Bengaluru, Apr 21: The High Court of Karnataka on Friday upheld the seizure of Rs 5,551.27 crore from Xiaomi India for violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had seized the amount from the company's account and this was upheld by the Competent Authority. Xiaomi had challenged the Competent Authority's order in the HC.
On Friday, Justice M Nagaprasanna dismissed the petition holding that it was valid under Section 37 A of FEMA. However, liberty was granted to Xiaomi to approach the Appellate Tribunal and challenge the Competent Authority's order under Section 37A(5).
The ED had in 2022 ordered the seizure of Rs.5,551.27 crore in the accounts of Xiaomi for allegedly violating FEMA rules and transferring money in the guise of royalty to three companies outside India; two in the USA and one in China.
The company had approached the HC against this order. The HC had however ordered it to approach the Competent Authority under FEMA. The Competent Authority had upheld the seizure.
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Xiaomi had approached the HC again challenging the Competent Authority's order. After hearing the arguments, Justice M Nagaprasanna had reserved the judgement on November 17, 2022.
Xiaomi had challenged the Constitutional validity of Section 37A of FEMA, which authorises the Authorised Officer prescribed by the central government to order seizure of property held outside India for violating Section 4 of the Act. The Court in its judgment has said that Xiamoi's challenge to the Section is maintainable, but since there was no arbitrariness in the Section 37A, it was "Constitutional".
The ED had given the seizure order to freeze the amount from the bank accounts of Xiaomi on April 29, 2022.
The Competent Authority confirmed the order on September 29, 2022. Xiaomi filed the petition on October 3, 2022 challenging it.
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New Delhi, Jan 11: A woman was found hanging from a pole in northeast Delhi while her husband committed suicide at their house in neighbouring Ghaziabad following a fight on Friday, police said.
Shivani (28) and Vijay Pratap Chauhan (32) lived in Loni, Ghaziabad, they said.
The couple had a fight earlier in the day and Shivani left the house. She hanged herself from the electric pole near the Loni roundabout in Delhi, around 8 km from her house, police said.
The incident came to light when local police received information about the hanging. Upon reaching the scene, police found a mobile phone in Shivani's pocket which was switched off, they said.
"The device was switched on and the woman's family members were contacted and informed about her death. During the investigation, it was revealed that her husband had also committed suicide at their residence," a police officer said.
According to police, no suicide note has been found yet.
A crime and forensic team inspected the scene, confirming no other injuries on the woman's body, police said.