Petrol price can be cut by Rs 25 per litre: Chidambaram
New Delhi, May 23: Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday criticised the Centre for the fuel price hike and claimed that the rate can be reduced by Rs 25 per litre but the government is not doing it.
"It is possible to cut upto Rs 25 per litre, but the government will not. They will cheat the people by cutting price by Re 1 or Rs 2 per litre of petrol," he said over Twitter.
Across the four metropolitan cities, prices rose around 30 paise on Tuesday. In Delhi and Mumbai, the fuel was sold at Rs 76.87 and Rs 84.70 per litre, up from Rs Rs 76.57 and Rs 84.40 respectively on Monday.
"Bonanza to central government is Rs 25 on every litre of petrol. This money rightfully belongs to the average consumer.
"Central government saves Rs 15 on every litre of petrol due to fall in crude oil prices. It also puts additional tax of Rs 10 on every litre of petrol," he added.
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Savarkar remarks: Rahul Gandhi appears in Pune court via video link in defamation case, gets bail
Pune, Jan 10: A special court in Pune on Friday granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case related to his alleged objectionable remarks on Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.
The MP/MLA court granted bail to the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha on a surety bond of Rs 25,000 after he appeared before it through video conferencing, his lawyer said.
Senior Congress leader Mohan Joshi stood as surety for Gandhi (54) before the court presided over by Amol Shinde, judicial magistrate (first class) and special judge for MP/MLA cases.
Advocate Milind Pawar, representing Gandhi, said soon after his client appeared before the court, they moved a bail application.
The judge allowed the plea and granted bail to the former Congress president on a surety bond of Rs 25000, he informed.
The advocate said the court also granted permanent exemption to the Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli from appearing before it.
The case was filed on a complaint by V D Savarkar's grandnephew Satyaki, who alleged Gandhi had made defamatory remarks against the Hindutva icon at a programme he attended in London in March 2023.
Earlier, advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, representing Satyaki Savarkar, objected to Gandhi's application seeking virtual appearance.
There was no provision that allows an accused to appear in court through video conferencing before securing bail, Kolhatkar argued.
The court, however, permitted Gandhi to attend the proceedings online.
Wearing a bottle green sweater, the Congress MP appeared before the court and stated his name when the judge asked for it.
The matter will be next heard on February 18.
As per the complaint, Gandhi, while speaking at the London event, stated that Savarkar had written in a book that he and five to six of his friends once beat up a Muslim man and he (Savarkar) felt happy.
According to the complaint, the freedom fighter had not written this anywhere and the Congress leader's remarks were aimed at defaming him.
At the time, the court had asked the Pune police to investigate the allegations and file a report.
The Vishrambaug police, after an inquiry, submitted that there was prima facie truth in the complaint.
Gandhi had skipped the previous court appearance on December 2 citing the winter session of Parliament which he was attending.
His lawyer Pawar had then assured that the opposition parliamentarian will appear in the court on January 10.
