HC reserves order on PIL by Savukku Shankar
Madras high court
on Friday reserved its order on a public interest writ petition seeking a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the TN govt's scheme to uplift sanitation workers into entrepreneurs.
Concluding the hearing, a vacation bench of Justice G R Swaminathan and Justice V Lakshminarayanan stated that they are reserving the orders on the plea moved by YouTuber Savukku Shankar. When the plea came up for hearing, the TN govt submitted that 213 eligible individuals from Scheduled Castes benefitted under the scheme.
Additional advocate-general J Ravindran added that the PIL was filed without any supporting evidence.
Recording the submissions, the court judges observed that their intention was to ensure that persons belonging to SC and ST benefitted from the scheme.
The court added that the implementing agency, the Dalit Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI), and Gen Green Logistics have significantly profited from the scheme. According to the petitioner, the state govt allotted 524 crore for a span of seven years for sewerage management through the CMWSSB and the department of municipal administration.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Gentle Japanese hair growth method for men and women's scalp
Hair's Rich
Learn More
Undo
"Initially, DICCI recommended 87 persons, of which 39 are legal heirs of deceased sanitary workers and 48 persons currently engaged in sanitary work to be benefitted under the scheme. Subsequently, another 133 persons belonging to SC/ST communities were recommended, who are all members of the Congress party's SC/ST wing," the complainant said. TNN
Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with
Brother's Day wishes
,
messages
and quotes !
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Bihar SIR: Bench sends a reminder on right to vote, fairness and transparency
Underlining the right of enfranchisement, the Supreme Court Thursday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure fairness and transparency in the process, even as it allowed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar. 'Let's proceed on the premise that you have the power to go for SIR. Going by that, there are 7.90 crore voters in January 2025. Of them, 7.24 crore have already filled forms and remaining are 65 lakh. Out of 65 lakh, you say 22 lakh are dead. You must have heard there are serious disputes on whether someone is dead or alive. What is the mechanism to know these people so that the family can know their member has been included as dead in the list?,' Justice Surya Kant observed. 'You (EC) are exercising the power of intensive survey as a preliminary enquiry into every voter identity. The powers (to do so) are prima facie traceable, so we do not wish to interdict… but your manner has to be reasonable, has to give certain comfort to citizens. Should not strain a person to become eligible,' Justice Joymalya Bagchi, who was also part of the bench, said. This line of questioning from the bench concluded with the EC's counsel, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, agreeing to publish a list of voters who could potentially be deleted from the rolls. 'Since this action can have some civil consequences of depriving a citizen or a person of the right to franchise, therefore, fair procedure is required,' Justice Kant said. Justice Bagchi also emphasised on a citizen's fundamental right to know why he or she has been deleted from the voter list. 'A departure from the process is only permissible in a special circumstance. Let's say the SIR is a special circumstance but the SOP requires you to give publicity and ensure opportunity to persons to appeal. It is a fundamental right to know as to why people being deleted requires the widest possible publicity,' Justice Bagchi said. Lawyers appearing for the petitioners highlighted to the Court that the EC had replaced digital voter lists with scanned versions that can be searched. The bench orally agreed with the petitioners that the data must be searchable. However, Dwivedi expressed difficulty. citing apprehensions that political parties might aggregate the data and whether the publication could be a violation of the right to privacy. 'We don't want citizens' rights to be dependent on political party workers,' Justice Kant said.
Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Economic Times
Bank of Azad Hind: When Netaji gave India its own currency
Synopsis In 1944 Rangoon, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose established the Bank of Azad Hind to fund his liberation campaign, demonstrating India's financial capabilities before independence. Capitalised by the Indian diaspora, the bank became the Provisional Government's treasury, issuing its own currency and supporting various war efforts. Image: Netaji Research Bureau It is April 1944 in Rangoon. In a vacant bungalow off Jamal Avenue, carpenters are at work turning bare rooms into a working bank. Just a week earlier, this was an empty space. Now, it is about to become the headquarters of a bank and no, this one is not the story of how the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was birthed. This bank was under the authority of the Provisional Government of Free India, led by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Five years before the RBI became fully independent in 1949, Bose launched the Bank of Azad Hind to fund his liberation campaign and to demonstrate that India could run its own financial institutions before it had even won its political freedom. Also Read: Independence Day 2025: Tryst with growth — India's economic journey from Nehru to now The short but strong saga of this bank has been well drafted in S.A. Ayer's book, "Unto Him a Witness". Ayer, who served in Bose's cabinet, wrote, 'At this stage, Netaji established the first National Bank of Azad Hind outside India in Rangoon on the 5th of April, 1944, to finance the war of India's liberation.' The 'stage' Ayer refers to was a tense moment. Bose was preparing to leave for the front in the Imphal–Kohima campaign. Japanese and Burmese authorities were sceptical about establishing a bank in wartime, fearing political complications. Some colleagues worried about capital, stability, and the timing. But Bose was unmoved and unbothered. 