The parties are scheduled to file supplemental briefs in the case on January 5, 2024 and return for oral arguments January 11 before Judge Engoron renders a final verdict…reports Asian Lite News
A court in New York has rejected former US President Donald Trump’s challenge of the gag order in his civil fraud trial, that bars him and the attorneys from speaking publicly about the case’s presiding Judge Arthur Engoron’s court staff.
In its rejection on Thursday, the appeals court said Trump did not use the proper legal vehicle to challenge the gag order and sanctions, reports CNN.
The appellate court in another order on Thursday also rejected a request by the former President to allow his legal team to seek a review of the gag order by the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court.
Trial testimony ended on Wednesday after 11 weeks in court.
The parties are scheduled to file supplemental briefs in the case on January 5, 2024 and return for oral arguments January 11 before Judge Engoron renders a final verdict.
The civil fraud case strikes at the heart of the Trump Organization, the former President’s real estate empire.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the lawsuit, is suing the former President for $250 million and seeking to bar him from doing business in the state.
James, a Democrat, has alleged that the Trump Organization deceived lenders, insurers and tax authorities by inflating the value of his properties using misleading appraisals.
Trump was expected to testify on Monday, but he did not appear.
Working with industry bodies, the taskforce will disrupt the business models of firms that are enabling abuse of the immigration system…reports Asian Lite News
The UK government on Tuesday announced that it has set up a special taskforce to increase enforcement action against unscrupulous immigration lawyers who coach illegal migrants to lie in order to win asylum in the country.
The move comes after a Daily Mail investigation revealed how a few lawyers have been helping illegal migrants by asking them to make false claims, which include claims of sexual torture, beatings, slave labour, false imprisonment and death threats.
“We are stepping up action to support regulatory action and prosecution of unscrupulous lawyers, with a new dedicated taskforce and tougher sentences,” the Home Office said in a statement.
The Professional Enablers Taskforce is bringing together regulatory bodies, law enforcement teams and government departments to increase enforcement action against lawyers who help migrants exploit the immigration system.
The taskforce has been up and carrying out preliminary work over the past few months, working with partners to tackle immigration abuse in the legal sector by improving how intelligence and information is shared by regulators.
In addition, law enforcement are also working to bring fresh prosecutions against corrupt immigration lawyers who could face up to life in prison for assisting illegal migrants to remain in the country by deception.
“Crooked immigration lawyers must be rooted out and brought to justice. While the majority of lawyers act with integrity — we know that some are lying to help illegal migrants game the system. It is not right or fair on those who play by the rules,” Home Secretary Suella Braverman said.
“The British people want us to put an end to illegal migration — I am determined to crack down on these immoral lawyers and Stop the Boats,” she added.
The taskforce has also developed a new training package for frontline staff who work in the immigration system to help them identify and report suspect activity so they can support law enforcement to prosecute crooked immigration lawyers, the Home Office said.
Working with industry bodies, the taskforce will disrupt the business models of firms that are enabling abuse of the immigration system.
Their work is aimed at supporting enforcement action against corrupt lawyers by building stronger evidence and improving intelligence sharing, which is then passed on to industry bodies to investigate and bring to law enforcement for prosecution if necessary.
Referrals to law enforcement have also been made where criminal activity is suspected.
For example, the taskforce has uncovered a case in which an immigration firm is linked to one of the most wanted human traffickers, which has now been referred to the police.
Last week, the Solicitors Regulation Authority — a legal industry watchdog — suspended three legal firms who were caught offering to submit fake asylum claims for migrants.
The Professional Enablers Taskforce is currently focusing on abuse in the legal sector, however there are plans to expand to other ‘professional enablers’, such as doctors, accountants and employers, who use their expertise to facilitate illegal migration.
Lawyers found to be coaching migrants on how to remain in the country by fraudulent means could be prosecuted under the Immigration Act 1971, Section 25, for ‘Assisting unlawful immigration to the UK’ and face a sentence of up to life imprisonment.
Sen said that the problem started when the base rate of the acquired land did not match the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013…reports Probir Pramanik
A motorcade travels on a dusty road flanked by lush paddy fields towards Chengpara village in the Alipurduar district of West Bengal. Officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), local police officers and district administration officials disembark from the vehicle. They scope the area and depart as abruptly as they came.
The villager, Sabita Roy (50), claimed that the officials often intimidate them through such visits. They want Chengpara’s farmers to accept the compensation given by NHAI for their land that was purchased to construct a highway.
Chengpara, a village dominated by the ethnic Rajbanshi community, is among the five mouzas or Panchayats involved in a legal wrangle with NHAI over land acquisition for the highway. The four other mouzas include Salsalabari, Bhelukdabari, Chaparerpara and Sovaganj.
The NHAI has acquired 170 hectares of land for the extension of a 41 km four-lane highway between Falakata and Salsalabari in the Alipurduar district. It is a part of the east-west corridor of the Golden Quadrilateral connecting Surat in Gujarat to Silchar in Assam. It passes through West Bengal’s rice, jute, and potato fields.
The highways authority started acquiring land for the Rs 1,030-crore project in January 2019. However, the farmers have obtained a stay order on the work from the Jalpaiguri circuit bench of the Calcutta High Court. They claimed they have not received the whole compensation promised by the NHAI.
NHAI has claimed to have disbursed Rs 154 crore Rs 1.20 crore for every 0.1 acre for 22.14 acres of land. But farmers claim to have received only 54 crores. Rs 100 crores are unaccounted for.
Compensation does not tally
About 500 farmers who have given up their land said that the compensation received from NHAI does not tally with a list published by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in a Bengali daily in November 2020.
“The land acquisition process by NHAI has been faulty since the beginning,” said Niladri Sen, the counsel of farmer Sabita Roy, who is yet to receive Rs 6 lakh approximately from the government.
Sen said that the problem started when the base rate of the acquired land did not match the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013.
“The affected farmers received an amount lesser than what they should have received. The compensation that was transferred electronically to the bank accounts of the farmers did not mention what the amount was being paid for,” he said, adding: “When we tallied the bank passbooks, we found that the compensation amounts did not tally with the list published by the Central government.”
Imposters in the fray
According to the secretary of the Krishi Bastu Sangram Committee, Ratan Roy, several people have been compensated by the government for land that they do not own in any of the mouzas.
Some farmers claimed that “imposters” have bagged the bulk of compensation released by the NHAI.
Such is the case of Sabita Roy whose third tranche of compensation was paid to her impersonator’s account in the State Bank of India in Assam’s Bongaigaon. Roy, who has received Rs 11.01 lakh compensation in her bank in Alipurduras in two tranches said that she was awaiting her third payment of more than Rs 6 lakh.
“I have never been to Bangaigaon, let alone open a bank account in the neighbouring state,” she said. “I learned that Rs 5.67 lakh was withdrawn from the said account in Assam by one Sukumar Karmakar, who posed as my father, showing that I was dead.”
She said that she was not against giving her land to NHAI, but she expected the government to compensate her fairly.
Roy challenged the disbursement claim made by the ministry by filing a writ petition before the Jalpaiguri circuit bench of the Calcutta High Court on August 5, 2021.
The ministry, however, claimed that Sabita Roy was compensated with Rs 17.72 lakh with the third tranche of her payment amounting to Rs 5.67 lakh reaching her on September 24, 2020.
Sabita Roy lodged a complaint before the Kotwali police station, but to no avail. She then lodged a written complaint before the Bengal police chief and the Alipurduar district police.
Pinaki Sengupta, the special land acquisition officer and competent authority at the Jalpaiguri district magistrate’s office, directed the Kotwali police to investigate allegations of discrepancy in compensation to Sabita Roy.
On September 30, the single bench of the Jalpaiguri bench of the Calcutta High Court directed officials to measure Sabita Roy’s land on October 2, 2021, including building and structure, and assess the compensation she is entitled to according to the rules.
Seven others and two farmers groups also filed a writ petition before the Jalpaiguri bench of the Calcutta High Court. The NHAI pleaded for adjournment, which the court refused and set the next date of hearing on November 29, 2021.
Krishi Bastu Sangram Committee secretary Ratan Roy said that his mother, Binodini Roy, had received an arbitration notification, saying her land was acquired. But, there were no signs of compensation.
Binodini Roy also filed an individual writ petition before Jalpaiguri circuit bench of the Calcutta High Court.
Allegations of bribery and intimidation
Some farmers claimed they were coerced to give kickbacks’ between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh to the government officials through brokers to receive the compensation.
“I was forced to pay a bribe of Rs 1 lakh to Ratan Mandal a technical assistant with the Jalpaiguri land reforms office to get Rs 8 lakh compensation,” alleged Champarani Sarkar (45) who lost 0.8 acres of land to NHAI’s project.
Another farmer Subal Roy said he had to pay a bribe of Rs 5 lakh to the village panchayat head to get compensation for his father’s 0.23 acres of land acquired by the NHAI.
The entire compensation package for the five mouzas in Alipurduars Block-II, has been disbursed by the district treasury office, according to Sanjeev Kumar Sharma general manager and project director of NHAI.
“We disbursed Rs 154 crore through the Jalpaiguri district magistrate’s land acquisition section,” an official, who did not wish to be named, said.
The NHAI has asked aggrieved farmers to contact the special land acquisition officer in Jalpaiguri for matters related to compensation.
“Those who have given their land to NHAI have been compensated as per the arbitral base rates. Only a handful of people in Chengpara are creating trouble by stalling the work on the project,” Sharma said.
