While Hazare was on a fast unto death till he decided to break it on the fourth day after 90 hours, Baba Ramdev has himself said that he would fast from 7 am to 9 pm starting on June 4. In other words, Baba would break his fast after 9 pm on June 4….
Often used for cultural festivals and political rallies, central Delhi’s RamlilaMaidan is getting prepared for possibly its biggest hunger strike, with yoga expert Ramdev to be joined by, at last count, 100,000 people from different parts of the country. A 2.5 lakh sq metre waterproof marquee has been erected….
About 200 labourers have been working round the clock for the past 20 days to complete the arrangements. To counter the summer heat, organisers have installed air conditioners, several ceiling fans, and over 150 water taps alongside the tents for the followers.
A massive stage has been erected for Ramdev. The entire structure is made of iron bars with waterproof cloth to cover it, to withstand unexpected rain or storms. While Ramdev would be on stage, his followers would be able to see him with the help of 100 LCD television sets being set up…
On Friday, the government released a six-page document of compromises it has reached with Baba Ramdev on the issue of illegal money. It answers accusations that the government went out of the way to placate him. The document also shows that the government does not have contempt for the issues Ramdev has raised.
The document shows that the government has readily accepted Ramdev’s demand to bring a Public Services Delivery Bill in Parliament at the earliest. It is also .We are ready to declare black money stashed abroad as national wealth, says HRD Minister Kapil Sibal.
Action Taken by Government on Demands Raised by Baba Ramdev Recovery of Black Money
There is a legal framework regulated by the Reserve Bank of India for the opening of bank accounts
overseas by Indian residents and for outward or inward remission of funds through authorized
channels.
The existing legal framework for dealing with illicitly generated funds transferred overseas and
measures for the attachment and repatriation of such illegal assets to India and provision for
penalties for offenders are:
A. Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), money laundered out of
predicate scheduled offences can be attached and seized and individuals and other legal entities
found to have indulged in money laundering can be prosecuted. PMLA provides for imprisonment
of minimum of 3 years (which can be extended up to 7 years) and a fine of up to Rs.5 lakh and the
tainted proceeds parked overseas can be recovered through Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties. India
has such treaties with 26 countries.
B. Under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA), cases relating to contravention in
foreign exchange transactions by Indian residents can be adjudicated with penalty up to a maximum
of 3 times the amount involved. Further, FEMA empowers the confiscation of the amounts lying
abroad and directing their repatriation.
C. Under both statutes (FEMA and PMLA), investigation is taken up against specific persons, both
natural and legal, and on the basis of specific information.
D. Section 105A of the Cr. PC provides for reciprocal arrangement and procedure for attachment
and forfeiture of properties generated from the commission of an offence. Where such properties are
situated overseas and treaty arrangements exist between Government of India and the other country,
Letter Rogatories can be issued to a court / authority of the other country for execution of such an
order.
E. Under the Income Tax Act also, income earned and not disclosed is taxable and also subject to
penalty and interest, as well as prosecution. The amount recovered may even exceed the entire
undisclosed income. This is in effect confiscation of such income / property.
Actions at hand
I. India has negotiated / renegotiated Double Tax Avoidance Agreements and finalized Tax Information Exchange Agreements with 44 countries so as to strengthen the exchange of
information relating to tax evasion, money laundering and other criminal / illicit activities.
II. Agencies enforcing these laws have been strengthened and action is being taken in all cases
where credible information is available. In the last two years, over Rs 33,000 crore of mispricing
has been detected in international trade and over Rs 30,000 crore of tax evasion detected
domestically.
III. Government has commissioned a study, to be completed within 18 months, by three nationallevel
institutes to assess the extent of black money inside and outside the country and its impact on
national security. The study will also indicate the sectors and mode of generation of black money
and recommend measures for its prevention and control.
IV. The Direct Taxes Code Bill, as introduced in Parliament, contains provisions for mandatory
declaration of assets held abroad by taxpayers in India. It also contains provisions such as General
Anti Avoidance and Thin Capitalization Rules to combat illicit transfer of money and assets abroad
through complex financial arrangements and instruments.
V. A Directorate of Criminal Investigation has been created in the Central Board of Direct Taxes as
a dedicated unit to track financial transactions relating to illegal / criminal activities and bring such
activities to justice.
VI. A High Level Committee has been constituted under the Revenue Secretary for effective sharing
of information among Law Enforcement Agencies for coordinated investigation / prosecution of
economic offences.
