eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE Keepers of Lost Cities AHMEDABAD,LATECITY September22,2024 The science behind the discovery of the Indus Civilisation 16+4(EYE)PAGES,`6.00 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA Hate-speech FIRs gather dust year after Maharashtra assured SC of action Officers say at least 19 FIRs await govt nod; Fadnavis says moving as per law MOHAMED THAVER MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 21 IN APRIL last year, responding to a petition against alleged hate speech in rallies conducted by Sakal Hindu Samaj (SHS) across Maharashtra, the state government had denied any “lapse” on its part and had assured the Supreme Court that it was taking action in these cases. It listed 25 FIRs registered in JanuaryApril 2023, including 16 related to Samaj rallies. Theaffidavitfiledbythestate said that the DGP had “directed” all Commissioners and SuperintendentsofPolice“to(suo motu) initiate action” as and whenanysuchspeechtookplace. More than a year later, that assurancedoesnot seemtohave gone beyond those FIRs, according to information obtained by The Indian Express, including recordsaccessedundertheRight to Information Act. These show that police are yettofileachargesheetinatleast 19 of the 25 cases, including all CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Amid Tirupati row, 7 booked for ‘defaming’ Amul in Gujarat EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 21 AMIDAmassiverowoverthealleged use of animal fat for preparing laddus at the Tirupati Balaji temple, a senior official of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) on Saturday filed a complaint against seven social media users for allegedly defaming its brand Amul. The social media users have been accused of spreading rumours on X (formerly Twitter) that the brand had supplied the ghee with animal fat to the iconic temple. Hemant Gauni, Deputy General Manager (Sales) at GCMMF, in his complaint to police stated he came across posts by some X users on Friday that Amulsuppliedthegheewithanimalfatinit,whichwasallegedly usedtopreparetheladdusatthe Tirupati Balaji temple, also known as Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple. In the FIR, filed CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW E AN XPRESS RTI APPLICATION AWAITING GREEN SIGNAL 19 hate speech FIRs submitted in January-April 2023 await sanction for prosecution from the Maharashtra government. 4: Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar Commissionerate 2: Solapur City 2: Buldhana 2: Nashik City 1 each: Navi Mumbai, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Nanded, Pune Rural, Jalna, Latur, Thane City, Mumbai, Ahmednagar WILL DEEPEN INDIA-US STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP: PM Biden,ModimeetaheadofQuad; China,Ukraine&Israelontable White House officials meet Sikh activists, ‘assure more safeguards’ Announcements expected on health, maritime security, climate, emerging tech SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 21 US PRESIDENT Joe Biden welcomedPrime MinisterNarendra Modi Saturday at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, on the margins and ahead of the 6th Quad summit. This was the eighth time the two have met in person in the last four years and Saturday’s meeting is seen as Biden’s “farewell” Quad as US President. Attending the summit are Japan PM Fumio Kishida and Australian PM Anthony Albanese. Welcoming them, Biden said that these “leaders aren't just essential to ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific – they are friends of mine and friends of our nation”. The leaders are expected to discuss China’s assertive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific, the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 LALIT K JHA WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 21 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE SHAJU PHILIP NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 21 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, SEPTEMBER 21 MoS Law Arjun Meghwal specifying “what is the difficulty in making those appointments”. The Bench, led by Chief Justiceof IndiaDYChandrachud, had underlined that the Collegium is not a “search committee”. Announcing the appointments on Saturday, Union Minister of State (independent charge)forLawandJusticeArjun Ram Meghwal said in a post on X: “In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE FAMILY of Rinson Jose — a 36-year-old Indian-born entrepreneur and Norwegian citizen, whose name emerged in the investigation surrounding the recent pager explosions in Lebanon — has told The Indian Expresstheyhavenotheardfrom him for the past few days. Jose is the founder of Bulgaria-basedNortaGlobalLtd. According to Reuters, which quoted local media reports, the firm had facilitated the sale of the pagers to Hezbollah. Sincethereportsemerged,police in Wayanad have stepped up surveillance around the home of Rinson’s parents, an officer of the state special branch (intelligence wing) told The Indian Express. “There is no threat to them, butsurveillancehasbeenplaced around the area since Friday. We have not come across anything suspicious about the family or WHITE HOUSE officials met a group of Sikh activists to assure them that the US government is committed to protecting Americans from any acts of transnational aggression on its soil, a community leader said. The meeting comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day visit to the US during which he will attend the Quad summitinDelawareandaddress the ‘Summit of the Future’ at UN General Assembly in New York. Held inside the White House complex Thursday, the meeting was attended by Pritpal Singh of the American Sikh Caucus Committee and representatives from the Sikh Coalition and Sikh American Legal Defence and Minister Atishi seeks blessings from AAP chief" Delhi Chief" Arvind Kejriwal after taking oath of" office along with five" cabinet ministers, in New Delhi on Saturday. LG Vinai Kumar" Saxena was present at the swearing-in. The new CM said: ‘We have only one objective for the elections — to make" Arvind Kejriwal CM of" Delhi again.’ ANI REPORT,PAGE11 Polls ahead, EC set to visit Jharkhand, Maharashtra next week Manipur faultlines deepen, tussle over Unified Command takes centrestage DAMINI NATH US President Joe Biden with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence in Delaware ahead of their bilateral meeting on Saturday. @MEAIndia After SC flagged delay, Kerala man in Norway appointment of 8 HC ‘linked’ to pager blasts, Chief Justices gets nod family says no contact A DAY after the Supreme Court flagged the issue of pending Judges’ appointments, the Centre on Saturday notified the appointmentof eightHighCourt Chief Justices. These included the Jharkhand HC — the Jharkhand government had filed a contempt petition in the Supreme CourtagainsttheUnionMinistry of LawandJusticeforallegeddelay in clearing the Collegium’s recommendation to transfer Himachal Pradesh HC Chief Justice M S Ramachandra Rao as theChief Justiceof JharkhandHC. On Friday, while hearing the contempt petition and a PIL whichsoughta“fixedtimelimit” for the Centre to notify the appointment of Judges recommended by the Collegium, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre to submit a status report on the recommendations that the Collegium had reiterated, FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT SUKRITA BARUAH THE ELECTION Commission will likely visit Jharkhand and Maharashtra next week to review preparations for Assembly elections in the two states, EC sources said Saturday. The panel, comprising Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election CommissionersGyaneshKumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, is scheduled to visit Jharkhand on September 23-24, before headingtoMaharashtraforatwo-day visit on September 27 and September 28, said the sources. While the Jharkhand Assembly’stermendsonJanuary 5, 2025, the Maharashtra Assembly’stermistillNovember 26, which means elections have tobecompletedbeforethatdate. While the EC is yet to take a decision, the sources said there LEAKED INTELLIGENCE reports, a fresh flare-up in violence and, most importantly, the issue of who oversees the Unified Command is behind the relationship between the Manipur government and the state’s security establishment becoming more strained than ever, top security officials and government functionaries have told The Indian Express. The Unified Command is meant to ensure coordination between the different forces present in the state, including the police, Army, Assam Rifles, and the various Central Armed Police Forces. Also tasked with taking key security decisions, it is currently headed by Kuldiep Singh, a retired IPS officer and Security Advisor to Chief Minister N Biren Singh. Within the government, top CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 21 Rinson Jose, 36, is a Norwegian citizen the man so far. Twin brothers Rinson and Jinson and their sister have been working abroad for the last several years. But no sign of wealth creation is seen aroundthefamilybackinKerala. Overthelasttenyears,thebrothers have only bought a small piece of land here,” said the officer. Jose’s family lives in Mananthavady in Wayanad district. Son of farmer-cum-tailor Moothedath Jose and Gracy, Rinson migrated to Norway 10 years ago along with Jinson. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MAKE KEJRIWAL CM AGAIN: CM ATISHI JIRIBAM, SEPTEMBER 21 E E X P L A I NE D NO CHARGESHEET IN MOST CASES WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Power ● play THOUGH THE Manipur CM has maintained a studied silence on the issue of the Unified Command, those close to him have been more vocal. With no let-up in violence in the state, the demands from within the government might only grow louder. functionaries say the CM not being in charge renders him “completely powerless”. “Even inputs on the security situation sent by the Chief Minister’s Office are not taken seriously by the DGP and the SecurityAdvisor.Thetruthisthat he (the CM) is currently completely powerless in this regard. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 17 yrs on, kidnap victim gives closing argument in own case — as lawyer PAGE 1 ANCHOR MANISH SAHU LUCKNOW, SEPTEMBER 21 ONE EVENING, nearly 17 years ago, seven-year-old Harsh Garg was sitting in the medical shop run by his father and uncle in Kheragarh, around 40 km from Agra. Around 7 pm, a gang of dacoits entered the shop and grabbed Harsh. His father tried to intervene, but was shot in the right shoulder. Before dragging the boy inside their car, the dacoits instructed the two men to start collectingmoneyinexchangefor Harsh’s release. This was on February 10, 2007. CuttoSeptember17thisyear. Harsh, now 24, presented the nearly hour-long closing argument in his kidnapping case — not as a victim, but as a lawyer. Eight of the 14 accused in the case have been awarded life imprisonment by the trial court. Harsh says his regular presence at the trial, whichstarted in 2015, led to his decision to be- FROM KIDNAPPING TO WINNING COURT CASE FEBRUARY 10, 2007: Harsh Garg, 7, is kidnapped from Agra MARCH 6, 2007: Rescued from Shivpuri district, MP 2007-2008: All 14 accused in the case arrested 2022: Harsh gets law degree SEPTEMBER 17, 2024: Harsh Garg (second from right) with his (from left) uncle Delivers closing argument in the case. Eight dacoits given life imprisonment come a lawyer. In 2022, he got his law degree from an Agrabased college. “With the court’s permission, Iarguedfor55minutesduringthe finalstageofthecaseandevenresponded to the objections raised by the defence counsel,” Harsh told The Indian Express, adding thatheappearedincourtwiththe government counsel. Additional District GovernmentCounselNaharSingh Tomar said the court sentenced eight of the dacoits to life imprisonment under Sections 364A (kidnappingforransom),307(attempt to murder) and 368 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code. Most of the eightconvictsbelongtoRajasthan. Four other accused were acquittedduetolackofevidence,the counsel said, adding that two other accused died during the trial. Defence counsel Tejender Rajput said he will file an appeal against the judgment. Afterearninghislawdegreein 2022,Harshsayshestartedtrackinghiskidnappingcaseclosely,including maintaining a detailed record. “I attended every hearing andevenstartedassistingthegovernment counsel in the case, including travelling to other states to locate some of the witnesses. I ensured that all witnesses appearedontheirscheduleddates.I tracked down retired police personnel and made sure they appearedincourttogivetheirstatements,” he says. The court examined a total of 15prosecutionwitnessesandone defence witness. Of the prosecution witnesses, seven had retired bythetimetheirstatementswere recorded. Inhistestimony,Harsh, theprimaryvictim,toldthecourt that six men got out of the car to kidnap him, while two others remained inside. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad