Illegal sand mining: Don't harass TN district collectors unnecessarily, SC tells ED
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Enforcement Directorate not to "unnecessarily harass" the collectors of five Tamil Nadu districts after the state complained about the officials being made to sit at the central agency's offices till 8:30 p.m. in connection with a money launder probe related alleged illegal sand mining.
The apex court had on April 2 pulled up the five district collectors for not appearing physically before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) despite orders and directed them to present themselves before the agency personally on April 25.
During the hearing on Monday, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state, told a bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal that the district collectors had appeared before the ED.
The ED's counsel said they had appeared before the ED but so far no details or documents have been submitted to the central anti-money laundering agency.
Sibal countered the ED's claim and said whatever the probe agency had asked for through the summons has been furnished.
"My instructions are that no details or documents have been submitted in furtherance of their (the officials') undertaking," the ED's counsel said, adding, "we can file an affidavit to this effect".
The bench told the ED's counsel to specify the documents which have not been supplied by the district collectors yet.
"They (district collectors) came at 11 O'clock. They made them sit there till 8:30 in the evening," Sibal said.
"You can't do this," the bench told the ED's counsel.
When the lawyer said he will have to find out about this, the bench observed "Don't harass them unnecessarily."
The apex court asked the ED to file a report stating exactly which documents it had sought through the summons that have not been produced by these officers.
It posted the matter for further hearing in July.
During the hearing on April 2, the bench had observed the officials adopted a "cavalier approach" and their actions show they have no respect for the court, law and the Constitution.
"In our opinion, such cavalier approach and disdainful attitude of the District Collectors may land them into a difficult situation. When the Court had passed the order directing them to appear in response to the summons issued by the ED, they were expected to obey the said order and remain present before the ED," the bench had said.
"By not following the order, they have created an impression that they do not have respect either for the Court, or for the law, much less for the Constitution of India. Such an approach is strongly deprecated," it had said.
On February 27, the top court had directed the five district collectors to appear before the ED in connection with the probe.
The Madras High Court had on November 28 last year stayed the summons issued by the central probe agency seeking the presence of district collectors of Vellore, Tiruchirappalli, Karur, Thanjavur and Ariyalur in connection with the probe.
The ED had moved the top court against the high court order, saying it would hamper its probe.
The Supreme Court had stayed the high court order granting relief to the district collectors and said the plea of Tamil Nadu and its officials was "strange and unusual" and may lead to stalling the ED investigation.
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Court allows 5-day police custody of Bibhav Kumar in Swati Maliwal assault case
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court allowed five-day custodial interrogation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar in the Swati Maliwal assault case, sing the police remand was a "necessity" in the matter.
Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Goyal was hearing the application of Delhi Police which was represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava. The police had sought seven day custody.
It is alleged that Kumar, who is Kejriwal's personal assistant, assaulted AAP MP Swati Maliwal at the CM's residence on May 13.
"Considering the submissions made on behalf of both the parties, I find there is a necessity of police custody remand in the present case. Accordingly, the application moved by the investigating officer (IO) is partly allowed and the accused is remanded to police custody for five days," the court said in its order passed around 12:45 AM Sunday.
It noted the prosecution's submissions about the need to take Kumar to Mumbai and other parts of the national capital to collect evidence, which was not possible without the accused's custody.
"Admittedly, the case is at a nascent stage. Allegations made in the FIR are corroborated in her (Maliwal's) statement recorded by the magistrate on oath and further, it is again corroborated in the medico-legal case (MLC) of the victim or complainant," the court said.
The magistrate also observed, "I am aware of the view of constitutional courts that the opportunity must be given to the investigating agency to complete the investigation in order to reach the truth of the matter but at the same time the rights of the accused are also to be protected."
Asking the Investigating Officer to take Kumar into formal custody, the court directed his medical examination every 24 hours and said the investigating agency would not subject the accused to "any torture."
It also allowed Kumar to meet his advocate and wife for half an hour each during the police custody.
Kumar's application for providing requisite medicines was also allowed.
The proceedings which commenced around 9: 15 PM Saturday saw initial arguments by Srivastava following which the magistrate said, "I find force in the arguments of the APP (Additional Public Prosecutor) that there were sufficient grounds to arrest the accused without notice."
The prosecutor made several arguments, including those mentioned in the remand application and also that the "means or weapon" by which Kumar assaulted Maliwal had to be recovered.
The vehement counter-arguments by Kumar's counsels continued for more than one-and-a-half hours. One of his counsels, Rajiv Mohan, claimed that Maliwal had lodged the FIR "belatedly after deliberation and concoction."
The Delhi Police arrested Kumar earlier on Saturday and his anticipatory bail plea was subsequently observed as becoming "infructuous" by a Delhi court.
