Loss of face for central goverment
There has been a constant attack on constitutional organisations ever since Modi’s BJP government assumed power at the centre. Autonomous institutions have been meddled with constantly, pushing envelope to use them to settle vendettas and equations with the political opponents. One of the major examples of this lies in the fact that CBI chief Alok Kumar Verma was sent on compulsory leave in the recent times. Verma had moved courts questioning the decision of the goverment on the leave issue. Supreme Court took up the matter for hearing and has given a dressing down to the government, stating the leave stands cancelled and Verma should return to office. But he has been barred from taking any policy related issues, till the CVC investigation is complete.
Central government was never humiliated like this. Alok Kumar Verma’s tenure would end on January 31. He was sent on compulsory leave, forcibly in October. This is a classic case of government interference over everything else. Supreme Court expressed dissatisfaction over such highhandedness on part of the government.
Right from the beginning, the autonomy of CBI has always been under a scanner because it’s autonomy seems more like tokenism than genuine. All the political parties that have been in power have been using CBI in some way or the other to settle scores with their political opponents. But the midnight operation and sending Verma on leave was a direct attack launched on the CBI. Supreme Court has reinstated Verma, clearly ignoring the reasoning provided by the government that the action was initiated based on the Central Vigilence Committee Commissioner’s report.
PM, Chief Justice of Supreme Court and leaders of opposition will sit together to decide about the future of CBI chief. The decision by the Supreme Court will have its impact on CBI even after Verma’s retirement by the end of the month. The governemnt cannot really take a unilateral adhoc decision regarding the next appointee as CBI director. The argument made by Fali S Nariman, representing Verma is that the director has two year service tenure and the decision made by the govetnment is ntohing but interference.
Central government had appointed Verma as CBI chief in 2017. Then he was sent on leave all of a sudden. Is there any truth in the allegations made by the opposition that Verma was going into the files and details of the Rafael deal made by the central government which caused him to be shunted out? Why was Asthana, who is considered a Modi aide, appointed as the director of CBI in the same month?
After Asthana’s appoinment, CBI turned into a warzone of internal bickerings. The central goverment is solely responsible for this. This brought out the fights into open space and ruined the confidence it enjoyed among people, thanks to Modi government. When Verma had travelled aborad, Asthana had attended a meeting on promotions for staff called by the CVC. Verma was livid when he heard that Asthana attended the meeting on his behalf, stating he had not designated anyone as acting chief. This brought out the differences of opinion among both seniors in CBI and both then lodged complaints citing corrpuption charges. The centre then woke up and sent both of them on leave and appointed Nageswara Rao as the acting chief. The centra government did not check with highpower committee for any suggestions. Advocate Prashanth Bhushan and others had submitted a plea to CBI seeking inquiry into Rafeal deal, that seems to be surrounding Modi at the moment. Based on this complaint, Verma had colletced a few details for further investination. Hence one version says this caused Modi goverment to train their guns on Verma and send him on leave. This is not totally far from the truth either. Central goverment got into a quick sand trying to protect Modi. This is a warning bell for the future goverments as well.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
