Latest news with #A-G
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
A-G: Zini appointment illegitimate due to PM conflict of interest
'Your appointment of Zini, which was made under a conflict of interests and with a complete disregard to the legal instructions attached, is null and illegal,' the A-G wrote. The appointment of IDF Maj.-Gen. David Zini as the new head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is impossible, as Netanyahu is in a conflict of interests, due to the agency's investigation of Qatari connections to his confidantes, Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara wrote in a letter on Monday. She added that her legal opinion is based on the High Court of Justice ruling issued on the matter last week, along with the evidence presented. 'Your appointment of Zini, which was made under a conflict of interest, and with a complete disregard for the legal instructions attached, is null and illegal,' she wrote. The HCJ ruling, issued last week, stated that Netanyahu stands in a conflict of interest when it comes to this appointment and that he should not have been involved in it at all. Baharav-Miara wrote to the prime minister soon after, advising him of the same. One day later, on Thursday, reports emerged of Zini's appointment. Deputy Attorney-General Gil Limon noted in a legal opinion penned on Monday that the implication of the ruling is that Netanyahu is not to deal, directly or indirectly, with any part of the process still to come, at least until the agency's investigations are completed. The most sound and logical next step is to transfer the responsibility to a different minister, who will then present the suggested appointment to the government, Limon wrote. The fear is that this minister would be used as the 'long arm' of Netanyahu, and as such, go against the ruling and make the appointment political. Limon wrote that there are two legal implications to this: first, that the search process for a candidate begin anew from scratch so as to ensure it is above suspicion; second, that it is unlikely that Zini's appointment is sound, given the widespread support it has in the coalition. According to Limon, the integrity of Zini's appointment by any other minister had possibly been compromised after Government Secretary Yossi Fuchs read out a statement at the government's meeting on Monday saying that it 'welcomed the prime minister's intention to appoint Major General David Zini as the head of the Shin Bet.' In his statement, Fuchs also 'calls on all relevant parties to remove obstacles and expedite the process for approving this appointment, which is essential for Israel's security,' and 'emphasizes the importance of appointing a permanent Shin Bet chief during wartime and urges against settling for an interim appointment.' The statement indicated that no government minister would be able to argue they had chosen Zini after a credible appointment procedure, Limon reasoned. Limon wrote that the process should be started from scratch and that the designated minister should seek out the appointments himself, without any foreign input, so as to keep the process clean. He added that the whole affair should be accompanied by the legal advisory and that every appointment should come with a clear and detailed explanation as to why this person is a good fit. This information would be presented to the Advisory Committee on Senior Civil Service Appointments, which would examine the appointment thoroughly. 'Given the current security situation, it is paramount to appoint an intelligence chief as soon as possible – before Ronen Bar leaves on June 15. An appointment made while in a conflict of interest harms this objective,' he wrote. The Shin Bet, along with Israel Police, is investigating two cases of alleged Qatari influences on close confidants of the prime minister. Netanyahu aide Yonatan Urich and former Prime Minister's Office military spokesman Eli Feldstein were investigated for Qatari ties made in efforts by the Gulf state to improve its image. Limon wrote that Bar was personally involved in these investigations. In the Qatargate case, allegedly, news tips given to journalists were presented as being sourced from intelligence figures when, in reality, they were sourced in Qatar. This was reportedly done to boost Qatar's image in its mediator role in the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal agreements and to downplay Egypt's role. Qatar has denied any action of the sort. In the other case, the 'leaked documents affair,' Feldstein was investigated for allegedly leaking classified military documents to the German daily Bild after they were denied publication by the Israeli military censor. The documents were eventually published, allegedly to sway public opinion on the hostage negotiations. Quoting from the ruling, Limon wrote that Netanyahu effectively admitted his conflict of interest in this case by calling the investigations 'baseless' and 'fake.' The court stood strong on the connection between the relatively sudden push to fire Bar and the Qatari investigations.
