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While property scene in India remains stagnant, it was the sale of homes across the top eight cities of India that improved 7% year-on-year in the last quarter of 2015. Sales also rose 15% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, and discounts by builders during the festive season can be claimed as one of the main reasons, as cited by a report from Liases Foras, the property research firm. 
 
While Mumbai and NCR markets saw an average price drop of 2% y-o-y, Bengaluru residents saw an increase of 6%. In most other markets, prices either dropped or rose marginally. 
 
It was the metropolitan region of Mumbai that saw the best sales, growing 35% y-o-y, while in the NCR market, sales were up 8% and in Bengaluru, by 11%. Pune on the other hand saw sales dropping 18% y-o-y. 
 
As per the report, an aggregate of 78 million sq ft of home space was sold across the top eight cities of the country, as compared to 72.9 million sq ft last year. 
 
"It is a buyers' market today. Geographies, which were predominantly investor driven, are still suffering while areas which were inhabited and more suited to end-users are seeing improvement in sales," Pankaj Kapoor, managing director of Liases Foras, told ET. "Now the gap between affordability and pricing is reducing." 
 
<a href="http://cdn.patch.com/users/231734/2015/12/T800x600/2015125671fb5c884e2.jpg">Image source</a>

Top eight Indian cities see home sales improving by 7% in last quarter of 2015

Meta-owned WhatsApp has become a spam factory as more than one in two Indians now say that they are facing four or more spam messages each day, a report showed on Wednesday. Despite clear norms laid by the <keyword id="30356" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="telecom-regulatory-authority-of-india" source="Orion">Telecom Regulatory Authority of India</keyword> (TRAI) on unsolicited communication, consumers still face unwanted calls, SMS (short messaging services) and Whatsapp messages from vendors, telemarketers, banks, insurance brokers, car dealers, pathology labs, property and other investment agents, among others. About 68 per cent of mobile subscribers, on average, receive 4 or more promotional or spam SMSs every day with every subscriber surveyed getting spam, according to the online community platform <keyword id="6379818" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="localcircles" source="Orion">LocalCircles</keyword>. About 95 per cent of Whatsapp subscribers surveyed got spam while every mobile subscriber surveyed got it. Financial services, real estate services, and pathology services are the top sectors sending spam SMS as well as spam Whatsapp, indicating the same offenders are now spamming using both channels. About 77 per cent of mobile subscribers surveyed want the TRAI to work with telcos and enable a mark spam feature with each SMS. There were reports that the Department of Telecommunication (DOT) has decided to levy fines ranging from Rs 1,000 per violation for zero-10 breaches, Rs 5,000 each for 10-50 violations, and Rs 10,000 each for more than 50 violations by registered telemarketers. However, the telecom authority has not issued any notification in this regard. "Unsolicited SMS, not to be confused with communication from government or any other authorised source, is a misuse of citizens' personal data. Many people face issues of unwanted messages and calls made to them by fraudsters, spammers, telemarketers, despite registering on TRAI's Do Not Call Registry (NDNS)," the findings showed. Last year, around 93 million phone numbers registered with the TRAI's NDNS were kept on sale on the Darknet, according to reports. <keyword id="4936066" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="whatsapp-business" source="Orion">Whatsapp Business</keyword> was rolled out a few years ago and in 2021, the company mandated that users of the platform must receive messages from Whatsapp Business (based on their usage of Whatsapp and parent platform Facebook) for them to continue using the platform, according to LocalCircles report. While users resisted this initially and started using alternate platforms like <keyword id="6380504" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="signal" source="Orion">Signal</keyword> and <keyword id="1275203" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="telegram" source="Orion">Telegram</keyword>, over time most gave up and accepted the revised terms. About 77 per cent said that TRAI should work with telcos to mandatorily embed mark spam in each SMS message so users can easily report spammers. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/iit-jodhpur-researchers-design-robotic-trainers-for-lower-limb-rehabilitation/articleshow/94814727.cms" style="">IIT-Jodhpur researchers design robotic trainers for lower limb rehabilitation</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/samsung-says-will-roll-out-5g-software-update-by-mid-november-in-india/articleshow/94807741.cms">Samsung says will roll out 5G software update by mid-November in India</a>

