The Evening Wrap: CBI searches Satya Pal Malik’s premises in corruption case

The CBI on Thursday searched the premises of former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik and 29 other locations in connection with alleged corruption in the Kiru Hydro Power (HEP) project, officials said. The agency started its operation in the morning with around 100 officers mobilised to swoop down at 30 locations in multiple cities, they said. The case relates to alleged corruption in awarding civil works of the Kiru HEP project worth ₹2,200 crore, they said. Malik, who was the governor of Jammu and Kashmir between August 23, 2018 and October 30, 2019 had claimed he was offered a ₹300-crore bribe for clearing two files, including the one pertaining to the project. “The case was registered on allegations of malpractices in award of the contract worth approximately ₹2,200 crore of civil works of Kiru Hydro Electric Power Project(HEP) to a private company in 2019,” the CBI had had earlier said. The agency has booked former chairman of the Chenab Valley Power Projects (P) Ltd. Navin Kumar Chaudhary and other former officials M. S. Babu, M. K. Mittal and Arun Kumar Mishra and Patel Engineering Ltd. “Though a decision was taken in 47th Board meeting of CVPPPL (Chenab Valley Power Projects (P) Ltd) for re-tender through e-tendering with reverse auction after cancellation of ongoing tendering process, same was not implemented (as per decision taken in 48th board meeting) and tender was finally awarded to Patel Engineering Ltd,” the FIR has alleged. The agency had conducted searches on the premises of five people in January in connection with the case. Congress accuses Centre of unleashing ‘financial terrorism’ after IT department withdraws ₹65 crore from its accounts The Congress on February 22 accused the Narendra Modi-led Union government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of unleashing “financial terrorism” on the principal Opposition party to “cripple” their election preparation and deny them a level playing field. Announcing that the Income Tax (IT) department had withdrawn ₹65.89 crore from the Congress’ bank accounts, party general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal alleged that the ruling party was attempting to “murder the world’s largest democracy” and drag the country into a “dictatorship raj”. The IT department action is part of an ongoing tax dispute. The department has raised a demand of ₹210 crore against the Congress over an alleged discrepancy in filing IT returns for the assessment year 2018-2019. The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal is hearing the party’s appeal against the IT department’s action and has stayed any further withdrawal from Congress bank accounts. “What does it mean just before the Parliament elections? The account of the principal Opposition party has been hijacked by the BJP government. They are stealing our money from the banks,” Venugopal said at a press conference. He added that the withdrawn money had all been collected through crowd funding and the party’s membership drive. “This is an attack on democratic principles and values. They are trying to shut out the voice of the Opposition. Clearly this is an example of dictatorship. The BJP is dragging the largest democracy in the world to a ‘dictatorship raj’. This type of low-level attack has never happened in history. We will fight it out,” Venugopal said. Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh drew a parallel with the demonetisation exercise carried out in 2016, before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. “The November 2016 demonetisation had one objective and that is how to prevent prominent political parties from fighting the UP elections. Similarly, just before 2024 elections, a conspiracy is being hatched to make the Congress financially crippled... This is an attempt to murder democracy,” he said. Ramesh said that the IT department’s action showed that the BJP government was rattled by the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the farmers’ movement, and rising inflation. He also alleged that the Modi government had collected ₹335 crore in donation from 30 companies that had been raided or were under investigation by the IT department, the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation. “Looting Opposition & Blackmailing donors to fill BJP’s coffers is a dark phase for our Democracy! We shall fight this tooth and nail - Both in the court of law and in the court of the people!” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X. At the press conference, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken termed the IT department’s action as “looting” and questioned the timing of the move, given that the tax demand pertained to 2018-19 tax filing. “...the proceedings of taking out our money took place five years afterwards, just two weeks before the elections are to be announced. We will definitely get back our money, but by then the elections would be over,” Maken said. Twitter all but admits defeat on Indian blocking orders X Corp., formerly known as Twitter, has effectively waved the white flag as far as censorship requests from India are concerned. In its first detailed statement on the Union government’s frequent blocking requests to the platform, X’s Global Government Affairs team posted a defence of its users’ freedom of expression — without actually backing it with any new action to protect it. Against the backdrop of several blocking orders targeting accounts posting about the farmers’ protests at the Delhi border, this is the first time X has spoken in