NRI carriers bring gold into country legally

CHENNAI: Faced with curbs on gold imports and crash in international prices leaving it cheaper in other countries, gold houses and smugglers are turning to NRIs to bring in the yellow metal legally after paying duty. Any NRI, who has stayed abroad for more than six months, is allowed to bring in 1kg gold.

It was evident last week when almost every passenger on a flight from Dubai to Calicut was found carrying 1kg of gold, totalling up to 80kg (worth about Rs 24 crore). At Chennai airport, 13 passengers brought the legally permitted quantity of gold in the past one week.

"It's not illegal. But the 80kg gold that landed in Calicut surprised us. We soon got information that two smugglers in Dubai and their links in Calicut were behind this operation, offering free tickets to several passengers," said an official. The passengers were mostly Indian labourers in Dubai, used as carriers by people who were otherwise looking at illegal means, he said. "We have started tracing the origin and route of gold after intelligence pointed to the role of smugglers," he said.

Reports from Kerala said passengers from Dubai have brought more than 1,000kg of gold in the last three weeks. People who pay a duty of Rs 2.7 lakh per kg in Dubai still stand to gain at least Rs 75,000 per kg, owing to the price difference in the two countries. Gold dealers in Kerala say most of this gold goes to jewellery makers in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Revenue intelligence sources said it was but natural for operators in the Gulf to take advantage of the situation and approach potential carriers. "There is always a steady stream of Indian labourers from the Gulf visiting Kerala, and they form an attractive target for these dealers. Since there is no risk involved, and some incentives thrown in, many of them are eager to carry someone else's gold," said an official.

The World Gold Council notes that India is the world's biggest gold consumer with a 20% share of global demand. Within the country, south Indian states account for 60% of gold sales. "Import duty on gold in India has increased from 2% to 15% between January 2012 and September 2013. Moreover, the Reserve Bank of India in June ruled out any credit transaction for imports, unless they were intended to make jewellery for export. This has reduced import of gold, forcing gold merchants to depend on smuggled gold," said the official.

These government measures to control the current account deficit did not reduce the demand for gold in the market. "RBI tried to discourage gold purchases because it doesn't have the utility of other commodities like oil or copper. It mostly sits there in lockers. But when the gold imports through proper channels have come down, merchants have started depending on illegal channels to meet the demand from consumers," he said.

Indian diplomat arrested in New York, later released

Deputy Consul General in New York, Devyani Khobragade, held for visa fraud; released on bail later

Devyani Khobragade

New York/New Delhi -An Indian diplomat was arrested in New York on Thursday on the charge that she allegedly used "false and fraudulent" documents to support the US visa application for an Indian woman she employed as a babysitter and housekeeper.

Devyani Khobragade, Deputy Consul General for political, economic, commercial and women's affairs at the Consulate General of India in New York, has been charged with one count of visa fraud and one count of making false statements, which carry maximum sentences of 10 years and five years in prison, respectively.

Khobragade was arrested as she was dropping her daughter to school in New York. She was released on Thursday evening on a $250,000 bond.

The Indian Embassy in Washington expressed its "strong concern" to the U.S. government over the arrest of Khobragade, said M. Sridharan, a spokesman for the embassy.

Khobragade's arrest was announced by Preet Bharara, the Punjab-born Indian-American US attorney for the Southern District of New York who has made a name for himself prosecuting white collar crime on Wall Street.

Bharara was instrumental in the successful prosecution of Rajat Gupta, the Indian-American former managing director of McKinsey and Co. and ex-board member at Goldman Sachs who has been found guilty of insider trading.

Diplomats in the US can apply for an A-3 visa for their domestic servants. Applicants must furnish evidence that their employee will be paid a wage comparable to that offered in the US. The A-3 visa application includes an employment contract signed by the employer and the employee which must state a description of duties, hours of work and the hourly wage.

