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Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose sworn in as the first Lokpal of India

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Pinaki Ghose

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose was administered the oath of office as the country’s first Lokpal by President Ram Nath Kovind today (Saturday, March 23).

The oath was administered at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, a communique issued by the President’s office said.

Justice PC Ghose, a former Supreme Court judge, was named the country’s first Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman on March 19, Tuesday. This came over five years after the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act received the President’s nod on Jan 1, 2014. The appointment was made after the Narendra Modi government – which rode to power on the back of a massive anti-corruption movement but had been dragging its feet on the matter ever since – was faced with a contempt action by the Supreme Court.

A high-level selection committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, the panel’s “eminent jurist member”, cleared Justice Ghose’ name at its meeting on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi were present on the occasion.

Former Chief Justices of different high courts – Justices Dilip B Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari – besides sitting Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court Ajay Kumar Tripathi were appointed as judicial members in the Lokpal.

Former first woman chief of Sashastra Seema Bal Archana Ramasundaram, ex-Maharashtra chief secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain, former IRS officer Mahender Singh and Gujarat cadre ex-IAS officer Indrajeet Prasad Gautam are the Lokpal’s non-judicial members.

Justice Ghose, 66, was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court in March 2013 and retired in May 2017. He was serving as the member of the National Human Rights Commission when his name was announced for the post of Lokpal chairperson. Justice Ghose

The Lokpal and the Lokayukta Act, which envisages appointment of a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states to look into cases of corruption against certain categories of public servants, was passed in 2013.

According to the rules, there is provision for a chairperson and a maximum of eight members in the Lokpal panel. Of these, four need to be judicial members.

Not less than 50 per cent of the members of the Lokpal shall be from amongst the persons belonging to the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes, minorities and women, the rules say.

Upon selection, the chairperson and members shall hold office for a term of five years or till they attain 70 years of age.

The salary and allowances of the chairman will be the same as that of the Chief Justice of India.

The members will be paid salary and same allowances as that of a judge of the Supreme Court.

Setting up the Lokpal panel is just the first step. It has to set up its various wings.

It will have an “Inquiry Wing, headed by the Director of Inquiry, for the purpose of conducting preliminary inquiry into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988”.

It will also have a “Prosecution Wing, headed by the Director of Prosecution, for the purpose of prosecution of public servants in relation to any complaint by the Lokpal under this Act”.

 

Public servants under Lokpal purview

The Lokpal has powers to look into corruption charges against a wide range of public servants — from the Prime Minister, ministers and MPs, to groups A, B, C and D employees of the central government.

Prime Minister: In case of a complaint filed against the Prime Minister, the Act says, “Lokpal shall inquire or cause an inquiry to be conducted into any matter involved in, or arising from, or connected with, any allegation of corruption made in a complaint”.

However, certain conditions will apply.

The Act does not allow a Lokpal inquiry if the allegation against the Prime Minister relates to international relations, external and internal security, public order, atomic energy and space.

Also, complaints against the Prime Minister are not to be probed unless the full Lokpal bench considers the initiation of an inquiry and at least two-thirds of the members approve it.

Such an inquiry against the Prime Minister (if conducted) is to be held in camera and if the Lokpal comes to the conclusion that the complaint deserves to be dismissed, the records of the inquiry are not to be published or made available to anyone.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s son Karan gets BJP Lok Sabha ticket from Kaiserganj

Karan Singh Bhushan was on December 13, 1990. He competed at the national level in double trap shooting. He has a daughter and a son. Karan Singh Bhushan completed his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and law from Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University.

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BJP on Thursday dropped sitting Kaiserganj MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment by women wrestlers and gave a ticket to his son, Karan Bhushan Singh. Karan Bhushan, Brij Bhushan’s younger son, is the president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association. He is also the head of The Cooperative Bank in Nawabganj in Gonda district.

Karan Singh Bhushan was on December 13, 1990. He competed at the national level in double trap shooting. He has a daughter and a son. Karan Singh Bhushan completed his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and law from Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University.

He has also holds a diploma in business management from Australia. Karan Bhushan Singh is presently the president of the Uttar Pradesh wrestling association. Earlier he was the senior vice president of the UP wrestling association. Elections will be take place in Kaiserganj in the 5th phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 20. Karan Bhushan Singh is likely to file his nomination from Kaiserganj on May 3.

