DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA 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 POSTAL REGN. NO. JAIPUR CITY/001/2024-26 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2024, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES Nadda on BJP-RSS ties: We have grown, more capable now… the BJP runs itself ● `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 6, 8 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 thetimeit 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 AAP MP Swati Maliwal with police outside the CM’s residence in Delhi, Friday. Anil Sharma Slapped, kicked on chest, pelvis: Swati Maliwal in FIR against Kejriwal aide EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MAY 17 CRISIS DEEPENED within the AamAadmiParty onFridayafter 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 BUSINESS AS USUAL AAP U-turn after saying Bibhav at fault: Swati is face of BJP conspiracy BY UNNY EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE to Kejriwal’s home to review CCTV footage, collect evidence and recreate the crime scene. 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 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, MAY 17 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ED to SC: We have direct chats between Kejriwal and a hawala operative 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 has found “personal, direct chats” between Kejriwal and a hawala operator it did not name — a charge contested by Kejriwal’s lawyer who asked if theagencywas“suppressingthis information till today to prejudice the outcome”. The bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta reserveditsverdictonKejriwal’spetitionchallenginghisarrestbythe ED.Theagencyisprobingallegationsofmoneylaunderinglinked to the Delhi excise policy case. Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the ED, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in Amritsar on Friday. PTI did not name the hawala operator and told the bench: “Now we have found chats between Arvind Kejriwal and the hawala operator. Personal, direct chats.” He was responding to Justice Khanna’squery“whatisthematerial in your (ED) chart (supplied to court outlining the agency’s submissions) after the ManishSisodiajudgmentwhich you have relied upon”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Told to get heart test done for bail extension, Lava top officer sent impersonator: ED EC SENDS NOTICE TO GANGOPADHYAY Minister Meena flags irregularities in housing Ex-judge on Mamata: Your rate is Rs 10 lakh... Because you do project, writes to CM MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE JAIPUR, MAY 17 NEW DELHI, MAY 17 PM Narendra Modi with CM Yogi Adityanath in Barabanki. PTI 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 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. TheEDofficersweretakento thebed,wheretheyfoundaman posing as Rai undergoing checks by doctors. AccordingtotheED,togetbail extension on medical grounds CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RAJASTHAN AGRICULTURE Minister Kirodi Lal Meena has written a letter to Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma alleging irregularities,includingapotentialloss ofRs1,146croretotheexchequer, inamulti-storeyhousingproject thatheallegedthestate’sGeneral AdministrationDepartmentwas going ahead with even without Cabinet approval. The project involves the development of six multi-storey buildings at the Old MREC CampusinJaipur’sGandhinagar, where several senior government officials live. While four of the six towers will be used for government housing, two are to be sold to private individuals. “Underthemasterplan,there is no provision of 18-19 storey buildings here. Commercial use is also not allowed here as per rules. However, illegal means have been used to make this project happen,” Meena said in his letter dated May 14. “Some officers/people are going to make black money worthcroresof rupeesbycolluding with REDCC (Real Estate Development and Construction Corporation of Rajasthan Limited). It is necessary to pay timely attention to ensure that the government does not lose about Rs 1,146 crore,” he wrote. HepointedouttotheCMthat “neithertheFinanceMinister,nor the Cabinet, nor you are supportingthisproject.Yet,workonithas begun… Notices for eviction of governmenthouseshavebeenissued without approval.” He allegedtheprojecthasbeenundervalued,andthiscouldalsoleadto significantlosstothegovernment. Heurgedthataninvestigationbe conducted into the matter. makeup? Is she even a woman?’ DAMINI NATH & ATRI MITRA NEW DELHI, KOLKATA, MAY 17 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. TheTrinamoolCongressTMC 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...WhyisyourrateRs10 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?IsMamata 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 a response from the 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)fromfooddelivery 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 E X P L A IN E D PAGE 1 ANCHOR ● Claimingtax 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- Jaipur 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 GSTINslinkedtothese 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