Special treatment to Sasikala; Not yet briefed on inquiry committee report, says HM M.B. Patil
Bengaluru, Jan 23: Karnataka Home Minister MB Patil Friday said he was yet to be briefed on the report of an enquiry committee that went into charges of preferential treatment to ousted AIADMK leader V K Sasikala at the prison here and would take action after discussions with department officials.
Patil, who took over as Home Minister after the cabinet rejig on December 22, asserted that nobody was above the law and there was no need to protect anybody.
"It has come to my notice through media reports about RTI. Nobody is above the law..." he told reporters here.
"There was inquiry. I'm holding discussions.Officially I'm yet to be briefed on it. I cannot act on media reports.
I have taken cognizance of media reports. I will discuss with our department officials and whatever is needed will be done. What is the need to protect anybody," he added.
An RTI query revealed that Sasikala was given special treatment in a prison here, where she is serving imprisonment in a corruption case, according to the report by an inquiry committee that went into the allegations by a senior police official.
The 295-page report by retired IAS officer Vinay Kumar confirmed that the then DIG (Prisons) D Roopa's claims in July 2017 that Sasikala was given preferential treatment and a separate kitchen functioned for her at the Parappana Agrahara Central Jail here, RTI activist Narasimha Murthy had recently said.
Kumar had submitted his report to the government on November 17, 2017, but its contents were not made public.
Asked if action would be taken based on the report, Patil said "definitely. I have not been officially briefed about it.
I have to ascertain about it as the Home Minister and will act accordingly."
Sasikala is lodged at Parappana Agrahara central prison here ever since her conviction by the Supreme Court in February 2017 in the disproportionate assets case, along with her two relatives V N Sudhakaran and Elavarasi, all serving a 4-year jail term.
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First direct US-Venezuela commercial flight in 7 years to land in Caracas
Caracas (Venezuela) (AP): The first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela is scheduled to land on Thursday in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, seven years after the US Department of Homeland Security ordered an indefinite suspension, citing security concerns.
The resumption of a commercial flight between the two countries comes in the wake of the US capture of Nicolás Maduro in a stunning nighttime raid on his residence in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, in early January.
It also comes a month after the US formally reopened its embassy in Caracas following the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the South American country.
Flight AA3599 operated by Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was scheduled to depart from Miami at 10:16 a.m. local time and arrive three hours later in the Venezuelan capital, returning to Florida later in the afternoon.
Earlier, the airline said a second daily flight between Miami and Caracas will start on May 21.
In late January, US President Donald Trump said he informed Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez that he would open up all commercial airspace over Venezuela, allowing Americans to visit.
“American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela, and they'll be safe there,” Trump said at the time.
The flights mark the resumption of nonstop travel between the US and Venezuela for the first time since diplomatic ties were severed in 2019. For the past seven years, passengers have relied on international airlines and indirect routes through neighbouring Latin American countries.
In January, when the airline announced the resumption of flights it said it would give customers the opportunity to reunite with families and pursue new business opportunities.
American Airlines was the last US airline flying to Venezuela. It suspended flights in 2019 between Miami and Caracas, as well as flights to the oil hub city of Maracaibo. Delta and United Airlines pulled out in 2017 amid a political crisis that forced millions to flee the country.