There has been a lot of speculation and suspense on Brij Bhushan Sharan seat this time as the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, who is also a 6-term MP, had been accused of sexual harassment by some of the India’s top wrestlers.

Many female wrestlers, including medallists, protested against the BJP leader and demanded his arrest over the charges of sexual harassment while he was serving the position of the WFI president. Wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, sat on a protest at the Jantar Mantar and demanded action against the Kaiseganj MP.

The Delhi Police later registered a case against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354D (stalking), 354A (sexual harassment) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, on June 15, 2023. But he was granted bail on July 20, 2023.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Rahul Gandhi criticises BJP, PM Modi for JD(S) alliance, seeking votes for a mass rapist

Rahul Gandhi was addressing an election rally in Karnataka’s Shivmogga where he said that PM Modi is seeking votes for a mass rapist. The Congress leader added that Narendra Modi, from a packed stage, supports that rapist and said: if the people of Karnataka vote for this rapist, it will help him.

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that the sex video  case involving Prajwal Revanna, the member of Parliament from Karnataka’s Hassan, is not just a mere sex scandal but of mass rape. He also criticised the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the JD(S) and seeking votes for a mass rapist.

Rahul Gandhi was addressing an election rally in Karnataka’s Shivmogga where he said that PM Modi is seeking votes for a mass rapist. Prajwal Revanna raped a number of women and made their sex videos. The Congress leader added that Narendra Modi, from a packed stage, supports that rapist and said: if the people of Karnataka vote for this rapist, it will help him. Gandhi accused PM Modi of helping Revanna (former PM HD Deve Gowda’s grandson) escape from India.

Gandhi said even when Prajwal Revanna raped a number of women, the prime minister did not stop him from going to Germany. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has all the machinery, yet he allowed the mass rapist to flee to Germany. He took a sarcastic dig at PM Modi and said this is Modi’s guarantee. The Congress leader asserted that whether it’s a corrupt leader or a mass rapist, the BJP will always protect him.

Prajwal Revanna, the sitting MP from Hassan and the grandson of former PM HD Deve Gowda, has been accused of being in purported sex tapes. A number of pen drives allegedly contain his sexual assault videos which were circulated in Hassan, the Lok Sabha constituency from where he is the BJP-JD (S) candidate.

Most of the sex videos were recorded by Prajwal Revanna in his office and house. Initially, the Gowda family and the BJP termed the tapes as being doctored to tarnish the image of the family in elections but later, HD Kumaraswamy distanced himself from the tapes and said the police is investigating the matter.

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SIT issues lookout notice for Prajwal Revanna in sex video case

A police officer, who is part of the SIT, confirmed to the media that a lookout circular has been issued at all the immigration points to detain Prajwal Revanna, said to be in Germany, as soon as he enters the country.

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The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the sex tapes case involving JD(S) Lok Sabha candidate Prajwal Revanna, on Thursday issued a lookout notice against him. The notice was issued at all immigration points all over the world. The development comes as Revanna allegedly fled to Frankfurt, Germany on April 26, as a huge cache of explicit videos and photographs showing him indulging in the sexual abuse of several women went viral on social media platforms.

Prajwal Revanna is the grandson of former prime minister and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda and son of former minister HD Revanna, is seeking re-election from Hassan on the JD(S) ticket. The JD(S) MP faces sexual assault charges and has sought 7 days to appear before the Special Investigation Team probing the matter.

Prajwal Revanna and his father, DD Revanna have been issued notices to appear before the SIT for questioning. The Hassan MP informed the SIT team that he is currently outside Bengaluru. A case has been registered against both HD Revanna and his son Prajwal Revanna at Holenarasipura based on a complaint lodged by their former cook and relative for sexually harassing her.

She alleged that Prajwal Revanna made video calls to her daughter and spoke in an objectionable manner, which forced her to block his phone number. The FIR was referred to the SIT, led by BK Singh, Additional Director-General of Police, Criminal Investigation Department, formed to probe the alleged sex scandal involving Prajwal Revanna, after many explicit videos were circulated on social media.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has demanded a comprehensive report within 3 days from the Karnataka Police regarding allegations of sexual misconduct against Prajwal Revanna. The NCW expressed grave concern over the circulation of a number of obscene videos on social media, which showed Prajwal Revanna sexually assaulting number of women.

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