'Have a bank I must, and that too within a few days, before I leave for the front. I must open the bank and then go to the front,' Ayer quoted Bose as came quickly from the Indian diaspora in Southeast Asia. Ayer recounted how four Indians stepped forward to fund the initial days of the newly founded bank, with a vision of free India. 'Perhaps, you may be surprised to hear that four Indians have come forward to find between themselves all the required capital for the bank. They are prepared to write off the capital, if necessary, though I am quite sure they won't have to. In any event, they are ready to assign to the Provisional Government of Azad Hind eighty per cent of the annual profits.'This show of support ended Japanese resistance. 'That silenced the Japanese pretty effectively,' Ayer notes. What followed was a full and renewed case of dedication. Also Read: India's space race: From bullock carts to Gaganyaan'How one man, Yellappa, and the other four patriotic Indians worked like Trojans night and day for a week and converted a vacant building into a full-fledged bank — with an authorised capital of rupees fifty lakhs is a romantic story that deserves a chapter all by itself,' Ayer Fay, in his book "The Forgotten Army", recounts how Netaji's appeal in Rangoon for rupees 5 million triggered an extraordinary outpouring of support from the Indian community in Burma and Malaya, ultimately swelling the Azad Hind Bank's reserves to about 215 million rupees – more than 150 million rupees from Burma media reports and later historical accounts identify some of the most prominent donors: Abdul Habeeb Yusuf Marfani, a Gujarati businessman in Rangoon, is said to have pledged his entire fortune of roughly 1 crore rupees; the Betai family, Hiraben and Hemraj, reportedly contributed 50 lakh rupees in cash and assets; and Iqbal Singh Narula famously offered silver equal to Netaji's own Bank of Azad Hind soon became the treasury of the Provisional Government. 'The funds of the Provisional Government were banked with this bank,' Ayer wrote. It accepted donations 'in cash as well as in kind' from traders, shopkeepers, and plantation workers. These resources funded soldier pay, procurement, propaganda, and relief efforts. Also Read: UPI and beyond: The great Indian banking leap The bank even issued its own currency, denominated in rupees, which circulated in INA-controlled territories, a symbolic assertion of monetary sovereignty even if it carried no value in British himself served as chairman. 'The National Bank of Azad Hind was established in Rangoon in April 1944. I know a man called Dina Nath. He was one of the Directors of the Bank. I was the Chairman of the Bank,' he institution's life was brief. It closed by the end of World War II or precisely after the INA's retreat and the fall of Rangoon. But decades later, it resurfaced in an unexpected way. Following the Modi government's decision in 2016 to declassify files related to Bose, the finance ministry began receiving unusual petitions. Several borrowers wrote offering to repay their loans using Azad Hind Bank currency notes, some promising the bearer sums as high as ₹1 lakh. 'We have received representations from some individuals who want the currency issued by Azad Hind Bank or similar variants to be recognised as legal tender,' a government official told ET at the Reserve Bank of India, citing Section 22 of the RBI Act, 1934, rejected the requests, saying it had no record of such an entity and that only the RBI has the sole authority to issue banknotes. Some petitioners pushed back, arguing the RBI 'itself was formed by the British' and that the government should take a fresh Ayer's view, the bank was never merely a repository of funds for Bose: Perhaps it was a pledge of a nation to free itself, having 'our own currency and our own bank' alongside an army and a government.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Scorelines reversed after first-ever EVM recount in Supreme Court
JIND: His victory sealed by the first-ever recount of an EVM result in the Supreme Court, Mohit Kumar Thursday took oath as sarpanch of Buvana Lakhu village, 25km from Panipat district HQ in Haryana. In the 2022 panchayat polls, Kuldeep Singh was declared winner and served as sarpanch for 33 months. In the SC-ordered recount, the result was reversed, with Mohit found to have 51 more votes. A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and NK Singh directed the Panipat deputy commissioner-cum-election officer to issue a notification within two days declaring Mohit elected and allowing him to assume office immediately. Seven candidates contested the Buana Lakhu sarpanch post, with Mohit and Kuldeep as the main contenders. Six booths were set up, numbered 65-70, but an error occurred at Booth 69, where their vote counts got swapped. "Of the 3,767 votes polled, I secured 1,051 while Kuldeep got 1,000. At Booth 69, 254 of my votes were wrongly credited to him, triggering the dispute," Mohit said. He alleged irregularities in counting, prompting a recount that showed him ahead by 51 votes. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Gold Is Surging in 2025 — Smart Traders Are Already In IC Markets Learn More Undo He was declared winner again on Nov 2, 2022, but Kuldeep secured a Punjab and Haryana HC stay for over 18 months. Mohit moved Panipat tribunal, which ordered another recount, but Kuldeep again got a stay. In July 2024, Mohit approached SC, which on July 31 ordered a fresh count. The recount was conducted on Aug 11 on SC premises in the presence of both parties. "Justice was delayed but it was served well. The entire village is happy," Mohit said.