WhatsApp now a spam factory, 1 in 2 Indian swamped with promotional messages: report

<ul><li>Indians get the highest number of <keyword id="2232456" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Spam-calls" source="Orion">spam calls</keyword> everyday as people try to sell either financial or property related services.</li><li>People handle pesky or spam calls by picking the call and then either blocking the caller or telling them not to call again, says <keyword id="6379818" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="localcircles" source="Orion">LocalCircles</keyword> survey.</li><li>Only 1% of the respondents mentioned that they don’t get such calls.</li></ul>India is one of the most spammed countries in the world. Almost every Indian receives pesky or promotional calls on a daily basis, claims caller ID app <keyword id="1106616" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="truecaller" source="Orion">Truecaller</keyword>. They experience a flurry of spam SMSes or calls from banks, insurance brokers, car dealers, property agents and lately income opportunities - all being offered via the phone. To tackle this problem, 14% of the Indians use a caller identification app that helps them recognise who is calling them and avoid, if it’s spam, as per a new LocalCircles survey. But 42% of them prefer to pick the calls and later block these spammers. While 21% of them say that they pick such calls and ask them not to ring them again. The survey received over 37,000 responses from citizens residing across 37 districts of India, including tier 1,2,3 and 4 cities, and rural districts. “On an aggregate basis, the top-2 ways Indians handle pesky or spam calls is by picking the call and then either blocking the caller or telling them not to call again,” says the survey. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Subscribing to DND list is also not helping" comment="subhead" text="Subscribing to DND list is also not helping">Subscribing to DND list is also not helping</cmsannotation> Around 95% people who subscribe to TRAI’s ‘<keyword id="60586" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="do-not-call" source="Orion">do not call</keyword>’ or disturb directory still get calls from spammers, fraudsters or telemarketers. Only 5% of the respondents said that they don’t receive such calls after registering themselves for DND. When asked about what type of calls they receive, 51% of people said that they get pesky phone calls from someone who is trying to sell them a financial service or a property. Around 8% of them receive sales calls from healthcare or pathology services. A select few also get calls offering them jobs and ‘new earning opportunities’. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Indians get 6-10 pesky calls per day" comment="subhead" text="Indians get 6-10 pesky calls per day">Indians get 6-10 pesky calls per day</cmsannotation> About 18% of the respondents get 6-10 pesky or unwanted calls per day, while 37% get 3-5 of them. Only 1% of the respondents said that they don’t get a spam call on a daily basis, as per the survey. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/ethos-ipo-understanding-its-business-profit-outlook-analysts-view-in-10-points/slidelist/91634327.cms">Ethos IPO: Understanding its business, profit, outlook, analysts view in 10 points</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/here-are-the-top-cryptos-losers-that-have-reported-the-highest-decline-in-the-last-7-days/slidelist/91634169.cms">Here are the top cryptos losers that have reported the highest decline in the last 7 days</a>

Most Indians get at least five spam calls per day and this is how they are handling them

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fulfilling his promise made during campaigning for general elections last year. 
 
Modi had made a pitch to bring back Hindus, who are harassed and suffer in other countries, saying India was the only place for them. 
 
Now his government is planning to allow Hindu migrants, who come from Pakistan in India on long-term visas, to open bank accounts and buy residential properties even without Indian citizenship. 
 If this becomes policy and is implemented, <keyword id="2950824" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="hindu-migrants-from-Pakistan">Hindu migrants from Pakistan</keyword> as well as Afghanistan will be able to open bank accounts on the basis of their visa and residential permits issued by the Foreigner Registration Office (FRO) or the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO). 
 