Mauritius Treaty
1. A Joint Working Group (JWG) was constituted in 2006 for the purpose of renegotiating the Direct
Taxation Avoidance Convention with Mauritius and its last meeting was held in 2008. Thereafter,
India has successfully used the mechanism of the Peer Review Group (PRG) of the Global Forum
for Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes – of which India is Vice Chair – to
leverage arguments with the Mauritian side to be more open in furnishing tax related information to
India.
2. Recently, during the visit of President of Mauritius in end-April, an indication was received that
Mauritius would resume the Joint Working Group dialogue on the DTAC. Further, Foreign Minister
of Mauritius has conveyed that his government will give a fresh mandate for the resumed
negotiations to their experts. This position has been further confirmed by the Prime Minister of
Mauritius to the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs on 16th May 2011 during her visit to
Mauritius.
3. Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Azadi Bachao Andolan Vs Union of India (2003) endorsed
the Mauritius route for investments into India for availing of the capital gains tax exemption.
Hence, any change in the law relating to Mauritius can only have prospective application and can be
in respect of future holdings/accounts/entities in Mauritius.
Proposed Action
In order to strengthen existing laws relating to black money, the government has constituted a
Committee to consult all stakeholders and submit its report within a period of six months. The
Committee will examine the measures to strengthen the existing legal and administrative
framework to deal with the menace of generation of black money through illegal means
including, inter alia,
a) Declaring wealth generated illegally as national asset;
b) Enacting / amending laws to confiscate and recover such assets; and
c) Providing for exemplary punishment against its perpetrators.
Any further suggestions in this regard will be duly considered.
http://www.tehelka.com/channels/Web_Specials/2011/June/04/images/Gov_Response_to_Baba_Ramdev.pdf
While Hazare was on a fast unto death till he decided to break it on the fourth day after 90 hours, Baba Ramdev has himself said that he would fast from 7 am to 9 pm starting on June 4. In other words, Baba would break his fast after 9 pm on June 4….
Often used for cultural festivals and political rallies, central Delhi’s RamlilaMaidan is getting prepared for possibly its biggest hunger strike, with yoga expert Ramdev to be joined by, at last count, 100,000 people from different parts of the country. A 2.5 lakh sq metre waterproof marquee has been erected….
About 200 labourers have been working round the clock for the past 20 days to complete the arrangements. To counter the summer heat, organisers have installed air conditioners, several ceiling fans, and over 150 water taps alongside the tents for the followers.
A massive stage has been erected for Ramdev. The entire structure is made of iron bars with waterproof cloth to cover it, to withstand unexpected rain or storms. While Ramdev would be on stage, his followers would be able to see him with the help of 100 LCD television sets being set up…
On The Bhopal gas Tragedy ,where over 15,000 people were killed and several thousands maimed to the leak of deadly methyl isocyanate(MIC) gas in December, 1984 the Supreme Court of India pronounced its judgement that” the 1996 verdict was not “binding” on the trial court which failed to appreciate the correct legal provision for trying the accused under the stringent provision in the tragedy that killed over 15,000 people and maimed several thousands to the leak of deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas in December, 1984″.
The people who survived the disaster are still suffering from the after effects.
True , the CBI is at fault for diluting the charges.
However the Court had ” left it open to the Sessions Court there to consider restoring stringent charges against the accused, who had got punishment under lighter provisions”.
The Court knows the enormity of the Tragedy and the injustice meted out to the affected for no fault of theirs, by the CBI to cater to the need of the of the vested interests.
Throwing the ball back to the CBI is meaningless.
Judiciary is perceived to be last refuge of the Common man in India to-day, not withstanding Dinakarans and PF Fraudsters.
After all the Judiciary is a part of the society where people’s grievances are to be met.
Taking umbrage under’ material available at the time of th trial’,’it is years old’ is fine.
But it does not reflect the spirit of the Law,especially in this case.
The Court knows, apart from wanton inefficiency of the CBI , the time it could take to deliver the judgement.
Even if one were to appoint a Special Commission, there are appeals galore, when the affected and the perpetrators will be no more.
It becomes a travesty of Justice.
Instead the Court could have directed the CBI to file a fresh case, indicating provisions to be charged with and monitor the progress of the case.
It has tken a commendable action in 2 G scam
Why not in this case?
If this is a violation of Law and Constitution, be it.
This is the tragedy.
