Gautam Adani meets Sharad Pawar amid Oppn's demand for JPC probe into Hindenburg-Adani row
Mumbai, Apr 20: Industrialist Gautam Adani met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar at the latter's residence here on Thursday amid the Opposition's demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue.
The meeting, held at Pawar's residence Silver Oak in south Mumbai this morning, lasted for nearly two hours, sources said.
Earlier this month, Pawar had come out in support of the Adani group and criticised the narrative around the US short seller Hindenburg Research's report on the conglomerate.
Taking a position at variance from senior ally Congress, Pawar had said he favoured a Supreme Court committee to probe allegations against the Adani group since the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would have a majority in the JPC based on numerical strength in Parliament and this would lead to doubts on such a probe.
The NCP supremo had later said although his outfit does not agree with the demand of anti-BJP parties for a JPC probe into allegations against the Adani group, it will not go against their stand for the sake of Opposition unity.
The Supreme Court had last month ordered the setting up of a six-member committee headed by a former apex court judge to look into various regulatory aspects for stock markets, including the recent Adani group shares crash triggered by Hindenburg Research's fraud allegations.
The Hindenburg Research has made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation, against the business conglomerate. The Adani group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.
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Thane court sentences two men to life imprisonment in 2017 gang-rape case
Thane: A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has sentenced two persons to life imprisonment for the rape of a 30-year-old woman in 2017.
Additional sessions judge Vasudha L Bhosale on Friday found the accused, Suresh Pandurang Gosavi (40) and Umesh alias Rakesh Zhala (39), guilty under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
The court sentenced them to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 55,000 each.
The accused were also convicted on the charges of kidnapping the victim and robbery and handed them different terms of imprisonment.
The judge, in her order, stated that all the sentences would run concurrently.
The court also ordered that the accused pay Rs 40,000 each to the victim as compensation and referred the case to the DLSA for compensation to the victim as per law.
Additional public prosecutors Varsha Chandane and Rajendra P Patil told the court that on the evening of December 19, 2017, the victim, who was employed as a store manager, was returning home from work when she took Gosavi's cab, and the other accused man was already in the front seat.
The accused drove some distance and halted, claiming the car had a flat tyre that needed to be fixed. The duo proceeded to rob the woman, snatched her jewellery and mobile phone and raped her in the car, the prosecution said.
The men then took her to a lodge, where she raised an alarm, and they abandoned her and fled, they said.
The judge, in her order, noted that the prosecution had successfully proved all charges against the accused, who needed to be convicted and sentenced.
