DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY SECTION 6A OF CITIZENSHIP ACT VALID: MAJORITY RULING 4-1, SC upholds citizenship provision for migrants to Assam from East Pak Bench calls for strict implementation of laws against illegal migration THE WORLD SC upholds Parliament primacy, flags fraternity as key factor too APURVA VISHWANATH NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 17 PAGE 16 GUJARAT MORBI TRAGEDY: HC REJECTS DEMAND FOR CBI PROBE PAGE 4 The five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 17 UPHOLDING THE Constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which essentially sets March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date for entry into Assamforgrantofcitizenship,the Supreme Court Thursday called for stricter implementation of laws against illegal immigration andjudicialmonitoringoftheimplementationofimmigrationand citizenship legislations. In a 4-1 ruling by a Constitution Bench, the majority verdict by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices Surya Kant, M M Sundresh and Manoj Misra upheld the Constitutional validity of Section 6A and ruled that “immigrants who entered the State of Assam on or after 25.03.1971arenotentitledtothe protectionconferredvideSection 6Aandconsequently,theyaredeclared to be illegal immigrants”. In his dissenting opinion, Justice J B Pardiwala found “seriousproblems”inthe“mechanism by which the implementation of Section 6A is to take place” and held the provision “invalid with prospective effect”. That is to say, “ifsomeoneisapprehendedasan illegal immigrant after the pronouncement of this judgment, Section 6A of the Citizenship Act will have no application”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 clusive view on who is a citizen. “Our reading of the Constitution and precedents is thatfraternityrequirespeopleof differentbackgroundsandsocial circumstances to ‘live and let live’,” stated the majority view by Justice Surya Kant. On Section 6A of the ● Citizenship Act, which introduced a cut-off date specifically under the Assam Accord, the Court, while E BYFRAMINGthefraughtcitizenship question in Constitutional definitions of fraternity and plurality and firmly establishing the cut-off date for citizenship of thoseinAssamasMarch 24, 1971, the Supreme Court’s rulingThursdaypushesforanin- EXPLAINED ONE DIRECTION’S LIAM PAYNE DIES AFTER ‘FALL’ FROM HOTEL BALCONY BANGLA TRIBUNAL ISSUES WARRANT AGAINST HASINA `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 upholding it, said that citizenship cannot be interpreted in “a negativemannerthatselectively appliesittoaparticularsegment while labelling another faction as ‘illegal immigrants’.” In his opinion, concurring with the majority view, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that while the Constitution recognises a “right to conserve culture,” the provision must be readinlightofthe“multi-cultural CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The dissent: Passage of time made Section invalid, more prone to abuse ANANTHAKRISHNAN G Justice J B Pardiwala gave a dissenting opinion NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 17 DECLARING SECTION 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 invalid with prospective effect, Justice J B Pardiwala, in his dissenting judgement, said the provision is “manifestly arbitrary” and “in the absence of any temporal limit to its application, with the efflux of time is rather counterserving the object with which it was enacted.” He said the “open-ended na- ture of Section 6A has, with the passage of time, become more prone to abuse” and “promotes further immigration into Assam – immigrants come hoping with forged documents to set up the defence of belonging to pre1966 or the 1966-71 stream uponidentificationasaforeigner and reference to the tribunal”. DealingwithSection6A(3)of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Shraddha Kapoor to unveil Screen; will be face of first digital cover Shraddha Kapoor CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SHUBHAJIT ROY LAHORE, OCTOBER 17 UNDERLINING THAT India and Pakistan should “bury the past” and “think of the future”, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Thursday said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to Islamabad for the SCO meetingwasa“goodbeginning” and a “good opening” and the twocountries“should moveforward from here”. Sharif, brother of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and chief of the PML(N) which leads the ruling coalition, told a group of visiting Indian journalists: “Baat jo hai aise hi badhti hai… baat khatam nahi honi chahiye… achcha hota agar Modi saab khud tashreef laate (This is how talks move