HYDERABAD  WEDNESDAY  DECEMBER 7, 2022  `9.00  PAGES 16  LATE CITY EDITION WHY IS CHRISTIAN MICHEL JAMES STILL IN JAIL, ASKS SC The AgustaWestland chopper scam accused is kept in jail just because he is a foreign national, the Supreme Court said COMPLETE DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY, SAYS COURT UNHRC FOUND DETENTION ILLEGAL: COUNSEL How long can he be kept in custody and does his not being an Indian justify “complete deprivation” of his liberty, asked a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha. James is a UK national and was extradited from Dubai in 2018. The bench noted that the co-accused govt officials have been granted bail for want of sanction for prosecution | P7 “The maximum sentence for the offence he is charged with is five years and James has been in custody for four years 10 months. Prior to extradition he was in custody for 120 days in Dubai,” said advocate Aljo K Joseph appearing for James, claiming his client has approached the UNHRC, which has held the detention as illegal `2,666 cr LOSS TO THE EXCHEQUER DUE TO THE AGUSTAWESTLAND DEAL, AS PER CBI CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI I-T sleuths search Vamsiram Builders Saket Gokhale arrested for fake news on Modi D I L I P S I N G H K S H AT R I YA @ Ahmedabad TRINAMOOL Congress spokesperson Saket Gokhale was on Tuesday arrested by the Gujarat Police for tweeting an alleged fake news on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Morbi following a tragic bridge collapse there. “Gokhale was arrested in Jaipur, Rajasthan, by Gujarat police and brought to Ahmedabad,” based on a complaint filed by a citizen, police said. A court remanded him in police custody for two days. Gokhale tweeted a clipping allegedly from a Gujarati daily citing an RTI reply on the cost of Modi’s visit to Morbi. But officials denied giving such information. ACB court rejects SIT plea to add Santhosh, others in FIR E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad Documents seized point to ‘massive tax evasion’ conducted searches in the offices of YSR Congress leader Devineni AS many as 62 teams of Income Avinash and relatives of Subba Tax sleuths carried out simultane- Reddy in Vijayawada and Nellore ous searches in 35 locations hous- and seized three hard disks. ing the offices and residences of Also among the places searched the directors of Vamsiram Build- was the residence of Janardhan ers in Hyderabad, VijayaReddy at Road No. 45, Jubiwada and Nellore through lee Hills. Janardhan Reddy Tuesday . is the brother-in-law of The sleuths seized two Subba Reddy . briefcases full of docuSources said that the ments, hard disks, pen company signed MoUs with drives and other material, private individuals who insaid to be incriminating, CBI to talk vested money in its confrom the possession of the to Kavitha struction business in secompany’s managing direccret. According to I-T on Dec. 11 tor. An I-T official said that sleuths, the number of The CBI will the company has lockers in these private partners runs seven banks in Hyderabad record TRS MLC into hundreds. K Kavitha’s which are likely to be The I-T sleuths are bestatement on lieved to have unearthed opened on Wednesday . Among the locations December 11 at discrepancies in tax records 11 am at her searched were the offices and also diversion of funds Hyderabad and premises of Badwelu from the company’s conresidence in Subba Reddy the MD of the , struction business to other connection firm, at Nandagiri Hills and platforms. I-T sleuths told near Peddamma temple. with the Delhi TNIE that they suspect that excise policy The searches, which began the company used to accept scam probe at 6 am, stretched well into 60% of the payments in the evening. cash and the remaining According to I-T sources, the through cheques or online mode. searches extended to properties be- They said that the company failed longing to 18 companies of which to mention the money collected in Subba Reddy and his family mem- cash in its I-T returns to avoid payCONTINUED ON P4 bers are directors. Four I-T teams ing tax. I R E D D Y S R I N I V A S R E D D Y @Hyderabad No direct proof: Court The court said that there was no direct proof of the money trail leading to the 4 when the other accused were arrested Inflation, quota & jobs to raise heat in Parl session PREETHA NAIR & RAJESH KUMAR T H A K U R @ New Delhi THE winter session of Parliament that begins on Wednesday can be expected to be stormy as the Opposition is gearing up to put the government on the mat over pressing issues like inflation, unemployment, the China-India border dispute and the economically weaker section (EWS) quota. At an all-party meet on Tuesday, Opposition parties urged the government to ensure wider Termination of 33-week pregnancy allowed by Delhi HC JA I S O N W I L S O N @ New Delhi Morocco win the penalty shoot-out, making it to the quarters for the 1st time | AP MOROCCO CREATE HISTORY, PLOT SPANISH ELIMINATION EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE TWO of Spain’s biggest tournament problems, a lack of goalscorers as well as penetrative passing from midfield, once again let them down in a global event. They strung together more than a 1000 passes but repeatedly fell short just when it came to playing that incisive pass before the finish. It’s that what cost them as they went down 0-3 in a shoot-out against Morocco in Doha on Tuesday. The Arab side, who advanced to their first-ever quarterfinal, should also be lauded as they were magisterial at the back. The number of successful clearances, tackles and interceptions they registered on the night contributed to Spain’s demise. It would be tempting to write off this Spain team but they have a very young squad who are at the beginning of a developmental curve. After that win at the 2010 World Cup, they are yet to go past the Round of 16 stage. So, in all likelihood, Luis Enrique could be given a stay of execution for another two years as the side develops before the next Euros. For Morocco, though, this will go down as one of their greatest footballing nights of all time. They make no bones about the way they play — defence first before going forward — and it’s paved the P11 way for them. THE Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed a married woman to medically terminate her 33-week-old cerebral abnormal foetus, recognising the mother’s choice as ultimate decision in such cases. In the 33-page order, Justice Prathiba M Singh noted there is considerable doubt and risk involved in the unborn child’s chances of leading a dignified and self-sustaining life. “The lingering question as to whether the child would be self-sustaining or not, tilts the court’s mind in favour of the plea of the petitioner,” the order said. The court said that it has clearly been able to gauge the mental trauma affecting the parents, their economic and social conditions, and also the fact that the petitioner is taking a cautious and well-informed decision. “She has understood as to what termination of pregnancy entails at such an advanced stage. This court is convinced that, as a mother, she has weighed the same with the unpredictability and the risks involved, considering the condition of the foetus,” it said. The court also observed that the medical board, in the present case, has not been able to predict or give a categorical opinion on the degree of handicap or the quality of life of the child after birth, with certainty In the mind of the court, such unpredictabil. ity and risks ought to weigh in favour of the woman seeking termination of pregnancy it added. , WELCOME OP Gang that trafficked 14,190 women busted E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad CYBERABAD police, in coordination with the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit and SOT sleuths, arrested 18 members of a gang that lured or forced 14,190 women into prostitution over several years. According to police, the gang was responsible for about 70 per cent of trafficking and prostitution cases in the city . Among those arrested was Adeem, the kingpin and Rakesh, manager of a prominent hotel in Hyderabad. The other arrested were identifed as Sameer, Harbindhar Kaur, Salman Khan, Abdul Kareem, Jogeshwar Rao, Saibabu Goud, Prasad, Afsar, Gangadhar, Fayaz, Vishnu, Sudheer, Rishi, Srinivas, Abdul Rafeeq and Sarbeshwar. Giving details, Cyberabad Police Commissioner Stephen Raveendra said on Tuesday that each of the 18 members was connected to hundreds of girls. Of the 14,190 victims, a majority were from West Bengal, followed by Karnataka and Maharashtra. Some of the victims were from Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Russia. There are 37 cases registered against the gang members, Raveendra said. “The gang used to share the proceeds with the victims on a 70:30 ratio,” he said. Police also found that the STATING that neither law and order police nor the Special Investigation Team is competent to investigate the offences relating to the PC Act and only the Special Police Establishment-Anti-Corruption Bureau is the competent authority to do so, a ACB court on Tuesday rejected a memo filed by the SIT urging it to consider BL Santhosh, Tushar Vellappally Jaggu Swamy and B Srinivas as ac, cused in the TRS MLAs poaching case. The SIT had in November requested the court to array the BJP national general secretary and others as accused (A4 to A7) in the case. Ramachandra Bharati, Nandu Kumar and Simhayaji were named A1 to A3. The court said that there was no direct proof of the money trail leading to the four or their presence at the farmhouse when the other accused in the case were arrested. gang was influencing the victims and clients with MDMA and other drugs. “Their mode of communication was WhatsApp groups and websites. They were running call centres in Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. When it came to girls from abroad, the gang used to share pictures of the victims with the client. After the client agreed, flight tickets used to be booked and hotel rooms reserved,” Raveendra said. He said that the case came to light when Vivek and Irfan were taken into custody for human trafficking at Sun City in mid-November. “A closer look at the case led to Adeem and then we realised the extent of the case,” Raveendra said. The gang used to accept payments in cash and online platforms. Some of the gang members were also working as staff in a few hotels. discussions over burning issues facing the nation. They also demanded a wider discussion over the alleged misuse of central agencies like the CBI and the ED. Leaders from more than 30 parties participated in the meeting. The demand for the women’s reservation bill will be back in focus as several Opposition parties that had blocked it earlier now want it introduced and passed in this session itself. The matter was raised by the BJD and drew support from the Opposition. As for the legislative agenda, the government is planning to introduce 16 new bills. The Congress intends to oppose three of them — the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2022. It wants 23 DAYS, 17 SITTINGS The session will have 17 sittings over 23 days and will be held in the existing Parliament House. The Budget session is expected in the new Parliament building them sent to standing committees for vetting. While the Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill seeks to increase accountability and reform the electoral process in multi-state cooperative societies, the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill aims to remove ambiguities, promote plantation in non-forest areas, and conserve forests. “The government is ready for discussions on all issues adhering to the rules of the House and as per the advice of the Chair,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said.