HC seeks Centre's response on plea against Ansal's passport
New Delhi, Sep 19: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre, the Delhi government, the Chief Passport Officer and businessman Sushil Ansal to file responses on a plea that sought cancellation of his passport.
Justice Najmi Waziri asked the Chief Passport Officer to submit an application filed by Ansal regarding his passport and listed the matter for October 3.
The court was hearing a plea by the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) Chairperson Neelam Krishnamoorthy who alleged that Ansal concealed or gave false information to authorities for renewal of his passport.
The plea alleged that Ansal obtained the passport through illegal means by suppressing the most material information -- that he is facing criminal charges and has been convicted and sentenced for two years in the Uphaar fire tragedy.
In her plea, Krishnamoorthy sought direction to the Central government to initiate an inquiry into the conduct of the passport authorities and Ansal over alleged issue of the passport without following due procedure as mandated by the Passports Act.
She challenged a trial court order that had dismissed her application for initiation of an inquiry against Ansal.
The plea said that Ansal had played a fraud on all criminal courts as he had not taken a no-objection certificate from any of these courts in the past 21 years.
He did not even seek no-objection certificate from the Supreme Court during pendency of his appeal in the main Uphaar fire tragedy case.
In 2014, the Supreme Court convicted Sushil Ansal and his brother Gopal Ansal and restrained them from travelling abroad without permission.
Krishnamoorthy also mentioned a response from the Prime Minister's Office, which said that "Ansal has suppressed material information in the application form and has connived with passport authorities to get his passport reissued without following the due process of law".
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Repolling underway at booth of Karimganj North assembly seat in Assam
Guwahati (PTI): Polling is underway on Saturday at a booth of Karimganj (North) assembly constituency in Assam’s Sribhumi district, where re-election was ordered following clashes between supporters of the BJP and the Congress two days ago, officials said.
The repolling in booth number 239 at Babyland High English School commenced at 7 am and will continue till 5 pm.
“Repolling is going on smoothly, and the momentum is expected to pick up as the day progresses. Arrangements for free and fair polling have been ensured,” the official said.
The re-election was ordered following clashes between supporters of the BJP and the Congress.
"There were reports of some issues on April 9, the polling day for the Assam assembly elections, and hence, the repolling was ordered,” the official said.
The booth has a total of 599 voters.
There are 14 candidates in the fray in this Barak Valley constituency, with a triangular contest among BJP's Subrata Bhattacharjee, Congress' Jakaria Ahmed and Choudhury Hibbur Rasul Usama Mabrur of the AIUDF.
The overall polling percentage in the constituency was recorded at 86.15 on Thursday.
Elections to all 126 assembly constituencies in the state were held in a single phase on April 9, with an approximate voter turnout of 85.91 per cent.
The final voter turnout figures are yet to be declared by the Election Commission.
