Sushil Modi's kin had direct links with Srijan scam accused: Tejashwi Yadav
Patna, June 28 : Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday alleged Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi's family has direct links with the accused in the multi-crore Srijan scam case involving an NGO that allegedly pilfered funds meant for government welfare schemes.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader also asked why the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has not registered a case against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi in the scam despite knowledge of their involvement.
"Sushil Modi's sister Rekha Modi and niece Urvashi Modi received crores of rupees from Srijan scam. Here are bank statements of Srijan to prove transactions," Tejashwi Yadav said in a series of tweets attaching the statement of Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Ltd's Indian Bank's Bhagalpur branch account in which few transactions showed the names of Rekha Modi and Urvashi Modi.
"Sushil Modi and Nitish Kumar are direct parties in the Rs 2,500 crore scam but CBI not naming and questioning them. Why?
"Rs 2,500 crore of state exchequer were looted for years in Srijan scam under the able guidance of Deputy Chief Minister cum Finance Minister Sushil Modi and sound and known patronage of Nitish Kumar," he said attaching a letter written by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the Bihar government in September 2013.
"Why the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister didn't act on complaints from RBI and then Finance Ministry?"
His remarks came a day after Sushil Modi fired fresh corruption salvos at Yadav alleging him of serving as the "handling and storage agent" of a leading steel company in the country.
Sushil Modi alleged that Yadav did not declare this information in his affidavit before the Election Commission when he made his electoral debut in the Bihar Assembly polls of 2015 and accused him of evading taxes on the earnings made in aforementioned capacity.
Yadav on Thursday alleged that Nitish Kumar had the knowledge of the Srijan scam but turned a blind eye. "I am giving proofs that Nitish Kumar was very much in loop and know to things related to Srijan scam but he turned a blind eye and didn't take cognisance of scam and allowed the rampant loot of state exchequer.
"His party leaders were directly involved in this plundering to fund him," he said.
The Srijan scam involves Bhagalpur-based NGO Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Ltd, which used to provide vocational training to women. The NGO allegedly pilfered funds meant for government welfare schemes from the bank accounts of the Bhagalpur district administration.
Nitish Kumar had on August 18, 2017 recommended a CBI to probe in the scam after RJD chief Lalu Prasad accused him of "murdering democracy" in Bihar.
In August last year, the CBI registered 10 cases related to the scam and filed four fresh case in June this year.
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K’taka HC judge whose controversial remarks triggered controversy expresses regret before open court
Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court judge, Justice V Srishananda, on Saturday expressed regret in open court after facing backlash over his controversial remarks in his recent court hearings, reported Bar and Bench.
Two purported video clips from Justice V Srishananda’s court hearing that show him making inappropriate comments went viral across social media platforms.
On Saturday, Justice Srishananda invited members of the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and senior lawyers to his courtroom at 2:30 PM, where he read out a note expressing regret for inappropriate comments.
Quoting Advocates Association President Vivek Subba Reddy, Bar and Bench wrote, “He expressed regret for the comments and clarified that it was not his intention to offend any community or members of the Bar. He also requested the association to relay this message to all members of the Bar.”
Reddy further stated, “We also advised him to encourage young lawyers in the courtroom and refrain from making any irrelevant remarks during hearings.”
Another senior lawyer present during the session confirmed to the legal news portal that Justice Srishananda also addressed comments directed at a woman lawyer, who was seen in one of the videos being reprimanded by the judge. The judge Justice Srishananda clarified that his remarks were not intended to target her (woman lawyer) specifically, but rather pertained to the appellant she was representing. “He explained that his comment was meant to imply that the appellant seemed to know a lot about the other party,” said the lawyer.
In addition, Justice Srishananda assured those present that he would avoid making such comments in the future.
The controversy came to light on September 19, when a video clip from an August 28 Court hearing surfaced on social media, showing Justice Srishananda referring to a Muslim-majority sub-locality in Bengaluru’s Goripalya as "Pakistan." Hours later, another video from the same courtroom emerged, in which the judge was seen making a gender-insensitive remark.
Following outrage over the viral videos, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, on September 20 took a suo motu cognizance and sought a report from the Karnataka High Court Registrar General in connection with the viral video.
