and Sagar as well. At Belagavi, Muslim girls turned up in schools wearing hijab. However, female teachers and staff members counseled them to enter schools after removing the head scarves. Deputy Commissioner M.G. Hiremath, Police Commissioner M.B. Boralingaiah, went around Belagavi, visiting schools. Officials from the Mysuru district administration, the Department of Public Instruction and the City and District Police are coordinating among themselves for smooth and peaceful resumption of classes for high school students. Officials rushed to four schools where Muslim girls turned up wearing hijab to speak to the children and their parents. Deputy Director of Public Instruction in Mysuru Ramachandra Raje Urs told The Hindu that the Superintendent of Police and the BEO rushed to Kavalande village in Nanjangud taluk where some Muslim girls had come wearing hijab. “The officers and the school authorities persuaded the children to attend the school assembly in the prescribed uniform,” he informed. MHA recommends ban on 54 Chinese apps citing security concerns The Ministry of Home Affairs has recommended a ban on 54 Chinese mobile applications that pose a threat to the country's security, officials sources said on Monday. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) will formally issue a notification banning the operations of these apps in India. The apps against whom the adverse security inputs were generated include Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera, Music Player, Music Plus, Volume Booster, Video Players Media all formats, Viva Video Editor, Nice Video Baidu, AppLock and Astracraft, among others, the sources said. This will be second major action against Chinese apps. In June 2021, the government had banned 59 Chinese apps, including the popular short video sharing platform TikTok, UC Browser, WeChat and Bigo Live, saying they were prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and security of the country. Both moves came in the backdrop of India’s ongoing stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh with China. The stand-off has been going on since April 2020. India shares a 3,400 km-long LAC with China from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. Kalanithi Maran declines SpiceJet’s peace offer on share transfer dispute Kalanithi Maran, the former promoter of SpiceJet, and his firm KAL Airways have declined the olive branch offered by the air carrier to end a prolonged share transfer dispute among them. Appearing before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, senior advocate Maninder Singh, for Maran, informed the court that his client had refused SpiceJet’s offer of a total ₹600 crore in cash to settle the dispute with no room for further litigation. Singh, on the court’s query, clarified that his client had also declined an alternative offer made by the airline to disburse a certain amount, ₹100 crore, from the bank guarantee of ₹270 crore, to Maran and to fast track the litigation. “Both offers are declined,” Singh submitted. He explained that the total amount owed was about ₹920 crore. “Then we will hear the matter,” the CJI reacted to Singh’s submissions. The court scheduled the next hearing on March 2. The case concerns a plea by Maran and KAL to lift a November 6, 2020 order of stay on a Delhi High Court direction to the airline to deposit ₹243 crore as interest on the prinicipal amount of ₹578 crore involved in the dispute. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for the airline, had in the last hearing said that out of the principal amount of ₹578 crore awarded in arbitration, SpiceJet had already paid ₹308 crore in cash and deposited a bank guarantee of ₹270 crore. Rohatgi had offered to pay the bank guarantee equivalent amount of ₹270 crore in cash and top it up with additional ₹22 crore, aggregating the total payout to ₹600 crore as full and final settlement of all disputes between the parties. KAL and Maran had transferred their shareholding to Ajay Singh in December 2014. The dispute relates to non-issuance of warrants and preference shares in favour of Maran. Thanjavur student death: SC refuses to intervene in transfer of case to CBI The Supreme Court on Monday did not interfere in a Madras High Court order transferring the investigation into the death by suicide of a 17-year-old student at Thanjavur to the CBI amidst controversy sparked by a private video on social media in which the girl allegedly said she was asked to convert to Christianity. “The investigation in terms of the impugned order [of Madras HC] will continue,” a Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M. Trivedi directed. Justice Khanna told Tamil Nadu, represented by senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and P. Wilson, not to take the transfer of the case to CBI as a “prestige issue”. “Lots of things have happened in this case... It is not really for us to interject in the matter. Let it go on... In some cases, sometimes lots of things transpire during its hearing... Don’t make it a prestige issue,” Justice Khanna addressed the Tamil Nadu side. The court, however, decided to look into the State’s plea challenging certain comments made by the High Court in its orders against the conduct of the police investigations and senior police officers. The court, on this point, issued notice and listed the next hearing after four weeks. Rohatgi said the High Court had transferred the case to the CBI despite the fact that the plea before it was to hand over the