Economic Times had earlier reported that the NDA government granted citizenship to over 4,000 Hindus from these South Asian countries, four times the number managed by previous Congress-led government. 
 
“The government is keen to extend these facilities to Hindu migrants from Pakistan because it considers these Pakistani nationals victims of persecution,” senior government officials familiar with this development told ET on condition of anonymity. 
 
The officials told the financial daily that the government may also allow Hindu migrants from the neighbouring country to open Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) rupee account without RBI approvals. 
 
Presently, NRO accounts can be opened with banks and authorised dealers by anyone residing outside India. But RBI approval is needed in case of Pakistani and Bangladeshi entities. 
 
"There are various options on the table. We will examine them and also seek view of the home ministry regarding security concerns," a senior official told ET. 
 
(Image: Reuters)

Modi to allow Hindu migrants from Pakistan to open bank accounts in India

The contribution of tTelecom and Information Technology (IT) sectors to India’s growth story cannot be overemphasised. These two sectors have been among the biggest contributors to employment generation, export, infrastructure development, and have collectively brought India on the global platform. Both these sectors are at the very core of the Modi-led government’s ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’ campaigns. 
 Despite such impeccable credentials, the telecom and IT sectors are looking forward to the government’s support in creating a conducive fiscal and regulatory policy environment to fuel the next phase of growth. The retro amendments introduced in 2012 expanded the scope of royalty under domestic tax laws to bring all kinds of telecom and software payments under the <keyword id="6354751" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Income-Tax">income tax</keyword> net. In addition to imposing withholding tax on domestic telecom and software transactions, the amendments have given a shot in the arms to the tax authorities to deny treaty benefits to cross border transactions despite the judiciary’s view to the contrary in several cases. A bulk of the telecom payments are for standard services where the customer is not interested in the technology or process used by the operators to provide such services. Likewise, a majority of the software transactions under dispute pertain to sale of packaged software, which, as per several judicial pronouncements and international practices, cannot be considered as royalty towards exploitation of intellectual property. 
 
While the FM’s last Budget speech partially assuaged the industry concerns on retro amendments by positive directional statements, the specific issue of retrospective expansion of royalty definition still remains unaddressed. The telecom and IT industry expect the government to re-visit these amendments in the context of telecom and software transactions so as to align these with prevalent international practices. A clarification that treaty provisions should not be denied by importing the domestic law provisions while interpreting treaties would be welcome. It would also be worthwhile to exclude standard telecom services from the definition of ‘process’ to avoid withholding tax burden. 
 
Another major concern for the telecom industry is the levy of withholding tax on discounts to distributors/dealers on sale of recharge coupons. While the dispute on classification of commercial arrangement as being principle-to-principle versus principle-to-agent is yet to be resolved with several thousand crores locked in litigation, a long-term resolution protecting the interest of industry and government is the need of the hour. Perhaps, one plausible view would be to consider such transactions as sale of telecommunications services via recharge coupons, which appropriately reflects the commercial arrangement between operators and distributors. This view has also found support from the <keyword id="6371973" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Karnataka-High-Court">Karnataka High Court</keyword> in a recent ruling, and could be considered by the government to appropriately clarify and put the controversy to rest. 
 Imposition of Minimum Alternate tax (MAT) on Special Economic Zone (SEZ) units by Finance Act 2011 has effectively diluted the <keyword id="547488" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tax-incentives">tax incentives</keyword> available to SEZ units, bulk of which are in the IT sector. For the revival of the SEZs, restoration of the MAT and DDT exemption to SEZ units is imperative. Weighted tax deduction should be extended to the IT sector as well to incentivise training and skill development in line with the government’s focus on skill development as an engine of economic growth. 
 
The industry expects the government to operationalise the key transfer pricing policy changes introduced in the 2014 Budget such as the APA roll back provisions, use of multiple year data and concept of range instead of arithmetic mean. These measures would go a long way in reducing transfer pricing litigation which has been a bugbear for the IT industry. The safe harbour provisions do not appear to have generated any positive traction within the industry, and hence require a re-look so as to meet the stated purpose of minimising litigation. 
 
