Congress-backed news channel in Kerala says its bank accounts frozen by tax authorities
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The management of Congress-backed Jaihind TV in Kerala on Saturday alleged that its bank accounts were frozen by the Centre, a day after the national party's main bank accounts were frozen by the I-T department over an outstanding tax demand.
According to sources in the TV channel, the office of the Assistant Commissioner, Central GST and Central Excise in Thiruvananthapuram issued notices to two leading private banks, directing them to recover the amount due to the central government from the news channel's parent company, Bharat Broadcasting Company, leading to the freeze of its accounts.
Jaihind TV was recently in the news after the CBI issued a notice seeking details of the investments made in the channel by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar in connection with a disproportionate assets case against the Congress leader.
The channel's Managing Director B S Shiju said the action of the tax authorities was completely 'unexpected', and that too while the case related to it was pending in the High Court.
"This abrupt action is indeed unfortunate and has plunged the channel into a state of crisis," he said.
Shiju said the channel, on December 22 last year, received a notice seeking details of an investment made by Shivakumar and his family members in it.
"We are fully cooperating with the investigating agency in that regard. But unfortunately, after this, we received half a dozen notices from various central government departments and agencies. It is evident that this is a clear case of political vendetta against the Indian National Congress and D K Shivakumar," Shiju, who is also a Congress leader, told PTI.
Sources in Jaihind TV said the freezing of the accounts was in connection with a 7-year-old case concerning service tax arrears, which is currently being heard by the Kerala High Court.
They also claimed that the action was taken without any warning, disrupting the channel's day-to-day operations.
The CBI registered a case against D K Shivakumar in 2020, alleging that between 2013 and 2018, he had amassed assets worth over Rs 74 crore, which are allegedly disproportionate to his income.
In its notice issued under Section 91 of the CrPC, the CBI had asked the channel to furnish details of investments made by Shivakumar and is wife Usha Shivakumar, dividends paid to them, share transactions, financial transactions along with bank details through which they were made, statement of holdings, their ledger accounts, contract notes and transactions for all share transactions among other details.
On Friday, the Congress' main bank accounts were frozen over an income tax demand of Rs 210 crore but an I-T appellate tribunal later allowed it to operate them pending a further hearing next week, a huge relief for the party which said the move had impacted all political activity.
The accounts, including that of the Indian Youth Congress, were frozen on an Income Tax demand of Rs 210 crore for 2018-19, an election year, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said.
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BJP slams Cong over internal quota for SCs, alleges injustice done to several communities
Bengaluru (PTI): The BJP in Karnataka on Saturday attacked the Congress government over its decision on internal reservation for Scheduled Castes, alleging injustice to several communities and questioning the intent behind the revised quota formula.
Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MP Govind Karjol criticised the government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, accusing it of delay, dilution of quota, and lack of commitment to social justice.
The Cabinet on Friday cleared a revised internal reservation formula for Scheduled Castes within the overall 15 per cent quota, paving the way for long-pending government recruitment.
The Cabinet approved 5.25 per cent reservation each for the "right-hand groups" and "left-hand groups", and about 4.5 per cent for other Scheduled Castes, including nomadic communities.
"The Congress government in Karnataka, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has committed a historic betrayal and stabbed the Scheduled Castes in the back," Vijayendra said.
In a post on 'X', the Shikaripura MLA alleged that the government had delayed the distribution of reservation among Scheduled Castes for nearly two-and-a-half years despite a Supreme Court order, before classifying them into A, B and C categories in a Cabinet decision.
He said the previous BJP government had increased reservation from 15 per cent to 17 per cent, but the present dispensation had reduced allocations.
"The quota for Category 'A' has been reduced from 6 per cent to 5.25 per cent and for Category 'B' from 5.5 per cent to 5.25 per cent, thereby causing grave injustice," he said, adding that allocations meant for several communities had been merged into Category 'C' and reduced to 4.5 per cent.
"Instead of the justifiable 5.5 per cent, the quota has been reduced to 4.5 per cent- amounting to a betrayal of these communities as well," he said.
He further claimed that despite there being no stay order, the state government had filed an affidavit agreeing to reduce reservation from 17 per cent to 15 per cent.
"As a result, the Scheduled Caste reservation has been brought down from 17 per cent to 15 per cent," he said.
Alleging inaction on employment, Vijayendra said the government had wasted two-and-a-half years of valuable time in the name of internal reservation despite lakhs of vacancies, and termed the recent recruitment assurance as misleading.
He added that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar will pay a price for the alleged injustice.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference at the BJP state office, Karjol questioned the internal reservation mechanism adopted by the Cabinet.
The former Deputy Chief Minister said the Justice H N Nagamohan Das committee had recommended 17 per cent internal reservation and the government had reduced it to 15 per cent.
He questioned whether repeated assertions on social justice and equitable distribution were mere rhetoric, and accused the chief minister of misleading the public to retain power.
Terming the decision "arbitrary justice", Karjol said, "There were the Sadashivayya report, the Justice H N Nagamohan Das report, and even the Cabinet sub-committee report under former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. There was also a Supreme Court order. Ignoring all of these, the government has delivered arbitrary justice."
He maintained that the previous BJP government had increased reservation scientifically to 17 per cent based on a report by then Law Minister J C Madhuswamy, and alleged that, despite promises made in 2013 and after returning to power in 2023, Siddaramaiah had failed to implement internal reservation.
Accusing the chief minister of attempting to create divisions among SC sub-castes and pushing the issue into courts, Karjol urged him to stop this deception.
