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BJP MP Satyapal Singh hid government dues from EC, alleges RTI activist
Mumbai : BJP MP from Baghpat had allegedly concealed information about unpaid dues to the city collector in his election affidavit, an RTI activist said here on Saturday.
As per a reply under RTI received by Anil Galgali, Singh, a former Mumbai police commissioner of the Indian Police Service, had reportedly withheld information about unpaid dues of a penalty of Rs.48,420 imposed on him by Mumbai Suburban District collectorate in January 2013.
“The penalty was for renting out his flat in Patliputra Society, Andheri without taking proper permission from the collector as required under the laws,” Galgali said.
This is because the building is constructed on government subsidised land meant for housing top government officials, mandating permission from the collector after paying the prescribed fees.
“The collectorate had served a notice on January 28, 2013 to Singh, who was Mumbai Police Commissioner at that time, but he chose to ignore it and even the subsequent reminders,” Galgali added.
Later, Singh, 60, — who earlier served as Nagpur and Pune police commissioner — quit the coveted post (of Mumbai Police Commissioner) to contest the Lok Sabha elections on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket and won the Baghpat seat in Uttar Pradesh.
It has now come to light that Singh — who defeated Baghpat strongman, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh in the polls — reportedly failed to mention this outstanding ‘government dues’ in his election affidavit as required by the EC rules.
According to EC provisions, a candidate is bound to reveal details of his criminal conviction, pending cases, assets, government liabilities and educational qualifications in the affidavit filed before the Election Officer.
The relevant EC Rule 4 (3) prescribes that the candidate reveal — ‘Laibilities if any, particularly whether there are any old dues of any financial institution or government dues’, Galgali explained.
Interestingly, in June 2014, Singh faced major embarrassment when police busted an alleged prostitution racket being run from his 10th floor flat which was leased out to a private company.
Now, Galgali has written to the EC, Lok Sabha Speaker and Prime Minister’s Office demanding that Singh be stripped of his Lok Sabha membership for violating and defying EC rules.
The MP could not be immediately contacted
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What monkey fled with a bag containing evidence in it: Read full story
The court, generally, considers a person who commit a crime and the one who destroys the evidence, as criminals in the eyes of law. But what if an animal destroys the evidence of a crime committed by a human.
In a peculiar incident in Rajasthan, a monkey fled away with the evidence collected by the police in a murder case. The stolen evidence included the murder weapon (a blood-stained knife).
The incident came to light when the police appeared before the court and they had to provide the evidence in the hearing.
The hearing was about the crime which took place in September 2016, in which a person named Shashikant Sharma died at a primary health center under Chandwaji police station. After the body was found, the deceased’s relatives blocked the Jaipur-Delhi highway, demanding an inquiry into the matter.
Following the investigation, the police had arrested Rahul Kandera and Mohanlal Kandera, residents of Chandwaji in relation to the murder. But, when the time came to produce the evidence related to the case, it was found that the police had no evidence with them because a monkey had stolen it from them.
In the court, the police said that the knife, which was the primary evidence, was also taken by the monkey. The cops informed that the evidence of the case was kept in a bag, which was being taken to the court.
The evidence bag contained the knife and 15 other important evidences. However, due to the lack of space in the malkhana, a bag full of evidence was kept under a tree, which led to the incident.