Justice Ganguly case: Centre likely to decide on Presidential reference today

The Union Cabinet is likely to take a decision today on sending a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court for conducting a probe into allegations of sexual harassment against Justice AK Ganguly, who is accused of sexually harassing a young law intern.

"The Home Ministry will place a note before the cabinet tomorrow. The cabinet will take a call," Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said yesterday.

Sources said once the Cabinet clears the proposal, it will be sent to President Pranab Mukherjee for approval. Since the President can only act on the advice of the Cabinet, he had referred the matter to the government.

Once the Cabinet gives its nod, the reference will be sent to the President, who will then send the matter to the Chief Justice of India seeking a probe into the issue based on the points raised in the reference.

Sources said the Home Ministry will also place before the Cabinet views of Attorney General GE Vahanvati, who had noted that a case can be made out against 66-year-old Justice Ganguly following allegations of "unwelcome behaviour" towards the law intern.

The Attorney General's suggestions came after his views were invited in a letter to the President by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking Justice Ganguly's removal from the chairmanship of West Bengal Human Rights Commission.

Justice Ganguly has strongly denied the charge and refused to quit despite massive outrage against him holding on to the post.

Last week, the law intern had hinted at filing a police complaint against Justice Ganguly after he wrote to Chief Justice of India, claiming that "powerful interests" against whom he had ruled as a judge were tarnishing his image.

More: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/justice-ganguly-case-centre-likely-to-decide-on-presidential-reference-today-465871

Police bust gang of inter-state vehicle lifters, recover six vehicles

Police on Wednesday claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of vehicle lifters with the arrest of five persons in the district.

The accused were arrested frin Lisadi police station area of the district and six vehicles were recovered from their possession late Tuesday night, police said.

The vehicles included a Honda City, three motorcycles and a scooty, they said.

Police bust gang of inter-state vehicle lifters, recover six vehicles

Acting on a tip-off, police raided a hotel on Hapur road and arrested Krishna, Ramavtar, Afzal, Pappu and Nitu, SSP Omkar Singh said.

Gang leader Krishna told the police that he had stolen a two-wheeler from near the Ghaziabad bus terminus three-four day ago, Singh said.

Other members of the gang are being traced, the police said.

More: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/police-bust-gang-of-interstate-vehicle-lifters-recover-six-vehicles/442835-3-242.html

India scraps AugustaWestland VVIP chopper deal on New Year's Day

Apparently not satisfied by the explanation provided by officials of AugustaWestland over bribery charges, Indian government on New Year's maiden day ordered the Rs 3,600 crore scandal-tainted VVIP chopper deal to be cancelled, reports quoted defence sources as saying.

The decision by Ministry of Defence came after a meeting between PM Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister AK Antony on Wednesday morning.

The scrapping of the deal with AugustaWestland – the British arm of Italian firm Finmeccanica - could now open the doors for fresh contract with other chopper companies like United Technologies Corp's Sikorsky Aircraft, EADS' Eurocopter and Lockheed Martin.

Casting aspersions on the cancellation of the deal, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leader Prakash Javadekar tweeted that it was an act done to avoid embarrassment to the "first family".

He further questioned what penalty will India pay for the cancellation.

On the other hand, Communist Party (Marxist) (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury welcomed the move saying, "Finally they have realized that there is something fishy in this deal. But it shouldn't just stop here. I think there are people who are involved in this sort of graft in the defence deals. This is not an isolated incident".

"Mere cancelling of deal... is not sufficient," reports quoted him as saying.

The deal struck with AugustaWestland for procuring 12 AW101 choppers for transporting top political officials came under scanner in February when the chief executive of Italian firm Finmeccanica was arrested by the Italian police under charges of paying bribe of Rs 360 crore to secure the deal.

Subsequently, the Indian government froze the payments on the Rs 3,600 cr deal.

Ex-IAF chief SP Tyagi also came under cloud in connection with the kick-back charges.

The Defence Ministry in October had issued a showcause notice to AugustaWestland, seeking to cancel the deal and had offered the company time till Nov 26 to reply.

Defence Minister AK Antony too, remained firm on Indian stance, reiterating that the company had violated the integrity pact, by paying bribes and hence the deal must be cancelled.

However, AugustaWestland had denied any wrongdoings in its reply.

Earlier, fearing the cancellation of the deal, AugustaWestland had attempted to invoke the arbitration clause of the contract. However, the Indian Defence Ministry poured cold water on the company's hopes and ruled out any such arbitration, saying that it was not possible as there had been a violation of the integrity pact.

More: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/india-scraps-augustawestland-vvip-chopper-deal-on-new-year-s-day_900793.html