by admin | May 25, 2021 | Media, News, Politics
New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked Jay Shah, son of BJP President Amit Shah, and news portal “The Wire” to settle a defamation case filed by the former against the portal for carrying a story on the exponential increase in the turnover of his company after the BJP-led government came to power at the Centre in 2014.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud asked the senior lawyers appearing for the news portal and Jay Shah to meet and try to resolve the issue.
“Can it be solved,” Justice Chandrachud asked senior counsel Nitya Ramakrishnan for The Wire and Neeraj Kishan Kaul for Jay Shah, with Chief Justice Misra suggesting “why not senior counsels meet and try to resolve (the issue)”.
“What kind of settlement we can have? We don’t want to have any settlement. We stand by our story. It was done in public interest,” said Ramakrishnan, with Kaul saying, “if the court says go for settlement, we are prepared for it”.
The Wire, its founding editor and journalist have moved the top court against the Gujarat High Court’s January 8 order, refusing to quash the summons issued against them by a trial court.
Journalist Rohini Singh’s article on the company of Jay Shah was carried by the news portal. The article claimed that Jay’s company’s turnover grew exponentially after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government came to power at the Centre in 2014.
The top court had asked the Gujarat trial court not to proceed with the criminal defamation complaint till April 12 filed by Jay Shah last year against the news portal and its journalists. The interim order was extended on Wednesday.
The High Court had on January 8 rejected the website’s plea for quashing the criminal defamation case filed by Jay Shah and said that based on initial impression, there was a case against the reporter and the editors.
“The article ‘The Golden Touch of Jay Amit Shah’ is per say defamatory and the trial court should proceed with the case,” the high court had ordered.
In October 2017, Jay Shah had filed a criminal defamation case in the trial court in Gujarat after the article appeared.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Jay Shah
Shimla : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Friday targeted BJP President Amit Shah over the meteoric rise in the revenues of his son’s company, a year after the party came to power at the Centre.
Virbhadra Singh, charged by the CBI with holding assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, lashed out at Prem Kumar Dhumal, BJP’s chief ministerial candidate for the November 9 election in the hill state, saying his party’s main achievement was “ease of doing corruption”.
“Dhumalji, your remarks on BJP’s supposed fight against corruption made me laugh. Last time, I saw your own sons were out on bail,” the Chief Minister tweeted.
“Your party’s (the BJP) main achievement is ‘ease of doing corruption’. Amit Shah and son’s miracle of 16,000 times lucre hike happens only in BJP rule.”
According to a report on The Wire news website, Temple Enterprises, a company owned by Jay Shah, reported a 16,000 per cent increase in its turnover at Rs 80.5 crore in 2015-16 from a meagre revenue of Rs 50,000 and a profit of Rs 18,728 in 2014-15. The company is involved in the business of exporting agri-products.
Virbhadra Singh said the BJP had launched personal attacks on him because it was fearing his government’s “real vikas (development)” in Himachal Pradesh.
“Let’s not forget the time when your party chose a joyous day of the wedding of my daughter, Himachal’s daughter, to carry out a CBI raid,” he added.
Virbhadra Singh’s response came after Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi sharply criticised the Chief Minister over the Congress poll manifesto vowing zero tolerance on corruption if the party retains power in the hill state.
“”Singh ‘saheb’ is claiming there will be zero tolerance against corruption. Can anyone believe him? Can you digest it?
“The Congress has become a laughing club. Their Chief Minister has a corruption case against him. He is out on bail. Nothing is left for them and they have lost their hold from every part of the country,” Modi told an election rally in Kangra in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Media, News, Politics
Ahmedabad : The Ahmedabad Metropolitan Court on Tuesday issued summons to all the accused in a criminal defamation case filed by Jay Shah, son of BJP President Amit Shah, against news portal The Wire for publishing a story that the turnover of Jay Shah’s company jumped 16,000 times after the Modi government took office.
The summons to the reporter and editors of the online news portal were issued under Sections 500 and 114 of the Indian Penal Code as well as Section 202 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
According to S.V. Raju, advocate for Jay Shah, they contended in the court that there was a prima facie case of defamation and the article was published with the intent and knowledge to defame.
“There was an ulterior motive in publishing the article and the timing was deliberate to make it an issue for the (Gujarat) elections,” Raju told reporters.
He told the court that Jay Shah’s reply was not considered while publishing the article.
The Wire published an article on October 8 written by Rohini Singh which claimed that the revenues of Shah’s company had risen 16,000 times from Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crore within a year after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014.
He then filed a defamation case in the metrpolitan court on October 9 against Rohini Singh, the author of the story, Founding Editors Siddharth Vardarajan and M.K. Venu and owner of the online media outlet The Wire, Federation for Independent Journalists (FIJ).
Jay Shah and his lawyers, who were not present at the last hearing on October 11, attended the court on Tuesday to argue the case. Two witnesses, Jaimin Shah and Rajiv Shah, were also there.
After Jay Shah verified his complaint, Jaimin Shah submitted that he had received a weblink of the article from his friend and after going through it he felt it could harm the reputation of Jay Shah.
Rajiv Shah said he received the article link on his mobile phone and he found it defamatory for Jay Shah, whom he described as a “simple” person and a “man of repute” in the society.
The next hearing has been posted for November 13.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Jay Shah
Bhopal : RSS General Secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi on Saturday said those levelling allegations against BJP chief Amit Shah’s son should go to court, and the RSS does not want to take a stand on the issue.
Taking a different line from what was said by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Thursday, Joshi said those who have levelled allegations against Jay Shah should go to the court.
“It is not necessary that allegations levelled against someone are true. There is no reason to believe this. How allegations are levelled these days, everybody knows,” Joshi said.
He said it is for the court of law to decide who is a guilty and who is not. “So those making charges against Jay Shah should approach the courts because RSS does not deem it fit to take a stand on such issues,” he said at the conclusion of the three-day meet of RSS National Executive Committee here.
Hosabale had earlier said that if there are corruption allegations against anyone, an inquiry should be done and “action can be taken accordingly. But there has to be prima facie evidence of wrong-doing”.
The opposition has demanded a probe into allegations that the turnover of the junior Shah’s company increased 16,000 times in one year after the BJP came to power in 2014.
Joshi also said the RSS will focus on working on the youth in rural areas to bring about social change.
“The Sangh will now focus on rural areas as social change is a big challenge there. We will work on the youth for Hindutva as well as societal transformation.”
Joshi said that India’s 60 per cent population lives in villages and Sangh’s two-third of all shakhas run in villages while one-third work in the cities.
He said that besides running regular shakhas there is also need for focusing on other activities such as promoting social harmony and equality and other societal challenges.
He said that efforts should be made to make farmers self-sufficient and the Sangh feels that the government should formulate agricultural policies only after consulting the farmers.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Amit Shah
Ahmedabad : Breaking his silence, BJP President Amit Shah on Friday rejected allegations of money laundering against his son Jay, whose company had reportedly recorded an extraordinary spike in business after the BJP came to power at the Centre, and asserted that it had not done any business
with the government nor taken any kickbacks.
He also said that unlike the Congress, which had faced many corruption charges in the past, his son has shown courage to file a civil and criminal defamation suit on the allegations levelled against him and “invited a probe against himself” by this step.
“There is no money laundering involved in Jay’s company. This company is completely in commodity business, where turnover is more while the profit is less. We have exported bajra, corn and rice while coriander was imported. And after doing a turnover of Rs 80 crore, they don’t tell how much they made
profit,” Amit Shah said at an “India Today” event “Gujarat Panchayat” here.
Answering questions, he said that after making a turnover of Rs 80 crore, Jay made a loss of Rs 1.5 crore. “Where has money laundering been done? All the transactions happened through cheques and banks,” he said.
Asked about Jay Shah filing a defamation suit against the publication, Shah said: “Before answering your question I would like to ask you one thing. After Independence, how many corruption charges have been made against the Congress?
“Please understand this is not corruption. Many allegations of corruption were made against the Congress. Did it ever file a civil suit or defamation suit? No. Why they lacked such courage? Today Jay has filed a defamation as well as civil suit and is demanding a probe himself. Those who have the
evidence can submit it to the court, and then the court will decide,” the BJP President said.
He said: “We have ourselves invited a probe and on the company issue I want to clarify that it has not done business with the government of even Re 1 nor taken any government land or tender. Neither has it received kickbacks as in the case of Bofors.”
When asked about Jay’s company securing unsecured loans, Shah said it was not unsecured loans. “It was a line of credit,” he added.
—IANS
