DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES ROWOVERMAMATAREMARKS ECcensures Gangopadhyay, puts24-hrban onhiscampaign BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY No error: SC rejects pleas to review its Article 370 verdict NEW DELHI, MAY 21 THE SUPREME Court has dismissed petitions seeking review of its December 2023 judgment upholding the government’s August 2019 decision to end the special status of the then State of JammuandKashmirbyabrogatingArticle370oftheConstitution. “Having perused the review petitions,thereisnoerrorapparent on the face of the record. No caseforreviewunderOrderXLVII Rule1oftheSupremeCourtRules 2013. The review petitions are, therefore,dismissed,”afive-judge bench, presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, said. The bench also comprised JusticesSanjivKhanna,BRGavai, Surya Kant and A S Bopanna. Thepetitionsweredismissed on May 1 and the copy of the order was uploaded Tuesday on the court’s official webpage. InitslandmarkDecember11, 2023 ruling, a Constitution Bench had unanimously put its stamp of approval on the Modi government’s August 2019 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SANTANU CHOWDHURY KOLKATA, MAY 21 STATE MOURNING FOR IRAN’S RAISI The Tricolour flies at half-mast at Rashtrapati Bhavan during the one-day state mourning in India on Tuesday as a mark of respect for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi who was killed in a helicopter crash. Anil Sharma Mamata slams BJP over Sandeshkhali: ‘Should not play with dignity of women’ EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, MAY 21 WEST BENGAL Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she would soon visit Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas. Banerjeesaidshewas“heartbroken” over the plight of women in Sandeshkhali and asserted that the BJP should not have played with the dignity of women in the trouble-torn area asits“conspiracynowstandsexposed”.“Iamsorryfromthebottom of my heart for what hap- SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASE Delhi court frames charges: Brij Bhushan actions show unity of purpose, pattern BJPMPBrijBhushanoutsideaDelhicourt,Tuesday. Abhinav Saha NIRBHAY THAKUR NEW DELHI, MAY 21 UNDERLINING THERE was “unity of purpose… unity of thought” behind his actions to “sexually exploit vulnerable female subordinates as much as possible”, a Delhi court Tuesday ordered framing of charges against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, sitting BJP MP and former chief of Wrestling Federation of India(WFI),inthesexualharass- WORLD ment case against him filed on the complaint of women wrestlers. Singh, on his part, pleaded not guilty to the charges in the case registered by the Delhi Police. Asked by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Priyanka Rajpoot if he was pleading guilty, Singh said, “Koi sawaal hi nahi hai. Galati kiye hi nahi to maanenge kyun (There is no question. When I did not CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at an election rally in Basirhat, Tuesday. Express penedtothemothersandsisters in Sandeshkhali. No one should play the game of dishonour,” the CM said, while addressing an election rally in Basirhat, in support of Basirhat Trinamool candidate Haji Sheikh Nurul Islam. Mamata Banerjee's remarks came against the backdrop of multiple videos surfacing on social media claimed that a local BJP leader purportedly made several women in Sandeshkhali sign blank papers, which were later filled up as sexual assault complaints against TMC leaders. Hitting out at the BJP, she said, “People would have never understood how the BJP had hatched the conspiracy, had the videos not surfaced. The BJP should not play with the dignity of women.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HC rejects bail to Sisodia: Can’t rule out possibility of evidence tampering MALAVIKA PRASAD NEW DELHI, MAY 21 OBSERVING THAT he is “an influential person within the powercorridorsof Delhigovernment” and the “possibility of tampering with evidence” cannot be ruled out if he is released on bail, the Delhi High Court TuesdayrejectedAAPleaderand former Deputy Chief Minister ManishSisodia’sapplicationsfor bail in the Delhi excise policy cases being investigated by the ED and CBI. Sisodiaispresentlyinjudicial AAP leader Manish Sisodia custody following his arrest by the CBI in February 2023 and by the ED the next month. The single-judge bench of JusticeSwaranaKantaSharma–a detailed copy of the judgment is awaited – said, “Case at hand involvesgravemisuseofpowerand breach of public trust by the applicant(Sisodia)whowasserving asDeputyChief Ministerof Delhi at the relevant point of time.” “As a minister having 18 portfolios, including the departmentof excise,theapplicantwas entrusted with formulation of liquorpolicyfortheGovernment of NCT of Delhi. However, thematerial collected during investigationshowsthattheapplicant subverted this process of making a policy by fabricating the public feedback to suit his predetermined goal. The aim wasto create a public policy which would benefit select individuals, especiallywholesaledistributors E Convinced that it was a low-level personal attack: EC What the ● MCC says ACCORDING TO the Model Code of Conduct, political parties and candidates should not criticise aspects of private lives of opponents; should not make unverified allegations; and should not make statements that may be malicious or offending decency and morality. a show-cause notice to Gangopadhyay on May 17. Censuring him on Tuesday, the poll panel strictly warned Gangopadhyay to be careful in his public utterances during the currency of the Model Code of Conduct. “…theCommissionhascarefully gone through the contents and averments made in the aforesaid reply of Shri Abhijit Gangopadhyay and has again gone through the statement made and is convinced that he has made a low-level personal attack and thus violated