Telecom and IT sectors have been demanding a resolution since sometime now on the ambiguity on treatment of packaged software as ‘goods’ or ‘services’, resulting in levy of both VAT and service tax. One hopes that this Budget can lend clarity on this issue. 
 
The industry is also hopeful that a suitable clarification should be issued to expressly allow credit of duties and taxes paid on procurement of all infrastructural support equipment/goods to telecom service providers/tower companies. Credit is currently denied on the premise that towers, shelters and such other facilities neither qualify as capital goods nor as inputs for providing output services. 
 The Narendra Modi-led government came into power with a promise to the business community of a non-adversarial tax regime. The government has thus far shown that it means business. It is now time to walk the talk and take the <keyword id="2549811" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Budget-2015">Budget 2015</keyword> as the opportunity to announce required policy and fiscal measures. This could ensure that ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ campaigns facilitate the next phase of growth of these sectors. 
 
(About the author: This article has been contributed by Naveen Aggarwal, Partner and North Tax Head, <keyword id="50041" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="KPMG">KPMG</keyword> in India.) 
 
(P.S. The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address the specific circumstances of any particular individual or entity. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of KPMG in India.)

Budget 2015: The digital dream to facilitate the next phase
of growth of IT & Telecom

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Photos show the grim conditions inside a London house where up to 40 tenants lived at a time.</li><li>The landlords exploited migrants and poor Londoners, packing five to a room in bunk beds, SWNS reported.</li></ul>Photos show the grim conditions inside a London house where officials say <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/landlord-stuffed-40-tenants-4-bed-house-making-450000-2023-8">"slum" landlords stuffed up to 40 tenants at a time into a four-bedroom house</a>.Last week, a <a href="https://www.brent.gov.uk/news-in-brent/2023/august/serial-slum-landlord" target="_blank" rel="noopener">local city council banned</a> the property dealer, Jaydipkumar Rameshchandra Valand, from renting out or managing properties in the UK for 5 years. The banning order came five years after the Brent Council found him and three others guilty of making £360,000, or about $457,000, off dozens of tenants in Wembley, in northwest London.<div type="image" title="front view of the dilapidated house" height="747" width="1328" msid="102917483" hostid="261"></div>The landlords rented the 1920s house for £6,000 a month, with 25 to 4o tenants at a time each paying between £40 and £75 a week, UK news agency SWNS reported.The landlords had divided the four-bedroom house into seven bedrooms on the first floor and two bedrooms on the second, packing as many as five people — mostly Indian migrants and poor Londoners — into bunk beds in each room, a Brent Borough Council representative told SWNS.<div type="image" title="bunk beds crammed into a room" height="2988" width="5312" msid="102917484" hostid="261"></div>The kitchen was in such a state of disrepair that it was unusable and residents had to have all their food delivered, SWNS reported. There were only two bathrooms for all the residents to share, and some even <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hot-bedding-definition-share-bed-with-stranger-save-money-rent-2023-7">shared the same bed, sleeping in shifts</a>, SWNS reported.<div type="image" title="bunk beds crammed next to each other" height="2988" width="5312" msid="102917485" hostid="261"></div>Fire exits were blocked throughout the house and large holes appeared in the ceilings, exposing the dilapidated wood slats holding up the house, SWNS photos show.<div type="image" title="image of a large hole in the ceiling" height="2988" width="5312" msid="102917486" hostid="261"></div>One tenant even lived in a shed made out of pallets and tarp surrounded by bags of rice, with no light or heat, SWNS reported.<div type="image" title="image if person walking into makeshift shift with tarp roof" height="1224" width="1632" msid="102917488" hostid="261"></div>When UK Border Force officers first raided the property in 2016, they said it was the <a href="https://www.insider.com/most-crowded-places-on-earth-2017-10">"worst" example of overcrowding</a> they had ever witnessed, the Brent Borough Council representative told SWNS.

