Excise scam: Delhi court discharges former CM Kejriwal, Sisodia, K Kavitha and 20 others
New Delhi (PTI): In a massive relief to the AAP's top leadership, a Delhi court on Friday discharged former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his ex-deputy Manish Sisodia and 21 others in the politically charged liquor policy case by refusing to take cognisance of the CBI chargesheet against them.
Among the 21 people given a clean chit in the case is Telangana Jagruthi president K Kavitha.
Special Judge Jitendra Singh rapped the CBI for lapses in the investigation, saying that there was no cogent evidence against Kejriwal and there was no prima facie case against Sisodia and the other accused.
The CBI has been probing alleged corruption in the formulation and execution of the erstwhile AAP government's now-scrapped excise policy.
ALSO READ: Delhi court discharges Kejriwal, Sisodia in excise corruption case, rejects CBI chargesheet
Underscoring "some misleading averments", the judge said in his strongly worded statement that the voluminous chargesheet had several lacunas not corroborated by evidence or witnesses.
"... The chargesheet suffers from internal contradictions, striking at the root of conspiracy theory," he said.
He said that in the absence of any evidence, the allegations against Kejriwal could not be sustained and that the former chief minister was implicated without any cogent evidence.
This, the judge said, was inconsistent with the rule of law.
Regarding Sisodia, the judge said there was no material on record showing his involvement, nor was any recovery made from him.
The court underlined its finding of the absence of an overarching conspiracy or criminal intent in the excise policy while observing that the federal agency's case did not withstand judicial scrutiny, especially when the CBI sought to construct a narrative of conspiracy onmere conjecture.
It also rapped the agency for building its case through approver statements.
"If such conduct is allowed, it would be a grave violation of the Constitutional principles. The conduct where an accused is granted pardon and then made an approver, his statements used to fill the gaps in the investigation/narrative and make additional people accused is wrong," the court said.
The other accused discharged are Kuldeep Singh, Narender Singh, Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Ramchandra Pillai, Mootha Goutam, Sameer Mahendru, Amandeep Singh Dhall, Arjun Pandey, Butchibabu Gornatla, Rakesh Joshi, Damodar Prasad Sharma, Prince Kumar, Chanpreet Singh Rayat, Arvind Kumar Singh, Durgesh Pathak, Amit Arora, Vinod Chauhan, Ashish Mathur, and P Sarath Chadra Reddy.
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Property deals in K'taka set to cost more as state plans 20% hike in guidance value
Bengaluru: Property transactions across Karnataka are set to become more expensive from April 1, with the state government initiating steps to revise the guidance value of land and buildings, a move that will have a direct bearing on stamp duty and registration charges.
Acording to sources in the government cited by Deccan Herald said the average increase in guidance value is likely to range between 15 per cent and 20 per cent, though a final decision is yet to be announced. The Department of Stamps and Registration has been instructed to complete the necessary formalities and publish the draft revised rates at the earliest.
A senior official told Deccan Herald that existing rules permit annual revision of guidance value in view of rising property prices. The last revision was carried out in October 2023 and the process for the current revision began after a meeting of the Central Valuation Committee on January 12.
Officials associated with the exercise were quoted as saying that the proposed revision aims to narrow the gap between prevailing market prices and government-notified guidance values. They maintained that the exercise is routine and not directly linked to the state’s revenue position.
The state had initially set a target of ₹28,000 crore from property registrations, which was later reduced to ₹25,000 crore. The reduction was made following difficulties in registrations after e-khata was made mandatory. Noting that property registrations typically increase in the closing months due to tax considerations, officials indicated that there is currently a shortfall of around ₹3,000 crore, which they expect to bridge by the end of the financial year.
An upward revision in guidance value would raise the minimum value at which properties can be registered. At present, buyers pay 5 per cent of the guidance value as stamp duty, 2 per cent as registration fee and 0.60 per cent as cess and surcharge, taking the total levy to 7.60 per cent.
Deccan Herald quoted Suresh Hari, former secretary of CREDAI, as saying that a revision in guidance value may be justified in line with market trends. He also cautioned that if it becomes the basis for calculating stamp duty, overall transaction costs for buyers would increase.
