The Editorial Page: Beyond Maduro, why Delhi has a new window of opportunity in the region 8 TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2026 JOURNALISm of COURAGE MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES ₹5.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A REg.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REgN. NO. 1543/57 2020 DELHI RIOTS cASES: BENcH cITES ‘HIERARcHY OF PARTIcIPATION’ 124 152 189 No bail for Umar & Sharjeel as SC makes distinction; five get relief Can renew bail pleas after examination of witnesses or completion of a year: SC 88 Happening today lA cOURT IN SURAJPUR will hear the Akhlaq lynching case. After rejecting the UP govt’s plea to withdraw all charges against the accused, the court had on December 23 fast-tracked the trial. lELEcTION cOMMISSION of India is scheduled to publish the draft list under the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh. lSOMALIA’S PRESIDENT will visit ally Turkey following Israel’s recognition of the self-proclaimed republic of Somaliland. AnotherHindu manshotin headin Bangladesh Press Trust of India Dhaka, January 5 A HINDU businessman, who was also the acting editor of a newspaper, was fatally shot in theheadbyunidentifiedassailants on Monday in Jessore district in southern Bangladesh, officials said. RanaPratapBairagi,38,was a resident of Arua village in Keshabpur upazila of Jessore in Khulna Division, Bangla daily Prothom Alo reported. The incident occurred around5:45pmatKopaliyaBazaar on Monday, bdnews24 news portal quoted Additional Police Superintendent Abul Basar as saying. Bairagi, who owned an icemaking factory in Kopaliya Bazaar, was also the acting editor of a newspaper called Dainik BDKhabarpublishedfromNarail, according to Prothom Alo. Citing locals and the police, »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, January 5 CITING “HIERARCHY of participation”, the Supreme Court onMondaydeniedbailtoUmar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, saying the prosecution material shows their “central and formative role” and “involvement at the level of planning, mobilisation and strategic direction”. Sayingthatallaccuseddon't stand on the same footing, the bench of Justices Aravind KumarandNVAnjariagranted conditionalbailtofiveothersin the case — Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed. “All the appellants do not stand on equal footing as regards culpability...Thehierarchyofparticipationemergingfromtheprosecution’scaserequiresthecourt toexamineeachapplicationindividually,” the bench said. Saying that there was a prima facie case against Khalid and Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the courtsaidit“issatisfiedthatthe prosecution material, taken at face value as required at this stage,disclosesaprimafacieattribution of a central and business as Usual By EP UNNY Shubhangi Khapre Mumbai, January 5 IF THERE is a face to the controversyovernominationfiling in the coming Maharashtra municipal corporation elections, with 69 wards being won UmarKhalidandsharjeelImam The two, according to the prosecution, were the first ones to act after the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed in early December 2019, by creating WhatsApp groups and distributing pamphlets in Muslim populated areas calling for protests and chakka-jam. Thefivewhogotbail GULFISHA FATIMA She was part of a group called Pinjra Tod, which police claimed was one of the groups behind the alleged plot. US President Donald Trump with Senator Lindsey graham aboard Air Force One on Sunday. REUTERS SHIFA UR REHMAN Accused of misusing India’s cut Russian oil: Senator; Trump says Modi knew ‘I was not happy’ his position in the Alumni Association of Jamia Millia Islamia to finance the riots. MEERAN HAIDER Accused of crowdfunding the protests, allegedly received funds from several individuals, including witnesses. MOHD SALEEM KHAN He was alleged to be one of the main organisers at the Chand Bagh anti-CAA protest site. SHADAB AHMED Allegedly played a vital role in orchestrating the riots, leading protest intended to paralyse Delhi. INsIDE A bIttErSwEEt vErdICtforkINof 5 who got bAIL P 10 SC CrEAtES hIErArChy of offENdErS P 11 formative role by the appellants…Umar Khalid and SharjeelImamintheallegedconspiracy. The material suggests involvement at the level of planning, mobilisation and strategic direction, extending »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Supreme Court expands definition of terror, raises bar for granting bail Apurva Vishwanath New Delhi, January 5 FROM ENDORSING an expansivedefinitionofa“terroristact” to drawing a hierarchy among the accused and justifying prolonged pre-trial incarceration, the Supreme Court Monday, in denying bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, effectively raised the bar even higher for those seeking bail under stringent anti-terror laws. “While