forward, talks should not stop, it would have been better if Mr (Narendra) Modi had come himself)” for the SCO meeting. Sharif met the journalists at Former Pak PM Nawaz Sharif the office of the Chief Minister of PakistanPunjabwhere Maryam Nawaz Sharif, his daughter and CM, was present. Statingthatthey“shouldpick up the threads where we left” — he was referring to his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made a sudden visit to Pakistan in December 2015 — Sharif said, “We have lost 75 years, now (we) should think of the next 75 years.” “I tried to mend the relationship, but they were disrupted again and again,” he said – the disruptions were a reference to the Kargil war and the attacks in India by Pakistan-based terrorists following his meetings with CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Hamas leader Sinwar, architect of October 7 attack, killed in Gaza: Israeli forces confirm DEIR AL-BALAH (GAZA STRIP), OCTOBER 17 MUMBAI, OCTOBER 17 dustry closely over the decades, willnowbebackinanewavatar. Aftertheunveilingof thedigitalcover,theeventwillhosttwo panel discussions. 'Screen Live' will see Shraddha take centre stageasshediscussesherlife,career and stardom, especially afterthesuccessof Stree2,thehorror-comedythatmadehistoryat Wants Modi to visit Pak, says ‘let’s pick up the threads where we left’ ASSOCIATED PRESS EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE BOLLYWOOD ACTOR Shraddha Kapoor will unveil The Indian Express's iconic film magazine Screen on Friday. The unveiling of Screen, which returns to the group after 11 years, will kick off with its first-ever digital cover featuring the Stree 2 star. Theevent,whichwillbeheld at the Four Seasons Hotel in Worli,willalsofeaturecelebrated namesfromtheHindifilmindustry, including filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, and actors VikrantMasseyandVijayVarma. Screen has been a leading voice in Indian entertainment since1949.Themagazine,which has covered the Indian film in- Nawaz: Jaishankar visit good opening, India & Pak need to move forward SAINI IS HARYANA CM AGAIN Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and others at the swearing-in ceremony of the new state government, in Panchkula on Thursday. Jasbir Malhi REPORT,PAGE12 FOILED PLOT TO KILL PANNUN Person listed in US indictment no longer with Govt: MEA, State Dept EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 17 IN THE first official confirmation, both India and the United States onThursdaysaidapersonidentified as “CC1” in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment — linked to an alleged plot to kill US-based Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun—was“nolongeranem- Gurpatwant Singh Pannun ployeeoftheIndiangovernment”. The Ministry of External Affairs' spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also confirmed the visit of the high-level Indian enquiry committee -- established to review the evidence shared by the USgovernmentregardingthealleged involvement of Indian nationalNikhilGuptaandanIndian official in the Pannun plot. The visit was first announced by the US on Monday. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RELATED REPORT PAGE 13 ISRAELI FORCES in Gaza killed Hamas’ top leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year’s attack on Israel that sparked the war, the military said Thursday. Troops appeared to have run acrosshiminabattle,onlytodiscover afterwards that a body in the rubble was the man Israel has hunted for more than a year. Sinwar has topped Israel’s mostwantedlistsincethebeginningof theIsrael-Hamaswarjust over a year ago, and his killing strikes a powerful blow to the militantgroup.Therewasnoimmediate confirmation from Hamas of his death. The military confirmed Sinwar’s death after conducting DNA and other tests on a body thatitsaidwasamongthreemilitants killed Wednesday during Yahya Sinwar operations in Gaza. Foreign Minister Katz called Sinwar’s killing a “military and moral achievement for the Israeli army,” saying it would “create the possibility to immediately release the hostages.” AnIsraelisecurityofficialsaid it appeared that the man who turned out to be Sinwar was killedinabattle,notinaplanned CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DETAILED REPORT PAGE 16 JNU plans Shivaji centre: Lessons from his era on Akhand Bharat VIDHEESHA KUNTAMALLA NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 17 THE JAWAHARLAL Nehru University (JNU) is planning to start a 'Centre of Excellence' named after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,whichwilldrawlessons from his era to understand the “concept of Akhand Bharat” and his“struggleforHindaviSwaraj”, The Indian Express has learnt. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Centre for Security & Strategic Studies in the School of InternationalStudies,whichwill besupportedbytheMaharashtra government,willfocusonteaching Indian strategic thought, Marathamilitaryhistory,Shivaji’s naval strategy and guerilla warfare among other subjects, accordingtotheproposalreviewed by The Indian Express. The centre is expected to offer diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate courses starting July 2025. When contacted, Professor Amitabh Mattoo, Dean of School of International Studies at JNU, told The Indian Express: “The idea tostartthecentreoriginatedfrom theVice-Chancellorandsomefacultymembers…TheMaharashtra government too wanted to commemorate the thinking of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and hismaritimestrategieswhichare internationally recognised.” Asked why Shivaji was chosen, Mattoo said: “The mandate of the school is to teach security CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 How a police dog helped in recovery of Rs 1 cr stolen from farmer’s home PAGE 1 ANCHOR BRENDAN DABHI AHMEDABAD, OCTOBER 17 ON OCTOBER 11, a poor farmer from Ahmedabad Rural received a windfall. A piece of land that he owned near Lothal, the Harappan-era archeological site, had fetched him Rs 1.07 crore in cash. Since the man did not have a bank account, he stashed away the amount inside a drum of wheat at his kutcha house. The next day, when he was away, his house was broken into and the entire amount stolen. The farmer lodged a police complaint. Five days later, police managed to nab the accused and recover the cash. And playing a starring role in their effort was Penny, a member of Ahmedabad Rural Police's Dog Squad. The incident took place at Saragvala village in Dholka taluka of Ahmedabad, just 2 kilometres from the ancient port city of Lothal. According to police, who have withheld the name of the complainant, the man had recently purchased a car and was hoping to renovate his kutcha house as well as purchase another plot of farmland with the money he had earned through the sale in Lothal. Nominated to be a World Heritage site, Lothal is rapidly being developed as a tourism destination with a National Maritime Heritage Complex announced recently. On October 12, as he returned late in the night, the farmer found that his home had been burgled, said police. His window, held up by bricks, was broken. The robbers then broke the lock on the wheat drum and stole the cash, said police officials. Penny is a part of the dog squad of Ahmedabad Rural Police. Express The victim immediately called the police and several personnel, including senior officers, arrived at the site. An FIR was filed at Koth police station under sections 305 (theft) and 331(4) (house trespass) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the anonymous robbers. Ahmedabad Rural Police formed several teams to investigate the matter. Sub-inspector PN Gohil of Koth Police told The Indian Express, “About 30 suspects and 14 history sheeters were called in for questioning. Call data records of 60 people were cross-checked during the investigation.” The police set up checkpoints at all entry and exit routes of the village before calling in a special investigator – Penny, a Dobermann – to help them trace the route the robbers may have taken after the crime. On Thursday, as it accompanied police officials on the hunt for the accused, Penny stopped just a few steps outside a house. The house belonged to Budha Dharamshi Solanki, a friend of the complainant and one of the last people the farmer had talked to before leaving home. In fact, it was Budha who, a few days ago, had driven the farmer's car home since he did not know how to drive. Police raided Budha's house and recovered Rs 53.90 lakh from the premises. On questioning, Budha told police about his accomplice – Vikram Virsingh Solanki, a resident of the same village. Sub-inspector Gohil said, “Budha confessed that the two of them had conspired to rob the complainant when he was not at home.” When the police reached Vikram's house, they found the rest of the stolen money – Rs 53.90 lakh in cash. Notably, police had called in both the accused earlier as well for questioning: While Budha was among the 30 suspects that the police had zeroed in on following technical surveillance and gathering human intelligence, Vikram was among the 14 history sheeters who were questioned. Both the accused were placed under arrest. Sub-inspector Gohil said that the police will attempt to get a court order at the earliest to ensure there is no delay in the complainant getting his money back. But before that, the police had a word of advice for the farmer: Open a bank account. Ahmedabad