Khobragade allegedly prepared an A-3 visa application for her employee -- identified by the Indian Embassy spokesman as Sangeeta Richard -- promising a wage of $4,500 per month. The employment contract stated that Khobragade would pay the prevailing or minimum wage, whichever is greater, resulting in an hourly salary of $9.75.

Khobragade knew that the employment contract she asked Richard to submit to the US Embassy in India for a visa contained fraudulent statements about the hourlywage to be offered and hours of work, according to the allegations in the criminal complaint unsealed in Manhattan federal court.

Khobragade and Richard had signed another contract in which they agreed to a salary of 30,000 rupees per month, which at the time was around $570 a month or $3.31 per hour. Khobragade allegedly instructed Richard to say she would work 40 hours a week and would be paid $9.75 an hour. Ms. Richard was paid even less than $3.31 per hour, according to the allegations.

Richard was employed by Khobragade in New York from November of 2012 until June of this year.

Action was apparently taken against hobragade on the basis of allegations made by Richard, said Mr. Sridharan, the spokesman for the Indian Embassy in Washington.

He said the Delhi High Court had issued an interim injunction in September to restrain Richard -- who has been "absconding" since June -- from instituting any actions or proceedings against Khobragade outside India on the terms or conditions of her employment.

"The US government had subsequently been requested to locate Richard and facilitate the service of an arrest warrant, issued by the Metropolitan Magistrate of the South District Court in New Delhi under Sections 387, 420 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code," Sridharan said.

"The US side have been urged to resolve the matter with due sensitivity, taking into account the existing court case in India that has already been brought to their attention by the Government of India, and the diplomatic status of the officer concerned," he added.

Bharara noted that foreign nationals brought to the US to serve as domestic workers are entitled to the same protections against exploitation as those afforded to US citizens.

"The false statements and fraud alleged to have occurred here were designed to circumvent those protections so that a visa would issue for a domestic worker who was promised far less than a fair wage. This type of fraud on the United States and exploitation of an individual will not be tolerated," said Bharara.

Khobragade, 39, is no stranger to controversy. She is the daughter of Uttam Khobragade, a former IAS officer. She received a flat in the controversial Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai, which was intended for the families of Kargil War heroes. The flats were illegally allotted to top politicians, bureaucrats, senior Army officers and their families.

Khobragade, a former general manager of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, had helped the Adarsh Society secure additional building rights from the adjacent BEST bus depot. This allowed builders to raise the building from the original 6 floors to 31 floors.

Khobragade was investigated for not disclosing the fact that his daughter already owned a flat under government's quota. Under the Maharashtra Government's rules, an official applying for a flat under a government quota must provide a signed affidavit stating that he or she does not own any other flat.

India summons US envoy Nancy Powell over arrest of diplomat in New York

Deploring the arrest of deputy consul general in New York, foreign secretary Sujatha Singh on Friday summoned US ambassador Nancy Powell to convey India's "shock" over "absolutely unacceptable" treatment meted out to the senior Indian diplomat.

Reacting strongly to deputy consul general Devyani Khobragade being arrested and handcuffed in public on visa fraud charges, the foreign secretary summoned Powell to South Block to lodge strong protest and convey India's displeasure over the arrest of its diplomat.

According to sources, Singh told Powell that the treatment meted out to the senior diplomat was "totally unacceptable" and she was entitled to the courtesies under various multilateral conventions dealing with diplomatic fraternity posted in foreign countries.

In a major diplomatic embarrassment, Khobragade, 39, was taken into custody on a street in New York as she was dropping her daughter to school at 9am yesterday and handcuffed in public on visa fraud charges before being released on a $250,000 bond after pleading not guilty in court.

"We are shocked and appalled at the manner in which she has been humiliated by the US authorities. We have taken it up forcefully with the US government through our embassy in Washington. We are also reiterating, in no uncertain terms, to US embassy here that this kind of treatment to one of our diplomats is absolutely unacceptable," spokesperson in the ministry of external affairs Syed Akabaruddin said here.

