DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 WAS IN CUSTODY FOR SIX MONTHS IN DELHI EXCISE POLICY CASE Bail to AAP’s Sanjay Singh, ED doesn’t oppose after SC says no money found ANANTHAKRISHNAN G BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY NEW DELHI, APRIL 2 SIX MONTHS after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi excise policy case on the charge that Rs 2 crore illegal cash changed hands at his residence in New Delhi, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was granted bail by the Supreme Court Tuesday. The ED did not oppose Singh’sbailapplication,hoursafter its counsel, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, was Sanjay Singh was arrested in October 2023. File reminded by the court that the “moneyhasnotbeenrecovered” and he should “take instructions whether you really require him now after six months”. Singh was arrested on October 4, 2023 following a search of his North Avenue home. The ED alleged that businessman Dinesh Arora, an accusedwholaterturnedapprover in the excise policy case, had given Rs 2 crore in cash to Singh. The bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta and P B Varale, granted bail to Singh CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION Since 2014, 25 Opposition leaders facing corruption probe crossed over to BJP, 23 of them got reprieve 3 cases closed, 20 stalled; officials say probe is open, will act if required DEEPTIMAN TIWARY NEW DELHI, APRIL 2 THE LAW takes its own course — unless it is nudged by politics. Since 2014, as many as 25 prominent politicians facing actionfromCentralagenciesforalleged corruption have crossed over to the BJP. They cut across party lines: 10 are from the Congress; four each from NCP and Shiv Sena; three from TMC; two from TDP; and one each from SP and YSRCP. In 23 of these cases, their political move has translated into reprieve, an investigation by The Indian Express has found. Three of the cases have been closed; 20 others remain stalled or in cold storage — the investigativeagency’s action,afterthe switch,hasbeen,infact,inaction. Six of the politicians on this list moved to the BJP this year alone, weeks before the general elections. This is in sharp contrast to whathappenswhentheaccused is in the Opposition — an investigation by The Indian Express in 2022 revealed how 95 per cent of prominentpoliticiansthatthe Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took action against after 2014, when the NDA came to power, were from the Opposition. The Opposition calls it the “washing machine,” the mechanism by which politicians accusedof corruptiondon’tfacelegal consequences if they quit their party and join the BJP. Not that this is new — it’s the scale that is unprecedented. CONTINUEDONPAGE9 PROBE PIVOTS ON POLITICAL FLIP-FLOPS IN AJIT PAWAR CASE P 9 Outside the Enforcement Directorate’s office in New Delhi. Amit Mehra Pawar, Patel, Adhikari, Sarma... how some cases were closed, others sent to cold storage DEEPTIMAN TIWARY NEW DELHI, APRIL 2 FROM CLOSING the case to puttingitincoldstorage—thisishow theEnforcementDirectorate,CBI and IT Department changed courseoncetheaccusedchanged theirpartyandmovedovertothe rulingBJP,revealsaninvestigation of thechronologyof caserecords by The Indian Express. CLOSING THE CASE AJITPAWAR: Mumbai probe shut, case hits dead end Party Shift: NCP, shifted to BJP-led NDA in 2023 The Case: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW)’s FIR against Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar and others, in a case of money laundering linked to alleged irregularitiesinMaharashtraState Cooperative Bank, was based on a Bombay High Court order of August2019.TheED'sprobethat followed also named Congress leaders Jayant Patil, Diliprao Deshmukh and the late Madan Patil; NCP's Ishwarlal Jain and Shivaji Rao Nalawade; and Shiv Sena's Anandrao Adsul. CHRONOLOGY OF FLIP-FLOP August 2019: Mumbai Police's EOW registers FIR September 2019: ED begins probe based on FIR October 2020: EOW files closure report, ED challenges it April 2022: ED files chargesheet without naming Pawar June 2022: Sena splits, Shinde faction forms NDA govt with BJP October 2022: Mumbai EOW seeks further probe based on ED evidence July 2023: Pawar joins NDA govt as Dy CM January 2024: EOW files second closure report Current Status: ED has filed intervention application in court on EOW closure ■■■ PRAFULPATEL: Safe landing after turbulence Party Shift: NCP, shifted to BJP-led NDA in 2023 The Case: The former civil aviationministerisbeingprobed byCBIandEDforallegedcorruption in the purchase of 111 aircraft by Air India as well as in the AI-Indian Airlines merger. The allegations involve ceding of profitable routes to foreign airlines, opening of training institutes with foreign investment, and ties with lobbyist Deepak Talwar. The FIRs do not list Patel as an accused but mention his name. CHRONOLOGY OF FLIP-FLOP May 2017: CBI files FIRs in Air India-Indian Airlines merger May 2019: ED names Patel in its chargesheet June 2023: Patel joins NDA March2024:CBIfilesclosure