Photos show the grim conditions inside a London house where local officials say a 'slum' landlord stuffed up to 40 tenants into 4 bedrooms and made $450,000

Credit card payments for foreign travel will be brought under the purview of the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (<keyword id="447038" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="lrs" source="Orion">LRS</keyword>) of the Reserve Bank, to ensure that such expenses do not escape <keyword id="6357150" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="tcs" source="Orion">TCS</keyword> (Tax Collection at Source). While moving the <keyword id="25455" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="finance" source="Orion">Finance</keyword> Bill 2023 for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Reserve Bank has been asked to look into ways to bring credit card payments on foreign tours under the LRS. "It has been represented that payments for foreign tours through a credit card are not being captured under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) and such payments escape tax collection at source (TCS)," she said. The <keyword id="30067" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rbi" source="Orion">RBI</keyword> is being requested to look into this with a view to bringing credit card payments for foreign tours within the ambit of LRS and tax collection at source thereon, she added. The Union Budget 2023 proposed a TCS for foreign outward remittance under LRS other than for Education and medical purposes of 20 per cent applicable from July 1, 2023. Before this proposal, the TCS of 5 per cent was applicable on foreign outward remittances above Rs 7 lakh. <keyword id="735754" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tax-collected-at-source" source="Orion">Tax Collected at Source</keyword> (TCS) is an income tax, collected by the seller of specified goods, from the buyer. TCS is a concept where a person selling specific items is liable to collect tax from a buyer at a prescribed rate and deposit the same with the government. The LRS, introduced in 2004, initially permitted an outflow of USD 25,000. The LRS limit has been revised in stages consistent with prevailing macro and micro economic conditions. LRS permits Indians to freely remit up to USD 250,000 (about Rs 2.05 crore) per financial year for current or capital account transactions or a combination of both. Any remittance exceeding this limit requires prior permission from the RBI. The rules clearly mention that one can remit foreign exchange (forex) only for any permissible current account transactions or capital account transactions or a combination of both. If one wishes to invest abroad in shares, property etc, the LRS rules will define them as capital account transactions. Only certain capital account transactions are allowed under LRS rules such as opening a bank account abroad i.e. a Foreign Currency Account, purchasing real estate property overseas, for making investments overseas which includes investing in shares, mutual funds, and debt instruments amongst others. Authorised dealers, such as banks, enable such transactions between residents and their overseas dependents, using only PAN cards for verification. Besides remittances, LRS can also offer foreign exchange services to Indian citizens for medical expenses or travelling. However, corporates, partnership firms, HUFs, and charitable trusts are not eligible to use the LRS. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/debt-schemes-of-mfs-lose-edge-over-bank-deposits-as-budget-proposes-to-scrap-ltcg-indexation-benefits/articleshow/98965932.cms">Debt schemes of MFs lose edge over bank deposits as Budget proposes to scrap LTCG &amp; indexation benefits</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/canva-just-got-a-major-ai-upgrade-with-new-features-like-magic-eraser-text-to-image-and-moreheres-what-they-do/articleshow/98965377.cms">Canva just got a major AI upgrade with new features like Magic Eraser, Text to Image, and more–here’s what they do</a>

Credit card payments on foreign tours to be brought under LRS to ensure compliance with TCS

