DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2025, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES GRENADE BLAST AT HOUSE OF PUNJAB BJP LEADER, 2 HELD WAQF ACT COMES INTO FORCE, SC MAY HEAR PLEAS APRIL 15 PAGES 12& 13 Move exempting farmers from paying premium for land transfer gets govt nod Minister Rushikesh Patel EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE GANDHINAGAR, APRIL 8 IN A decision aimed “to accelerate industrial development, boost trade and employment, and promote affordable housing”, the Gujarat government on Tuesday announced that all the New Tenure Land for agriculture in rural and nagarpalika areas will be treated as Old Tenure Land. With this, farmers will no longer be required to pay the premium for transfer of such landforagriculturalornon-agricultural purposes.The decision, termed by Gujarat government spokespersonRushikeshPatelas a“revolutionary”stepof revenue department, will not apply to landfallingundermunicipalcorporations, urban/area development authorities, and certain land parcels given for special purposes. “… at present, in cases involving the sale, transfer, or change in tenure or purpose of lands possessed for agricultural use under new, impartiable, or restricted tenure, prior approval is required from the Collector or theStateGovernment,subjectto certain conditions. Additionally, farmers are bound to pay a premium for tenure conversion in such cases,” an official release quoted Patel as saying. “To address these complexities, the Chief Minister has taken decisive and progressive steps. Going forward, all new, impartiable, or restricted tenure LAYS DOWN TIMELINE FOR RAJ BHAVAN DECISION ON BILLS ‘Illegal’: SC sets aside TN Governor’s act of withholding assent to Bills Why ruling stands out: Sparingly used powers invoked, strong message sent Kerala says ruling applies to its plea as well, hearing next month ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, APRIL 8 IN A decision with significant ramifications, the Supreme CourtTuesdaydeclaredasillegal and erroneous the action of TamilNaduGovernorRNRaviin reserving 10 Bills for consideration of the President in November 2023 after they had already been reconsidered by the state Assembly. The bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan ruled that any subsequent steps taken by the President, too, do not survive. It also laid down a timeline for Governors to decide on Bills presented to them. Exercising powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the bench also declared the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TN Governor R N Ravi; Chief Minister M K Stalin BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY APURVA VISHWANATH NEW DELHI, APRIL 8 BYEXERCISINGitsextraordinary powers to virtually grant assent to10Billsthatwerependingwith Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi, the Supreme Court sent a strong signalTuesday,expressingitsdis- E pleasure with the actions of the Raj Bhavan. The bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan invoked Article 142 to take over the role vested with the Governor in the lawmakingprocess.Theextraordinarypowertopassorderstodo EXPLAINED EXPRESS NETWORK `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Historic, victory for states: TN; Kerala says Governors should heed ‘warning’ ARUN JANARDHANAN & SHAJU PHILIP LAW GOVERNOR’S POWERS EXPLAINED, PAGE 16 CHENNAI, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 8 OPPOSITION PARTIES joined the DMK Tuesday in welcoming the Supreme Court verdict holding that prolonged inaction of Governors on Bills passed by the state Assembly was erroneous and illegal. Momentsaftertheapexcourt pronounced its order on its petition against Governor R N Ravi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M K Stalin told the Assembly: “A few moments ago, our government received a historicjudgmentfromtheSupreme Court… This order is not only for TamilNadu,buta hugevictoryfor all the states in India.” He also called it a vindication of federalism, the autonomy of states and Dravidian politics. “The fight for state autonomy CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CM Pinarayi’s daughter set to face money laundering probe by ED T Veena, daughter of CM Pinarayi Vijayan DEEPTIMAN TIWARY NEW DELHI, APRIL 8 IN CONVERSATION WITH CHIRAG PASWAN Union Food Processing Industries Minister and LJP (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, and Vandita Mishra, National Opinion Editor, The Indian Express, at the Express Adda event in New Delhi on Tuesday. Abhinav Saha CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Minors at time of Godhra TMC infighting out in open: Kalyan train burning, 3 sent to targets woman MP, Kirti, Saugata remand home after 23 yrs ATRI MITRA & ASAD REHMAN EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, NEW DELHI, APRIL 8 VADODARA, APRIL 8 AROUND 23 YEARS after the Godhra train burning, a Juvenile JusticeBoardinPanchmahaldistrictonTuesdaysentencedthree individuals, who were minors at that time, to a three-year stay in aremandhomefortheirinvolvement in the arson that killed 59 karsevaks and triggered communal riots in the state. Of the five minors tried by the JJB, two were acquitted. “complete justice” is sparingly used by the Court, especially when itinvolvesotherConstitutional authorities. ● The Court has also redrawn the contours of theGovernor’spowersbyprescribing a one-month time limit Fifty nine people had died in the tragedy in 2002. File The JJB verdict came over 23 yearsafterthetragedyatGodhra railway station killed 59 CONTINUEDONPAGE2 THE TRINAMOOL Congress (TMC)findsitselfinthemiddleof a political crisis after a spat between its Lok Sabha chief whip Kalyan Banerjee and other MPs escalated on Tuesday. A woman MP who recently had an argumentwithBanerjeeinpublichas written to party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,complainingabouthim. At the heart of the row is an altercation between Banerjee TMC Lok Sabha chief whip Kalyan Banerjee and the woman MP that occurred on the premises of the Election Commission (EC) office in Delhi on April 4 when a delegationof TMCMPswentthereto submit a memorandum, party insiders said. ATMCMPsaidtheargument began after the woman MP realised her name was missing fromthelistofsignatories.“There were two things. First, we were told to meet at the TMC office in Parliament. Our party’s chief whip, Kalyan Banerjee, skipped thatmeetingandreachedtheEC office. This annoyed some of us. When we went there, the name of one woman MP was missing, and instead Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar’snamehadbeenadded. Dastidarwasnottheretosubmit thememorandum.Thisannoyed the woman MP who asked Banerjee why her name was not added. This caused the spat. At that moment, Banerjee used CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IN FURTHER trouble for Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter, T Veena, the EnforcementDirectorate(ED)islearntto bepreparingtoregisteramoney laundering case against her. Veena has been under the scanner of various central government agencies following an Income Tax case dating back to 2023, according to which her now-defunct information technology firm, Exalogic Solutions Private Limited, received “illegal payment” of Rs 1.72 crore from CochinMineralsandRutileLimited (CMRL) in 2018-2019, although it had not provided any service. Subsequently, the Serious FraudInvestigationOffice(SFIO), under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, also launched a probe against Veena’s firm. Earlier, the Karnataka High Court rejected a petition filed by Exalogic SolutionschallengingtheSFIOprobe. Last week, the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs approvedprosecutionproceedings against Veena following a chargesheetfiledbytheSFIOina Kochi court. “We have written to SFIO seeking case papers in the matter. The charges slapped by SFIO in its chargesheet fall under CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BOOSTING TIES Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets visiting Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Deputy PM Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in New Delhi on Tuesday. PTI PAGE12 RECIPROCAL TARIFFS FROM TODAY US slaps 104% tariff on China, says ready to talk to others SUSAN HEAVEY, TREVOR HUNNICUTT & JOE CASH WASHINGTON, BEIJING, APRIL 8 THE UNITED States said on Tuesday that 104% duties on imports from China will take effect shortly after midnight, even as the Trump administration movedtoquicklystarttalkswith other trading partners targeted by President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff plan. US stocks retreated on the news. Global markets had previously posted gains on hopes that Trump might be willing to negotiate down the array of country andproduct-specifictradebarriers he is erecting around the world'slargestconsumermarket. The administration has scheduled talks with South Korea and Japan, two close allies and major trading partners, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is due to visit next week. But the White House made clearthatcountry-specifictariffs of up to 50% would nevertheless take effect at 12:01 am Eastern Time (0401 GMT), as planned. Those tariffs will be especially steep for China, as Trump has ratcheted up duties on its imports to 104% in response to counter-tariffs Beijing announcedlastweek.Chinahasrefused to bow to what it called “blackmail” and has vowed to “fight to the end”. Administration officials said theywouldnotprioritisenegotiations with the world's No. 