some detail about blocking orders from India. “The Indian government has issued executive orders requiring X to act on specific accounts and posts, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment,” the unsigned post on early Thursday morning said. “In compliance with the orders, we will withhold these accounts and posts in India alone; however, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts.” The company will not do anything new to defend these individuals’ freedom of expression, it indicated, referring to a “pending appeal” in the Karnataka High Court on blocking orders where the next hearing is on March 20, a month after the last one, which happened on Tuesday. In that hearing, X sought more time to respond to a recent government affidavit. The company no longer publishes any government blocking order from anywhere in the world, a freeze that started shortly after Elon Musk acquired the social media platform. “Due to legal restrictions, we are unable to publish the executive orders, but we believe that making them public is essential for transparency,” the company said. That statement does not hold up to X’s own past behaviour: on Lumen Database, the firm would post a list of accounts and handles which were taken down due to government orders under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. But the firm has stopped publishing even these lists, something which the government has not loudly objected to in previous court hearings. The banned social media accounts on X and Facebook of farmer leaders and organizations include: Sarvan Singh Pandher, the coordinator of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), Tejveer Singh Ambala, the spokesperson of BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh), farmer leader Ramandeep Singh Mann, Surjit Singh Phull from BKU Krantikari, farmer leader Harpal Sangha, Ashok Danoda from Haryana, as well as official farmer groups like @Tractor2twitr_P, Bhartiya Kisan Union spokesman, Progressive Farmers Front and Kisan Majdoor Morcha. Some prominent non-farmers who have expressed their opinions or been a part of the farmers movement have also been banned on social media including independent journalist Mandeep Punia, Khalsa Aid’s Ravi Singh, as well as Canadian Punjabi singer Jazzy B. ED renews lookout notice for Byju’s founder The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked the Bureau of Immigration to issue a lookout notice against Byju’s founder Byju Raveendran with respect to an alleged FEMA violation case involving ₹9,362 crore. The Adjudicating Authority under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) had earlier issued show cause notices to Think & Learn Private Limited, which runs Byju’s, and Byju Raveendran, based on the Enforcement Directorate’s complaint alleging contraventions involving ₹9,362.35 crore. The ED had initiated the FEMA inquiry based on allegations about the foreign investment received, significant foreign remittances, and overseas investments made by the company in “violation” of the Act, purportedly causing losses to the exchequer. In April, based on the information, the agency conducted searches at locations in Bangalore associated with Think and Learn Private Limited and the residence of Raveendran and gathered relevant documents. It also recorded his statement and of the company’s chief financial officer, it said. According to the ED, it found that the company and Raveendran had allegedly contravened the provisions of FEMA by failing to submit documents of imports against advance remittances made outside India; by failing to realize the proceeds of exports made abroad; by the delayed filing of documents against the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) received into the company; by failing to file documents against the remittances made by the company outside India; and by failing to allot shares against FDI received. Earlier, through a statement, the ED had alleged that the company received FDI of about ₹28,000 crore from 2011 to 2023, and remitted about ₹9,754 to various foreign jurisdictions during the same period “in the name of overseas direct investment”. Netflix tells HC docu-series on Indrani won’t be released till February 29; court orders special screening for CBI The Bombay High Court on February 21 advised the streaming service, Netflix, to first screen the docuseries titled, ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth’ for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) before airing it for the public on the platform. The order came after CBI sought a stay on the streaming of the series scheduled for release earlier on February 23. The agency’s concern in the plea is due to the ongoing trial in the Sheena Bora murder case that the agency earlier failed to obtain a stay from the trial court. The docu-series, said to be controversial ones, revolve around Indrani Mukerjea, the main accused in the murder case. Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Manjusha Deshpande in their order suggested Netflix to organise a special screening for CBI officials and lawyers, for them to preview the series. The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for next Thursday, February 29. Senior Advocate Ravi Kadam on behalf of Netflix had concerns over potential pre-censorship over the pre-screening of the docuseries and argued that the CBI should have approached the court earlier and not right before the announced streaming date. On this, the court said that the trial was still on, “Why should the CBI not be allowed to watch the series? She (Indrani Mukerjea) is an accused. The series is her depiction of what happened. One of the bail conditions is not to tamper with evidence. When you sort of interview people in support of your case, we ask you, before we hear you, why cannot the CBI watch the series? What is the difficulty in sharing the docuseries? The release can be deferred for a week. Heavens are not going to fall. They should be allowed to view it. The release can be postponed by a week without dire consequences. If you’re unable to provide instructions and make a statement, we will issue this order.” Kadam eventually accepted the court’s suggestion and agreed that the streaming platform will not air the show until the next hearing. Advocate Shreeram Shirsat, representing the CBI stressed that the series has clips of interviews with the accused as well as the witnesses in the case. Since only the trailer was shown to the CBI, they are unaware of the number of witnesses featured in the series. On this argument, the court asked Netflix to present the exact number of witnesses featured in the series. Netflix advocate Kadam informed the court that five witnesses, including Indrani Mukerjea’s son, Mikhail Mukerjea and Vidhie Mukerjea, her daughter from her second husband Peter Mukerjea, were interviewed in the series. The series was set to air on February 23 and the next release date will be decided after the next hearing. In briefCongress calls for convening special Parliament session on farmers’ issues The Congress on February 22 escalated its attack on the BJP-led Centre over the farmers protest and demanded that a special session of Parliament be convened to discuss the pressing issues of the tillers. The opposition party also urged the Punjab government to convene a similar session of the State Assembly to deliberate on the issue. A farmer was killed and about 12 police personnel were injured in clashes at Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border on February 21. The incident took place when some protesting farmers were trying to head towards barricades. Delhi excise policy case | ED issues fresh summons to CM Arvind Kejriwal The Enforcement Directorate has issued a seventh summon to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning in the excise policy-linked money laundering case, official sources said on February 22. The central agency, while issuing the seventh summon under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), has asked him to appear before it on February 26 and rejected his contention that a fresh notice for his attendance was wrong as the matter is sub judice before a local court. Kejriwal has been asked to depose on February 26 and record his statement in the excise policy linked money laundering case. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 22 February 2024 [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]( Satya Pal Malik’s premises raided by CBI in Kiru hydropower corruption case The C[BI on Thursday searched the premises of former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik]( and 29 other locations in connection with alleged corruption in the Kiru Hydro Power (HEP) project, officials said. The agency started its operation in the morning with around 100 officers mobilised to swoop down at 30 locations in multiple cities, they said. The case relates to alleged corruption in awarding civil works of the Kiru HEP project worth ₹2,200 crore, they said. Malik, who was the governor of Jammu and Kashmir between August 23, 2018 and October 30, 2019 had claimed he was offered a ₹300-crore bribe for clearing two files, including the one pertaining to the project. “The case was registered on allegations of malpractices in award of the contract worth approximately ₹2,200 crore of civil works of Kiru Hydro Electric Power Project(HEP) to a private company in 2019,” the CBI had had earlier said. The agency has booked former chairman of the Chenab Valley Power Projects (P) Ltd. Navin Kumar Chaudhary and other former officials M. S. Babu, M. K. Mittal and Arun Kumar Mishra and Patel Engineering Ltd. “Though a decision was taken in 47th Board meeting of CVPPPL (Chenab Valley Power Projects (P) Ltd) for re-tender through e-tendering with reverse auction after cancellation of ongoing tendering process, same was not implemented (as per decision taken in 48th board meeting) and tender was finally awarded to Patel Engineering Ltd,” the FIR has alleged. The agency had conducted searches on the premises of five people in January in connection with the case. Congress accuses Centre of unleashing ‘financial terrorism’ after IT department withdraws ₹65 crore from its accounts The [Congress on February 22 accused the Narendra Modi-led Union government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of unleashing “financial terrorism”]( on the principal Opposition party to “cripple” their election preparation and deny them a level playing field. Announcing that the Income Tax (IT) department had withdrawn ₹65.89 crore from the Congress’ bank accounts, party general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal alleged that the ruling party was attempting to “murder the world’s largest democracy” and drag the country into a “dictatorship raj”. The IT department action is part of an ongoing tax dispute. The department has raised a demand of ₹210 crore against the Congress over an alleged discrepancy in filing IT returns for the assessment year 2018-2019. The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal is hearing the party’s appeal against the IT department’s action and has stayed any further withdrawal from Congress bank accounts. “What does it mean just before the Parliament elections? The account of the principal Opposition party has been hijacked by the BJP government. They are stealing our money from the banks,” Venugopal said at a press conference. He added that the withdrawn money had all been collected through crowd funding and the party’s membership drive. “This is an attack on democratic principles and values. They are trying to shut out the voice of the Opposition. Clearly this is an example of dictatorship. The BJP is dragging the largest democracy in the world to a ‘dictatorship raj’. This type of low-level attack has never happened in history. We will fight it out,” Venugopal said. Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh drew a parallel with the demonetisation exercise carried out in 2016, before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. “The November 2016 demonetisation had one objective and that is how to prevent prominent political parties from fighting the UP elections. Similarly, just before 2024 elections, a conspiracy is being hatched to make the Congress financially crippled... This is an attempt to murder democracy,” he said. Ramesh said that the IT department’s action showed that the BJP government was rattled by the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the farmers’ movement, and rising inflation. He also alleged that the Modi government had collected ₹335 crore in donation from 30 companies that had been raided or were under investigation by the IT department, the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation. “Looting Opposition & Blackmailing donors to fill BJP’s coffers is a dark phase for our Democracy! We shall fight this tooth and nail - Both in the court of law and in the court of the people!” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a post on X. At the press conference, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken termed the IT department’s action as “looting” and questioned the timing of the move, given that the tax demand pertained to 2018-19 tax filing. “...the proceedings of taking out our money took place five years afterwards, just two weeks before the elections are to be announced. We will definitely get back our money, but by then the elections would be over,” Maken said. Twitter all but admits defeat on Indian blocking orders [X Corp., formerly known as Twitter, has effectively waved the white flag as far as censorship requests from India are concerned](. In its first detailed statement on the Union government’s frequent blocking requests to the platform, X’s Global Government Affairs team posted a defence of its users’ freedom of expression — without actually backing it with any new action to protect it. Against the backdrop of several blocking orders targeting accounts posting about the farmers’ protests at the Delhi border, this is the first time X has spoken in some detail about blocking orders from India. “The Indian government has issued executive orders requiring X to act on specific accounts and posts, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment,” the unsigned post on early Thursday morning said. “In compliance with the orders, we will withhold these accounts and posts in India alone; however, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts.” The company will not do anything new to defend these individuals’ freedom of expression, it indicated, referring to a “pending appeal” in the Karnataka High Court on blocking orders where the next hearing is on March 20, a month after the last one, which happened on Tuesday. In that hearing, X sought more time to respond to a recent government affidavit. The company no longer publishes any government blocking order from anywhere in the world, a freeze that started shortly after Elon Musk acquired the social media platform. “Due to legal restrictions, we are unable to publish the executive orders, but we believe that making them public is essential for transparency,” the company said. That statement does not hold up to X’s own past behaviour: on Lumen Database, the firm would post a list of accounts and handles which were taken down due to government orders under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. But the firm has stopped publishing even these lists, something which the government has not loudly objected to in previous court hearings. The banned social media accounts on X and Facebook of farmer leaders and organizations include: Sarvan Singh Pandher, the coordinator of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), Tejveer Singh Ambala, the spokesperson of BKU (Shaheed Bhagat Singh), farmer leader Ramandeep Singh Mann, Surjit Singh Phull from BKU Krantikari, farmer leader Harpal Sangha, Ashok Danoda from Haryana, as well as official farmer groups like @Tractor2twitr_P, Bhartiya Kisan Union spokesman, Progressive Farmers Front and Kisan Majdoor Morcha. Some prominent non-farmers who have expressed their opinions or been a part of the farmers movement have also been banned on social media including independent journalist Mandeep Punia, Khalsa Aid’s Ravi Singh, as well as Canadian Punjabi singer Jazzy B. ED renews lookout notice for Byju’s founder The [Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked the Bureau of Immigration to issue a lookout notice against Byju’s founder Byju Raveendran]( with respect to an alleged FEMA violation case involving ₹9,362 crore. The Adjudicating Authority under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) had earlier issued show cause notices to Think & Learn Private Limited, which runs Byju’s, and Byju Raveendran, based on the Enforcement Directorate’s complaint alleging contraventions