DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES Nadda on BJP-RSS ties: We have grown, more capable now… the BJP runs itself Says party has no plan for temples at the disputed sites in Mathura, Kashi TOMORROW LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, MAY 17 BJP NATIONAL president J P Naddahassaidthatthepartyhas grown from the time it needed the RSS and is now “saksham” (capable)andrunsitsownaffairs. The RSS, he said, is an “ideologicalfront”anddoesitsownwork. In an interview to The Indian Express — a detailed version will be published Sunday — Nadda, respondingtoaquestiononhow the RSS presence has changed between the time of Prime MinisterAtalBihariVajpayeeand now, said, “Shuru mein hum akshamhonge,thorakumhonge,RSS ki zaroorat padti thi... Aaj hum badhgayehain,sakshamhai…toh BJP apne aap ko chalati hai (In the beginning, we would have been lesscapable,smallerandneeded the RSS. Today, we have grown `6.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ED MOVES TO BUILD ITS CASE IN EXCISE POLICY PROBE Twin blow: Maliwal case flares up, Kejriwal, AAP named in excise case First time, ED has named party and CM; court to take call on cognizance NIRBHAY THAKUR NEW DELHI, MAY 17 THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW J P NADDA BJP NATIONAL PRESIDENT andwearecapable.TheBJPruns itself). That’s the difference.” Askedif theBJPdoesnotneed RSS support now, Nadda said, “See, the party has grown and everyone has got their own dutiesandroles.RSSisaculturaland social organisation and we are a politicalorganisation...It’snotthe question of need. It’s an ideological front. Woh ideologically apna CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DECISION 2024 ● Lalu’s one daughter tries to win his old seat, another hopes to end losing streak ● In battle for Faizabad, it’s Temple vs Samvidhan, and some lowly concerns PAGES 10, 11 Cong-SP will bulldoze Ram temple, learn use of bulldozer from Yogi: PM PROBINGALLEGEDmoneylaundering in the Delhi excise policy case, the Enforcement Directorate, for the first time, Friday named the Aam Aadmi Party and its leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as accused in a chargesheet – prosecution complaint – on the case under investigation. The ED filed its seventh supplementary chargesheet in the Rouse Avenue Court of Special JudgeKaveriBaweja.Sheislikely to take a call on its cognisance Saturday because she had left thecourt by the time it was filed. This is the first time that Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21 by the ED and granted interim bail until June 1 by the Supreme Court last week, has been mentioned as an accused in an ED prosecution complaint. This is also the first time that a political party has been mentioned as an accused by the ED in a case. The ED made its move a day afterAdditionalSolicitorGeneral S V Raju told the Supreme Court that the AAP would be added as an accused in the case. Appearing for the ED, Raju said the ED had evidence to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Told to get heart test done for bail extension, Lava top officer sent impersonator: ED ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, MAY 17 THEENFORCEMENTDirectorate, which arrested Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on March 21 in the Delhi excise policy case, told the Supreme Court Friday that it hasfound“personal,directchats” between Kejriwal and a hawala operator it did not name — a charge contested by Kejriwal’s lawyer who asked if the agency was “suppressing this information till today to prejudice the outcome”. The bench of Justices Sanjiv CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, MAY 17 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MAY 17 CRISIS DEEPENED within the AamAadmiParty on Fridayafter Delhi Police filed an FIR against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar in connection with the alleged assault on theparty’sRajyaSabhaMPSwati Maliwal on Monday. The FIR states that she was allegedly slapped seven-eight times, “kicked on the chest, stomach and pelvis area”, and threatened that she would be killed. On Friday, teams of the Delhi Police (North district), the Special Cell and the Forensic Science Laboratory Rohini went ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE officers waiting at AIIMS for close to four hours for a highprofile accused out on bail to turn up for a medical check-up were in for a shock when they went inside the cardiologist's chamber for a signature confirming that the patient did not appear.TheEDofficersweretold thattheaccused—managingdirector of Lava International mobile company Hari Om Rai — wasindeedinside,andundergoing tests. The ED officers were takento thebed,wheretheyfoundaman posing as Rai undergoing checks by doctors. AccordingtotheED,togetbail extension on medical grounds CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY to Kejriwal’s home to review CCTV footage, collect evidence and recreate the crime scene. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THREEDAYSaftertheAamAadmi Party acknowledged that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide BibhavKumarhad“misbehaved” and“actedindecently”withRajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, the party made a U-turn, claiming that Maliwal was a “pawn” in a conspiracy hatched by the BJP to take down the AAP chief. At a press conference Friday evening, the AAP fielded senior party leader Atishi to counter Maliwal's allegations that she was assaulted by Kumar when she went to meet Kejriwal Monday morning. “Ever since Kejriwal has come out on bail, the BJP has been stumped. As a result, they conspired and sent Swati Maliwal to Kejriwal’s residence on Monday morning. The conspiracy was meant to level false allegations on Kejriwal. Swati Maliwal was the faceof thisconspiracy, she was a pawn in this conspiracy,” Atishi said. Friday’s press conference marks AAP’s first pushback against Maliwal who, like Kumar, has a two-decade association with Kejriwal, since his days as an RTI activist. It also comes three days after AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said at a press conference, “Yesterday (on Monday), a condemnable incident took place, I want to tell you about it. Swati Maliwal reached Arvind Kejriwal’s house. She was waiting for him in the drawing room, when Bibhav Kumar came there; he misbehaved and acted indecently with her.” On this change in the AAP CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Anjana-Chaudharys latest EC SENDS NOTICE TO GANGOPADHYAY Ex-judge on Mamata: Your rate to join the community is Rs 10 lakh... Because you do centre trend in Gujarat makeup? Is she even a woman?’ GANDHINAGAR, MAY 17 NEW DELHI, MAY 17 On the same day, he said in VIKAS PATHAK UP’sHamirpurthattheCongress NEW DELHI, MAY 17 is going to end SC, ST and OBC reservation for its vote bank that IF THE Congress and the indulges in “vote jihad”. SamajwadiPartycometopower, “SP aur Congress waale agar theywilluseabulldozeron satta mein aaye to Ram the Ram temple at Lalla ko phir se tent mein Ayodhya, send Ram Lalla bhejenge aur mandir par back to the tent, Prime bulldozer chalwaa denge. Minister Narendra Modi DECISION Kya Yogi ji se yahi seekhna 2024 said at Barabanki in Uttar hai? Are zara Yogi ji se tuPradeshFriday,addingthat ition lo bulldozer kahaan theycouldtakealeaffromUPCM chalaana hai kahaan nahin YogiAdityanath’sbulldozerbook. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ED to SC: We have direct chats between Kejriwal and a hawala operator PARIMAL DABHI MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL PM Narendra Modi with CM Yogi Adityanath in Barabanki. PTI AAP U-turn after saying Bibhav at fault: Swati is Slapped, kicked on chest, face of BJP conspiracy pelvis: Swati Maliwal in EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE FIR against Kejriwal aide AAP MP Swati Maliwal with police outside the CM’s residence in Delhi, Friday. Anil Sharma A MULTIPURPOSE centre in the state capital to help members progress educationally, socially andfinancially—thishasbecome a trend among various communitiesof Gujarat.Thelatesttojoin is the Anjana-Chaudhary community that laments a dearth of resources preventing the progress of its youths. TheproposedAnjanadham— a community centre that will house a coaching centre to prepareforcompetitiveexams,avocationaltrainingcentre,hostelfor boysandgirls,NRI/seniorcitizen bhavan,auditorium,library,mess andhealthcareunit,amongothers — spread over nine bighas at Jamiyatpura in Gandhinagar is expected to be built at an estimated Rs 300 crore. The Anjanadham Trust has also been formed for the project DAMINI NATH & ATRI MITRA NEW DELHI, KOLKATA, MAY 17 Speaker Shankar Chaudhary at an event to felicitate community members. Express that the community plans to complete within three years. The community, which is largely into dairy farming, has become the latest — after Patidars, Rabaris, Prajapatis and Dalits — to announce a multipurpose community centre in thestatecapital.