War of words in Kerala assembly over Sabarimala gold row; UDF announces non-cooperation
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The ruling LDF and the opposition UDF engaged in an intense war of words in the Kerala Assembly over the Sabarimala gold loss case and the arrest of Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru as the House reconvened after a brief break on Monday.
As soon as the question hour began, the Congress-led opposition informed Speaker A N Shamseer that they would not cooperate with the House proceedings due to the government's stand on various matters related to Sabarimala, including the gold loss case and the women's entry issue.
Raising slogans and holding placards demanding the resignation of Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan, the UDF members staged a protest in front of the Speaker's podium. Later, they squatted in the well of the House and continued sloganeering.
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In the absence of Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, who is away as part of his ongoing "Navayuga Yatra", senior Congress legislator K Babu informed the House of their stand.
He flagged the grant of bail to the accused in the case and strongly criticised the government over the arrest of Tantri (chief priest) without any iota of evidence.
"The Tantri was imprisoned for 40 days, as he had not favoured the government stand supporting the violation of rituals at Sabarimala," Babu alleged, referring to the women's entry issue in 2018.
He further pointed out that the alleged irregularities happened at the Global Ayyappa Sangamam organised by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) with the support of the government.
The Tripunithura MLA also accused the government of adopting a "suspicious stand" in the women's entry issue when the matter was taken up by the Supreme Court again recently.
"Because of the government's stand in these matters, we have not been cooperating with the House proceedings for some time. Today also we will not cooperate," he added.
However, Law Minister P Rajeev and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M B Rajesh strongly rejected the UDF charges.
Rajeev said the opposition's remarks were against the observation of the High Court that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the Sabarimala gold loss case was progressing in the right direction.
"The UDF is continuing their agitation even after the High Court made it clear that the probe is progressing in the right direction. So, the protest is with a clear political agenda," he alleged.
Referring to the Ayodhya temple matter, the minister alleged that the Congress has paved the way for the BJP to use Hindutva and temple politics.
Though the BJP and the Congress have different names, both parties now represent the same politics and ideology, which is a threat to the secularism of Kerala, he said.
Rajeev said it is completely a High Court-monitored probe and the investigation report is being submitted to the court in a sealed cover and the government has no role in it.
The opposition's allegations were against the High Court, and so it should be removed from the Assembly records, he added.
Minister Rajesh also vehemently criticised the Congress-led UDF over its support extended to Tantri and said the chief priest had no more privilege than the other accused in the case.
He also alleged that the opposition was expecting a "golden opportunity" to take agitation to the streets again in the name of Sabarimala tantri.
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HC quashes order staying proceedings against Anil Ambani to classify his bank accounts as fraud
Mumbai (PTI): In a setback to industrialist Anil Ambani, the Bombay High Court on Monday quashed a single bench interim order that stayed proceedings initiated against him and Reliance Communications Ltd to classify their bank accounts as fraud.
A division bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad allowed the appeals filed by three public sector banks and auditor firm BDO India LLP against the December 2025 interim order passed by a single bench of the HC.
The division bench, while quashing the single bench order, termed it "illegal and perverse".
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Ambani's counsels sought the HC to stay its order so that they could approach the Supreme Court, but the request was declined.
The banks last month challenged a December 2025 single-bench order granting interim relief to Ambani and his company. The order had cited violations of mandatory RBI rules and a classic case of banks "waking up from deep slumber" after years.
The single bench order stayed all present and future action by Indian Overseas Bank, IDBI Bank and Bank of Baroda, noting that the action was based on a legally flawed forensic audit and violated the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) mandatory guidelines.
The three banks in their appeal said the forensic audit, which led to accounts being classified as "fraud", was legally valid and based on serious findings of fund siphoning and misutilisation.
This was recorded in the report submitted by the audit firm BDO LLP, they contended.
The banks, in their plea, also said Ambani had raised a technical challenge to the forensic audit before the single bench.
They sought the division bench to quash the single bench's interim order, claiming it was "perverse".
Ambani had challenged before the single bench show-cause notices issued by the Indian Overseas Bank, IDBI and Bank of Baroda, seeking to declare his and Reliance Communications' accounts as fraud accounts.
As an interim relief, he sought a stay of the notices and an injunction against any coercive action on the ground that BDO LLP was not qualified to conduct the forensic audit as its signatory was not a chartered accountant.
BDO LLP was an accounting consultant firm and not an audit firm, Ambani claimed.
The single bench had agreed with Ambani and stayed the action by the banks.