<ul><li>Managing Director of <keyword id="6358032" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="spicejet" source="Orion">SpiceJet</keyword> <keyword id="6357826" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="ajay-singh" source="Orion">Ajay Singh</keyword> has been booked in Gurugram for duping a businessman worth crores.</li><li>SpiceJet spokesperson clarified that the complaint is bogus and has been registered with the intention to hurt Singh’s image.</li><li>According to the complainant, this is not the first time Singh has cheated on a person.</li></ul> An FIR has been registered against Ajay Singh, managing director of SpiceJet, for duping a businessman by promising to allot shares in the company. However, the airlines said in a statement that the complaint is bogus. "A frivolous, mischievous and completely bogus complaint has been filed by a liquor dealer <keyword id="648359" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amit-Arora" source="Orion">Amit Arora</keyword> with the Gurgaon police with an intention to hurt Spicejet and Mr Ajay Singh's image," <a href="https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/gurugram-fir-against-spicejet-md-ajay-singh-airlines-hit-back-at-the-complainant">said</a> a SpiceJet spokesperson. The spokesperson said that Singh never met the businessman Amit Arora and nor did they have any kind of agreement. Arora claimed that Singh gave him a fake depository instruction slip (DIS) of shares worth ₹10 lakh. He claims that Singh promised to transfer shares of SpiceJet in lieu of the services provided by him. When Arora went to deposit the slip, he was told that the slip is invalid and outdated. Arora said that he had no option left but to press charges against the MD. The police has filed an FIR against Singh under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). “Ajay Singh provided a depository instruction slip which later turned out to be invalid and outdated. Thereafter, I approached him multiple times and requested him to either provide valid depository instruction slip or transfer shares directly. However, on one pretext or the other, he refused to transfer me shares,” Arora said in the complaint. Arora also mentioned that this is not the first time the accused Singh has duped a person. He had cheated Chetan Nanda and Priti Nanda in a similar manner by promising the allotment of SpiceJet shares. "<keyword id="41669" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="haryana-police" source="Orion">Haryana Police</keyword> has given an assurance that investigation would be initiated and culminated expeditiously and the guilty would be brought to justice at the earliest," Arora said. Singh had no intentions to transfer the shares from the beginning and was keeping him in the dark for several years, Arora said. "FIR has been registered and we are verifying the facts and action will be taken as per the law," said inspector Poonam Hooda, station house officer of Sushant Lok police station. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/supreme-court-bench-maintained-majesty-of-law-by-sentencing-vijay-mallya/articleshow/92817948.cms">Supreme Court bench maintained 'majesty of law' by sentencing Vijay Mallya</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/rbi-makes-more-efforts-to-take-rupee-international-with-new-framework/articleshow/92817742.cms">RBI makes more efforts to take Rupee international with new framework</a>

SpiceJet says it’s MD Ajay Singh is the victim to a bogus complaint

Mumbai, Apr 10 () The COVID-19 lockdown may haveforced people to stay indoors, but it did not deter a 28-year-old city-based property dealer from getting marriedwithout any finery or fanfare in the absence of family andfriends.Ramkishan Chavan married his girlfriend Reema Singh ata temple in the western suburb of Kandivali here on Thursday,while maintaining the guidelines of social distancing."We have been in a relationship for the last fiveyears and decided to tie the knot this month," the couplesaid.Although the lockdown quashed their plans for a bigfat Indian wedding in the presence of a 100 guests, the coupledidn't wish to postpone the event, since rumours of the curfewbeing extended were doing rounds."We contacted a local social worker, who helped usprepare an affidavit. We got married at a temple, wearingmasks, in keeping with the guidelines of social distancing,"they said.The couple's family and friends could not attend thewedding because of the lockdown, but that didn't dampen theirspirit, the duo said. ZAARU ARU