“Formanyyears now, we have been thinking of coming up with something so that our people who largely stay invillagescouldbehelpedinskill CONTINUEDONPAGE2 THE ELECTION Commission Friday issued a show-cause noticetoformerCalcuttaHighCourt judge and BJP candidate Abhijit Gangopadhyay over his remarks on West Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjeeatarecentelection rally. The poll panel said the remarks were found to be “improper, injudicious and undignified”, and prima facie a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The Trinamool Congress had complained to the EC on Thursday, a day after Gangopadhyay, the BJP candidate from Tamluk, made the remarks at a rallyinPurbaMedinipur’sHaldia. In his address, Gangopadhyay referred to the Sand- BJP candidate from Tamluk Abhijit Gangopadhyay eshkhali sexual abuse allegations and said: “Today, the Trinamool says everything is a lie. Rekha Patra (one of the protesters and BJP's Basirhat candidate) was bought for Rs 2,000. Mamata Banerjee, how much areyoubeingsoldfor?Onegives you Rs 8 lakh and gets a job, one gives you Rs 10 lakh and ration vanishes...Whyis your rateRs10 lakh? Is it because you get your makeup done by Keya Seth (Kolkata-based beautician)?...” “How can a woman make such a comment about another woman (Patra), we can't understand?Is Mamata Banerjeeeven a woman? I wonder sometimes,” Gangopadhyay said. The EC said that upon examination the remarks were found to be “improper, injudicious, beyond dignity in every sense of term, in bad taste and to be primafacieviolativeof the...MCC and Commission’s advisory dated March 1, 2024”. It sought aresponsefromthe formerjudgeby5pmonMay20. West Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja said Friday, “How can a former judge make such a comment on a woman Chief Minister. The comment is so CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Fancy cars, OTPs, stolen IDs: Tracking the trail behind Rs 5,300-cr GST fraud AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, MAY 17 FREQUENTLYCHANGINGphone numbers,usinghigh-endluxury cars, including Maseratis and BMWs to zip through state borders during the day, and then checking into upmarket hotels with fake identities in the evenings — that was part of the modus operandi of the alleged kingpins behind an elaborate three-tier tax evasion plot who operated in the Delhi-NoidaLucknow belt without being detected by authorities for well over six months. Theplotfinallyunravelledon account of some rather innocuous applications: FASTag text messages generated on crossing toll booths and one-time passwords(OTPs)fromfood delivery apps like Zomato and Swiggy. Thesetrackerswereusedbylawenforcement officers to triangu- OPERATIONS SINCE JUNE 2023 Number of Cases 106 Number of fake firms detected 6,775 Fake ITC Passed on ITC blocked and reversed late the locations of the suspected players behind what has now turned out to be one of the biggest evasion rackets un- Number of Arrests 147 `16,297 Cr `1,295 Cr Source: DGGI earthed under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. The unwinding of the plot started around 12 months ago, E EXPLAINED PAGE 1 ANCHOR ● Claiming tax credit WRONGFUL AVAILMENT of input tax credit through fake claims has emerged as one of the biggest causes of concern for GST authorities amid continuing action against fraud, evasion and registration of bogus entities under the indirect tax regime. when a Noida-based individual reported a case of identity theft and fake GST registrations in his name, following which the local police started investigating in May 2023. The case is now billed as one of the biggest hauls under GST, with 41 arrests so far and the detection of around 2,660 fraudulently registered firms, fake input tax credit (ITC) worth Rs 5,300 crore generated using some 15,300 crore bills. “The Noida police caught a racket for misusing identifica- tion documents and creating fakefirmsandGSTINs(GSTidentification numbers) and shared the data with the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI).Thedatawasthenshared with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to find out other GSTINs linked tothese risky mobile numbers, Aadhaar and PAN. Around 13,000-14,000 GSTINs were then found to be linked. There was some double counting also, and after an internal analysis, it was found that there were around 8,000 independ- ent, identifiable and risky GSTINs. This verification work has been on for the last 8-9 months,”aseniorofficialtoldThe Indian Express. Over6,200GSTINshavebeen verifiedofwhich40percenthave been cancelled or suspended, he said.Inmostof thesecases,there are fake IDs, no real supply of goodsorservices,theuseofafake address with bills and invoices createdtoavailof fakeITC,which is a refund paid by the government for tax already paid on the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad