NEW DELHI: A petition filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday has sought a reconsideration of the apex court's judgment quashing the Rs 11,000 crore tax demand on Vodafone, saying that Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia who gave the lead verdict should have recused from hearing the case.

The petitioner, advocate M L Sharma, said that while ruling in favour of the telecom major, the Justice Kapadia-led three-judge bench considered a due diligence report filed by Ernst and Young -- the global consultancy firm with which the CJI's son Hoshnar Kapadia has been working as senior manager since 2008.

In a prompt response to the "conflict of interest" charge, Supreme Court's deputy registrar H K Juneja confirmed that Hoshnar was employed with Ernst and Young (India) but said he was not part of the tax department of the firm which was engaged by Vodafone.

Juneja, also principal private secretary to the CJI, further emphasized that the Vodafonetransaction predated Hoshnar joining Ernst and Young, and that he was not working for the UK chapter of the consultancy that provided the advice to Vodafone. "The Vodafone transaction is dated February 11, 2007. At that time, his lordship's son was not in Ernst and Young (India). Further, the due diligence report dated February 11, 2007 has been given by Ernst & Young (UK) and not by Ernst and Young (India)," Juneja said.

The CJI's response to Sharma's charge will be keenly awaited. In an earlier instance, while hearing a case relating to Vedanta, Justice Kapadia had voluntarily disclosed that he had shares in the aluminum major's sister concern. He continued hearing the case only after no "conflict of interest" objection was raised.

In November 2009, Justice R V Raveendran had withdrawn from hearing a high stakes legal battle in the Supreme Court between the Ambani brothers over KG Basin gas because his daughter worked with a law firm that had advised one of the parties to the dispute.

Sharma said if it was true that the CJI's son was working in E&Y at the time of hearing of the Vodafone case, then it resulted in "an unexpected scenario" warranting setting aside of the January 20 judgment. He requested the apex court to post the Vodafone case for fresh hearing before a constitution bench.

The Centre has already sought recall of the Vodafone judgment on the ground that it was "erroneous" as well as "contradictory". If the 266-page concurrent judgments -- one by Justices Kapadia and Swatanter Kumar and the other by Justice K S Radhakrishnan -- had miffed the government, not only on account of losing out on Rs 11,000 crore in revenue but also on being misunderstood on factual aspect, then it found expression in the hard-hitting 100-page review petition filed jointly by the Centre and the I-T department.

The government listed 121 grounds, each pointing to an error in judgment, to seek review of the January 20 order and said it was surprised by the apex court's decision to give relief to Vodafone on the ground that its offshore transaction was a structured foreign direct investment into the country when in reality not a single penny came as investment into India.

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Source : The Times of  India

Warns 'Hostile' Nations Like Spain, Germany And Italy 

TEHRAN: Tehran will cut oil exports to more EU nations if they remain "hostile" , the deputy oil minister who heads Iran's state oil company said on Monday, a day after sales were halted to France and Britain . Exports to Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Germany and the Netherlandswould be stopped, Ahmad Qalebani said, quoted by Mehr news agency. 

"Certainly if the hostile actions of some European countries continue, the export of oil to these countries will be cut," said Qalebani, who runsthe National Iranian Oil Company. He added: "In the current market situation , the price per barrel (of oil) will probably reach $150." 

Qalebani also said any country wanting Iranian oil would be required to sign "longterm contracts" . European companies, he said, would be held to "two-to fiveyear contracts with no preconditions ." Iran exports about 20% of its crude - some 600,000 barrels per day - to the EU, most of which goes to Italy, Spain and Greece. 

On Sunday, the oil ministry announced it had halted exports to France and Britain. 

That was in apparent retaliation for an EU-wide ban on Iranian oil that is to come fully into effect July 1 as part of Western sanctions against Tehran's nuclear programme . Although the ministry's measure was largely symbolic prices for the black stuff soared on fears Tehran could expand its cuts to other European nations. 