He also said the ministry was working to resolve this matter at the earliest and if there were issues of legal nature they will be resolved separately, however, this sort of behaviour was "totally unacceptable".

"Nothing entails the humiliation of a young woman with two small children publicly. A person who has been a diplomat sent there to represent her country. We will take issue of legal nature separately but there is no justification or acceptability of what has happened to the young diplomat who had gone to drop her children in a school," he said.

This is the third case involving a senior official of the New York Indian Consulate in three years.

In June 2011, a former housekeeper had sued India's then consul general in New York Prabhu Dayal accusing him of intimidating her into a year of forced labour.

In February 2012, Indian maid Shanti Gurung won a case against Neena Malhotra, who served as a press and culture counselor at the New York consulate from 2006-2009.

Maid trouble in Manhattan 

* Devyani Khobragade (pic) is accused of making false statements in a visa application for an Indian national employed as a housekeeper at her home in New York.
* Diplomats in the US can apply for an A-3 visa for their domestic servants. Khobragade prepared an A-3 visa application for her housekeeper and promised that she would be paid $ 4,500 a month.
* An employment contract between the two parties said the diplomat would pay her the prevailing or minimum wage, whichever is greater, resulting in an hourly salary of $ 9.75.
* Prior to signing the contract, it was agreed between Khobragade and her housekeepr that she would be paid Rs 30,000 a month. At 40 hours a week, it was equivalent to $ 573.07 a month or & 3.31 an hour.
* Khobragade, however, allegedly instructed the housekeeper to say that she would be paid $ 9.75 an hour

* The housekeeper worked for Khobragade from Nov 2012 to June 2013. She worked far more than 40 hours a week and was paid less than $ 9.75 an hour, the complaint alleges.

Punjab and Haryana High Court sets norms for photocopies as evidence

Chandigarh, December 12
In a first, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has laid down the principles on admissibility of photocopies as secondary evidence in court cases. The principles are to be followed by the courts while admitting a photostat copy as secondary evidence and assessing its probative value.

Justice Paramjeet Singh has, in fact, elaborated on the circumstances under which photostat copies of original documents can be tendered in evidence; and whether the photostat copies of documents are covered within the meaning and definition of secondary evidence contained in Section 63 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

Justice Paramjeet Singh has asserted that the photostat copy of a document can be allowed to be produced only in absence of original document. When a party seeks to produce photostat copy, it has to lay the foundational facts by proving that original document existed and is lost. Or else, it has to prove that the original document is in possession of opposite party, who failed to produce it.

Taking up the petition filed by Surinder Kaur against Mehal Singh and other respondents in a case hovering around a will, Justice Paramjeet Singh also clarified that mere assertion of a party is not sufficient to prove the foundational facts. The objections as to non-existence of such circumstances or non-existence of foundational facts must be taken at earliest by the opposite party after the photostat copy is tendered in evidence.

When the opposite party raises an objection, the authenticity of photostat copy has to be determined, as every copy made from a mechanical process may not be accurate. “Allowing production of photostat copy in evidence does not amount to its proof. Its probative value has to be proved and assessed independently. It has to be shown that it was made from original at particular place and time,” Justice Paramjeet Singh asserted.

The accuracy of photostat copy shall be established on oath to the satisfaction of court.

Gay sex illegal, rules Supreme Court

Says Section 377 constitutionally valid; Parliament free to drop it; triggers outrage

What the SC said  Section 377 constitutional; gay, lesbian sex is a criminal offence  Parliament free to drop Section 377  Homosexuals account for miniscule fraction of population HC verdict set aside The Delhi HC had, on July 2, 2009, de-criminalised such acts by reading down Section 377.  It ruled that criminalising consensual sexual acts of adults in private was against Articles 21, 14 and 15 which guaranteed fundamental rights to personal liberty, equality and non-discrimination to the people.  The SC said the High Court had relied on overseas verdicts which can't be applied to Indian laws

New Delhi, December 11
The Supreme Court today restored the Constitutional validity of Section 377 of the IPC, under which homosexual acts are a criminal offence punishable with life term, noting that Parliament had chosen to retain it despite amending the IPC as many as 30 times since 1950.

