Mumbai, Aug 1: A special court here on Monday remanded Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till August 4 in a money laundering case.

The ED produced Raut before the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court judge MG Deshpande and sought his remand for eight days.

The ED, represented by special public prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar, told the court that Raut and his family were direct beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime.

Senior advocate Ashok Mundargi, appearing for Raut, submitted that the allegations are vague and raised due to political vendetta.

The ED arrested Raut on Sunday midnight in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the redevelopment of a 'chawl' in Mumbai and related financial property transactions involving his wife and alleged associates.

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.



New Delhi, May 15: Observing that airline industry is "very very competitive" and the players are running "huge losses", the Delhi High Court on Wednesday said it would not be appropriate to pass any directions for the capping of airfares across the country.

"Market forces will decide the pricing of tickets. The industry is doing very well today. You look at any airline flying today, it is a highly competitive industry. An auto rickshaw fare is more than the airline fare today," a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora said.

The court disposed of two petitions seeking regulation of pricing of flight tickets and said it would pass a detailed order.

"Today the industry is very very competitive. You will find those who are running airlines are into huge losses," the bench said, adding huge investment is coming in this sector and "let's not make it more regulated".

"It is a well-controlled sector. Every industry which is doing well need not be tampered with," the bench said.

It said stray incidents will not require the court to entertain public interest litigations (PIL) on the issue and bring the entire sector under any new regulation.

The two PILs were filed by advocate Amit Sahni and consumer rights activist Bejon Misra, through lawyer Shashank Deo Sudhi.

The petitioners urged the court to pass directions to cap airfares across the country so that customers are not "fleeced arbitrarily" by airlines.

The counsel for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) opposed the plea and submitted that the airfares depend on the routes as well as the availability of planes and sometimes there are very few passengers in the aircraft and yet they fly.