PM showing "relentless favouritism" towards Guj, coaxing investments to home state: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru, Nov 9: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of showing "relentless favouritism" towards his home state Gujarat.
Alleging that major investments are being "coaxed away" from thriving states like Karnataka and handed over to Gujarat, the CM demanded fairness and equal opportunity for all southern states.
"PM Narendra Modi's relentless favouritism toward Gujarat is clear as day, with major investments - from semiconductor plants to key manufacturing hubs - being coaxed away from thriving states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, and handed to Gujarat with exclusive subsidies and incentives," Siddaramaiah said in a post on 'X'.
Accusing Karnataka BJP MPs of sitting in silence, unwilling to question this blatant disregard for Karnataka's thriving tech and manufacturing ecosystem, he said, "Instead, they allow Modi's 'helicopter diplomacy' to serve Gujarat alone, leaving our state sidelined."
Their silence is a betrayal of Karnataka's interests, Siddaramaiah further said, adding, "It's time they break their silence, speak up for our state, and demand fairness and equal opportunity for Karnataka and all of South India."
PM @NarendraModi’s relentless favouritism toward Gujarat is clear as day, with major investments - from semiconductor plants to key manufacturing hubs - being coaxed away from thriving states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, and handed to Gujarat with exclusive…
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) November 9, 2024
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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.