investigation to the CB-CID. Tamil Nadu has challenged a series of interim orders passed by the Madurai Bench of the High Court on January 21, 22 and 24. On January 31, the High Court had transferred the case to CBI. Rohatgi argued that the orders of the High Court had interfered with the fair and impartial probe into the death. “Orders were passed on a day-to-day basis... ‘do this’, ‘do that’,” Rohatgi complained. Supreme Court examines allegations of rampant misuse of PMLA law The Supreme Court is looking into allegations of metamorphosis of an anti-money laundering law, brought to sniff out drug money, into a potent weapon to raid rivals and deny rights. A three-judge Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar is holding back-to-back hearings on petitions filed by people from all walks of life and across the country complaining of the alleged subversion of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the government and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Lawyers, including senior advocate Kapil Sibal for Karti Chidambaram, allege that PMLA is pulled into the investigation of even “ordinary” crimes. Senior advocate Amit Desai said assets of genuine victims have been attached. The ED could just walk into anybody’s house. In all this, the fundamental purpose of PMLA to investigate conversion of “illegitimate money into legitimate money” was lost. Sibal reminded that PMLA was enacted in response to India’s global commitment (including the Vienna Convention) to combat the menace of money laundering. Instead, he said, rights have been “cribbed, cabined and confined”. “PMLA was a comprehensive penal statute to counter the threat of money laundering, specifically stemming from trade in narcotics. Currently, the offences in the schedule of the Act are extremely overbroad, and in several cases, have absolutely no relation to either narcotics or organised crime,” Sibal argued in the top court. Petitioners pointed out that even the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) -- an equivalent of the FIR -- is considered an “internal document” and not given to the accused. “The ED treats itself as an exception to these principles and practices [of criminal procedure law] and chooses to register an ECIR on its own whims and fancies on its own file,” they argued. Pursuant to the registration of the ECIR, the ED begins to summon accused persons and seeks details of all their financial transactions and of their family members. The accused is called upon to make statements which are treated as admissible in evidence. “Throughout this procedure, the accused does not even know the allegation against him, as the only document which contains the allegation is the ECIR, which is not supplied to the accused persons,” Sibal pointed out. The court is also examining submissions that PMLA does not distinguish between an accused and a witness while summoning them. “Procedure under criminal law makes a distinction between the accused and a witness,” Sibal, who led the petitioner side, argued. The petitioners noted the lack of clarity about ED’s selection of cases to investigate. “The initiation of an investigation by the ED has consequences which have the potential of curtailing the liberty of an individual,” they have contended. They complain that ED registers an ECIR immediately after an FIR is lodged. This is when the cause of action to commence an investigation under the PMLA can arise only if the commission of the alleged predicate offence has resulted in generation of “proceeds of crime” and such proceeds are “projected or claimed as untainted property”. Petitioners have submitted that discretion exercised under PMLA should be guided by rule of law. It must not be “arbitrary, vague and fanciful”. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 4,26,54,784 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 5,08,592. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 14 FEBRUARY 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Black Monday: Sensex crashes 1,747 points as Ukraine standoff roils global markets The [BSE benchmark Sensex plunged 1,747 points]( while the Nifty crashed below the 17,000-level on Monday as escalating Russia-Ukraine tensions sparked a retreat from riskier assets globally. A depreciating rupee and foreign fund outflows added to the gloom, traders said. Plunging for the second straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex nosedived 1,747.08 points or 3% to settle at 56,405.84. This was its biggest single-day drop since February 26, 2021. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty plummeted 531.95 points or 3.06% to 16,842.80, closing below the key 17,000-level for the first time this year. The Sensex has now lost 2,520.19 points in just two sessions. Investors have lost more than ₹8.47 lakh crore in two days, with the market capitalisation of all BSE-listed firms standing at ₹2,55,42,725.42 crore. On the Sensex chart, barring TCS, all shares closed with steep to moderate losses on Monday. Tata Steel was the biggest laggard, tumbling 5.49%, followed by HDFC, SBI, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank and Maruti. “Increased tension between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine sent oil prices rising and forced investors to dump risky assets. Risk sentiment was further dampened ahead of the Fed’s emergency meeting which heightened fears of aggressive monetary tightening. “On the domestic front, the annual WPI inflation eased marginally to 12.96% in January from 13.56% in December, but still stayed high, amid moderation in the fuel and power prices," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. Ajit Mishra, VP — Research, Religare Broking, said, “As anticipated, global cues are now dictating the trend and the prevailing geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine combined with a steady uptick in crude is not going well with the participants. After weeks of consolidation, we feel bears are now in a more commanding position and likely to push the index further lower.” All 19 BSE sectoral indices suffered losses, with realty, metal and banking plummeting over 5%. Broader small cap, mid cap and large cap indices shed as much as 4.15%. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses closed deep in the red after concerns that Russia may soon invade Ukraine, which also sent oil prices soaring. Markets in Europe too were trading with heavy losses in the afternoon session. The U.S. administration has become increasingly outspoken about its concerns that Russia will create a false pretext for the invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. has reaffirmed its commitment to defend “every inch” of the NATO territory. Global crude oil benchmark Brent futures spiked over 1% to $95.44 per barrel on Monday. The rupee plunged by 24 paise to close at 75.60 against the U.S. currency on Monday. The U.S. administration has become increasingly outspoken about its concerns that Russia will create a false pretext for the invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. has reaffirmed its commitment to defend “every inch” of the NATO territory. Global crude oil benchmark Brent futures spiked over 1% to $95.44 per barrel on Monday. The rupee plunged by 24 paise to close at 75.60 against the U.S. currency on Monday. At 7-month high, retail inflation shot past 6% in January India’s [retail inflation accelerated past the 6% mark in January 2022 to hit 6.01%]( breaching the central bank’s tolerance threshold for consumer price inflation for the first time since June 2021. Retail inflation was 5.66% in December 2021. Rural India bore the brunt of the inflation spike as per official data, with the pace of price rise touching 6.12% from 5.36% in December. Inflation in urban India was virtually unchanged at 5.91% in January, from 5.90% in December. The Consumer Food Price Index saw a significant spike from 4.05% in December to 5.43% in January, with rural India seeing a sharper rise in food prices than urban areas. The RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said earlier today that the inflation print is expected to be around 6% and should not concern or create any alarm, because the central bank has already taken that into consideration. The momentum of inflation in India, he said, is on the downward slope since October 2021. “It’s primarily the statistical reasons, the base effect, which has led to higher inflation, especially in the third quarter (2021-22) and a similar base effect will play a role in the coming months,” Das said. “Food inflation is high mainly due to the higher edible oils component, but the overall basket is below the headline number at 5.6%,” said Bank of Baroda chief economist Madan Sabnavis, adding that inflation is over 6% in most States and the highest in Haryana at 7.2%. Clothing and footwear inflation accelerated to 8.84% in January from 8.3% in December, following the introduction of a higher GST rate on footwear products. A proposed GST hike on clothes from January 1 had been called off by the government after a GST Council meeting in late December. Sabnavis said the main challenge thrown up by the January data are the high 6%-plus numbers in non-food segments like clothing, fuel and light, household goods, health, transport and communication and recreation. “These prices are based on the maximum retail price principle and will not come down once increased, and manufacturers are expected to pass on higher input costs to consumers for the next two months too,” he said. “These prices are based on the maximum retail price principle and will not come down once increased, and manufacturers are expected to pass on higher input costs to consumers for the next two months too,” he said. Hijab controversy: High school classes resume in Karnataka [High schools across Karnataka, which were shut following the row over dress code]( reopened on February 14. Most students attended classes while there were some instances of girl students returning without attending classes because they were not allowed to wear the hijab (head scarf). Officials of the Education Department said that students attended classes as usual. Bengaluru South Deputy Director of Public Instructions (DDPI) Bylanjanappa said, “The high school section remained closed since February 9. As per the State Government order, classes were resumed on February 14. Students have attended the classes by following the uniform rules.” As a precautionary measure, at Vidyasagar English School in Chandra Layout additional police personnel were deployed. On February 12, some parents had staged a protest alleging that a teacher had made derogatory remarks about hijab. The teacher had dismissed the allegations. [A policeman stands guard outside a high school in Hubballi on February 14, 2022 after schools reopened after the anti-Hijab row] In Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, with prohibitory orders in place within a 200-metre radius of schools, classes resumed