Story:
Holding that the 1996 judgement that diluted charges against the accused was “not binding”, the apex court dismissed a curative petition filed by the CBI saying it was based on a “wrong and fallacious plea” and filed after a lapse of 14 years.
“In our view, on the basis of the material on record, it is wrong to assume that the 1996 judgement is a fetter against proper exercise of powers by a court of competent jurisdiction under the relevant provisions of the Code,” a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said.
On 7 June 2010 seven former employees of the Union Carbide subsidiary, all Indian nationals and many in their 70s, were convicted of causing death by negligence and each sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined Rs.1 lakh (US$2,124; €1,776). All were released on bail shortly after the verdict.
The Chairman and CEO of Union Carbide, Warren Anderson, had been arrested and released on bail by the Madhya Pradesh Police in Bhopal on December 7, 1984. The arrest, which took place at the airport, assured Anderson would meet no harm by the Bhopal community. Anderson was taken to Union Carbide’s house after which he was released six hours later on $2,100 bail and flown out on a government plane.
Medical staff were unprepared for the thousands of casualties.
Doctors and hospitals were not informed of proper treatment methods for MIC gas inhalation. They were told to simply give cough medicine and eye drops to their patients.
The gases immediately caused visible damage to the trees. Within a few days, all the leaves fell off.
2,000 bloated animal carcasses had to be disposed of.
“Operation Faith”: On December 16, the tanks 611 and 619 were emptied of the remaining MIC. This led to a second mass evacuation from Bhopal.
Complaints of a lack of information or misinformation were widespread. The Bhopal plant medical doctor did not have proper information about the properties of the gases. An Indian Government spokesman said that “Carbide is more interested in getting information from us than in helping our relief work.”
As of 2008, UCC had not released information about the possible composition of the cloud.
Formal statements were issued that air, water, vegetation and foodstuffs were safe within the city. At the same time, people were informed that poultry was unaffected, but were warned not to consume fish.
Peter Bleach served in British military intelligence in Belfast, fought for Ian Smith's white supremacists in Rhodesia and worked as a private eye in Britain before moving into the arms trade
Peter Bleach,one of the accused in the Purulia arms drop case of 1995 and who has served Eight years in Indian Jail, has revealed startling facts.
He was approached by a man who wanted some arms to be dropped into India.
Bleach, though an Armsdealer, got suspicious and informed MI5( Internal Security) of British Intelligence.
He was informed that the Government of India was interested in finding out the destination of these Arms and they would like Bleach to go ahead to enable Government of India to arrest the conspirators.
“The Purulia arms drop case was an infamous incident in which unauthorised arms were dropped from an Antonov An-26 aircraft in Purulia district in the state of West Bengal in India on 17 December 1995.
A Latvian aircraft dropped a large consignment of arms including several hundred AK-47 rifles and more than a million rounds of ammunition over a large area in Jhalda, Ghatanga, Belamu, Maramu villages of Purulia district on the night of 17 December 1995.[citation needed] Several days later, when the plane re-entered Indian airspace, it was intercepted by the Indian Air ForceMiG-21 and forced to land in Mumbai.[citation needed] While the true motive of the operation remains shrouded in mystery and conjecture, it has been alleged that arms were intended for the socio-spiritual organization Ananda Marga (Sanskrit for “The Path of Bliss”).
An Indian court in 1997 determined that the Ananda Marga group was indeed the intended recipient of the guns and ammunition[1]. Based on the pilot’s testimony, along with other evidence such as a photograph of the Ananda Marga headquarters on the aircraft, the Judge ruled: [2]
as per the materials available I hold that it has been established from the materials on record that the places where the arms were targeted to be dropped were of Anandamargies and precisely three storied white building was the target point and at that target point the arms were tried to be dropped from a flying aircraft and the aircraft has been pin pointed as per the evidence and materials on record.
However, despite the passage of years, many details of the incident are wrapped in mystery, and there has been considerable speculation as to the purpose and modality of the operation.
The crew of the aircraft consisted of five Latvian citizens and Peter Bleach, a British citizen Peter and an ex Special Air Service operative turned mercenary who was based in Yorkshire and involved in arms dealing.[citation needed] They were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment while alleged kingpinNiels Christian Nielsen (aka Kim Peter Davy), a Danish citizen and member of the Ananda Margagroup[3], escaped. Later, an Interpolred notice was issued against him. Following the intervention of Russian authorities, the Latvian crew (who gained Russian citizenship while in Indian custody) were later pardoned and released in 2000. Peter Bleach, too, was released on 4 February 2004, via a presidential pardon, allegedly due to persistent British pressure. In 2007 Kim Davy was traced by Denmark authorities, and it is possible he may be extradited to India for trial[4].”
