DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Ratan Tata, Farewell & Thank You Beacon of India Inc and philanthropist who steered a sprawling corporate empire — and its global expansion Over 20 yrs as chairman, took charge of group as nation opened economy President, V-P, PM and LoP lead the nation in paying tribute to ‘legend’ pansion, breathed his last at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai Wednesday night. Tata, 86, was admitted following age-related health issues and was undergoing treatment at the hospital. Announcing his passing away, Tata Sons chairperson late Wednesday night. Condolence messages and tribute poured in from across thecountryandabroadforTata who strode the industry like a colossus,inspiringgenerations. President Murmu said, “In the sad demise of Shri Ratan Tata,Indiahaslostaniconwho GEORGE MATHEW MUMBAI, OCTOBER 9 RATAN NAVAL Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, a beacon of India Inc who steered his group amid India’s economic liberalisation and, subsequently,guideditsglobalex- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MUMBAI, OCTOBER 9 RATAN NAVAL TATA 1937-2024 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PRESIDENT DROUPADI Murmu led the nation in paying rich tribute to Ratan Tata who passed away in Mumbai CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Court sends PARTY SEEKS PROBE INTO ALLEGED ‘MANIPULATION’ OF EVMs IN HARYANA senior journalist, 3 other accused to 10 days of custody in GST fraud case Cong’s EVM remarks are undemocratic rejection of the will of people, says EC EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE AHMEDABAD, OCTOBER 9 A DAY after senior journalist Mahesh Langa was arrested amid a probe in a Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) fraud case, a court of the Metropolitan Magistrate in Ahmedabad on Wednesdayremandedhimto10 days of police custody. The Gujarat correspondent andseniorassistanteditoratThe Hindu was arrested after 13 firms and their proprietors were booked for an alleged input tax credit (ITC) fraud, based on a complaint filed by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI). Apart from Langa, the Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch(DCB)hasalsogot10-day custody of three other accused who were arrested with him on Tuesday. They have been identified as Aijaz Iqbal Habib Maldar (30), Abdulkader Samad Kadri (33) and Jyotish Magan Gondaliya (42). Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Ajit Rajian said they had sought 14 days of remand butthecourtgave10daysof custody. The fraud, as per officials, caused loss worth crores of rupees to the government exchequer, with the accused availing and passing on bogus ITC through fake bills. There are more than 220 benami firms set up on the basis of forged documents that were used in the alleged racket, the FIR claims. LangaisnotnamedintheFIR. However, his cousin Manojkumar Langa has been named as one of the proprietors of an Ahmedabad-based firm, DA Enterprise, in which Langa's CONTINUEDONPAGE2 PAGE 1 ANCHOR Cong delegation meets panel, submits written complaints from constituencies and regulatory electoral framework, uniformly applied across all elections in the country, inNEW DELHI, OCTOBER 9 cluding J&K and Haryana.” Meanwhile, a Congress delEVEN AS the Election egation met the EC later in the Commission (EC) said the evening and demanded a probe. Congress’sstatementon“notac- The delegation, which included cepting” the Haryana verdict AICC leaders K C Venugopal, was a step towards “undemoc- Jairam Ramesh, Ajay Maken and ratic rejection of the will of the Pawan Khera, former Haryana people”,theOppositionpartyon CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Wednesday reiterated its allega- state party chief Udai Bhan and tion of “glaring discrepformer Rajasthan CM ancies” in some Ashok Gehlot, submitElectronic Voting ted a memorandum, Machines (EVMs) in along with written comHaryana and demanded plaints from seven cona “thorough probe”. stituencies. VERDICT A day after the Speakingtoreporters 2024 Congress alleged “maafterthemeeting,Khera, nipulation” of EVMs and who heads the party’s rejected the Haryana results, the mediaandpublicitydepartment, EC, in a letter to party president said: “We have informed the EC Mallikarjun Kharge, said: “Such about 20 complaints. Of these, an unprecedented statement as seven written complaints were aboveinagenericsense,unheard from the constituencies, espeintherichdemocraticheritageof cially about the EVMs showing the country, is far from a legiti- 99 per cent battery. The rest of mate part of free speech and ex- the machines were showing 60pression and moves towards an 70 per cent batteries... We have undemocratic rejection of the demanded that the machines will of the people expressed in which we have complained accordance with the statutory CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ASAD REHMAN & DAMINI NATH GUJARAT P15 RITIKA CHOPRA NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 9 A CASTE CENSUS should be conductedto“honoursentimentsof the people” and should be used along with economic analysis and a skill census to reduce economic disparities, N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh, told The Indian Express. In a 90-minute interview at his 1, Janpath residence in New Delhi, Naidu, who was sworn in as the Chief Minister for the fourth time on June 12, and recently completed 100 days in office, justified the caste census and said, “Even if you belong to a weaker section, if you have money, society will respect you… Wealth is a big leveller.” THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW N CHANDRABABU NAIDU ANDHRA PRADESH CHIEF MINISTER Having allied with the BJP six years after his Telugu Desam Party broke ties in mid-2018, Naiduacknowledgedtherewere ideological differences between thetwopartiesoncertainissues, but said, “We will have ideologicaldifferences,butwewillwork together. It’s simple. My party is a regional party, and theirs is a CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 2 days after moving in, Atishi made to vacate CM house, it’s locked GAYATHRI MANI NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 9 National Conference president Farooq Abdullah with his son and party vice-president Omar Abdullah at their residence in Srinagar on Wednesday. PTI How does getting into fight (with L-G) help me address J&K’s concerns: Omar NAVEED IQBAL SRINAGAR, OCTOBER 9 AFTER LEADING the National Conference (NC) to victory in the J&K Assembly elections, party vice-president Omar Abdullah, 54, is set to take over as the J&K Chief Minister. The NC-led alliance secured 49 seats out of 90, withtheNCwinning42seatsand the Congress just six. Omar bagged both the Kashmir constituencies — Budgam and Ganderbal—fromwherehecontested. In an interview with The Indian Express, he spoke on various issues ranging from takeaways from the poll outcome to his party’s roadmap ahead. Excerpts: Despite predictions of a hung House, the NC has clinched the elections. What is your reading of the poll verdict? Look, I was never big on predictions. And before the votes had even been counted, I told you that exit polls are a waste of time. The exit polls got it wrong in my Baramulla election, and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TWO DAYS after she moved into the Civil Lines bungalow earlier occupied by her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi was on Wednesday asked to vacate the premises by officials of the PWD — the department she heads. The episode marks a sharp escalation in the row around the CM’sresidence—whiletheAam Aadmi Party claims Atishi movedinaftertakingcareof formalities, the PWD says an official “handover” of the property fromKejriwaltothedepartment is yet to take place. It is also the latest in a series of confrontations between the elected government and the bureaucracy. PWD officials said the house has been placed under BUSINESS AS USUAL A video grab shows CM Atishi’s belongings being taken away from the Civil Lines residence in Delhi. double lock. Calling the move unprecedented,theCM’sOfficesaid,“For thefirsttimeinthehistoryof the country, the Chief Minister has been asked to vacate her house. The L-G has forcibly removed CMAtishi’sbelongingsatthebehest of the BJP. Preparations are CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE BY UNNY Two soldiers abducted in J&K, body of one found BASHAARAT MASOOD SRINAGAR, OCTOBER 9 4 INFECTED AFTER SURGERY UNLIKELY TO REGAIN SIGHT IN AFFECTED