Showing posts with label convicted MPs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label convicted MPs. Show all posts

Indian media: Laloo Yadav conviction welcomed

Source: BBC News
Laloo Prasad Yadav supports the Congress-led federal government

Media are describing former federal minister Laloo Prasad Yadav's conviction in a long-running corruption case as a victory in India's fight against corruption.

On Monday, a court found him guilty of corruption and criminal conspiracy in a notorious case known as the "fodder scam", which first came to light in 1996.
Yadav, who later became federal railways minister, has always denied the charge.
His family members say he will appeal against the order.
The Times of India says the verdict "must be welcomed as a sign that Indian politics could get cleaner in the days to come... It is a long-overdue sign that an otherwise excruciatingly slow Indian judicial system is also capable of taking action against politicians accustomed to immunity".
"A very strong point has been driven home which the public at large, fed up with corruption, will appreciate. The law may take its time in catching up with you, howsoever powerful you are, but catch up at some point of time it will," says the Hindustan Times.
Hindi newspaper Amar Ujala sees the verdict as a triumph for judiciary and adds that this case will break the common perception that politicians are beyond punishment.
Meanwhile, reports say Yadav's political future looks "uncertain" because a recent executive order protecting convicted MPs and legislators from a Supreme Court ban on holding office is likely to be withdrawn.
The CNN-IBN website says Yadav may "lose his Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) seat and is likely to be eclipsed from the political landscape".
The Times of India, in another article, says the judgement has "far-reaching political consequences" and is a "career-debilitating" move for Yadav.
Meanwhile, pilgrims will be allowed to visit the flood-hit Kedarnath shrine in the northern state of Uttarakhand from Saturday, the Zee News website reports.
Prayers at the Kedarnath shrine, which was badly damaged in the devastating floods in June, resumed on 11 September but so far pilgrims were not allowed due to the bad condition of roads in the state, it adds.
Road safety
In Delhi, police are planning to send traffic offenders to correctional centres in a bid to make the capital city's roads safer, The Times of India reports.
According to the new plan, those breaking traffic rules could be sent on a 15-day course to learn "human behaviour while on road" and watch films related to "road safety", it says.
The Delhi police have also decided to buy high-speed sports bikes in an attempt to catch up with criminals who use motorbikes, the Hindustan Times reports.
"This bike can be driven at 150kmph (93 mph) and also has a better pick-up. It will reform the police's image and make offenders fear the law," the paper quotes a senior police officer as saying.
Moving on to sports news, the Supreme Court has temporarily banned N Srinivasan from taking charge as the chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) despite being re-elected for the post on Sunday, reports say.
The court is hearing a petition seeking a ban on Mr Srinivasan's involvement in cricket administration.
Mr Srinivasan had "stepped aside" from his post in June after his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings team official Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested over allegations of betting in the Indian Premiere League (IPL) tournament.
Mr Meiyappan denies the allegations and has been released on bail.
And finally, Oxford University, along with the Indian government, has set up an education centre named after former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
"India's long and historic educational links with Oxford University will be substantially strengthened with the establishment of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Sustainable Development in Somerville College," The Hindureports.
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Rasheed Masood gets 4 years in jail, set to lose RS seat

Source : Hindustantimes

Rajya Sabha member Rasheed Masood on Tuesday became the first member of Parliament to be disqualified after conviction in a criminal case.

Masood was sentenced to four years in jail by a special CBI court in Delhi on Tuesday for fraudulently nominating undeserving candidates to MBBS seats in 1990-91. He was held guilty of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery by court on September 19.
Masood is the first MP to be convicted after the Supreme Court on July 10 struck down a law that provided immunity to convicted MPs and MLAs from immediate disqualification.
He was minister of health in the VP Singh government between 1990 and 1991, when he fraudulently nominated candidates to MBBS seats allotted to Tripura in medical colleges across the country from the central pool.
Two of his convicted aides, former IPS officer Gurdial Singh and retired IAS official Amal Kumar Roy, have also been sentenced to one year in jail.
Nine students who had fraudulently got admission in the medical colleges were also convicted of cheating. Two of them, including Masood's nephew, were juvenile at the time of the offence and their case was transferred to the juvenile justice board on January 25, 2007.
Sudhir Ranjan Majumdar and Kashi Ram Reang, who were then Tripura chief minister and health minister, were also accused in the case. Both passed away pending trial.
On July 10, a Supreme Court judgment struck down sub-section 4 of Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, under which incumbent MPs and MLAs can avoid disqualification till pendency of the appeal against conviction in a higher court. The appeal has to be made within three months of the conviction.
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