DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2024, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 BENCH QUASHES REMISSION, TELLS 11 CONVICTS TO SURRENDER IN TWO WEEKS ‘Abuse of power’: SC scraps release of Bilkis case rape-murder convicts SC:Pardonobtainedfraudulently...Gujarat Govtactedintandemwithconvict... remissionordersstereotyped,cyclostyled ANANTHAKRISHNAN G ADITI RAJA THE SUPREME Court Monday struck down the relief granted by the Gujarat government in August 2022 to 11 men who were sentenced to life for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and murder of her family members during the 2002 riots, and ordered them to surrender to jail authorities within two weeks. In its order, a bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said the Gujarat government’s decision to grant remissiontoconvictswas“aninstance of usurpation of jurisdiction and…of abuseof discretion”and that the State “acted in tandem andwascomplicit”withtheconvicts. Remission means a reduction in sentence imposed on a person convicted of a crime. “IT FEELS like a stone the size of a mountain has been lifted from mychest,andIcanbreatheagain. This is what justice feels like.” Hours after the Supreme Court quashed the early release NEW DELHI, JANUARY 8 PAK SC SCRAPS LIFETIME BAN ON LAWMAKERS FROM HOLDING OFFICE OPPENHEIMER TRIUMPHS AT GOLDEN GLOBES PAGE 10 EXPRESS NETWORK SETBACKFOR BJP, MINISTER LOSES TO CONG IN RAJASTHAN PAGE 6 VADODARA, JANUARY 8 Justice B V Nagarathna; Justice Ujjal Bhuyan The Supreme Court said Gujarat was not the “appropriate government” to decide on theremission plea of the 11 men convictedforthe “grotesqueand diabolicalcrime...drivenbycommunal hatred”. The bench pointed out that Section 432(7)(b) of The Code of Criminal Procedure,whichdeals with the power of remission, clearly indicates that the State within which the offender is CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE EDITORIAL PAGE ANEXTRAORDINARY JUDGMENT By INDIRA JAISING PAGE 8 INSIDE RULE OF LAW vs RIGHT TO LIBERTY: WHAT SC SAID MORE REPORTS, PAGES 6, 7 ‘I have wept tears of relief’ granted by the Gujarat government to the 11 convicts, Bilkis Bano, in a statement released to The Indian Express through her advocate, said: “Today is truly the New Year for me”. “I have wept tears of relief. I smiled for the first time in over a year-and-a-half. I have hugged CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 What next? Ball in BJP-led Maharashtra Govt’s court SADAF MODAK MUMBAI, JANUARY 8 ALL EYES will now be on the Maharashtra government — whether it extends any relief to the 11 convicts. In its order, the Supreme Courthasindicatedthattheconvicts can seek remission, but they need to be in prison for this. "We say so for another reasoninthe ● event respondent Nos.3 to 13 (the 11 convicts) are E EXPLAINED THE WORLD Today is my New Year, I can breathe, this is what justice feels like: Bilkis CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ISI tipped off India in 2019 about Qaeda Man accused in 2018 Siyana violence plot to hit Kashmir: Ex-envoy Bisaria case made BJP zonal president in UP SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, JANUARY 8 PAKISTAN’S SPY agency ISI had tipped off India through the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad about an al-Qaeda plot to carry out an attack in Was India’s envoy to Pakistan from 2017 to August 2019 Kashmir in June 2019, which turnedouttobegenuine,former Indian envoy Ajay Bisaria has revealed in his latest book. In his book, titled “Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship between India and Pakistan”, published by AlephBookCompany,Bisariasays CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MANISH SAHU LUCKNOW, JANUARY 8 THE UTTAR Pradesh unit of the BJP has appointed Sachin Ahlawat, an accused in the 2018 Siyana arson case in which a police inspector was killed in vio- lence over alleged cow slaughter,astheparty’szonalpresident in Bulandshahr. Ahlawat, 38, is among the 31 zonal presidents of the BJP in Bulandshahrwhosenameswere released last week. He has been made president of BB Nagar Mandal. Currently out on bail, Ahlawat has been charged with rioting, assault to deter public servant from discharging his duty among others. Two persons, including SiyanaSHOSubodhKumarSingh, were killed in the violence that took place on December 3, 2018. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 From 6% in 2018, Indian tourists in Maldives near double in 5 years SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, JANUARY 8 INDIA HAS emerged as the top source market for tourism for Maldives since the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighting the significant reliance of the latter on Indian visitors. Adiplomaticrowhaserupted following derogatory remarks againstPrimeMinisterNarendra Modi by three Maldivian deputy ministers after his visit to the Lakshadweepislandstopromote tourism there. Under fire, the Maldives government suspended the three. According to The Indian Express’s analysis of data from the tourism ministry in THE EDITORIAL PAGE PULL BACK FROM BRINK Blame for row with India lies with Maldives. But it frames dangers of hypernationalism on both sides PAGE8 Maldives, Indian residents in 2023 accounted for 11.2 per cent of thetotaltouristarrivals—18.42 lakh—in the island nation, with Russia being a close second with ashareof 11.1percent.Theshare of Indian travelers to the Maldives was just 6.1 per cent in 2018, but jumped over the next few years, partly due to changes in travel flows during and after CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Har roz apne passion par kam karna hai zindagi ki SIP Zindagi ke liye SIP Adhik jaankari ke liye apne MFD/RIA se sampark karein ya scan karein SIP ke fayde Market ki timing se azadi Nivesh raashi chunne ki azadi An Investor Education and Awareness Initiative SIP - Systematic Investment Plan. Visit https://www.hdfcfund.com/information/key-know-how to know more about the process to complete a one-time Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement to invest in Mutual Funds. 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