TimesLIVE
21-05-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
National Lotteries Commission vows to right wrongs identified by A-G
The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) says it remains committed to addressing systemic failures and other problems cited by the auditor-general (A-G) in its 2023/24 audit outcomes. Last week, the A-G issued a qualified audit outcome for the NLC. It noted systematic failures in governance, weak financial controls, lack of service delivery and failure to comply with legislation. The A-G warned that the NLC had undermined its own mandate by failing to ensure funds reached the intended beneficiaries. In a statement on Wednesday, the NLC said corrective actions were under way. 'The NLC has implemented stricter pre-payment documentation checks, updated its accounting policies in line with generally accepted accounting practice, strengthened asset management controls and is automating key elements o the grant funding process.' The commission said it had suspended payments on flagged grants, pending individual compliance reviews. It had also established a loss control committee to investigate irregular expenditure and oversee consequence management. 'Progress on these measures will be reflected in the commission's forthcoming mid-year performance update.' This will be in October. The commission said a stable and skilled workforce was essential for effective oversight of grant funding and regulatory functions. 'Therefore the NLC is advancing senior leadership appointments and driving an organisation-wide hiring programme to reduce current vacancy levels and strengthen critical capabilities.' The commission said it was also collaborating with the A-G, the portfolio committee on trade, industry and competition and the National Treasury to align remedial milestones and secure technical support. 'We confirm that the finance team has worked tirelessly to enhance governance and improve policies and processes to address the internal control deficiencies identified. The NLC board and senior management have made significant strides in closing off these matters and is confident that in the new financial year 2025/26, the outcome will improve,' said NLC commissioner Jodi Scholtz. Meanwhile, the standing committee on public accounts says it wants answers from the commission and the department of trade, industry and competition after two concerning briefings from the A-G and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) that revealed weak financial management, maladministration and corruption at the NLC amounting to over R2bn. Last week, the A-G briefed Scopa on the NLC's 2023/24 audit outcomes and financial performance. Scopa said key audit findings included: grants allocated to unqualified applicants with no supporting documentation, overfunding of projects lacking feasibility studies or proper plans, underspending of R957m on grants from a R1.52bn budget incomplete or undelivered infrastructure projects, including the Motheo Sports Complex and eDumbe Old Age Home, high vacancy rates in critical units such as finance, ICT and grants adjudication, and only 67% of grant targets and 75% of regulatory compliance benchmarks were achieved. On Wednesday, the SIU briefed the committee on investigations under way at the NLC. The COO at the SIU, Leonard Lekgetho, told Scopa that investigations mandated by Proclamation R32 of 2020 — for the period January 2014 to November 2020 — uncovered a corruption network involving senior NLC officials, board members, professional enablers and hijacked non-profit entities. The SIU also noted a modus operandi of funnelling grants through hijacked non-profit organisations and non-profit companies as well as fraudulent applications backed by doctored financials from complicit auditing firms.
The Hindu
16-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Is T.N. Congress chief's nephew a director of firm implementing ‘sanipreneur' scheme, Madras High Court asks State government
The Madras High Court on Friday (May 16, 2025) sought to know whether Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K. Selvaperunthagai's nephew R. Veeramani is one of the directors of a private company involved in implementing a State government scheme to eradicate manual scavenging and promote 'sanipreneurs'. A Division Bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and V. Lakshminarayanan posed the question during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by YouTuber 'Savukku' Shankar, alias A. Shankar, seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged misappropriation of public funds under the scheme. Justice Swaminathan told Advocate General P.S. Raman that the petitioner had produced a December 16, 2024 press release containing a public statement made by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin that Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) was included as a collaborator only at the instance of Mr. Selvaperunthagai. Since the petitioner had also claimed that after the collaboration with the government, DICCI's president Ravi Kumar Narra and Mr. Veeramani had jointly floated a company named Gen Green Logistics to implement the project, the judges wanted to know whether the claims made by the petitioner were true. 'If it is true, then you are in trouble,' Justice Swaminathan told the A-G before granting time till May 21, 2025 for the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) to submit all records related to the Annal Ambedkar Business Champions Scheme (AABCS) formulated in 2023 to encourage 'sanipreneurs'. The petitioner had stated that instead of implementing the scheme through government departments, the State had chosen to collaborate with DICCI for the purpose of identifying beneficiaries, who could be offered bank loans with capital subsidies and interest subvention for the purchase of sanitation-related equipment. After the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the government and DICCI, Mr. Narra and Mr. Veeramani had started Gen Green Logistics, which entered into an agreement with the beneficiaries, to operate mechanised equipment and disburse fixed monthly payments to them, he alleged. The petitioner claimed that a major scam had taken place in the implementation of the scheme through private bodies. However, rebutting the allegations, the A-G told the court that DICCI was selected as a collaborator on the recommendation of Safai Karamchari Andolan, a national-level organisation working for the eradication of manual scavenging. 'Other States collaborated with DICCI' He said, a Government Order was issued on June 8, 2023 for exempting CMWSSB from going through the usual tender transparency process only because many other States too had implemented similar projects in collaboration with DICCI. The project had been implemented successfully in Hyderabad, he said. The A-G, further, wondered how the court could direct the CBI to register a First Information Report (FIR) when the petitioner had not approached the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) at the first instance. He told the court the 2023 G.O. was the only record available with the government with respect to the scheme. On his part, Additional Advocate General (AAG) J. Ravindran, representing CMWSSB, questioned the motive behind the petitioner having filed a case related to a 2023 scheme by way of a PIL petition during the summer vacation sitting in May 2025. He said, the petitioner does not hold a clean record, and the PIL petition had been filed with bald allegations. Asserting that the CMWSSB had nothing to hide and that it was not shying away from producing the records, the AAG said, the two days' time granted by the court on Wednesday (May 14, 2025) was insufficient to submit the voluminous records and therefore, the board required a reasonable amount of time for the production of the documents. The judges accepted his request and directed the High Court Registry to list the case next on May 21, 2025, when the same Bench would continue to hear the matter.