Mumbai man marries sans fanfare amid COVID-19 lockdown

On April 16th, a special anti-terrorism court in Hyderabad acquitted all five people that were accused of orchestrating a bomb blast at the city’s <keyword id="147259" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mecca-Masjid">Mecca Masjid</keyword> in May 2007 owing to a lack of evidence. All of the accused had ties to Hindu right-wing organisations, including alleged mastermind Swami Aseemanand (pictured), a former <keyword id="42498" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="RSS">RSS</keyword> member and godman who has been linked to three other terror attacks. Another one, Devendra Gupta, had been sentenced to life last year for his role in the Ajmer Sharif <keyword id="6449" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bomb-Blasts">bomb blasts</keyword> in October 2007. Nine people were killed and 58 were seriously injured in the Mecca Masjid blast, in which a improvised explosive device (IED) was triggered by a cellphone. In the ensuing frenzy after the blast, another five people were killed as a result of police firing. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had originally charged 10 people in the case. One, Sunil Joshi, a former RSS leader, was murdered, another two- Sandeep V. Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra, also RSS activists, - are absconding while the investigation against two others, Tejram Parmar and Amith Chowhan, is ongoing. Over the course of the trial, 226 witnesses were interviewed and over 400 documents were examined, but the NIA and the prosecuting authorities were unable to prove the charges against the accused. In a questionable turn of events, the judge who pronounced the verdict, Ravinder Reddy, submitted his resignation soon after, citing personal reasons. The verdict, while unfortunate, is not surprising. The case has been plagued by misdirection, questionable decision-making and interference from the outset. Here are the reasons why it fell apart:- The police initially went after the wrong people In the aftermath of the blast, the Hyderabad police suspected that a Pakistan-based terror outfit, Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI), was behind the attack. Why a Muslim group would target a mosque was apparently beyond them. Given that terrorists were generally assumed to be Muslims up until that point, the narrative gained traction in the media. The police rounded up and interrogated as many as 200 people with supposed links to the HuJI, and eventually charged 21 of them. They were acquitted by a criminal court in Nampally, Hyderabad at the beginning of 2009 due to the lack of any credible evidence against them. The responsibility for investigating the case was transferred not once, but twice After the Muslim men were acquitted in January 2009, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the case. The agency spent two years investigating the bombings, pointing out the possible participation of right-wing Hindu extremist groups like Abhinav Bharat, which were said to also be responsible for three other attacks on Muslims between 2006 and 2008 - a spate of blasts in Malegaon in September 2006 that led to 37 deaths, the bombing of the Samjhauta Express in February 2007, which killed 68 Pakistanis and the Ajmer Sharif blast that killed three people. The CBI filed charges against three people in the case - Devender Gupta, a RSS worker, Lokesh Sharma, a property dealer and right-wing activist, and Sunil Joshi, a RSS leader, who was deceased by then. In 2011, the case was transferred to the NIA, which was tasked with investigating all the attacks that were allegedly executed by Hindutva organisations. While the NIA extended the probe to include Swami Aseemanand and six others, one can’t help thinking about all the pieces of evidence that were overlooked, or communication lapses that took place as a result of the handing over of the cases. For example, a crucial piece of evidence never even reached the NIA. A <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/mecca-masjid-blast-case-mystery-red-shirt-found-with-unexploded-ied-at-site-never-reached-nia-aseemanand-5140195/">red shirt</a>, which was found at the blast site and suspected to belong to one of the coordinators of the attack, reportedly disappeared amid the handover. The repeated handover of the case brings to the mind the 2008 case on the murder of Arushi Talwar. The Noida police initiated the investigation, after which the Delhi police got involved. Following a lack of confidence in the police’s investigation, the government handed over the case to the CBI. After the CBI team was accused of extracting a confession under duress, the investigation was handed to a new unit in 2009, which suggested that the case be closed due to lack of evidence. An exhaustive confession from the main accused was rescinded After being arrested by the CBI in November 2010, Swami Aseemanand lodged<a href="http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main48.asp?filename=Ne150111Coverstory.asp"> a 42-page confession </a>in Tis Hazari Court in Delhi the following December. He confirmed the fact that he and some other Hindutva leaders like Indresh Kumar, a national executive member of the RSS, planned the aforementioned bombings