report Current Status: Closure pending in court CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 At Paris Olympics, Team India to get taste of home: dal, roti, aloo-gobi, chicken curry PAGE 1 ANCHOR SHIVANI NAIK MUMBAI, APRIL 2 THE UPCOMING Paris Olympics could see Indian sportspersons landing some comfort food on their plates. In a first, in the dining halls of the Athletes Village will be specially curated steamed Basmati rice, dal, roti, aloo-gobi, gently-spiced Indianstyle chicken curry and an as- sortment of South Asian broths. Shiva Keshavan, who was recently appointed India's deputy chef demissionfortheOlympics, said the menu was passed on to the Paris organisers of the Gamesduringtheirrecentmeeting with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). He said the early recce meeting was held to ensure Indian athletes would feelathome,eveninthecrucible of high-pressurecompetition,far away from the country. “Many of our recommendations for a modified menu to include Indian dishes were ac- Menu recommendations accepted: Keshavan, dy chef de mission for Olympics cepted. Each one was cleared by a nutritionist,” said Keshavan, a former Winter Games luge athlete. Contingents from previous Games have often highlighted the need for an Indian menu, he added. “Food tends to be a big issue with our athletes. Of course, at the Olympics you can engage with cuisines from all over the world in the main dining area. But we pressed the organisers to include a wider South Asian menu for our athletes. Athletes are anyway out of their comfort CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Its leadership behind bars, why bail raises AAP hopes JATIN ANAND & MALLICA JOSHI NEW DELHI, APRIL 2 ANAAPoratornextonlyto DelhiChief MinisterArvind Kejriwal, a Member of Parliament with links across Opposition parties apart from his hold on MLAs in Delhi and Punjab — for a party thathasitstopbrassbehindbars, theSupremeCourt’sgrantof bail to Sanjay Singh could not have been more timely. With Singh set to be released from Tihar Jail where he spent the last six months after his arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, senior AAP leaders went into a huddle Tuesday af● ternoon to discuss plans for their Rajya Sabha MP ahead of the party’s Lok Sabha campaign. E EXPLAINED Can’t be a precedent, not going into merits of case: Bench CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 From Gandhi’s Wardha, Pawar gives call against ‘undeclared emergency’ ALOK DESHPANDE MUMBAI, APRIL 2 GIVING A call from Maharashtra’s Wardha — where Mahatma Gandhi lived for several years during the freedom struggle — to defeat the forces who are “weakening the Constitution”, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad PawaronTuesdaysaidthecountry is witnessing an “undeclared emergency” and the 2024 Lok Sabha election is important for the people to safeguard the rights given to them by the Constitution. “Lok Sabha elections have been declared. This election is extremely important to safeguard the constitutional rights given to crores of people. Today, the politics and rule of this nation is in the hands of a few people thanks to the power given to them. As a result, this country is facing an undeclared emergency,” said Pawar. He was addressing a public rally at Wardha in Vidarbha region where party leader Amar KalefilednominationasanMVA candidate. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RALLIES IN UTTARAKHAND, RAJASTHAN PM: 10 years out of power, Cong talks of burning nation, is this democracy? family announced that if the country chooses the BJP government for the third time, there wouldbefire,”hesaidatarallyin DEHRADUN, JAIPUR, APRIL 2 Rudrapur city, in Uttarakhand’s HOLDINGHISfirstcampaignral- Udham Singh Nagar district. “Thosewhoruledfor60years, lies in Uttarakhand and Rajasthan ahead of the upcom- and have been out of power for ing Lok Sabha elections, Prime just 10 years, are talking about Minister Narendra Modi burning the country. Do you acceptthis?Isthislanguage Tuesday targeted Rahul correct? Is this the lanGandhi and the guage of democracy? ... Congress,accusingthem The Congress party, of having an which has the mentality “Emergency” mindset of the Emergency, does and of talking about DECISION not have faith in democ“burning the country” if 2024 racy,” he said. theBJPisbroughtbackto The PM was referring power for a third time. Referring to the INDIA bloc to Rahul Gandhi’sspeech during rallyheldinDelhionSunday,the Sunday’s INDIA bloc rally in PM also said “the corrupt are Delhi, during which the holding rallies to stop action on Congress leader said, “If the BJP wins this match-fixing election corruption”. “The Congress and the INDI andchangestheConstitution afAlliance have already shown ter that, it will set the country on their intentions. The shehzada fire…” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 (prince) of the Congress royal AVANEESH MISHRA & HAMZA KHAN EXPRESS NETWORK RNG WINNERS THEIRSTORIESIN THEIRWORDS PAGES 16&17 APOLOGY JUST LIP SERVICE:SCPULLS UP RAMDEV PAGE 6