Mumbai: The stenographer posted at court at Mazgaon, Chandrakant Vasudev, was arrested allegedly for demanding and accepting bribes allegedly on behalf of the Additional Sessions Judge, Civil Sessions Court, Court No. 14, Mazagon. Aejazuddin S. Kazi has again approached the special ACB court for bail. The plea is likely to be heard on Thursday.

Vasudev was arrested on November 10 for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 15 lakh in exchange for a favourable verdict in a land dispute case. The special court rejected his first bail plea on November 24. A second bail plea claims no need for further incarceration and investigation can proceed without detaining him.

The prosecution claims Vasudev told the agency that Kazi had instructed him to demand the bribe, and after accepting the amount, Kazi asked him to bring it to his residence. It allegedly started on September 09 when Vasudev told the complainant’s associate in the court washroom to “do something for Saheb (the Judge), and the order will be in your favour”. He later demanded Rs 10 lakh for himself and Rs 15 lakh for the judge at a café. After refusal, he threatened via WhatsApp.

New Delhi, Dec 18: The Lok Sabha descended into pandemonium on Thursday as Union Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan attempted to deliver the government’s reply on the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB-G RAM-G Bill), amid relentless sloganeering and protests from the opposition benches.

Congress MP K.C. Venugopal urgently pressed Speaker Om Birla to refer the Bill — which proposes replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with a framework guaranteeing 125 days of wage employment annually — to a Standing Committee or Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for thorough examination.

The Speaker rejected the plea, highlighting that the Bill had already been debated for over eight hours, extending late into the previous night.

Defying the uproar, Minister Chouhan pressed on with his speech, emphasising enhanced provisions under the new legislation.

“With a whopping allocation and more employment opportunities, we are creating provisions for fully developed (sampoorna viksit) villages — this is the Modi government’s objective,” he stated.

The Bill’s name itself reflects its guarantee of employment and improved livelihoods, he added, aligning it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision.

Minister Chouhan portrayed the initiative as building a prosperous India, with plans for ideal villages equipped with all basic amenities, employment, better livelihoods, and facilities right at the village level, in line with the Viksit Bharat @2047 goal.

“PM Modi has envisioned a slew of amenities for self-reliant villages,” he asserted, undeterred by interruptions.

He also said that the Congress party had curtailed the budget from Rs 40,000 crore to Rs 35,000 crore, “while we will spend more than Rs 95,000 crore under the new scheme”.

The Bill has drawn sharp criticism from the Opposition for allegedly weakening MGNREGA’s demand-driven guarantees, shifting costs to states, and removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name — a move decried as an insult to the Father of the Nation. Supporters, however, counter that it modernises rural empowerment, boosts days from 100 to 125, and promotes convergence for infrastructure and saturation coverage.

Kolkata, Dec 18: The winter session of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly is unlikely to take place within the current calendar year due to the pressure from the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the upcoming festive season, sources said on Thursday.

The second phase of the SIR exercise began on Tuesday with the publication of the draft voters’ list.

“First, the elected legislators are very busy with the ongoing SIR-related activities in areas under the jurisdiction of their respective Assembly constituencies. Secondly, the festive season is starting with Christmas on December 25, which again will engage the legislators with mass contact exercises in their respective constituencies. Taking these two factors into consideration, it is unlikely that the winter session will be held this year,” an insider from the West Bengal Assembly secretariat said.

Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee has also confirmed that he has not received any communication from the state government on convening the session. He added that several legislators have requested that the winter session not be convened immediately because of their involvement in the electoral roll revision exercise.

According to sources in the Assembly secretariat, there is a possibility that a short winter session may be held in January next year, followed by an interim Budget session in February.

“However, nothing is final as yet,” the sources said.

The Assembly last met in September this year, when a three-day special session was convened.

The winter session, whenever held, is expected to draw attention as former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee is likely to attend the House for the first time in nearly three years. Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in July 2022 in connection with the multi-crore cash-for-school jobs scam.

Since his arrest, Chatterjee has been suspended from the Trinamool Congress and would attend the session as an Independent legislator. The session would also see the presence of Humayun Kabir, the suspended Trinamool rebel MLA from the Bharatpur Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district, who will also sit as an Independent. The TMC suspended Kabir early this month after he decided to go ahead with the plan to lay the foundation of a Babri Masjid-style mosque in Murshidabad district on December 6, defying the party’s instructions.