Telangana HC directs B L Santhosh to appear before SIT; adds, ‘no arrest until further orders’
Hyderabad: B L Santosh, general secretary of the BJP, was directed by the Telangana High Court to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that is probing the allegations against him of poaching Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) legislators.
Single-bench Justice B Vijaysen Reddy has directed the BJP leader to appear before the seven-bench team. Justice Reddy also directed Santhosh to comply with conditions while the police was issued a direction not to arrest the political leader, reports Bar and Bench.
The plea had been filed by the BJP state unit asking for a stay on the November 16 notice to Santhosh under the SIT under Section 41A (notice of appearance before police officer) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
The Court, however, clarified, "It needs no mention that when notice under Section 41A of CrPC is issued, arrest of a person is not required. It appears, the petitioner has apprehension that the notice under Section 41A of CrPC is issued to implicate the noticee and thereby arrest him."
The petitioner was also given liberty to seek clarification from the bench in the matter, if needed.
The High Court had directed the SIT on November 15 to report to no political or executive authority but only to the single-judge bench of the High Court.
On November 19, senior counsel V Chitambaresh, representing the petitioner, had argued during the hearing that the SIT should have taken Court permission in the matter as per the November 15 order.
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Melinda French Gates resigns as Gates Foundation co-chair, 3 years after her divorce from Bill Gates
New York, May 13: Melinda French Gates will step down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the nonprofit she and her ex-husband Bill Gates founded and built into one of the world's largest philanthropic organisations over the past 20 years.
“This is not a decision I came to lightly,” French Gates posted on the X platform on Monday. “I am immensely proud of the foundation that Bill and I built together and of the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequities around the world.”
She praised the foundation's CEO, Mark Suzman, and the foundation's board of trustees, which was significantly expanded after the couple announced their divorce in May 2021.
“The time is right for me to move forward into the next chapter of my philanthropy,” French Gates wrote in her statement. She organises some of her investments and philanthropic gifts through her organisation, Pivotal Ventures, which is not a nonprofit.
Bill Gates thanked French Gates for her “critical” contributions to the foundations in a statement, saying, “I am sorry to see her leave, but I am sure she will have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work.”
French Gates will receive $12.5 billion as part of her agreement with Gates, which she said would commit to future work focused on women and families.
The Gates Foundation did not immediately return a request for comment about whether those assets would come from the foundation itself. In an emailed statement, the foundation said that Suzman announced the decision to employees on Monday.
“After a difficult few years watching women's rights rolled back in the US and around the world, she wants to use this next chapter to focus specifically on altering that trajectory,” Suzman said of French Gates.
Suzman said he knew many had joined the foundation in part because of their admiration for her advocacy, especially around gender equity.
“I know how beloved Melinda is here,” Suzman wrote.
The Gates Foundation holds $75.2 billion in its endowment as of December 2023, and announced in January, it planned to spend $8.6 billion through the course of its work in 2024.
The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce from Pivotal Ventures.