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Congress draft outlines roadmap to fight BJP: Social justice to quota, harmony to nationalism MANOJ C G AHMEDABAD, APRIL 8 THE CONGRESS on Tuesday showed first signs of going beyond its ritualistic condemnation of the BJP, pitched for “national harmony” instead of its oft-repeated word secularism, speltouttheparty'sstandonnationalism while contrasting it with the BJP's "pseudo nationalism”, and projected itself as a “trailblazer” in implementing reservations as part of its newfound social justice agenda with senior leader Rahul Gandhi signalling that he will not shy away from reaching out to the backward classes. The extended Congress Working Committee (CWC), which met here, discussed the draft of a resolution to be adoptedattheAllIndiaCongress Committee(AICC)session,called Nyay Path, on Wednesday. The INSIDE ‘WEB OF LIES SPUN TO SUGGEST NEHRUPATEL CONFLICT’ P4 draft seen by The Indian Express stands out on a few counts. It putsforthanuancedviewonthe question of faith, defines the Congress's concept of nationalism, and makes it clear that the party will stick to the social justice plank. SourcessaidRahulGandhi,in his intervention at the CWC meet, forcefully argued that the party has to step up its outreach CONTINUEDONPAGE2 No body, murder weapon, how cop was convicted in missing woman’s killing PAGE 1 ANCHOR MOHAMED THAVER & SADAF MODAK MUMBAI, APRIL 8 IT IS a question that Raju Gore, 53,hasansweredmultipletimes over nine years since his estranged wife, Assistant Police Inspector(API)AshwiniBidre,37, waslastseenaliveoutsideaNavi Mumbai police station on April 11, 2016. “TheywonderwhyIpursued the case despite our estrange- ment. We may have been estranged,butitisnotasif Ashwini did not have someone to seek justice for her. Also, we have a daughter together. I needed an answer in case she asked me what happened to her mother,” says Raju, a farmer and former Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activist. On April 5 this year, a Panvel court convicted Ashwini’s senior, former police inspector Abhay Kurundkar, 61, and two others of her murder in April 2016. The quantum of sentence forAbhay,whowasinarelationship with Ashwini, and the others will be pronounced on April 11—exactlynineyearstotheday Ashwini was last seen alive. According to court records, Abhay murdered Ashwini at his Thane residence on April 11, 2016, during a suspected fight over her demand that they get married. Abhay is married and has two children. Abhay, with help from his driver and a friend — the other convicts — allegedly dismembered her body and dumped it at Bhayander Creek, around 20 kmfromhishouse.Todestroyall traces of Ashwini’s DNA, he allegedly even got his car and house repainted, according to police and court documents. Abhay Kurundkar (left) was convicted of killing Ashwini Bidre (above) What makes the conviction inthecasestandoutisthatinthe absence of a body and with Ashwini'smobilephoneandthe murderweaponyettobetraced, policeandtheprosecutionrelied on circumstantial evidence to prove that Abhay had murdered Ashwiniandtheco-accusedhad helpedhimdestroytheevidence. According to court records, Ashwini lived alone on rent in Navi Mumbai at the time of her disappearance. A few weeks before she was last seen alive, she had applied for a 10-day leave to attend a Vipassana session in Igatpuri, Nashik. When she failed to report for work after 10 days, her colleagues didn’t think much of it “since she had been stressed for monthsandwashavingrelationshipproblems”.OnJune14,2016, twomonthslater,herfamilyfiled amissingpersoncomplaintwith the Navi Mumbai police. Her estranged husband Raju says the Navi Mumbai police made “no effort” to investigate the case, prompting him to approach the Bombay High Court. “The court directed the commissioner to form a team of senior officers. Assistant Commissioner of Police Sangeeta Alphonsostartedmakingaheadway in the case, but was transferred. By October 2016, Abhay, whowasonleavesinceFebruary 2016,wasbackonduty,”hesays. As public pressure mounted, the case was raised in the Maharashtra Assembly and in December 2016, Abhay was arrested. Despite the initial progress, Raju says, the probe came to a standstill. In 2018, he launched a campaign to seek justice for Ashwini – from meeting Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to making representations to then Chief Justice of India (CJI) and then President Ram Nath Kovind. “In my letters to the CJI and the President, I sought permission to die since the probe had stalled. They wrote to the MaharashtraChief Secretaryand ACP Alphonso was brought back and asked to oversee the case for three months,” Raju says. Days after ACP Alphonso took charge, Abhay’s driver Kundan Bhandari and his friend CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad