New Delhi, Aug 22: Of the 30 chief ministers in the country, 12 of them, or 40 per cent, declared criminal cases against themselves, according to a new report by poll rights body ADR.

Telangana CM Revanth Reddy has declared 89 cases against him, the highest, followed by Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin, who declared 47.

Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu declared 19, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah declared 13, and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren declared five cases.

Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Sukhvinder Singh declared four cases each, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan declared two, and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann declared one case.

The report comes as the government brings three bills that seek the removal of the prime minister, chief ministers, and ministers arrested for 30 days on serious criminal charges.

According to the report by the Association for Democratic Reforms, 10, or 33 per cent, of the chief ministers have declared serious criminal cases, including cases related to attempt to murder, kidnapping, bribery, and criminal intimidation against them.

The ADR said it analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 30 sitting chief ministers in state Assemblies and Union Territories.

This data is from affidavits they filed prior to contesting their last elections.

New Delhi, Aug 23: The CBI has filed a case against Reliance Communications and its promoter director Anil Ambani, for an alleged bank fraud that caused a loss of over Rs 2,000 crore to State Bank of India, officials said on Saturday.

The agency is carrying out searches at the residence of Anil Ambani and premises linked to RCOM in connection with the case, they said.

The CBI took the action based on a complaint from the lender State Bank of India, which had approached the agency after the entities were classified as fraud on June 13, in accordance with the RBI’s Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management and the Bank’s Board-approved Policy on Classification, Reporting & Management of Frauds.

“On June 24, 2025, the bank reported classification of fraud to RBI, and is also in the process of lodging complaint with CBI,” Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary had said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha last month.

The credit exposure of SBI in RCom includes, fund-based principal outstanding amount of Rs 2,227.64 crore along with the accrued interest and expenses with effect from August 26, 2016, and a non-fund-based Bank Guarantee of Rs 786.52 crore, he had said.

RCom is undergoing the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

The resolution plan was approved by the Committee of Creditors and filed with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai, on March 6, 2020.

The NCLT approval is awaited.

The bank has also initiated a Personal Insolvency Resolution Process under IBC against Anil D Ambani, and it is being heard by NCLT, Mumbai, he had said.

The SBI had classified the account and promoter Anil D Ambani as ‘fraud’ on November 10, 2020 and filed a complaint with the CBI on January 5, 2021.

However, the minister said, the complaint was returned in view of the ‘status quo’ order dated January 6, 2021, by the Delhi High Court.

Meanwhile, a Supreme Court judgement dated March 27, 2023, in State Bank of India & Others Vs Rajesh Agarwal & Others case mandated that lenders provide borrowers with an opportunity to represent before classifying their accounts as fraud.

Accordingly, the minister said, the fraud classification in the account was reversed by the bank on September 2, 2023.

The fraud classification process was re-run, and the account was again classified as ‘fraud’ after following the due process as per the RBI circular dated July 15, 2024.

Srinagar, Aug 23: Fake universities are a serious and growing concern for students pursuing higher education after Class 12. These unauthorized institutions offer degrees that are not recognized by India’s higher education authorities, leaving students with worthless qualifications and uncertain futures.

To protect themselves, students must verify the authenticity of any university before applying. The University Grants Commission (UGC)—India’s higher education regulator—regularly updates a list of fake universities on its official website: ugc.gov.in. Checking this list is a crucial step in the admission process.

Common red flags of fake universities include:

• Offering courses with unusually short durations.
• Charging very low fees while promising guaranteed placements.
• Having poorly detailed websites with limited information about faculty or programs.

Legitimate universities in India must be recognized by the UGC, and in some cases, also by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Only institutions established under a Central, State, or Provincial Act, or those empowered by the UGC Act of 1956, are legally authorized to award degree.

In March 2025, UGC issued a circular listing fake universities across several states, including Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.