Delhi Waqf Board suspends officer over graft charge
New Delhi, Sep 5 : The Delhi Waqf Board on Wednesday suspended its section officer K. Alam Farooqi over the 2016 alleged sale of a portion of Chirag Delhi dargah to a private dealer in connivance with Board officials.
The decision comes a day after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan was, for the second time, elected as the Chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board after resigning in 2016 over allegations of corruption.
The Chirag Delhi dargah case first came to light in March 2016 when the caretaker of the dargah allegedly sold a piece of land to a private player. The locals interfered and stopped the construction of the two rooms that the caretakers said were part of 'musafirkhana' (guest rooms) outside the main enclosure of the dargah.
In January this year, a Delhi assembly committee report alleged corruption by the section officer and accused Farooqi of illegally selling a portion of the land to private players.
Talking to IANS, AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said: "K. Alam Farooqi sold a portion of the 14th-century dargah to a private player by the name of Sri Ram Builders in connivance with Waqf Board officials. When Amanatullah Khan, who was the chairman of the Board in 2016, got to know about this deal, he tried to file an FIR but soon he resigned."
This, he said, gave Farooqi an opportunity to misplace the deal papers and the documents which stated that the Chirag Delhi dargah property belongs to the Waqf Board.
"Mr Farooq instead presented a misleading report which stated that the dargah property never even belonged to the Board in the first place," said Bharadwaj, who had first raised the issue in the House in 2016.
He further said that the section officer was then confronted with the locals and the then CEO of the Waqf Board who clearly said that Farooqi misplaced the files of the dargah.
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.
Allahabad HC denies relief to Rahul Gandhi in Savarkar remarks case
Lucknow (UP), Apr 4 (PTI): The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has refused to grant any relief to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a case concerning alleged derogatory remarks made against freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
The defamation case stems from Gandhi's comments on Savarkar made on November 17, 2022 during his Bharat Jodo Yatra at a rally in Maharashtra's Akola district.
The court on Friday ruled that Gandhi can file a revision petition before the sessions court, making the high court's intervention unnecessary at this stage.
Justice Subhash Vidyarthi of the single bench issued the order.
Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had challenged a lower court's decision to summon him in the case, also contesting the ongoing proceedings against him.
Gandhi's lawyer, Pranshu Agarwal, argued that the allegations in the complaint did not constitute offences under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He also contended that the lower court had disregarded Section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which pertains to prosecution for offences against the State.
However, Justice Vidyarthi, without commenting on the merits of the case, stated that Gandhi has the option to file a revision petition before the sessions court. The high court declined to provide immediate relief to Gandhi.
Advocate Nripendra Pandey filed a complaint, accusing Gandhi of intentionally insulting Savarkar during the rally.
The complainant alleged Gandhi's remarks were part of a well-planned conspiracy to defame Savarkar. He noted that the comments were broadcast widely across the media.
The case is being heard in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate here. The next hearing on the matter is scheduled on April 14.