without any interruption. The genesis of the controversy was in Udupi district with some Muslim girl students not being allowed to enter classrooms wearing hijab. This had escalated after Hindu boys turned up in saffron shawls and insisting that they too should be allowed to wear them in classrooms if hijab could be allowed. At Shivamogga, a few girl students walked out after being asked to remove the hijab at the high school wing of the Government Pre-University College. Some of them even refused to appear for the preparatory examinations. As many as 13 students walked out of the school. Of them, 10 were SSLC students, who refused to appear for the preparatory examination. Similar incidents were reported in Shikaripur and Sagar as well. At Belagavi, Muslim girls turned up in schools wearing hijab. However, female teachers and staff members counseled them to enter schools after removing the head scarves. Deputy Commissioner M.G. Hiremath, Police Commissioner M.B. Boralingaiah, went around Belagavi, visiting schools. Officials from the Mysuru district administration, the Department of Public Instruction and the City and District Police are coordinating among themselves for smooth and peaceful resumption of classes for high school students. Officials rushed to four schools where Muslim girls turned up wearing hijab to speak to the children and their parents. Deputy Director of Public Instruction in Mysuru Ramachandra Raje Urs told The Hindu that the Superintendent of Police and the BEO rushed to Kavalande village in Nanjangud taluk where some Muslim girls had come wearing hijab. “The officers and the school authorities persuaded the children to attend the school assembly in the prescribed uniform,” he informed. MHA recommends ban on 54 Chinese apps citing security concerns The [Ministry of Home Affairs has recommended a ban on 54 Chinese mobile applications]( that pose a threat to the country's security, officials sources said on Monday. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) will formally issue a notification banning the operations of these apps in India. The apps against whom the adverse security inputs were generated include Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera, Music Player, Music Plus, Volume Booster, Video Players Media all formats, Viva Video Editor, Nice Video Baidu, AppLock and Astracraft, among others, the sources said. This will be second major action against Chinese apps. In June 2021, the government had banned 59 Chinese apps, including the popular short video sharing platform TikTok, UC Browser, WeChat and Bigo Live, saying they were prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and security of the country. Both moves came in the backdrop of India’s ongoing stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh with China. The stand-off has been going on since April 2020. India shares a 3,400 km-long LAC with China from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. Kalanithi Maran declines SpiceJet’s peace offer on share transfer dispute [Kalanithi Maran, the former promoter of SpiceJet, and his firm KAL Airways have declined the olive branch offered]( by the air carrier to end a prolonged share transfer dispute among them. Appearing before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, senior advocate Maninder Singh, for Maran, informed the court that his client had refused SpiceJet’s offer of a total ₹600 crore in cash to settle the dispute with no room for further litigation. Singh, on the court’s query, clarified that his client had also declined an alternative offer made by the airline to disburse a certain amount, ₹100 crore, from the bank guarantee of ₹270 crore, to Maran and to fast track the litigation. “Both offers are declined,” Singh submitted. He explained that the total amount owed was about ₹920 crore. [File photo of Kalanidhi Maran] “Then we will hear the matter,” the CJI reacted to Singh’s submissions. The court scheduled the next hearing on March 2. The case concerns a plea by Maran and KAL to lift a November 6, 2020 order of stay on a Delhi High Court direction to the airline to deposit ₹243 crore as interest on the prinicipal amount of ₹578 crore involved in the dispute. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for the airline, had in the last hearing said that out of the principal amount of ₹578 crore awarded in arbitration, SpiceJet had already paid ₹308 crore in cash and deposited a bank guarantee of ₹270 crore. Rohatgi had offered to pay the bank guarantee equivalent amount of ₹270 crore in cash and top it up with additional ₹22 crore, aggregating the total payout to ₹600 crore as full and final settlement of all disputes between the parties. KAL and Maran had transferred their shareholding to Ajay Singh in December 2014. The dispute relates to non-issuance of warrants and preference shares in favour of Maran. Thanjavur student death: SC refuses to intervene in transfer of case to CBI The [Supreme Court on Monday did not interfere in a Madras High Court order transferring]( the investigation into the death by suicide of a 17-year-old student at Thanjavur to the CBI amidst controversy sparked by a private video on social media in which the girl allegedly said she was asked to convert to Christianity. “The investigation in terms of the impugned order [of Madras HC] will continue,” a Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M. Trivedi directed. Justice Khanna told Tamil Nadu, represented by senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and