The Delhi High Court had, on July 2, 2009, de-criminalised such acts by reading down Section 377 and ruling that criminalising consensual sexual acts of adults in private was against Articles 21, 14 and 15 which guaranteed fundamental rights to personal liberty, equality and non-discrimination to the people.

An apex court Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi, who retired today, and SJ Mukhopadhaya set aside the HC verdict, pointing out that the HC had gone by several judgments of other countries in its anxiety to protect the so-called rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender) persons and to declare that Section 377 violated the right to privacy, autonomy and dignity.

"Though these judgments shed considerable light on various aspects of this right and are informative in relation to the plight of sexual minorities, we feel that they cannot be applied blindfolded for deciding the constitutionality of the law enacted by the Indian legislature," the SC ruled. The judiciary should exercise "self-restraint" while striking down any legal provision and its analysis of any law "must be guided by the presumption of constitutionality," it explained.

Section 377 had come up for debate repeatedly and the Law Commission in its 172nd report had recommended its deletion.

Laws relating to sexual offences were amended only this year in the wake of the December 2012 Delhi gang rape case but Parliament "has chosen not to amend the (377) law or revisit. This shows that Parliament, which is undisputedly the representative body of the people of India has not thought it proper to delete the provision," the SC explained.

Indian cab driver jailed for six years in Australia for rape

Melbourne:  A 30-year-old Indian taxi driver has been sentenced to six years in prison in Australia for raping a drunk and vulnerable teenage schoolgirl who he had been asked to drop home.

County Court judge Wendy Wilmoth said Nitin Rana, who was found guilty by a jury of three counts of rape, had taken advantage of the 17-year-old girl when she was in such an intoxicated state that she could not sit up straight in the taxi or even fasten her seatbelt.

Rana was jailed for six years with a non-parole period of four years and the Judge ordered him to be placed on the sex offenders register for 15 years, according to a media report.

Rana was given 50 dollars by a group of good Samaritans to take the girl home.

"The public is entitled to expect to be safe in taxis; parents should be able to trust that their teenage children will be safe in taxis," Wilmoth told Rana.

"This girl's safety was entrusted to you when the people who helped her gave you the money for her fare, to take her safely home.

"Instead you violated that trust when you raped her."

"The victim was a child, and at the time she was struggling with personal issues and had consumed a large amount of both medication and alcohol," the judge said.

"She was very drunk, and this could be seen from her condition and behaviour before and at the time of getting into your taxi.

"It is clear from the verdict that the jury accepted that you knew what her condition was," Wilmoth said.

The teenager had been drinking vodka at a friend's house before sharing a taxi with a male friend to a railway station in Melbourne's east at about 1 am on November 4 last year.

While her friend continued home in the taxi after dropping her at the station, the victim got stranded as she had no money and no way of getting home as trains had stopped running for the night.

She also accepted two valium tablets from a couple who she came across and she described as junkies.

While she was trying to walk  down the street, a married couple and two friends who were attending a birthday party dinner saw her fall over and tried to help to reach home.

The group tried to help the teenager and even called the emergency number.

Rana who drove past during that time in his taxi was then given 50 Australian dollars to take the teenager to her place. Rana drove off and then raped the teenager before dropping her home.

The teenager told her mother the next day that she had been sexually assaulted.

Wilmoth noted that Rana hailed from well regarded middle-class family in Hyderabad and had completed a commerce degree before working for several multinational companies in India.

He had migrated to Australia in 2008 where he completed a diploma course in hospitality and management.

He was driving a taxi to support himself and to save money to return to India.

The judge said she had received letters from Rana's family and two friends expressing their faith in him as "a good person, well brought up, and respectful of women".

Wilmoth said, "The charges are very serious indeed, and in this case there are some aggravating features."