involving ₹9,362.35 crore. The ED had initiated the FEMA inquiry based on allegations about the foreign investment received, significant foreign remittances, and overseas investments made by the company in “violation” of the Act, purportedly causing losses to the exchequer. In April, based on the information, the agency conducted searches at locations in Bangalore associated with Think and Learn Private Limited and the residence of Raveendran and gathered relevant documents. It also recorded his statement and of the company’s chief financial officer, it said. According to the ED, it found that the company and Raveendran had allegedly contravened the provisions of FEMA by failing to submit documents of imports against advance remittances made outside India; by failing to realize the proceeds of exports made abroad; by the delayed filing of documents against the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) received into the company; by failing to file documents against the remittances made by the company outside India; and by failing to allot shares against FDI received. Earlier, through a statement, the ED had alleged that the company received FDI of about ₹28,000 crore from 2011 to 2023, and remitted about ₹9,754 to various foreign jurisdictions during the same period “in the name of overseas direct investment”. Netflix tells HC docu-series on Indrani won’t be released till February 29; court orders special screening for CBI The [Bombay High Court on February 21 advised the streaming service, Netflix, to first screen the docuseries titled, ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth’ for the Central Bureau of Investigation]( (CBI) before airing it for the public on the platform. The order came after CBI sought a stay on the streaming of the series scheduled for release earlier on February 23. The agency’s concern in the plea is due to the ongoing trial in the Sheena Bora murder case that the agency earlier failed to obtain a stay from the trial court. The docu-series, said to be controversial ones, revolve around Indrani Mukerjea, the main accused in the murder case. Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Manjusha Deshpande in their order suggested Netflix to organise a special screening for CBI officials and lawyers, for them to preview the series. The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for next Thursday, February 29. Senior Advocate Ravi Kadam on behalf of Netflix had concerns over potential pre-censorship over the pre-screening of the docuseries and argued that the CBI should have approached the court earlier and not right before the announced streaming date. On this, the court said that the trial was still on, “Why should the CBI not be allowed to watch the series? She (Indrani Mukerjea) is an accused. The series is her depiction of what happened. One of the bail conditions is not to tamper with evidence. When you sort of interview people in support of your case, we ask you, before we hear you, why cannot the CBI watch the series? What is the difficulty in sharing the docuseries? The release can be deferred for a week. Heavens are not going to fall. They should be allowed to view it. The release can be postponed by a week without dire consequences. If you’re unable to provide instructions and make a statement, we will issue this order.” Kadam eventually accepted the court’s suggestion and agreed that the streaming platform will not air the show until the next hearing. Advocate Shreeram Shirsat, representing the CBI stressed that the series has clips of interviews with the accused as well as the witnesses in the case. Since only the trailer was shown to the CBI, they are unaware of the number of witnesses featured in the series. On this argument, the court asked Netflix to present the exact number of witnesses featured in the series. Netflix advocate Kadam informed the court that five witnesses, including Indrani Mukerjea’s son, Mikhail Mukerjea and Vidhie Mukerjea, her daughter from her second husband Peter Mukerjea, were interviewed in the series. The series was set to air on February 23 and the next release date will be decided after the next hearing. In brief Congress calls for convening special Parliament session on farmers’ issues The [Congress on February 22 escalated its attack on the BJP-led Centre over the farmers protest]( and demanded that a special session of Parliament be convened to discuss the pressing issues of the tillers. The opposition party also urged the Punjab government to convene a similar session of the State Assembly to deliberate on the issue. A farmer was killed and about 12 police personnel were injured in clashes at Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border on February 21. The incident took place when some protesting farmers were trying to head towards barricades. Delhi excise policy case | ED issues fresh summons to CM Arvind Kejriwal The [Enforcement Directorate has issued a seventh summon to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal]( for questioning in the excise policy-linked money laundering case, official sources said on February 22. The central agency, while issuing the seventh summon under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), has asked him to appear before it on February 26 and rejected his contention that a fresh notice for his attendance was wrong as the matter is sub judice before a local court. Kejriwal has been asked to depose on February 26 and record his statement in the excise policy linked money laundering case. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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