Tamil Nadu CM Stalin slams 'one nation, one election' pitch
Chennai (PTI): The BJP government's push for "one nation, one election" is a blatant attempt to undermine the nation's federal structure, DMK President and Chief Minister M K Stalin has alleged.
It is a move towards centralised power that goes against the essence of India, a union of states, he said on Sunday. "This abrupt announcement and the subsequent high-level committee formation only fuel suspicions. #OneNationOneElection is a recipe for #dictatorship, not #democracy," Stalin said on X.
Addressing a gathering at a marriage, the DMK chief said a panel formed for this purpose has been carried out in an autocratic manner to achieve what the BJP regime already intended and "for a conspiracy (towards a despotic regime)". The DMK, the third largest party in Parliament, does not have a representation in the committee, he said.
He slammed the main opposition AIADMK for supporting the proposal, though it opposed such a move while in power. Eventually, the AIADMK would become a scapegoat, he said, hinting that the proposal, if fructified, would boomerang on the AIADMK.
"If implemented, not only the DMK, no other political party will be able to function. It will become a one-man show," he said in an apparent remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Stalin wondered if the DMK government in Tamil Nadu and other state governments would be dismissed to facilitate state elections as well alongside the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The DMK assumed power in May 2021 and it has only completed two-and-a-half years of its tenure, he pointed out.
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BharatPe fraud case: Delhi HC quashes lookout circular against Ashneer Grover, wife
New Delhi, Nov 12: The Delhi High Court has ordered cancellation of a lookout circular (LOC) issued against Ashneer Grover, the former MD of payment app BharatPe, and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, noting that the FIR lodged against them over allegations of cheating and forgery has already been quashed.
Justice Sanjeev Narula passed the order on Monday after the court was informed that another bench of the high court quashed the FIR on the same day.
The FIR was quashed by Justice Chandra Dhari Singh after considering a plea moved by the Grovers stating that they have arrived at a settlement with the fintech company.
In his order, Justice Narula said, "Although the copy of the order (quashing the FIR) is not available as of now, the aforenoted fact is not disputed by the counsel for the parties.
"In light of the fact that the underlying FIR has been quashed, the LOC issued by respondent No. 3 (Bureau of Immigration), in the opinion of the court, will not survive."
The LOC was issued by the Bureau of Immigration at the instance of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in view of the investigation against the Grovers in the cheating and forgery FIR.
The court was hearing a plea moved by Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover seeking quashing of the LOC issued against them in connection with the investigation into the cheating and forgery case.
"Accordingly, the present petitions are disposed of with a direction to the respondents to cancel the LOC against the petitioners in their records," the court noted.
Earlier, the Grovers claimed that they were informed about the LOC for the first time when they were detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on November 16, 2023, while they were scheduled to travel to the US.
After being detained, they were informed that the LOC was operational from November 6, 2023.
In May last year, the EOW filed an FIR against Grover, his wife Madhuri, and others under eight sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 467 and 468 (forgery), and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) for an alleged Rs 81 crore fraud after a complaint was lodged by BhartPe, the fintech unicorn.
In its complaint, BharatPe alleged that Grover and his family caused damages to the tune of Rs 81.3 crore through illegitimate payments to bogus human resource consultants, inflated and undue payments through pass-through vendors connected to the accused, sham transactions in input tax credit and payment of penalty to GST authorities, illegal payment to travel agencies, forged invoices by Madhuri, and destruction of evidence.
Madhuri was the head of controls at BharatPe before she was fired in 2022 after a forensic audit revealed several irregularities.
Subsequently, Grover resigned as the chief executive officer of the fintech firm in March 2022.
