Karnataka HC grants interim bail to BJP MLA in rowdy sheeter murder case
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka High Court on Friday granted interim bail to BJP MLA Byrathi Basavaraj in the rowdy sheeter Biklu Shiva murder case.
The relief came after Basavaraj moved the High Court challenging the rejection of his anticipatory bail plea by the Special Court for People's Representatives.
A bench headed by Justice G Basavaraj, which heard the matter on December 26, ordered interim bail and adjourned the hearing of the anticipatory bail application to January 6.
The court also directed that Basavaraj be released immediately if he was arrested and instructed him to fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
ALSO READ: Deve Gowda condemns 'attack' on churches, hails PM Modi for joining Christmas service
During the hearing, senior advocate Sandesh Chout, appearing for the MLA, submitted that Basavaraj had complied with the investigation process whenever notices were issued.
He pointed out that despite this, the investigating agency had not filed a chargesheet against Basavaraj and had failed to provide valid reasons for the delay.
The counsel further noted that Basavaraj had been protected from arrest between July 18 and December 19, and sought continuation of the same protection.
Accepting the submissions at this stage, the High Court granted interim relief and directed the government advocates to file their objections to the anticipatory bail plea.
Earlier, the Special Court for People's Representatives had dismissed Basavaraj's anticipatory bail application in the case, following which the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) issued a lookout notice against him.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rupee hits all-time low for second time in a week
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 31 paise to settle at 91.99 against the US dollar on Wednesday, touching the lowest closing level for the second time in less than a week, amid increased month-end demand for the greenback.
Forex traders said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe offered quiet reassurance. However, increased month-end demand for the American currency as well as the ongoing geopolitical tensions dented investors' sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.60 and touched an early high of 91.50, but pared all the gains to touch an intra-day low of 91.99 against the greenback.
The domestic unit settled 31 paise down, revisiting its lowest-ever closing level of 91.99 against the greenback. The Indian currency previously ended at this level on January 23 when it also hit its all-time intraday low of 92 against the US dollar.
On Tuesday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low levels and gained 22 paise to close at 91.68 against the US dollar.
Analysts said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe bolstered investor sentiment.
India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), under which a number of domestic sectors such as apparel, chemicals and footwear will get duty-free entry into the 27-nation bloc, while the EU will get access to the Indian market at concessional duty for cars and wines, an official said.
The deal has been dubbed the "mother of all deals" as it will create a market of about 2 billion people.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 96.14.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.43 per cent lower at USD 67.28 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 487.20 points to settle at 82,344.68, while Nifty surged 167.35 points to 25,342.75.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
