Attempt to implicate me in some terror or riot case: Zafarul-Islam Khan on NIA raids
New Delhi: Former Delhi Minorities Commission chairman Zafarul-Islam Khan on Thursday said he had no contact or relationship with Kashmiri militants and that he feared he could be "framed" in some terror or riot case.
His remarks come on a day when the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted raids at his house and office in connection with a terror funding case.
In a series of tweets, Khan claimed that the order for the raids against him came from "top" and the NIA officials jumped the wall to enter his house showing their "impatience".
" although I have no relationship or even contacts with Kashmiri militants and have not even visited Kashmir for many years. It seems an attempt to implicate me in some terror or riot case," he tweeted.
"Thrown to the stone age. No laptop, no mobile, no desktop. NIA people said the order for raid came from the very top and they were woken up at 4 am for this great task of raiding a journalist. They had no patience. They jumped the wall to enter my house as they did with Chidambaram, he said.
Khan said his house and offices were raided by the NIA officials for four hours in the morning, adding that they took away several papers, laptops, hard disks, and cash among other things.
"My home and offices were raided by NIA this morning from 7 am to 11 am. They took many papers, all laptops, hard disks of all desktops, cash found, etc. They showed me an order on their mobile, issued by one Yadav of NIA to conduct the raid linking me and my NGO with Kashmir terror," he said in a tweet.
The NIA, after choking the funding of separatists groups, is investigating registered and unregistered NGOs operating in and out of Jammu and Kashmir, and carried out fresh raids on some more organizations on Thursday for allegedly being used as modes for "terror funding".
For the second consecutive day, various teams of the NIA under the supervision of an Inspector General along with a Deputy Inspector General carried out searches at nine locations, including the national capital where one NGO 'Charity Alliance' headed by Khan was raided, officials said.
The raids followed registration of a case on October 8 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on receiving "credible information that certain NGOs and trusts are collecting funds domestically and abroad through so-called donations and business contributions" and then using them to fund terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir, they added.
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.
BJP, TMC hail SC directions on counting of votes for West Bengal polls
Kolkata (PTI): The BJP and TMC on Saturday both hailed the SC directions on the Election Commission's circular over the deployment of central government personnel for vote counting in West Bengal.
The apex court on Saturday said no further order was necessary on the TMC's plea challenging the Calcutta High Court's dismissal of its petition against the April 13 circular.
In a social media post, BJP leader Amit Malviya said, "In yet another legal setback, the Supreme Court has refused to intervene. The Trinamool Congress had approached the court challenging the exclusion of state government employees from vote-counting supervisor duties, and had sought an urgent hearing."
"The refusal to entertain this plea underscores a clear message -- attempts to influence or cast doubt over the integrity of the counting process will not find easy validation. Another day, another judicial rebuff for Mamata Banerjee," he added.
The TMC, however, claimed that the SC directions vindicated its stand.
"The issue raised before the Hon'ble Supreme Court pertained to the implementation of the said communication in a manner whereby only Central Government/Central PSU employees were being appointed as Counting Supervisors and Counting Assistants for counting of votes," the party said in a statement.
The TMC said it was highlighted that such an interpretation and implementation of the communication would be contrary to the framework of a fair and balanced counting process.
"After hearing the parties, the Hon'ble Supreme Court directed that Clause 1 of the communication dated 13.04.2026, relating to the appointment of Counting Supervisors and Counting Assistants, must be read along with the salient feature contained in the second page of the said communication, which provides for random selection of both State Government and Central Government employees," it said.
"The Hon'ble Supreme Court has further recorded the undertaking of Mr Dama Seshadri Naidu, learned Senior Advocate appearing for the Election Commission of India that the said communication shall be followed in its letter and spirit," it added.
The TMC said that in view of the directions, it is expected that the counting of votes shall be conducted in a fair, transparent, and balanced manner.
A special bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi said the EC can choose the counting personnel, and its April 13 circular, which provides for deployment of state government employees as well, cannot be said to be incorrect.
The poll body said the apprehensions of TMC of any wrongdoing are misplaced, as the circular very clearly states that there will be a mix of central and state government employees.
The EC assured the court that the circular would be implemented in letter and spirit, and there would be state government employees also during the counting of votes on May 4.
Polling for the 294-member West Bengal assembly was held in two phases -- April 23 and April 29. The counting of votes will be taken up on May 4.
On April 30, the Calcutta High Court dismissed the TMC's petition against the Election Commission circular, saying there was no illegality in the poll panel's decision to appoint counting supervisors and assistants from Central government and Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) employees, instead of the state government staff.