Tehran deploys warplanes, missiles, radars to defend nuclear sites 

Iran's military on Monday announced it has launched four days of manoeuvres in the south of the country aimed at boosting anti-air defences protecting nuclear sites. "These exercises aim to reinforce the integrated abilities of the country's anti-air defences," said a statement from the Katem-ol-Anbia military air base coordinating Iran's anti-air and ballistic missile systems. Missiles, anti-aircraft artillery, radars and warplanes were being deployed, it said. The declaration, reported by the official news agency IRNA, came as officials from the UN nuclear watchdog were holding talks in Tehran on Iran's suspect nuclear programme which has unsettled the West and Israel. It also coincided with increasing speculation that Israel was mulling air strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. 

IAEA inspectors arrive for N-talks 

Senior UN inspectors arrived in Tehran on Monday for talks on Iran's disputed nuclear programme. Asked if the IAEA delegation would visit Iran's nuclear facilities, foreign ministerAli Akbar Salehi told the student news agency ISNA: "No. Their work has just begun." 

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Source : The Times of  India

TEHRAN: Iran has halted its limited oil sales toFrance and Britain in retaliation for a phasedEuropean Union ban on Iranian oil that is yet to take full effect, the oil ministry said on Sunday. 

"Oil sales to British and French companies have ceased," spokesman Ali Reza Nikzad Rahbar said in a statement on the ministry's official website. "We have taken steps to deliver our oil to other countries in the place of British and French companies," he said. 

The decision was not expected to have a big impact. France last year bought only 3% of its oil - 58,000 barrels a day - from the Islamic republic , and Britain was believed to be no longer importing Iranian oil. But it was seen as a warning shot to other EU nations that are bigger consumers of Iranian oil, including Italy, Spain and Greece. 

Although those countries were not affected by Iran's announcement, they are included in an EU decision to stop buying Iranian oil that was announced last month and which will take full effect from July. 

According to the International Energy Agency, Italy sourced 13% of its oil, or 185,000 barrels per day, from Iran, while Spain imported 12% or 161,000 bpd, and Greece bought 30% of its needs, or 103,000 bpd. 

Iran pumps 3.5 million bpd of which it exports 2.5 million barrels. Seventy per cent go to Asian countries, More than 20%, or around 600,000 barrels per day, go to the European Union.

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Source : The Times of  India

NEW DELHI: Industrialist Ratan Tata has rejected government's claim that official agencies were not responsible for the leak of personal conversations in the Radia tapes, saying the clean chit did not carry conviction, and has urged the Supreme Court to order a fresh investigation by an independent agency.

He said the inquiry conducted by the income tax department, which had interceptedcorporate lobbyist Niira Radia's conversations but which blamed the leak on others, lacked credibility. "The inquiry has been conducted in a manner that would hardly inspire public confidence," Tata said in an affidavit.

"On this account, the department which conducted the wire tap has been under scrutiny. Since this is all done at a fairly high level within the departments, for any inquiry to be fair and transparent, it would have to be done by an outside agency skilled in making investigations - this has not been done," Tata complained.

A bench of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya on Thursday asked the government to file its response within three weeks on Tata's fresh plea and posted the matter for further hearing on March 27. Tata also sought a copy of government's inquiry report exonerating its agencies. The corporate leader argued that he ought to have a copy of the report as the Centre has relied on it to refute his contention that the leak had violated his right to privacy.

Earlier, in its response to the industrialist's petition protesting against the leak of conversations, finance ministry had acknowledged that the Radia tapes had indeed got leaked. However, it absolved government agencies of blame, suggesting that it could have happened at the service provider's end.

In his fresh affidavit filed on Tuesday, Tata said the government's move to dodge the blame was not going to wash with him.

"There is an indelible impression that the inquiry may well exonerate the department and pass the blame for this lapse to outsiders," the industrialist said, although he stressed that he was going by the material circulating in public domain and that he had no authentic information about the source from which the actual leak of the tapes happened.

"What is of importance is that the inquiry conducted so far is not of that quality as would inspire public confidence on account of the structure of the inquiry as is apparent from the orders placed by the Union government with their earlier affidavits," the industrialist said.

The case mirrors the concern about intrusion into citizens' privacy at a time when governments have cited terrorism and other threats to national security along with the menace of corruption to seek powers to eavesdrop on private phone conversations.

Tata also told the Supreme Court that the I-T department, which taped the conversations, was responsible for safe storage of the tapes, and to ensure that the intercepts were used for the purpose the finance ministry cited to secure permission to place tabs on Radia's telephone conversations. The Union gave the go-ahead for interception of her conversations when finance ministry cited a complaint about her involvement in alleged "anti-national" activities.

"The unauthorized disclosure of intercepted material is in blatant violation of the provisions of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, whether intercepted by the government or by a service provider as its agent and the data collected and information contained therein is a property of the government. Any unauthorized disclosure thereof constitutes violation of Section 5 of OSA," Tata said.

"No person who has received the material in violation of the statutory mandate, including the media, has any right to use or publish the same or to withhold information regarding the source from which it has been illegally obtained," he added.

In his fresh affidavit, the industrialist said if the material retrieved by the I-T department from such extensive wire tapping was not secure, it would amount to serious infraction of the right to privacy guaranteed to every citizen under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The leak of tapes had coincided with disclosures of details of the spectrum scam, and strengthened the perception of "crony capitalism", and fixing of government's decisions.



The case so far:

August 20, 2008 - To probe a complaint received by finance ministry against Niira Radia, I-T department gets permission to intercept her phones for 120 days

May 11, 2009 - Interceptions allowed for another 120 days

A total of 5,851 call were intercepted and collated, came to be known as Radia tapes.

November 26, 2009 - Some of the tapes were handed over to CBI for investigations relating to 2G spectrum scam

May 2010 - First signs of tapes being leaked to website surface

November 2010 - Websites and magazines publish excerpts of personal conversations between Radia and others

November 28, 2010 - TOI first to report Ratan Tata planning to move SC complaining breach of right to privacy

November 29, 2010 - Tata moves SC

January 2011 - Government orders inquiry into the alleged leak of tapes

February 2011 - Government frames guidelines for destruction of private talks in intercepted conversations

February 13, 2012 - Tata files affidavit in SC suspecting government's intent in catching the culprit who leaked Radia tapes; demands probe by outside agency skilled to probe the incident; SC issues notice to Centre

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Source : The Times of  India

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday unveiled new norms for the telecom sector that propose to delink licences from spectrum, which is unlikely to come for free, apart from easing the merger and acquisition rules and a uniform revenue sharing regime. 

The guidelines announced by communications & IT minister Kapil Sibal at a press conference were, however, silent on how spectrum would be priced. It also did not specify how the government would deal with mobile operators holding spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz. Although auction was the preferred option, the minister said the government was studying the Supreme Court order which had suggested that spectrum and other natural resources be allocated through a bidding process. Sibal said the government was studying the "implications and ramifications" of the judgment that also cancelled 122 2G licences awarded by former telecom minister A Raja, who is now in jail facing criminal charges. 

The New Telecom Policy, which will replace the last one formulated in 1999, is expected to be announced in April and will deal with the remaining aspects. Sibal said the new norms will help subscribers get better services and at affordable rates due to more efficient usage of spectrum. 

What hasn't gone down too well with operators is the proposal to shift to a uniform licence fee of 8% in two phases, starting April, from the 6-10% range at present. Bharti Airtel suggested that the fee be pegged at 6%. Earlier too, telecom companies were lobbying for a lower fee arguing that tariff will rise. Vodafone said the move towards uniform licence fee was a long-standing demand of the industry. 

The overall package, however, seemed to be favourable for telecom operators. To begin with, the new norms on "simple, quick" consolidation permit the combined entity formed through merger to have a market share of up to 35%. In fact, this may be relaxed further to 60% after consultingTelecom Regulatory Authority of India ( Trai) that had recommended this. There will be an additional cap, stipulating that the merged entity cannot hold over 25% of the available spectrum in a circle. 

"The announcement on merger and acquisition is an encouraging step from the point of view of the long-term health of the telecom industry and will pave the way for consolidation in an over-crowded market," Bharti Airtel, the country's largest mobile operator, said in a statement. 

In addition, telecom companies seem to be in line to get more spectrum. Against the current prescribed limit of 6.2 MHz, they will now get 2x8 Mhz in all circles other than Delhi and Mumbai, where it will be 2x10 Mhz. Players will be permitted to acquire additional frequency in the open market in case there is auction.

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Source : The Times of  India

NEW DELHI: The Centre has issued a new set of guidelines to seize properties or money of corrupt government officials even after their retirement. 

The norms, made in consultation with the ministry of law and justice, says a competent authority in the department concerned can give sanction to the Centre for such attachment. The guidelines assume significance as most departments and investigating agencies like the CBI have in the past expressed difficulty in acting against corrupt public servants who have retired pending chargesheets or charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act. 

"Departments had written to us seeking clarification while attaching properties of a corrupt officials. More difficulties were being faced in case of retired government officials. Hence, we decided to get the issue resolved," a senior official of the department of personnel and training said.

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Source : The Times of  India

NEW DELHI: CBI director AP Singh on Monday acknowledged that Indians are the largest depositors of illegal money in banks abroad with an estimated $500 billion - nearly 24.5 lakh crore - stashed away in tax havens. 

"It is estimated that around $500 billion of illegal money belonging to Indians is deposited in tax havens abroad. Largest depositors in Swiss Banks are also reported to be Indians," the CBI director said while speaking at the inauguration of first Interpol global programme on anti-corruption and asset recovery. According to Singh, India has suffered from the flow of illegal funds to tax havens such as Mauritius, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, British Virgin Islands, etc. 

Singh also said the investigations by his agency into the recent scandals have been pointing to transfer of large amounts of money to tax havens. "In some of the recent important cases being investigated by CBI, such as 2G, CWG and Madhu Koda cases, we find that money is taken to Dubai, Singapore, Mauritius, from where it goes to Switzerland and other such tax havens. 

For criminals, all it involves is setting up of a few shell companies and then making layered transfers from account to another in a matter of hours as there are no boundaries in banking transactions," he said. 

Singh said accessing information about illegal transactions was a time-consuming process as investigators have to peel each layer by sending judicial requests to the country where such deposits have been made. 

"53% of the countries said to be least corrupt by the Transparency International Index are offshore tax havens, where most of the corrupt money goes. The tax havens include New Zealand which is ranked as the least corrupt country, Singapore ranked number five and Switzerland number seven," Singh said. 

He said there is a lack of political will in the leading tax haven states to part with the information because they are aware of the extent to which their economies have become "geared to this flow of illegal capitals from the poorer countries." 

Singh said tracing, freezing, confiscation and repatriation of stolen assets is a legal challenge, a complex process which requires expertise and political will. 

"Managing the asset recovery investigation is complex, time-consuming, costly and most importantly requires expertise and political will. There are many obstacles to asset recovery. Not only is it a specialised legal process filled with delays and uncertainty, but there are also language barriers and a lack of trust when working with other countries," Singh said.

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Source : The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: Congress on Sunday sought to cap the controversy over Election Commission taking law minister Salman Khurshid's pitch for a Muslim sub-quota to the President, saying the party expects its leaders to respect the poll panel although the minister appeared to stand his ground.

Apparently keen to avoid a showdown with the EC, Congress said, "The EC is a constitutional body. Congress always wants that all Congressmen should speak as per norms of public life and the law of the land." The party skirted any reference to EC holding Khurshid's comments to be "utter contempt" of its orders.

But while Congress and government are keen to step back from any confrontation with EC, the last word is yet to be said on quotas for minorities in Uttar Pradesh's surcharged campaign cauldron. The party's move to press the pedal on a minority quota within the 27% backward caste reservations is deliberate. Congress is likely to keep its powder dry for later rounds of polling in western UP constituencies with large Muslim population.

After the EC took the unprecedented step on Saturday evening to seek President's intervention in disciplining the law minister, AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters on Sunday, "The EC is a constitutional body. Congress always wants that all Congressmen should speak as per the norms of public life and the law of the land."

The swift move to quell any impression of countenancing the transgression stems from an avalanche of criticism that followed the EC move and some concern whether the quota rhetoric will trigger a backlash.

BJP demanded Khurshid's dismissal from the cabinet while the Left too criticised the minister.

However, Khurshid did not seem keen to jettison his poll plank although he may avoid remarks like "let the EC hang me" while calling for quotas. He has is privately backed by party colleagues who see the EC as having overreacted. The law minister told reporters in Lucknow, "I have only spoken about what the Congress manifesto contained."

Some ministers felt the EC could have spoken to Khurshid again if it felt he had ignored its earlier censure when he promised 9% sub-quota. There were reports that the minister spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The EC complaint has been referred to the PM by the President.

Sources said Khurshid felt wronged because he had stopped referring to 9% quota after the EC pulled him up on Friday, and merely talking about minority reservation could not be termed a violation.

