Good Evening Speakasians,
I wish to thank all of the so many Speakasians, who sent me text messages, wishing me a very happy Diwali. I am sorry, I could not reciprocate the messages, as I was not celebrating Diwali due to my mother’s sad demise. Through this update I thank all of you for having remembered me on this auspicious day.
Over the last couple of days many Speakasians kept calling me, specially around the 28th wanting to know if the EOW had filed their charge sheet, as 90 days were over since the arrest of Mr. Tarak Bajpai ji.
Allow me to explain the factual position, the 90 day rule that the panelists were referring to is in fact as follows “If an accused is in custody for a period of 60/90 days and if the charge sheet is not filed during this period, then the accused is eligible for Bail”
60/90 days is because, if the maximum punishable sentence in the particular case is less than 7 years as in SAOL’s case, then the period in question is 60 days if the maximum punishable sentence is more than seven years than it is 90 days.
Besides the above there is no time limit under which the investigating authority has to complete the investigation.
The Panelists wanted to have a clear current position of the various court cases and I try to explain hereunder:
1. The Solomon James matter (Where around 225 independent Panelists have filed a writ petition bearing number WP/383 of 2011), the next date of hearing is 8th November, 2011. On this date it is expected that all the parties viz. the RBI, The Finance Ministry, SAOL and HVP who are the original respondents to the petition and the two new impleaded parties i.e. EOW and CTBT (IT Department), are expected to be present.
What is expected in the Supreme Court on this day?
First, we will get to know, what the stand of all the parties is.
Second, we will come to understand what the Hon. Court thinks prima facie, and what is the stand of the Hon. Court.
Third, I am sure as ordered by the Hon. Supreme court, in the last hearing the company must have by now filed their affidavit, confirming that in the eventuality of any tax liability arising out of the matter, then the company will honor such a liability. I am sure the company will not have any problem in giving such an undertaking
I take leave, and attempt to illustrate the entire situation, by giving a simple example.
Assume, that we all are in Mumbai and our final destination, is say Delhi (Our final destination being complete normalization of business and restart of payouts and an active website), we will come to know how the Hon. Court orders us to reach our destination.
If the Hon. Supreme Court, orders us that we fly down, then I suppose the entire normalization can happen as soon as November. If the Hon. Court orders us to reach our destination by rail then we will be able to achieve our goal by maybe end December. If the Hon. Court puts us on the road route, than we should be prepared to see normalization by Jan/Feb 2012.
We will come to know the exact situation only after the hearing of the 8th November, 2011.
What we need to quickly understand, is that the company will resume its business, is an ABSOLUTE reality and this will happen 100%.
What scores of Panelists want, is that if the website is active and visible, where we all can go and see our RP’s, and if payments are actually started at least for the panelists who have opted for the EXIT OPTION, then the panel will have no problem waiting for the normalization of business.
1. The PIL filed by AISPA, in the Mumbai High Court, was slated for after vacation and we will confirm the hearing date soon. Unconfirmed sources report that the matter is listed on 9th November, 2011.
2. The SLP (Special Leave Application), filed in the Hon. Supreme Court, filed by the company, against the dismissal of the company’s petition for quashing the FIR, in the Hyderabad High Court. In this matter the Hon. Supreme Court has issued notice to the parties viz. The State of AP and the CB-CID (AP). The listing of this matter is awaited.
3. The company SAOL through their legal advisors M/s. Phoenix Law Firm have served a “seize and desist notice” to the reporter of TOI Mr. Mateen Hafeez and the entire editorial and the management of TOI. I will be more than pleased to report the progress on this matter as it unfolds.
Friends, Fellow Speakasians, I am supremely confident on the intention of the company, and their resolve to restart business as soon as possible, not only in India but in almost entire Asia and indeed the whole world.
We as panelists, need to do only simple and most easy things, like having patience, having trust in the company, and have implicit faith in our beloved company SAOL.
We need to acknowledge, the struggle of our leaders, like our Global CEO Mrs. Haren Kaur, Our Indian CEO Mr. Manoj Kumarji, and last but not the least, our Babar sher our inspirational COO Mr. Tarak Bajpai ji.
“I do not think that winning is the most important thing. I think winning is the only thing”.- Bill Veeck.
Proud to be Speakasian…..actually very proud.
Jai Speakasia
Ashok Bahirwani
Secretary
AISPA