EYES P4 Caste census must to honour people’s sentiments, reduce disparity: ally Naidu THE BODY of a Territorial Army (TA)soldier,whowasreportedto havebeenabductedbymilitants on Tuesday, was recovered from the South Kashmir forests on Wednesday morning. According to police sources, two TA soldiers, Hilal Ahmad Bhat (26) and Fayaz Ahmad Sheikh (36) — both local residents — were on a “reconnaissance mission” on Tuesday, when they were abducted by militants. While Sheikh managed to escape, Bhat’s body was recoveredduriangasearchoper- ation in the morning. Thetwosoldierswereassociatedwiththe162Battalionof the TA, sources said. According to sources, Sheikh suffered a bullet injury on his shoulder, and was admittedtotheArmy's439Field Hospital.Therewerethreetofour militants,includingtwoforeigners, said sources. “There were some inputs about militant movement in the forest area,” a senior police officer said. “The Army had sent the twoTApersonneltogatherinformation and pin the forest location. However, they were abductedbythemilitantsthere,”he said. CHEMISTRY NOBEL GOES TO TRIO OF PROTEIN PIONEERS HEZBOLLAH CLASHES WITH ISRAELI TROOPS ON BORDER PAGES 16, 17 CONTINUEDONPAGE2 37 yrs later, court acquits 8 held for glorifying sati death in Rajasthan HAMZA KHAN JAIPUR, OCTOBER 9 THIRTY-SEVENYEARSafterthey were accused of glorifying the deathof RoopKanwar,India’slast known case of sati, a Jaipur special court on Wednesday acquittedeightpersonsgivingthemthe benefit of doubt. Alongwithseveralothers,the eighthadallegedlyheldanevent glorifying Roop Kanwar around the first anniversary of her alleged sati act. Sati Niwaran court special judge Akshi Kansal acquitted MahendraSingh,ShrawanSingh, NihalSingh,JitendraSingh,Uday Singh, Dasrath Singh, Laxman Singh and Bhanwar Singh. All eight were out on bail. Representing the accused, advocate Aman Chain Singh Shekhawat said, “We are yet to get the detailed order but the courthaspronounceditsverdict, acquitting eight persons today. The court said that the prosecution could not prove its case beyond doubt, and hence, giving the benefit of doubt to the eight, acquitted them.” The youngest of six siblings, Roop Kanwar, 18, had married Maal Singh from Divrala in Sikar in January 1987. The marriage was short-lived as Singh died of anillnessinaSikarhospitaleight months later. On September 4, 1987,RoopKanwarissaidtohave satonherhusband’sfuneralpyre and committed sati. The current case pertains to 1988 when, around the first anniversaryof herdeath,45people allegedly held an event glorifying sati. This violated Section 5 (punishment for glorification of sati) of The Commission of Sati (Prevention)Act,1987,alawthat wasenactedafterRoopKanwar’s death.Thepunishmentforviola- (Left) The site where Roop Kanwar (above) is said to have committed sati. Hamza Khan tionof thissectioncarriesimprisonment of up to seven years and a fine of up to Rs 30,000. “Toprovetheviolationof section5,section3(attempttocom- mit sati) needed to be proved. However,theprosecution,theinvestigation agency, could not prove section 3 itself, that sati took place. There was no mate- rial evidence which could prove that sati took place and that it was subsequently glorified,” Shekhawat said. Of the45accusedinthiscase, 25 were acquitted in 2004 for lack of evidence, eight were acquitted on Wednesday, four are absconding,whiletheremaining eight are dead, he said. “Sincethebeginningwehave been saying that she committed theactonherownandtherewas no incitement or abetment. No one in the family did anything wrong. And the government too hasn’t been able to prove anything in the courts in 40 years,” Gopal Singh Rathore, Roop Kanwar’sbrother,toldTheIndian Express. VillagersinDivralasaythaton September4,1987,afterherhusband’s death, Roop Kanwar re- citedtheGayatriMantra,dressed upin“solahshringaar(16adornments)”whilethousandsof people from Divrala and neighbouringvillagestookouther“shobha yatra”throughoutthevillage,and then committed sati. The case had led to a public outcry and is also cited as one of the reasons for the ouster of the then Rajasthan chief minister Hari Dev Joshi of the Congress. Divrala also assumed a special place in Rajput pride, with some of those hailing from the village, adding the name of the village to their own. Ahmedabad