the provisions of Model Code of Conduct,”theECsaidinitsorder. “Whereas, the Commission remains uncompromisingly committed to the same above declarationandfindsShriAbhijit Gangopadhyay's statement a directaffrontonthe'erosionof status of women in India'; such statement that is outrightly CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The Porsche car involved in the crash. File Pune crash: Realtor father of teen driving Porsche held for letting him drink, drive EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE PUNE, MAY 21 TWO DAYS after a speeding Porsche being driven by an allegedly inebriated 17-year-old boy knocked down a motorcycle, killing two young software engineers, police Tuesday arrested the minor's father, a prominent realtor in Pune. He has been booked under sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Actforallegedlyallowinghisminor son to drive as well as consume liquor. The police have also invoked provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act for allowing a minor to drive without licence. The police also arrested four more persons linked to two restaurants for serving liquor to the minor and his friends, hours before the crash early Sunday. The district authorities have sealedthetwoKoregaonParkestablishments —Blak and Cosie — after the Excise Department found non-compliances during an inspection. Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar told The Indian Express that the minor's father, who was on the run after being booked under the Juvenile Justice Act, was detained in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and placed under arrest after being brought back to the city. He will be produced in court on Wednesday. In the same offence, the police arrested four more persons — Cosie restaurant owner Naman Bhutada (25) and its managerSachinKatkar(35);and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Are you calling our voters Pakistanis, you won’t be PM: Kejriwal targets Shah EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MAY 21 A DAY after Home Minister Amit Shah said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have more supporters in Pakistan than in India, Kejriwal asked him if he was calling the people of Delhi and Punjab, who elected AAP governments, Pakistanis. In a video address, Kejriwal said Shah had become “so arro- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a video address. PTI gant”. “You have not become the Prime Minister yet, and neither will you (be)… don’t insult the people,” he said. Kejriwal also expressed confidencethattheINDIAblocwould win over 300 seats and form a “clean and steady” government. “If Indiaistobesaved,INDIAbloc has to win; if India is to grow, INDIA bloc has to win,” he said. Addressing a rally in the Capital on Monday, Shah had said: “Kejriwal aur Rahul CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 On BJP margins, Maneka keeps Ram temple at bay, reaches out to Muslims MAULSHREE SETH SULTANPUR, MAY 21 1 DEAD AS SINGAPORE AIRLINES FLIGHT HITS TURBULENCE TAINTED BLOOD SCANDAL: SUNAK APOLOGISES PAGE 10 The TMC chief also said she would soon visit the Sandeshkhaliregion.“Assoonas our candidate Haji Nurul wins Basirhat, my first visit will be to Sandeshkhali. I will go to meet the people there,” she said. Sandeshkhali falls under the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat in North 24 Parganas district and this was the Chief Minister's first visit to the Lok Sabha seat since the flare-up in January this year. The area will vote on June 1. In her appeal to the voters, she asked them to inform and write to her if they feel someone has committed any mistake. “If THE ELECTION Commission Tuesday censured former Calcutta High Court judge and BJP candidate Abhijit Gangopadhyay for making derogatoryremarksagainstWest Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and barred him from campaigning for 24 hours. The poll panel also asked BJP president J P Nadda to issue an advisory to all candidates and campaigners to make sure that this lapse does not recur during the campaign period. Barring Gangopadhyay from campaigning for 24 hours from Tuesday5pm,thepollpanelsaid it was of the view that his comments violated the Model Code of Conduct. The EC described Gangopadhyay’s remark as a “low-level personal attack”, and warnedGangopadhyaytoremain careful in his public utterances during the campaign period. The EC decision came a day after Gangopadhyay, the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Tamluk,senthisreplytoashowcause notice issued by the poll panel for his “undignified” remarks against Banerjee at a rally in Haldia on May 15. Inhisaddress,Gangopadhyay hadreferredtotheSandeshkhali 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 are you being sold for? One gives you Rs 8 lakh and gets a job, one gives you Rs 10 lakhandrationvanishes...Whyis yourrate,Rs10lakh?Isitbecause you get your makeup done by KeyaSeth(Kolkata-basedbeautician)?...” Acting on a complaint by the Trinamool Congress, the EC sent EXPLAINED EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 SHE MAY be the outgoing Lok Sabha’s longestserving MP, but for Maneka DECISION Gandhi, this bid 2024 for a ninth term in Parliament is one of her most crucial fights. Pushed to the margins of the BJP, with her son Varun Gandhi denied a ticket, Maneka must BJP candidate Maneka Gandhi campaigns in the Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency. X/@Manekagandhibjp win Sultanpur to sustain her political legacy — and that means keeping the minorities close as they constitute about 17% of the voters in the constituency which votes on May 25. So, there is no mention of the Ram Temple in her speeches, while that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is kept to the minimum, unlike the campaigns of other BJP candidates. Ayodhya is hardly an hour’s drive from CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata