HC asks police to respond to Balyan's bail plea in MCOCA case
The court directed the jail superintendent to submit Mr. Balyan's nominal roll and a medical status report after his counsel sought interim bail on health grounds. It also instructed the State to file an updated status report on the matter.
Senior advocate Sunil Dalal, representing Mr. Balyan, submitted that his client was arrested in the MCOCA case on December 4, 2024, the day a trial court granted him bail in an alleged extortion case and has been in custody since then. The former AAP MLA was accused of being a 'facilitator' in an organised crime syndicate.
A trial court denied bail to Mr. Balyan on May 27 after he withdrew an earlier bail plea from the High Court after police filed a chargesheet against him.
The Delhi Police counsel argued that MCOCA provisions impose strict conditions similar to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and bail can only be granted if it is proven that the accused did not commit the crime, which the police claim is not met in this case.
Claiming there was a 'continuous unlawful activity' to sustain invocation of MCOCA against Mr. Balyan, the special counsel for the police had said no relief could be given to him.
On January 15, a trial court denied bail to Mr. Balyan after the police claimed that the investigation was at a crucial stage in the case, and the accused could hamper the probe if allowed the reprieve.
The prosecutor had cited 16 FIRs lodged against the alleged syndicate members in various parts of Delhi and claimed it 'created havoc in the society and has amassed huge illegal wealth'.
On January 29, the trial court even refused to release him on custody parole to enable him to 'guide' his wife who was contesting the Assembly poll in February this year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
38 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Minutes from now, Delhi's hottest contest – between two BJP leaders
A stone's throw from Parliament, Delhi's Constitution Club was unusually crowded on Tuesday, as MPs and ex-MPs queued up to cast their vote for what has become the hottest contest this season in the steaming Capital. Generally considered a routine affair, the polls to the administration of the club are the cynosure of all eyes this time, away from the brouhaha over the Election Commission — the reason being the two leaders, both belonging to the BJP, at the heart of it. Former Union ministers Rajiv Pratap Singh Rudy and Sanjeev Balyan are fighting it out for the post of Secretary (Administration), considered the club's most powerful post. Rudy has been holding the post for over two decades now, which makes him both entrenched and vulnerable. Officially, the BJP has kept out of the election, but there is buzz among MPs across parties that challenger Balyan has the tacit blessings of the party's top leaders. Those supporting Rudy cite the vast improvements at the club, saying the sea change from how it was run earlier has happened under the Bihar leader. However, there are many MPs and ex-MPs who feel that the long time Rudy has occupied the post is precisely the reason that change is due. The electorate that lined up to vote Tuesday, numbering about 1,200, included Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president and Union minister J P Nadda, Union minister Piyush Goyal, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. Speaking to reporters, Balyan said that whatever the result, the dignity of the club must remain intact and that, as a platform for MPs and ex-MPs from across party lines to engage with one another, it was a good thing the club was in the news again. One common complaint of those backing Balyan is that MPs no longer get the same importance as they once did. BJP Lok Sabha MP from Jharkhand Nishikant Dubey told reporters Tuesday: 'Dr Balyan will win because this club has gone into the hands of IAS, IPS, IFS and pilots. It has to be retrieved for the MPs and should be back in the hands of MPs and ex-MPs. That is why we will make Dr Balyan win.' Rudy is no longer an MP. Some other MPs and ex-MPs also talk of officials 'frequenting the place' and non-MPs being found using the gym and other facilities. 'Will IAS officers or defence officers allow MPs in their clubs? If not, why is it that officials are seen to be controlling the Constitution Club?' a former Congress MP said. 'Wives of MPs have also complained. There are also complaints that the prices are too high.' A former BJP MP claimed that many MPs and former parliamentarians may rally against Balyan, given the charges against him in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. 'Rudy may also get significant support from MPs who are fellow Thakurs like him,' said a former BJP MP. Therefore, many believe that Congress MPs would play a major role in determining the outcome. A former Congress MP, however, said the votes of the party members could go both ways, with Rudy seen as favourite of the Lutyens Delhi crowd. A former BJP MP agreed with Balyan that the best part of the election was that a largely 'passive' club had come alive – and that many parliamentarians have woken up to its importance. Elections are typically held for Secretary (Administration), Secretary (Sports), Secretary (Culture) and Treasurer and 11 posts of Executive Members in the club. Congress MP Rajiv Shukla earlier won the post of Secretary (Sports) uncontested after BJP Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Kumar Varma withdrew his candidature. Similarly, DMK MP Tiruchi Siva won the Secretary (Culture) post after former BJP MP Pradeep Gandhi withdrew his candidature. The post of the treasurer, too, saw no contest after former Bharat Rashtra Samithi MP AP Jithender Reddy withdrew his candidature, with DMK MP P Wilson winning. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is the outgoing treasurer. Standing for elections for the 11 executive member posts are 14 MPs, including former BJP Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Agarwal, former BJP Lok Sabha MP Pradeep Gandhi, former Congress Lok Sabha MP Jasbir Singh Gill, BJP Lok Sabha MP Naveen Jindal, former Congress MP Aslam Sher Khan, TDP Lok Sabha MP Krishna Prasad Tenetti, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Kumar Varma, Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha MP Akshay Yadav, TMC Lok Sabha MP Prasun Banerjee, former Shiv Sena Lok Sabha MP Shrirang Appa Barne, former BJD Lok Sabha MP Kalikesh Singh Deo, the RSP's N K Premachandran as and former MP Anoop Singh. Formed in the 1940s for parliamentarians, the club has conference rooms, coffee clubs and an outdoor cafe. Along with lounges for MPs, there is also a billiards room, a gym, a unisex salon, and a swimming pool.
