If ED has fundamental rights, it should think of people's rights too: Supreme Court
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has said ED should also think of the fundamental rights of the people and frowned upon the agency's plea seeking the transfer of the Nagrik Apurti Nigam (NAN) scam case from Chhattisgarh to New Delhi.
A bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan questioned the agency on how it had filed a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution meant for individuals.
Article 32 of Constitution guarantees the "Right to Constitutional Remedies," empowering individuals to seek redressal from the Supreme Court for violations of their fundamental rights, allowing them to directly approach the court for enforcement of these rights.
Following the bench's remarks, additional solicitor general S.V. Raju sought its permission to withdraw the plea and said, "ED also has fundamental rights."
"In a lighter vein, if ED has fundamental rights, it should think about fundamental rights of people too," the bench said.
The court then allowed Raju to withdraw the plea.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) last year claimed former IAS officer Anil Tuteja misused the anticipatory bail granted to him in the case in Chhattisgarh.
The probe agency recently made a startling claim about some constitutional functionaries of Chhattisgarh being in touch with a high court judge to ensure judicial reliefs to some accused in the money laundering case stemming from the alleged multi-crore rupees NAN scam.
Aside from seeking the transfer of the PMLA case out of Chhattisgarh, the ED sought cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to some high-profile accused persons in the money laundering case.
In 2019, the ED lodged the complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act based on the FIR and chargesheet filed by the Chhattisgarh police's economic offences wing and the anti-corruption bureau in the civil supply scam.
The alleged scam in the public distribution system (PDS) surfaced when the state's anti-corruption bureau raided some offices of NAN, the nodal agency for ensuring effective operation of the PDS system, in February 2015 and seized unaccounted cash totalling Rs 3.64 crore.
Many of the rice and salt samples collected during the raid were tested for their quality and were claimed to be sub-standard and unfit for human consumption.
While Tuteja was the chairperson of NAN, Shukla was the managing director.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