Another key suspect Kim Davy, aka Niels Christian Nielsen, a Danish citizen is supposed to be the master mind.
Though apprehended, he escaped from India.
Now it appears that Kim Davy, who is in Denmark, is likely to be extradited to India.
Peter Bleach poses these points.
He has informed MI 5 which stated that it had informed India and he has copies of statements made to MI5.
David Shealor was the case officer.
Another MI 5 officer Encock perjured in Indian Court to have Bleach incarcerated.
Bleach had given 30 page statement detailing the entire operation to Dutt .
Dutt later denied having received any statement.
Pereira,Nair and Mukkophadhyaya were the other officers involved.
Nair went to Latvia to threaten the Latvian crew against giving media interviews.
These officers showed total lack of interest in Bleach’s statement, despite the seriousness of the crime and the public focus it has generated.
Radar was switched off at the time of the drop.
Kim Davy did not escape but was spirited away by an Indian Diplomat in his car.
Bleach was never produced before Indian Judge.
Six Senior Police officers retracted their Statements.
Bleach was working with the British Government, but not employed by it.
He was well taken care of in Indian prison, courtesy of British Deputy High Commissioner, including food sent from star hotels.
Bleach surmises that the then Congress government under P.V. Narasimha Rao wanted to destabilize the West Bengal Communist Government and that one or couple of politicians and bureaucrats from India and Britain were involved in the operation.
Kim Davy’s version.
Updates 1 July 2011.
The Danish Court rejected the plea for extraditing Kim Davy on the ground that he will be tortured in Indian prison.
Read my blog’ Skewed European Judicial System’.
CBI does not seem to be interested in getting Kim Davy extradited.
Well, you can not fault them considering the people likely to be involved.
The CBI Director no longer needs to be embarrassed as the CBI is now kept out of RTI Act.
“In a sensational allegation, Kim Davy, an accused in the 1995 Purulia arms drop case, has told a TV channel that the “Indian government had planned the arms drop in collaboration with British intelligence to destabilise the then Communist government” in West Bengal.
The objective “was to destabilize the government of West Bengal so that president’s rule could be declared and the CPI-M government disposed,” Davy said in an interview to the Times Now TV channel, a release issued by the channel said.
When asked why he was revealing all this now, Davy said that he “feared getting extradited to India and wanted to reveal the truth, and to set the record straight”.
“I am under the danger of being extradited to India as a terrorist, I don’t feel I am a terrorist, I have not done anything to harm anyone, on the contrary done things to protect people from communist terror, state sponsored terror and I kept my silence in all those years… 15 years, but now political forces in India are coming out to reach at me again,” he said.”
28 Apr 2011, April 17 in & in the wee hours of Dec 18 1995 a mysterious weapon consignment was dropped from the sky over Joupur Jhalda area under Purulia Disctrict of West Bengal. The consignment was discovered the next morning. Until now nobody knew what really happened. Today Kim Davy the seventh man and the leader of the operation reveals everything to TIMES NOW.
TIMES NOW: My first question to you Niels Christian Nielsen, alias Kim Davy, Why are you choosing to speak out now?
Davy: I am under the danger of being extradited to India as a terrorist, I don’t feel I am a terrorist, I have not done anything to harm anyone. On the contrary I have done things to protect people from Communist terror, State sponsored terror and I kept my silence in all those years, 15 years. But now political forces in India are coming out to reach at me again as they did 15 years ago and I feel its time to set the record straight.
TIMES NOW: So tell me and I will call you Kim Davy because you are known as Kim Davy across the country. Tell me who were these arms meant for? This Purulia Arms Drop, who were these arms meant for and for what purpose, who commissioned this arms drop?
Davy: The arms were meant for self-protection, it is my complete conviction that if I was tried in a Court of Law about the legality of dropping arms to protect people against State sponsored Communist terror, I would clear my name because it was legal defence against decades of murder, torture, rape by the CPIM in West Bengal. I have seen friends being butchered in front of my eyes for so many years and all I did was to work for the betterment of the rural people of West Bengal. For 15 years I worked my every waking hour to better the circumstances of the poorest of the poor in West Bengal, but the atrocities committed by the Communist simply became too much when too many friends were tortured to death so we had to defend ourselves against these attacks and that was the whole background of the Purulia Arms drop.
Davy substantiates Bleach’s story and adds some more .
He was met by not one man but many people.
They have informed him that they have contacts in the PMO.
He was helped to escape at the Mumbai Airport and was spirited away by an MP to Nepal through Bihar and some Bihar anti social elements were involved..
That MP is Pappu Yadav.
The entire operation was known to a Group of MPs who were dissatisfied by the way Purulia people were being exterminated by the West Bengal Government ,headed by Jyothi Basu and they wanted to arm the insurgent groups as had been done by the Government in Tripura earlier.
He was given a Schedule and was asked to meet the people in Karachi.
He was accompanied in the plane by MI 5 and R&AW officers.
He was guaranteed in 2002 by the Danish Government that he will not be extradited.
He surmises that the present dispensation in the central Government may want to settle scores on some ground with some one and that is why he is being extradited.
R&AW was informed by the MI5 and this has been posted in the Web page of British Secret Service.
He argues that he is not foolish enough to fly a plane from Pakistan into indain territory .that too with a cache of arms with out clearance from the Indian Government.
My questions.
Arms dropping is not necessary, (that too, to go to such great lengths,by the Central Government)to dismiss a State Government.
What exactly is the role of the British ,Pakistan and the Danish Governments?
If the Firm(MI5) is involved, their Cousins across the Atlantic,the Company(CIA)
must have been informed by MI5.(that is the level of cooperation they have towards Third World Countries)
How is it that MI5, which essentially looks after Internal Security gets entangled in Outside British soil?
Normally MI 6 would have handled it.
Why the sudden urge to declare facts by Peter Bleach, coinciding with the culmination of Decisive Polls in India?
Why do R&AW and Government of India are( as reported) about to issue a statement on this case?
Normally neither the Government not the intelligence agencies like R&AW and IB will react.
Again, why the the UK pressure to release Bleach and the Presidential pardon?
More complicated than a Noodle in Castor Oil.
Related:
Now 59 and still sleek and erect despite eight years in Calcutta’s jail, where he contracted TB and at one point nearly starved, he seems a throwback to an earlier sort of Englishman: James Bond, Raffles, John Le Carré’s Honourable Schoolboy. Kipling would have known the type. He worked as a private eye for years, but when spying went sour on him after one sleazy divorce case too many, he drifted into the arms trade. He specialised in small-scale orders – a couple of Polish helicopters or 50,000 yards of camouflage material – for governments in the developing world.
So when a German business acquaintance rang him one day and told him about a Danish contact who was looking for a supply of AK-47s, it promised to be nothing out of the ordinary. Bleach flew to Copenhagen to meet him – “You do want to get an eyeball of the people you are doing business with” – and present his quote for the guns.
But he was in for a surprise. Kalashnikovs are used by state armies all over the developing world, and the quote he had prepared covered their delivery to the bonded warehouse in Calcutta. But his customer, who introduced himself as Kim Davy, said he wanted the delivery made not to Calcutta, but to a remote spot near the western border of West Bengal called Purulia. He produced a map of India and put his finger on it.
For Bleach, there could be only one explanation: the arms were required not by a government but by a terrorist group. “I was a bit taken aback,” he says. He pointed out that it was illegal, and would therefore cost a lot more. “So he said, ‘Can you give us a fresh quote?’ and I said, ‘It’ll take a lot of doing, I’ll need some time to do it.’
“We shook hands on that, and I was driven back to the airport and flew home, and phoned the Ministry of Defence as soon as I touched down. And that,” he adds with a bitter laugh, “is where it all went wrong.”
Informing the authorities of what you are up to is second nature for a British arms dealer, Bleach explains. “In those days there was an organisation called the Defence Export Services Organisation (Deso), which had offices in London’s Soho Square, a division of the Ministry of Defence.” In a business as sensitive as arms dealing, Deso’s supervision “was a good system: you fed everything back to them, they weren’t bothered about what you were doing so long as it wasn’t exactly illegal, and they got a very good picture of who was buying what and what was going on around the world. So my only objective was to go back to the UK and telephone Deso and ask them what they wanted me to do – simple as that. Guess what? The British Government does occasionally support terrorist groups and things like that.
What exactly does Ramdev want?
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