The Hindu
40 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Centre has not transferred ₹3.69 lakh crore of cess collections to the designated funds, CAG finds
As of 2023-24, the Central Government has failed to transfer ₹3.69 lakh crore worth of cess collections to the relevant funds for which the cess was implemented, the Comptroller and Auditor General has found. A cess is a levy over and above a tax and has to be used for a particular purpose. These short allocations date back to cesses imposed in 1974 and thus show lapses across governments. In its report on the accounts of the Union Government for 2023-24 tabled in Parliament on Tuesday (August 12, 2025), the CAG found such shortfalls in transfers relating to funds created for investor education and protection, monetisation of national highways, development of the oil industry, and the development of health and education in the country. 'The aggregate impact of test checked funds till 31 March 2024 was short transfer of ₹3,69,307 crore to the designated reserve fund in the Public Accounts,' the CAG said in its report. The single-largest source of this shortfall in transfers was to do with the Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB). The Oil Industry (Development) Act, 1974 had provided for the setting up of the OIDB for the development of the oil industry. For that purpose, a cess was imposed on crude oil and natural gas. 'We found that as per the Annual Report 2023-24 of OIDB, since FY 1974-75 to FY 2023-24, total cess on crude oil collected by the Government was ₹2,94,850.56 crore (including ₹18,845.98 crore during FY 2023-24),' the CAG report noted. 'It is also significant that since FY 1974-75 to FY 1991-92, only ₹902.40 crore has been transferred to the OIDB and thereafter no funds have been transferred to the OIDB, out of the cess collected each year.' In other words, the government collected ₹2.9 lakh crore as cess for the development of the oil industry since 1974-75, but had transferred only ₹902 crore or 0.3% to the relevant fund as of 2023-24. In its reply to the CAG, the Ministry of Finance said that the government had decided to constitute an 'Oil Industry Development Fund' for the development of the oil sector, which was operationalised from 2024-25. An analysis by The Hindu of the government's budget documents shows it has transferred ₹17,730 crore in 2024-25 and has budgeted a transfer of ₹19,376 crore in 2025-26 to the fund. The other large cess that has been collected, but not adequately transferred to the relevant fund is the Health and Education Cess. The Government had imposed an Education Cess at 2% on all taxes collected by the Centre with effect from April 1, 2004. The government in 2007 levied an additional Secondary and Higher Education cess of 1% on income tax and surcharge. From April 1, 2018, the central government replaced these two cesses with a single 4% Health and Education Cess. The proceeds from these cesses were to be transferred to the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (PSK) introduced in November 2005, the Madhyamik and Uchchatar Shiksha Kosh (MUSK) established in 2017, and the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Nidhi (PMSSN), set up in 2021. The analysis by the CAG found that the Centre did not transfer a total of ₹37,537 crore that it collected as cess from 2018-19 to 2023-24 to the relevant education and health funds. There does seem to be a discrepancy here, the CAG acknowledged. In its reply, the Finance Ministry said that between 2018-19 and 2023-24, it transferred ₹3.66 lakh crore to the designated funds, which was in excess of what it had collected from the relevant cesses during that time. However, the CAG pointed out that the Union Government Finance Accounts showed that the transfer to these funds during this period was ₹2.65 lakh crore. 'This needs to be reconciled by the Ministry,' it added. The other funds where the transfer was less than the cess collected were the Investor Education and Protection Fund (₹2,505.5 crore shortfall) and the Monetisation of National Highways Fund (₹5,968.1 crore shortfall).
News18
an hour ago
- News18
Binny to continue as BCCI president till AGM in September: Sources
Bengaluru, Aug 12 (PTI) Former India all-rounder Roger Binny turned 70 last month but with National Sports Bill getting passed in parliament on Tuesday, the 1983 World Cup hero would continue as the the BCCI president at least till the parent body's Annual General Meeting in September. Binny, if BCCI state unit members agree, can continue till 75 which is now the cut-off age for office bearers of National Sports Federations, whose global bodies don't have any specifically mentioned age clause, in this case the International Cricket Council. 'Roger will continue till board meeting in September. Whether he will get a fresh term depends on what members and other powerful people associated with the BCCI decide," a board source told PTI on conditions of anonymity. The BCCI will come under the purview of National Sports Bill but the Right To Information (RTI) Act won't be applicable to the country's richest sporting body which doesn't take any grant from the government. The BCCI's legal team is still studying the fine print of the bill. 'The national sports bill has just been passed, so, we have some time to study it and engage in proper discussion before taking any decision," the source said. 'There are other points to discuss in the bill for sure, and all the stakeholders, including senior players and coaching staff, will be consulted, particularly because cricket will be played at the 2028 Olympics," he added. Binny was appointed BCCI president in October 2022, replacing former India captain Sourav Ganguly. PTI UNG KHS KHS BS BS (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: August 12, 2025, 17:45 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
