NEW DELHI
Court Issues NBW against Choppergate Middleman
A Delhi court on Thursday issued an open non-bailable warrant (NBW) against British national Christian Michel, a middleman and accused in the `3,600 crore VVIP Choppergate, after the CBI said he was required for questioning to ascertain crucial aspects. Special CBI Judge Ajay Kumar Jain allowed the contentions of the CBI which said Michel, who is reportedly staying in Dubai, was needed to be quizzed to know how much amount he had received as commission in the deal. Michel worked with another key middleman, Guido Haschke, to allegedly swing the chopper deal in favour of AgustaWestland.
KOLKATA
Bose Kin Demand Sonia, Rahul Apology
Stating that the 64 Netaji files recently declassified by West Bengal indicate that the Bose family was spied on by the Nehru regime, Subhas Chandra Bose’s grand-nephew Chandra Kumar Bose has demanded an apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi for Jawaharlal Nehru’s mistakes. If they refuse to do so, it will further make it clear that there was a conspiracy against Netaji and that they were supporting it, he said. In an interview to a daily, he emphasised that the files reveal that Netaji did not die in the crash that took place on August 18, 1945 in Formosa (now Taiwan).
Mumbai
PA Lands Maha BJP President in Soup
Maharashtra BJP chief Raosaheb Danve could find himself in trouble for providing patronage to a suspect in a multicrore scam. Danve had appointed Prakash Balbudhe, a former official with the sales tax department, as his personal assistant. Balbudhe is under the scanner in the Naphtha scam, which was first highlighted by BJP senior leader Nitin Gadkari in 2004. Balbudhe’s appointment has come at a time when the BJP has accused the NCP of shielding the corrupt. Balbudhe had opted for retirement in 2014. He had allegedly issued documents in the name of bogus firms so that dealers could evade sales tax.