the period of incarcerationundergonebytheseappellants is substantial and has beendulyconsidered,theCourt isnotpersuadedthat,on the present record, continued detention has crossed the threshold of constitutional impermissibility so as to overridethestatutoryembargo.The complexity of the prosecution, the nature of evidence relied upon, and the stage of the pro- ceedings do not justify their enlargement on bail at this juncture,” the Court said. TheCourtalsocitedanother reasontojustifypre-trial detention of Khalid and Imam: ensuring that they do not attempt to influence protected witnesses in the case. The SC allowed the two accused to approach the trial court again for bail after one year or after E. »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘cAN RAISE TARIFFS QUIcKLY’ Hope for movement before new US envoy Sergio Gor takes charge Shubhajit Roy & Ravi Dutta Mishra New Delhi, January 5 VETERAN REPUBLICAN leader and US Senator Lindsey Graham, chairman of the SenateBudgetCommittee,hassaid that Indian Ambassador to the USVinayKwatrainformedhim about New Delhi reducing its purchases of Russian oil and asked him to convey to President Donald Trump to “relieve the tariff” imposed on India. Graham, standing next to USPresidentDonaldTrumpon Air Force One Sunday, spoke about his tariff bill that seeks to impose 500 per cent levies on imports from countries buying Russian oil. Trump said Prime Minister NarendraModi“knewIwasnot happy” with India’s purchases of Russian oil and that Washington can raise tariffs on New Delhi “very quickly”. Trump and Graham’s remarks come when India is on thepathtoreducingoilimports from Russia, ever since the 25percenttariffswereimposed »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Call on Bangladesh seamer’s IPL ouster taken at top level in BCCI ‘No discussion’ among Board members or consultation with IPL before KKR told to release Mustafizur Devendra Pandey Mumbai, January 5 THE DECISION to instruct IPL franchiseKolkataKnightRiders to release Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman from its squad wasn't the outcome of discussionsamongmembersof the Indian cricket board — the EXPREss exclusive league’s governing council wasn’t consulted, either. Thedecision,whichresulted inBangladeshrefusingtotravel to India for next month's T20 World Cup, was taken at the Maharashtra civic election row: The loudest voices are against Narwekar Speaker accused of ‘interfering’ in poll process l THEcAsEAGAINsTTHEsEVEN uncontested, it is Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s. On Monday, Opposition parties,includingtheCongress, Shiv Sena (UBT), MNS, Aam Aadmi Party, and Independents, lodged a complaint with the State Election Commission (SEC) against Narwekar for alleged interference in the poll process, and urged it to relook at the nomination filing in the three Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) wards from where his family members are contesting. Last week, following a complaint by the Congress against Narwekar, the SEC had written to BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani seeking a report on the matter. Inmorewaysthanone,Narwekar, whose stint in the chair has been controversial, stands out when it comes to the polls. Before the Opposition pointed fingers at him, questions had been raised within the BJP at »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 highest level in the board, The IndianExpress has learnt. “We ourselves got to know about this through the media. There was no discussion. No suggestion was taken from our side,” a top BCCI official, who is also associated with the IPL, told this newspaper. »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INsIDE NATION gErmANy’S mErz to vISIt INdIA oN JAN 12, mEEt Pm P 6 THE WORLD mAdUro PLEAdS Not gUILty IN drUgS CASE P 14 l PONgAL COMINg, JANA NAYAGAN AND PARASAKTHI RELEASE BACk TO BACk Vijay farewell vs Stalin kin’s big-budget debut: TN’s political fight on big screen Arun Janardhanan In the narrow space between those two mornings, TamilNaduwilldowhatitdoes ON PAPER, it is a Pongal clash. best. It will turn a festival into a Inpractice,itisadressrehearsal. referendum. Then it will go Two films. Two release dates. back to work. There is a political fight, of Twocampsthatspeaklikeparty course. But the fight mouthpieces even PAGE 1 when they say they is also personal, beare only talking tween DMK leader aboutcinema.Vijay’s Udhayanidhi Stalin’s JanaNayaganlandsfirst,onJa- ecosystemandVijay’snewparty, nuary 9. Parasakthi, produced Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. by a member of the DMK first Jana Nayagan is being family,followsonJanuary10,its billed as Vijay’s last screen apdate having been advanced pearance before a full-fledged »cONTINUED ON PAGE 2 from January 14. Chennai, January 5 anchor Jana Nayagan will be released January 9, Parasakthi the next day Mumbai