as a part of a “bomb for bomb” response to attacks coordinated by Muslim terrorists. Aseemanand’s testimony, which included details of the plannings and incriminated Sunil Joshi, Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra, was legally admissible and threatened to have serious implications for Hindutva groups, as it was the first direct piece of evidence pointing to their involvement. However, in March 2011, Swami Aseemanand <a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDExLzAzLzMxI0FyMDEzMDI=">retracted his statements</a>, explaining that they were made to investigators under duress. His counsel would also argue later that the statement was coerced by CBI officials as part of ploy to legitimise the concept of “saffron terror” and implicate the RSS. Another of key accused, Sunil Joshi, who was named as a suspect in 2010, was murdered in December 2007 in Madhya Pradesh, allegedly by his own people for <a href="http://www.rediff.com/news/report/sunil-joshi-the-rss-leader-who-knew-too-much/20131209.htm">“knowing too much</a>”. Joshi had reportedly been planning to make a confession. A lot of witnesses turned hostile Like Swami Aseemanand, a number of witnesses turned hostile and/or retracted their statements against the accused. In fact, out of the 226 witnesses in the trial, <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/hostile-witnesses-hurt-prosecution-in-mecca-masjid-blast-case/story-PDCmLR1M4OXTJvixfEYNlK.html">66 turned hostile.</a> As is expected in a trial that takes forever to conclude, a number of witnesses feared for their lives. In November 2016, for example, four key witnesses backtracked on earlier statements, which said that the accused had contacted each other <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Four-witnesses-turn-hostile-in-Mecca-Masjid-blast-case/articleshow/55447999.cms">using their mobile phones</a>. A number of important cases in India have been derailed due to witnesses turning hostile. The ongoing trial for the alleged encounter killings of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kausar Bi and his aide, Tulsiram Prajapati, at the hands of the Gujarat Police’s Anti-Terrorist Squad has seen 45 out of 66 witnesses change their statements or profess their inability to recollect events accurately. Possible interference in the NIA’s investigation The NIA has routinely been criticised for its protracted and shoddy investigation of cases involving Hindu extremist outfits, which was perceived to be a sign of compliance with orders from the BJP-led government. In June 2015, Rohini Salian, a prosecutor for another bomb blast case in Malegaon in September 2008, said that she had been told by the NIA to <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/since-this-new-govt-came-i-have-been-told-to-go-soft-on-accused-hindu-extremists-special-public-prosecutor/">“go soft”</a> on the accused. The case, which is still pending, was subsequently transferred to another special court. In August 2015, the NIA chose <a href="https://thewire.in/politics/nia-not-to-challenge-bail-for-aseemanand-in-supreme-court-govt">not to challenge the bail order </a>granted to Swami Aseemanand in the Samjhauta Express blast case as well as two others who were accused in the Mecca Masjid blast case- Devender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma. In April 2016, the NIA also shifted gears by deciding to probe the possible participation of <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Samjhauta-blasts-NIA-seeks-details-of-LeT-financier-Qasmani%E2%80%99s-role-from-US/article14240593.ece">a Pakistani terror outfit</a>, Lashkar-e-Taiba, in the Samjhauta case - an attack in which 68 Pakistanis were killed on Indian soil. Criminal investigations in India are regularly influenced by politics. In December 2017, a local court dismissed non-bailable warrants against a number of BJP leaders in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case, likely at the behest of the Yogi Adityanath government. Last month, the Uttar Pradesh government moved to withdraw all 131 pending cases in the riots. What now? Following the not-guilty verdict for the accused in the Mecca Masjid case, the NIA said that it would assess the court’s decision before pursuing any further action. The verdict marks another reason to lose faith in the agency after it refused to appeal against the acquittals of seven people, including Swami Aseemanand, in the Ajmer Sharif case in March last year. However, Swami Aseemanand isn’t completely in the clear. He is still being tried in the Samjhauta Express blast case. However, the trial has much the same makings of the Mecca Masjid one. As many as 42 witnesses, out of 209 deposed, have turned hostile. The NIA is currently seeking the statements of 13 Pakistani witnesses. A guilty verdict, while welcome, is unlikely. Asaduddin Owaisi, the president of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, an Islamic party in Telangana, summed up the nation’s reaction to the acquittals in the Mecca Masjid blast. "Our fight against <keyword id="6358165" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="terrorism">terrorism</keyword> is weakened after today's acquittals," he said in a statement to media outlets.

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