NEWS

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that senior company officials — chairman, managing director, executive director, deputy general manager, planner and executor — automatically cannot be held liable under criminal law for offences committed by the company in the absence of specific allegations against them.

The top court upheld a Karnataka High Court judgement and dismissed the appeal filed against Mangalore Special Economic Zone Ltd and others.

In a judgment, a bench of MR Shah and AS Bopanna said, “Magistrate has to record his satisfaction about a prima facie case against the accused who are Managing Director, the Company Secretary and the Directors of the Company and the role played by them in their respective capacities which is sine qua non for initiating criminal proceedings against them”.

Former Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Kanhaiya Kumar joined the Congress on Tuesday and said the youth have started to realise that if the Congress is finished, then the country won't be safe either.

Kanhaiya Kumar was formally inducted into the Congress by former party president Rahul Gandhi at party headquarters in Delhi. The former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student said it was the country's "most democratic party" and the only hope for the nation.

"I am joining the Congress because some people who are ruling the country are trying to change this country's thoughts, culture. I have chosen to be in the country's most democratic party," Kanhaiya Kumar said.

Former Chief Minister of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh claimed that Navjot Singh Sidhu wanted to dominate Charanjit Channi, but no chief minister can bear that. "A CM must be given a free hand to run the state," said Singh.

On a day of resignations, when Punjab Congress saw a state cabinet minister and three other party members resigning, Amarinder Singh, while speaking to media, said, "Sidhu wanted to dominate Channi and no chief minister can bear that."

He added, "One must be given a free hand to run the state. If Sidhu thinks he will run the government through Channi, the reaction will naturally be like this. I saw the letter of resignation. I got to know he is talking to other parties as well."

The former Punjab chief minister said the media itself is talking about him joining other parties, but the reality is, "I am here for a private reason." Earlier in the day, Amarinder Singh said he had come to Delhi to vacate his Kapurthala residence for the next chief minister.

The remnant of Cyclone Gulab – depression, which weakened into a well-marked low-pressure area over Maharashtra’s Vidarbha and its neighbouring regions -- will continue to lash as many as five states for the next two days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its latest bulletin.

Additionally, the well-marked low-pressure area over northwest Bay of Bengal and the coastal areas of West Bengal persists. An IMD official told media that a red alert has been issued for South Bengal, including East Medinipur, West Medinipur, and South 24 Parganas.

According to the IMD bulletin, the low-pressure over Vidarbha is expected to move northwestwards and weaken gradually in the next 24 hours. However, the weather department made a  forecast that this low-pressure will emerge into Arabian Sea and adjoining Gujarat coastal regions around September 30, thereby paving way for it to intensify into yet another depression over the Arabian Sea.