A new low in politics: Sibal slams ED's attachment of National Herald assets
New Delhi (PTI): Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Wednesday slammed the Enforcement Directorate for attaching assets of the Congress-promoted National Herald newspaper and described it as a "new low in politics".
Sibal, a former Congress leader, also alleged that the probe agency has been acting at the behest of the "powers that be".
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Tuesday that it has attached immovable assets and equity shares worth about Rs 752 crore as part of its ongoing money laundering investigation against the National Herald newspaper and companies linked to it.
The provisional attachment order came as elections in five states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram are in progress and the counting of votes is scheduled to be held on December 3.
In a post on X, Sibal said, "Young Indian(YI), Associated Journals Ltd(AJL), ED attaches 752cr worth properties of AJL. Allege: YI shareholders owners of AJL's assets Cheating and Breach of trust. Law: Shareholders are never owners of company's assets. YI a not for profit company. A new low in politics."
Speaking with PTI later, the senior advocate said, "When ignorance is bliss, it is a folly to be wise. I don't think the ED should be ignorant about the law. A shareholder is a shareholder, the property is owned by the company."
"If the company goes into liquidation... nothing comes to the shareholder. So who has cheated who? Where is the breach of trust? Who has conspired? I think they know the law. I think courts also know the law. So I am a little baffled," Sibal said.
But what has happened in the country today is that the ED is acting on the instructions of the powers that be, he said.
"The other thing which is more important is that it is a Section 25 company, it is not for profit. If AGL is wound up, it will go to another not for profit company. Young India will go to another not for profit company," Sibal said.
"The problem in this country is that we have a narrative that is associated with the media and the narrative is started by investigating agencies to destroy people's reputation. Now this trial will take years and the powers that be will go from speech to speech before 2024 polls... they will say see these people have cheated when we all know there is no basis for this," he added.
The Congress termed the ED action "petty vendetta tactics" and said the agency is a "coalition partner" of the BJP which, it claimed, is staring at a certain defeat in the assembly polls.
Sibal, who was a Union minister during UPA I and II, quit the Congress in May last year and was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Independent member with the Samajwadi Party's support.
He has floated a non-electoral platform 'Insaaf' aimed at fighting injustice.
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Woman duped of Rs 25 lakh in fake Canada visa scam; 1 held
Shimla (PTI): A woman has been arrested from Punjab for allegedly duping another woman of Rs 25 lakhs by promising her to arrange a visa for Canada, police said on Monday.
The accused has been identified as Manju Kumari, a resident of Punjab.
Senior Superintendent of Police SSP Shimla Gaurav Singh said that Manju had contacted the woman several months ago and had promised her to arrange a visa for Canada.
"After this, she asked for money for the same from the victim, which she transferred to her on multiple occasions. However, as time went by, Manju started to make various excuses and ignored her calls," the SSP said.
Upon suspecting being defrauded, the victim's brother registered a complaint, and a case was registered under sections 318 (4) (cheating), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) and 352 (2) (intentional insults designed to provoke a breach of peace) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the SSP said.
"Police teams were sent to Haryana and Punjab, but she kept evading arrest as she kept changing her locations as well as her mobile numbers. However, the police teams successfully arrested her on Sunday from a flat located in Kharar in Punjab," he said.
Further investigation into the matter is underway, and the defrauded money is also being recovered, he added.
