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The Bombay High Court has discharged billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani and his brother Rajesh Adani from a case involving alleged market regulation violations by Adani Enterprises. Justice RN Laddha quashed a sessions court order that had overturned a magistrate’s 2014 decision to discharge the Adanis and the company.

The case, filed in 2012 by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office, involved alleged unlawful gains of nearly Rs 388 crore by the conglomerate. A chargesheet was filed against 12 persons, including the Adanis.

A magistrate’s court in Mumbai discharged them from the case in May 2014. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office challenged the discharge order. A sessions court in November 2019 set aside the magistrate’s order and noted that the agency had made out a case of unlawful gain by the Adani Group.

Adani Enterprises had moved the High Court in 2019, following which they secured a stay order on the sessions court decision. The High Court on Monday allowed the petition and discharged the duo from the case. Read on.

Social media influencer Orhan Awatramani, better known as Orry, has been booked along with seven others for allegedly consuming alcohol in a hotel in Katra, the base camp for the Vaishno Devi pilgrimage site in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district.

Alcohol and non-vegetarian food are prohibited in the area due to its proximity to the Vaishno Devi temple. The group has been booked under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for disobeying a public servant’s order.

The first information report also names Russian national Anastasila Arzamaskina, along with Darshan Singh, Parth Raina, Ritick Singh, Rashi Dutta, Rakshita Bhogal and Shagun Kohli. The Reasi police said a team has been formed to trace the accused persons. Read on.

Several Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Tamil Nadu, including state president K Annamalai and former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, were detained by Chennai Police on Monday ahead of a protest they had planned against alleged financial irregularities in the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation, or Tasmac.

Annamalai was detained near his residence in Akkarai while heading to the protest site in Egmore. Soundararajan was taken into custody from her home in Saligramam. BJP MLAs Vanathi Srinivasan and Saraswathi were also detained near the state Secretariat. Other party workers were held in T Nagar, Taramani and Rajarathinam Stadium.

The protest was based on an Enforcement Directorate investigation that claimed to have uncovered a Rs 1,000-crore corruption network involving Tasmac officials, liquor distilleries and bottling companies. Annamalai criticised the detentions, accusing the state government of suppressing dissent. Read on.

The Manipur government on Monday barred public gatherings in Churachandpur district after Hmar Inpui general secretary Richard Hmar was allegedly assaulted on Sunday evening. The attack, reported inside the VK Montessori complex in Zenhang Lamka, triggered tensions, with locals demanding that the perpetrators be identified.

Protestors attempted to enforce a shutdown and incidents of stone-throwing were reported. Authorities cited a risk of law and order disruption while issuing restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which empowers magistrates to issue immediate preventive orders in urgent cases of public nuisance or danger.

Hmar Inpui condemned the assault, calling it a “contemptuous and coward act” and demanded that the perpetrators surrender. Deputy Commissioner Dharun Kumar urged community leaders to resolve tensions through dialogue. The state remains on edge amid ongoing ethnic conflict between the tribal Kuki-Zo and dominant Meitei communities. President’s Rule was imposed in Manipur on February 13. Read on.

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