Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat files defamation complaint against Ashok Gehlot
New Delhi (PTI): Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Saturday filed a criminal complaint before a Delhi court accusing Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of defaming him with remarks on the Sanjivani scam.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Harpreet Singh took cognisance of the matter and listed it for Monday to record the statement of witnesses in support of Shekhawat's complaint.
The complaint alleged that Gehlot defamed the BJP leader by alleging his role in the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam.
"There is irreparable damage caused to his (Shekhawat) reputation," the complaint claimed.
The complaint alleged that Gehlot has been making defamatory remarks, trying to tarnish Shekhawat's image and affect his political career.
Meanwhile, Gehlot said that Union Jalshakti Minister Shekhawat's move will bring the scam into national focus.
"I will welcome it (defamation case). This would expedite the case and help the victims who have lost money to the scam," the chief minister told reporters in Jaipur when asked about the defamation case against him in Delhi.
"This man (Shekhawat) should be ashamed of himself. Being a Union minister, he should have called the victims and helped them get justice," the Congress leader said.
Gehlot said the Rajasthan government is ready to cooperate in the investigation into the case. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah should take note of the scam.
The senior Congress leader added that his government has written to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to probe the matter but in vain.
He said the right to confiscate property is with the ED and the Special Operations Group of the state police cannot seize the property of the accused.
"If you (Shekhawat) are innocent then why don't you come forward to get the money of the poor back?" Chief Minister Gelhot's Officer on Special Duty Lokesh Sharma said.
In the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society, thousands of investors allegedly lost Rs 900 crore. Rajasthan Police's Special Operations Group (SOG) has been investigating the case since August 2019.
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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.
