BJP once praised Sonu Sood, now considers him tax evader: Shiv Sena on I-T action against actor
Mumbai, Sep 17: The Shiv Sena on Friday slammed the BJP over the Income Tax Department's action against actor Sonu Sood, saying that although the party earlier praised him for his work during the lockdown, it now considers him a "tax evader" after the Delhi and Punjab governments tried to join hands with him in his social work.
In an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', the Sena said the action against Sood was a foul play, which would boomerang the BJP, and said that the party that claims to have the highest number of members in the world, should also have a large heart.
The I-T officials had descended on the premises linked to Sood in Mumbai and some other places on Wednesday in connection with an alleged tax evasion probe, official sources had said.
"Filing false cases against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ministers, pressuring the state governor to withhold 12 members for their nomination to the state Legislative Council and raiding actor like Sonu Sood were signs of a small and narrow mind. This is foul play and it is sure to boomerang one day" the Sena said.
During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sood came into limelight when he emerged as the 'messiah' of the poor migrant labourers, helping them return to their home states during the national lockdown and providing shelter and food to them, it added.
"The BJP then praised him and asked why the MVA government can't do what Sood has been doing. The BJP projected him as their own. But when Sood became the brand ambassador of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government's educational programme, the I-T raided him," the party alleged.
The ruling party in Maharashtra further said that BJP leaders had earlier remained present at all his programmes like setting up oxygen plants in 16 cities, his scholarship programmes. Even Maharashtra Governor B S Koshyari called him to Raj Bhavan and praised his efforts. But when Delhi and Punjab governments tried to join hands with him in his social work, the actor became a tax evader, the Sena added.
"It has become a norm to trouble people not linked to the BJP through investigating agencies," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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