IOL News
08-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Minister Creecy ponders financial misconduct probe against RAF board
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy is considering investigating financial misconduct against the board of the Road Accident Fund. Image: GCIS Transport Minister Barbara Creecy is contemplating an investigation into the financial misconduct by the board of directors of the Road Accident Fund (RAF). This potential probe arises from the ongoing litigation between the RAF and the Office of the Auditor-General (A-G). Creecy revealed this during a question session in the National Assembly on Wednesday when asked about litigation involving the RAF, with DA MP Chris Hunsinger voicing concerns about the RAF's persistence in legal proceedings against the A-G. Hunsinger said the Pretoria High Court had dismissed RAF's legal challenge against the A-G and that many see the institution's stubbornness in not following the prescribed accounting standards as an indictment of the RAF's management and board. 'Do you think, Minister, it is fair to utilise taxpayer money for these seemingly pointless yet planned judicial challenges?' asked Hunsinger. In her response, Creecy stated that she and her deputy Mkhuleko Hlengwa were on record that the RAF should not to proceed with the legal action. 'And should they do so, I will initiate a financial misconduct investigation of the board as this might constitute a violation of section 83.1 of the Public Finance Management Act,' she said. The RAF has petitioned the President of the Supreme Court of Appeal after the same court refused to hear their leave to appeal after it lost an application in the Pretoria High Court to review and set aside the A-G's 2020-21 disclaimer audit report following its failure to interdict its publication. The RAF undertook the legal action despite the Transport Department, instructing it to find a solution to the dispute that was sparked by a finding on its finances by the A-G. The A-G had found that the International Public Sector Accounting Standards 42 RAF used, was inappropriate and significantly different to the South African Standards of Generally Recognised Accounting Practice. Meanwhile, Creecy confirmed that RAF has obtained an interim interdict against SARS in a dispute about diesel refunds claimed by Eskom. This after SARS and Eskom entered into a settlement agreement in which the taxman contended it was obliged to pay Eskom R5,1 billion that was to be deducted from the RAF. She said although the RAF declared a dispute in terms of the Intergovernmental Relationship Framework Act, SARS deducted the first tranche of about R1,2 billion from the RAF. 'The Road Accident Fund approached the court for relief and the interim relief was granted against SARS,' Creecy said, adding that SARS was interdicted from deducting the R 5,1 billion or any part thereof from the fund. However, she said SARS was still entitled to make other statutory deductions, which were not related to the disputed R5,1 billion. 'The interim interdict will remain operative until such time as the dispute that was declared by the applicant (RAF) and the first respondent (SARS) has been resolved or the process has been terminated.' Creecy also said if the dispute was not resolved, RAF will be entitled to institute proceedings to prohibit SARS from recouping the R5,1 billion. 'This interdict is an interim interdict. Once the merits of the case have been considered by the court the department will then comply with the final decisions of the court order,' she said. 'This process must run the 45 days on the intergovernmental dispute as determined by the court. Should that fail, RAF obviously, in terms of this interim court order, is entitled to institute further legal proceedings against SARS.' [email protected]
The Print
29-04-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Delay in setting up mediation council partly due to HR crunch, says A-G
He said at times 'we don't get the kind of person who ought to be there. We also face this problem with judicial appointments'. Talking to reporters here, the top law officer said there is a problem today in many such statutes becoming functional. New Delhi, Apr 29 (PTI) Attorney General R Venkataramani on Tuesday cited human resource crunch as a reason for the delay in setting up a mediation council two years after Parliament passed the Mediation Act. Venkataramani said when the Union law minister suggested some names, he had certain 'reservations'. He told the minister not to go 'in a great hurry', the A-G said. He said the chief justice of India too asked him to be careful on who is selected for the job. People who want to build networking through the assignment do not help the cause, and those who look beyond such vested interests are required for the job, Venkataramani said. Responding to a question on not getting appropriate persons for the council, he said a human resource crunch is part of the problem. 'We can get them,' he said, expressing hope that the council would be set up soon. Union Law Secretary Anju Rathi Rana said the government is seized of the matter and a decision will be taken soon. The A-G said a proposed conference on mediation on May 3 will probably push the agenda for a mediation ecosystem in the country. President Droupadi Murmu will address the conference, Venkataramani said. The Mediation Act has proposed the setting up of a mediation council of India to regulate mediators. Its other functions include registering mediators, and recognising mediation service providers and mediation institutes. The law lists disputes, which are fit or not fit for mediation. Venkataramani said the proposed conference, which will also have technical sessions, would be attended by judges and chief justices of high courts and state advocate generals. The idea is to make the mediation ecosystem active and vibrant at the state level in the near future, Venkataramani said. Later, speaking to PTI, former law secretary P K Malhotra wondered as to why experts in the field of mediation cannot be finalised for the council at a time when the country does not lack people active in the field. PTI NAB ARI This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