The fresh controversy was triggered by his statement in an Azamgarh rally that he would continue to speak about Muslim reservation even if the EC decided to hang him, a comment which got the poll watchdog's goat and forced it to seek the President's intervention.

The confrontation between the law minister and the EC has put the Congress on the defensive because as ruling party, it cannot be seen as disrespecting the constitutional body. Congress has often used the argument to slam the saffron camp for being unmindful of constitutional and legal norms.

Besides BJP, an increasingly rebellious Trinamool Congress sought to compound the senior ally's misery by demanding that the PM clarify on Muslim reservation. Union minister and party general secretary Sultan Ahmed said, "If Congress is serious, why does the PM not say he would give 9% reservation to Muslims in the 27% OBC quota. He should make it clear if the cabinet minister's views are personal or an expression of government policy."

At the heart of the controversy is Khurshid's newfound aggression over Muslim issues, an expression of collective Congress bid to win over the electorally crucial community in UP and concern that its high pressure tactics may not be prevent Muslims from eyeing Samajwadi Party with favour.

AICC leader Dwivedi's public reminder to the minister about "norms" appeared directed beyond the quota row. There is consternation in Congress over the way Khurshid dragged Congress chief Sonia Gandhi into the Batla House controversy by telling an election rally that the supreme leader broke into tears on seeing the bodies of alleged militants.

The comment led to swift denials of the Congress chief weeping, clear evidence that the party was embarrassed. The political dimension of the controversy, however, was quickly evident. No sooner had the row erupted that party leaders leading the campaign in UP closed ranks behind Khurshid.

Congress's state incharge Digvijay Singh said there was nothing wrong in a leader speaking about his party's policies, else the EC should bar party manifestos. State campaign chief and union minister Sriprakash Jaiswal noted, "Besides being law minister, Khurshid is also a Congress worker. If he does not speak about Congress policies, what else would he talk about in elections."

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Source : The Times of India

At 12.30pm on Thursday, Suresh got an SMS from the principal of St Mary's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Parry's Corner where his 10-year-old son studies. 

The text read, "Due to unavoidable circumstances, school closes today at 12.10pm. School reopens only on Monday." He knew his son would be picked up by the regular auto driver but the 'unusual' time of the SMS created doubts.
Then, after seeing a report on a TV channel that a 15-year-old student of the school had stabbed a teacher to death, Suresh rushed there and found the gate closed. 

Half-an-hour later when the gate opened, he saw children running about. They seemed confused, seeing police and mediapersons on the campus. 

Suresh couldn't find his son immediately and became worried. Attempts to call the auto driver failed too. Several other parents were in a similar state. Several auto drivers were seen struggling to trace the students they were to pick up. Adding to the confusion, there were no teachers or other staff to tell the parents what happened. Compounding the parents' woes, curious onlookers thronged the area around the school, making it difficult for parents to enter the school. 

"I rushed here from my office after hearing the news," said S Bhuvaneshwari, who was able to trace her son immediately . Police had a tough time regulating traffic around the busy area where the school is located.
Meanwhile, Suresh, who kept trying to call his auto driver, finally got lucky. "He said he had just dropped my son home and was on his way to drop the other children," a relieved Suresh said. 

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Source : The Times of India

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a money laundering case against former Union minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanidhi in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation case.

The case, registered on Tuesday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), pertains to an alleged illegal gratification of approximately Rs 550 crore allegedly received by the Maran brothers in the Aircel–Maxis deal.

Maran had resigned from the Union Cabinet in 2011 after allegations were made that he had favoured the Malaysian firm Maxis over Aircel in the grant of telecom licences in 2004–05. Maran had denied the allegations.

The CBI is also probing Maran and his brother Sun TV Managing Director Kalanidhi in connection with these allegations.

The agency is also investigating the case for alleged contraventions of foreign exchange rules in this deal as it registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), an equivalent of the First Information Report (FIR).

The agency has also registered another case in the 2G case, pertaining to the NDA regime and has named former telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh, then deputy director general J R Gupta and few telecom companies for alleged irregularities in the grant of additional 2G spectrum during 2001–03.

The ED will now record the statements of the individuals named in its ECIR. 

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Source : Deccan Herald