Tejashwi Yadav to appear for CBI questioning on March 25; not be arrested this month, HC told
New Delhi (PTI): The CBI on Thursday assured the Delhi High Court it will not arrest Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav this month, after which the politician agreed he will appear before the central probe agency on March 25 for questioning in connection with a case related to the alleged land-for-jobs scam.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma recorded the CBI counsel's statement that the agency was not thinking about arresting Tejashwi Yadav in this month.
Following the assurance, senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing Tejashwi Yadav, submitted to the court his client will appear on March 25 before the investigating officer at CBI headquarters in Delhi at 10:30 am.
Noting the submissions by both the parties, the high court disposed of the petition, in which Tejashwi Yadav has sought quashing of summons issued to him by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
RJD supremo and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's son Tejashwi in his plea said he had requested the investigating officer through multiple letters to allow him some time as the current Bihar Assembly session will conclude on April 5.
He said he had requested that either he be allowed to appear in the CBI office at Patna or if any information or documents are required from his side then he shall provide the same through his authorised representative at New Delhi.
The case relates to alleged appointments made in the railways in return for land parcels gifted or sold to Lalu Prasad Yadav's family when he was the railway minister between 2004 and 2009. The CBI, in its chargesheet, alleged that irregular appointments were made in the railways, violating norms and procedures of the Indian Railways for recruitment.
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May initiate contempt action if states, UTs non compliant against misleading ads: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday warned states and union territories of contempt action if they failed to act against misleading advertisements.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan perused a note submitted by senior advocate Shadan Farasat, who is assisting the apex court as an amicus curiae in the matter, and observed a number of states were non-compliant as indicated in the note.
"We make it clear that if we find non-compliance by any of the states and union territories, we may have to initiate proceedings under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, against the states concerned," the bench said.
The issue pertaining to misleading advertisements had cropped up before the top court while hearing a plea filed by the Indian Medical Association in 2022 alleging a smear campaign by Patanjali Ayurved Ltd against the Covid vaccination drive and modern systems of medicine.
The top court had highlighted the aspect of misleading advertisements being published or displayed in media contrary to the provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and the rules, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
During the hearing on Wednesday, the amicus said as per the affidavits filed by the states and union territories so far, virtually no prosecution under the 1954 Act was taking place.
While Section 3 of the Act deals with prohibition of advertisement of certain drugs for treatment of certain diseases and disorders, Section 4 relates to prohibition of misleading advertisements of drugs.
The bench referred to affidavits filed by some of the states and questioned why they hadn't acted on the basis of complaints received.
Some states, it noted, found it difficult to identify the violaters.
"We will take contempt action now," the bench said, "and we will threadbare examine the compliance made by each states."
The bench said it would consider the compliance made by Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir on February 10.
And if these states wanted to file further affidavits reporting compliance, they were free to do so by February 3, it added.
The bench said compliance by states including Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab would be considered on February 24.
It said compliance regarding other states and union territories would be considered on March 17.
While hearing the matter in July last year, the apex court said the Ministry of Ayush should set up a dashboard to make available to the consumers the details about the complaints filed on misleading advertisements and the progress made on them.
In April last year, the top court asked the Centre and state licensing authorities to "activate" themselves to deal with misleading advertisements.
