Russia and India are aiming to take their bilateral ties to an all-time high, and for this, Russian President Vladimir Putin is going to visit India soon, said Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. “Preparations are being made for the President’s visit,” he confirmed in a televised address today.

Mr Lavrov said that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made his first foreign visit to Russia after being re-elected for his third consecutive term. Now it is our turn.” He added that “Arrangements are currently being made for President Vladimir Putin to visit India.” However, he did not specify the month or date when the visit might take place.

During his visit to Russia last year, Prime Minister Modi had invited the Russian President for an official state visit. “President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation to visit from the Indian head of government. A visit by the Russian head of state to the Republic of India is being planned,” Mr Lavrov said.

Mr Lavrov’s remarks came at a conference titled “Russia and India: Toward a New Bilateral Agenda”. The meeting was organised by the Russian International Affairs Council or RIAC.

This would be President Putin’s first visit to India since the war in Ukraine broke out in February 2022. The visit is expected to take forward President Putin’s “new economic roadmap” for 2030. India and Russia have agreed to doubling their bilateral trade to over $100 billion annually.

Both countries have also agreed to significantly expand trade routes between the two Asian giants. The Chennai-Vladivostok maritime trade corridor will play a key part in providing fresh supplies from Russia to India. Bilateral trade between the two countries currently stands at approximately $60 billion annually.
 

Six Bar heads, including from Gujarat High Court, Kerala High Court, Karnataka High Court, Lucknow Bar Association, Allahabad High Court, have written to the Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna seeking a stay of transfer order of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma, at whose residence a large amount of cash was found.

Later, CJI Khanna agreed to meet the Bar Associations’ heads.

In the letter, the associations have sought accountability and proper investigation into the case pertaining to cash recovery from Varma’s 30, Tughlaq Crescent residence. Further, the letter urges that the report by Delhi High Court Chief Justice of DK Upadhyay be made public and that the accountability of judges be laid down.

The Bar Associations have requested the Chief Justice and the Supreme Court Collegium to withdraw transfer of Justice Varma and to withdraw all administrative work in addition to the judicial work which is already withdrawn.

“The Presidents of the Bar Association will meet at Allahabad in the event of non-withdrawal of the transfer order of Justice Yashwant Varma to show solidarity with the High Court Bar Association of Allahabad,” a joint statement read. The statement comes even as the Allahabad High Court Bar Association is against the transfer of Justice Varma to his parent court after he was de-rostered by the Delhi High Court following a directive from Chief Justice of India.

The three-member in-house committee appointed by the Supreme Court is expected to meet Justice Varma this week. Ahead of the inquiry, he sought legal opinion from senior advocates Siddharth Aggarwal, Maneka Guruswamy, Arundhati Katju and advocate Tara Narula.

The findings of the crucial inquiry will decide the fate of Justice Varma who is facing allegations that “four to five semi-burnt sacks of Indian currency notes” were found at his home following a fire on March 14.

Justice Varma has strongly rejected the allegations and said no cash was ever placed in the storeroom of his house either by him or any of his family members.

Kannada actress Ranya Rao’s bail plea was dismissed by the Bangalore Sessions Court after her arrest for smuggling Rs 12.56 crore worth of gold. Authorities seized 14.2 kg of gold from her at the airport. Sahil Jain, a Ballari gold dealer, was also arrested for allegedly assisting her.