P. Wilson, not to take the transfer of the case to CBI as a “prestige issue”. “Lots of things have happened in this case... It is not really for us to interject in the matter. Let it go on... In some cases, sometimes lots of things transpire during its hearing... Don’t make it a prestige issue,” Justice Khanna addressed the Tamil Nadu side. The court, however, decided to look into the State’s plea challenging certain comments made by the High Court in its orders against the conduct of the police investigations and senior police officers. The court, on this point, issued notice and listed the next hearing after four weeks. Rohatgi said the High Court had transferred the case to the CBI despite the fact that the plea before it was to hand over the investigation to the CB-CID. Tamil Nadu has challenged a series of interim orders passed by the Madurai Bench of the High Court on January 21, 22 and 24. On January 31, the High Court had transferred the case to CBI. Rohatgi argued that the orders of the High Court had interfered with the fair and impartial probe into the death. “Orders were passed on a day-to-day basis... ‘do this’, ‘do that’,” Rohatgi complained. Supreme Court examines allegations of rampant misuse of PMLA law The Supreme Court is looking into allegations of metamorphosis of an anti-money laundering law, brought to sniff out drug money, into a potent weapon to raid rivals and deny rights. A three-judge Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar is holding back-to-back hearings on petitions filed by people from all walks of life and across the country complaining of the alleged subversion of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the government and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Lawyers, including senior advocate Kapil Sibal for Karti Chidambaram, allege that PMLA is pulled into the investigation of even “ordinary” crimes. Senior advocate Amit Desai said assets of genuine victims have been attached. The ED could just walk into anybody’s house. In all this, the fundamental purpose of PMLA to investigate conversion of “illegitimate money into legitimate money” was lost. Sibal reminded that PMLA was enacted in response to India’s global commitment (including the Vienna Convention) to combat the menace of money laundering. Instead, he said, rights have been “cribbed, cabined and confined”. “PMLA was a comprehensive penal statute to counter the threat of money laundering, specifically stemming from trade in narcotics. Currently, the offences in the schedule of the Act are extremely overbroad, and in several cases, have absolutely no relation to either narcotics or organised crime,” Sibal argued in the top court. Petitioners pointed out that even the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) -- an equivalent of the FIR -- is considered an “internal document” and not given to the accused. “The ED treats itself as an exception to these principles and practices [of criminal procedure law] and chooses to register an ECIR on its own whims and fancies on its own file,” they argued. Pursuant to the registration of the ECIR, the ED begins to summon accused persons and seeks details of all their financial transactions and of their family members. The accused is called upon to make statements which are treated as admissible in evidence. “Throughout this procedure, the accused does not even know the allegation against him, as the only document which contains the allegation is the ECIR, which is not supplied to the accused persons,” Sibal pointed out. The court is also examining submissions that PMLA does not distinguish between an accused and a witness while summoning them. “Procedure under criminal law makes a distinction between the accused and a witness,” Sibal, who led the petitioner side, argued. The petitioners noted the lack of clarity about ED’s selection of cases to investigate. “The initiation of an investigation by the ED has consequences which have the potential of curtailing the liberty of an individual,” they have contended. They complain that ED registers an ECIR immediately after an FIR is lodged. This is when the cause of action to commence an investigation under the PMLA can arise only if the commission of the alleged predicate offence has resulted in generation of “proceeds of crime” and such proceeds are “projected or claimed as untainted property”. Petitioners have submitted that discretion exercised under PMLA should be guided by rule of law. It must not be “arbitrary, vague and fanciful”. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 4,26,54,784 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 5,08,592. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today‘s Top Picks [[ABG Shipyard fraud detected faster than average time in such cases: Nirmala Sitharaman] ABG Shipyard fraud detected faster than average time in such cases: Nirmala Sitharaman]( [[ISRO successfully puts three satellites into orbit on board the PSLV C-52] ISRO successfully puts three satellites into orbit on board the PSLV C-52]( [[Mamata Banerjee’s old guard vs the new guard | Talking Politics with Nistula Hebbar] Mamata Banerjee’s old guard vs the new guard | Talking Politics with Nistula Hebbar]( [[After they spent 13 crore on me, I actually wanted the bidding to stop: Deepak Chahar] After they spent 13 crore on me, I actually wanted the bidding to stop: Deepak Chahar]( Copyright @ 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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