Will you apologise now? Netizens ask news anchor Sushant Sinha for giving clean chit to Anil Masih
Anil Masih admitted in SC of tampering with ballot papers in Chandigarh mayoral polls
New Delhi: In what turned out to be major development on Monday regarding the alleged ballot paper tampering during last month's Chandigarh mayoral election, Times Now Navbharat news anchor Sushant Sinha has found himself in the spotlight. Sinha, who also runs a YouTube channel, had staunchly defended the Chandigarh returning officer, Anil Masih, in the face of damning accusations.
Masih had been accused of putting marks on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress votes, a claim that gained traction when CCTV footage surfaced, seemingly showing Masih tampering with ballot papers. Sinha, however, had come to Masih's defense, suggesting that the video portrayed a routine electoral process rather than intentional tampering. He insinuated that the opposition, particularly the BJP's rivals, was manipulating the narrative to their advantage.
The tables have now turned as Anil Masih has admitted to adding a mark on eight cast ballots that he later declared invalid. These marked ballots played a crucial role in the victory of the now-resigned BJP mayor, Manoj Sonkar.
Masih attempted to justify his actions by claiming that he marked ballots that were already defaced by councillors during the voting process. According to Masih, these additional marks were meant to differentiate the ballots and prevent confusion.
However, the Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, rebuffed Masih's defense, pointing out that the rules did not provide for such additional markings on ballot papers. The bench emphasized that Masih's interference with the election process warranted prosecution.
The Supreme Court has now taken matters into its own hands, deciding to personally examine the ballots on Tuesday, February 20. The bench ordered the production of the ballot papers, currently in the custody of the registrar general of the Punjab and Haryana high court, for this purpose. Furthermore, the presiding officer, Anil Masih, has been directed to be present during the hearing.
In the wake of this development, social media users were quick to criticize Sushant Sinha for his earlier defense of Masih, particularly as the Supreme Court's actions were seen as a sharp rebuke to what has been dubbed 'Godi Media.' Sinha's initial support for Masih, now proven misguided, has drawn widespread condemnation on various social media platforms, with users questioning if Sinha will come out publicly to apologise for his actions of giving clean chit to Masih.
This guy @SushantBSinha defended Chandigarh returning officer when the whole world saw him putting marks on AAP & Congress votes.
— Amock (@Politics_2022_) February 19, 2024
Today, Anil Masih has accepted his fault and agreed that he cheated.
Will Sushant Sinha apologize for his B&D behavior?#ChandigarhMayorElection pic.twitter.com/nlz4hgvf0Q
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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.
