DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 THREE MONTHS AFTER ARREST IN CASE LINKED TO DELHI EXCISE POLICY Delhi court grants Kejriwal bail, declines ED’s plea for 48-hr hold, agency to move HC today NIRBHAY THAKUR NEW DELHI, JUNE 20 THREEMONTHSafterhewasarrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy case being probed separatelybytheCBI,AAPleader and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was granted bail Thursday by a Delhi court. While granting bail, Special Judge Niyay Bindu also declined ED’s plea to keep the bail order Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in abeyance for 48 hours. The ED will be approaching the Delhi High Court Friday against the grant of bail. Kejriwal has been in custody in Tihar Jail. Arrested on March 21, he had stepped out last month on interim bail to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections. He surrendered on June 2. He had recently moved two bail pleas before the Rouse Avenue Court – for interim bail and regular bail. The interim bail plea was rejected on June 5. The eCourts data show that the grant of regular bail to Kejriwal is the eleventh granted CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Brings significant relief for CM given PMLA’s high Section-45 bar for bail DEEPTIMAN TIWARY NEW DELHI, JUNE 20 Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for bail. Section 45 (1) of the statute says that no accused shall be released on bail unless “the Court is satisfied that there are reasonable ● grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail”. In effect, the bail order potentiallyputsaquestionmarkon E WHILETHElowercourt’s reasons behind granting bail will only be known when the order comes Friday, the fact that bail was granted to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is of significant legal import because of the high bar set by the EXPLAINED CM lawyer counters ED claim on phone chat with an accused REVIEW ON EXAM DAY MAY 5, NTA GIVEN ITS RESULTS JUNE 16 CCTVs missing, unguarded strong-rooms: Review of NEET 2024 found glaring gaps in exam centres 10%of 4,000centresreviewed;46%did nothavemandatory2CCTVcameras DEEKSHA TERI NEW DELHI, JUNE 20 A THIRD-PARTY review of the NEET undergraduate exam this yearfoundsomeworrying“noncompliances” at a number of exam centres on May 5. These included the absence of the mandated two working CCTVs inexamrooms;andexamples of strong rooms, where questionpapers are stored at the exam centre, being left unguarded. Sources said the National Testing Agency (NTA) — which conducts NEET-UG and is under fire for alleged irregularities included allegations of paper leak — was officially informed of the third-party review findings on June 16, almost 12 days after the examination results were announced. For the review, the third party had visited 399 exam centres (of a total of approximately 4,000) that were mutually discussed and agreed upon by NTA and the reviewing party. The review exercise, carried out on the day of the exam, PATNA, JUNE 20 THE MAIN accused arrested in connection with the alleged question paper leak in the National Eligibility-cumEntrance Test ( Undergraduate), conducted on May 5, has told Bihar Police that four aspirants had gathered at a location chosen by him a night before the examand“memorisedanswers” to questions from the paper. Oneofthefouraspirants,who allegedly solved and memorised the answers, also told the police that he had gone to Patna from Kotaafterhisrelative—oneofthe CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Toll in TN hooch tragedy rises to 38, around 100 in hospitals ARUN JANARDHANAN CHENNAI, JUNE 20 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Students stage a protest over NEET-UG and UGC-NET issues in New Delhi, Thursday. Amit Mehra found that of the 399 exam centres visited on the day of the exam, 186, or 46%, did not have two working CCTV cameras, as mandated, installed in each exam room. The live feed of these cameras is transmitted to the Central Control Room at the NTA headquarters in New Delhi which is meant to be monitored by a team of experts. Further, at 68 (or 16%) of the 399 sample of exam centres, the strongroomwasnot“securedby CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Aspirants memorised the answers night before test, accused tell Bihar Police SANTOSH SINGH the Enforcement Directorate’s case against Kejriwal. Thisisonekeyreasonwhysecuring bail under the PMLA is very difficult and most accused endupspendingseveralmonths, if not years, behind bars before the courts grant them bail. Kejriwal’s deputies, former Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain and former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, have both spent mainaccused—assuredhimthat the question paper could be arranged for him before the test. Theparticularstudentscored185 out of 720, while the other three scored 300, 483 and 581. These statements were recordedonMay5,afterthetest, at Shastri Nagar police station in Patna,wherethecaseintothealleged leak was lodged. While an exam conducting agency, as a matter of principle, cancels an exam on finding evidence of a paper leak, the government’s actions in the past have not been uniform. In 2018, for instance, the government had cancelled and reconducted CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Pradhan takes ‘moral responsibility’ for NEET ‘errors’, sets up high-level panel UGC-NET paper leaked on dark net, CBI registers a case RITIKA CHOPRA & ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND NEW DELHI, JUNE 20 IN A FIRST admission of irregularity in the conduct of the NEET undergraduate exam this year, EducationMinisterDharmendra Pradhan Thursday acknowledgedtherehavebeen“someerrors limited to specific regions”, referring to Bihar’s investigation into allegations of paper leak, and announced the setting up of a high-level committee to fix CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, JUNE 20 THE CANCELLATION of the UGCNET examination and police probes in Bihar and Gujarat into the alleged leak of the NEET-UG questionpaperhaveledtounease intheBJPandRSSaffiliatesinclud- In Srinagar, PM: Statehood for J&K soon, preparations for state polls on Praises high turnout in LS polls, flags off 84 projects worth Rs 1,500 crore BASHAARAT MASOOD SRINGAR, JUNE 20 PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi said in Srinagar on Thursday that preparations for Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir have begun, and thatstatehoodwouldsoonbereturned to the Union Territory. Addressing an event at the Sher-i-Kashmir International ConferenceCentre(SKICC)onthe first day of his two-day visit to Srinagar,thePMalsomentioned therecentmilitantattacksinJ&K and said no stone would be left unturnedto“teachalessontothe enemies of peace”. “Preparations for Assembly elections have begun. The day is notfarwhenthepeopleofJammu and Kashmir will vote to elect their government,” Modi said, adding, “The day will also come soon when Jammu and Kashmir, in the form of a state, will make a better future for itself.” ThePMarrivedinSrinagaron Thursday evening, and went to the SKICC, where he inspected exhibition stalls set up by various start-ups. He then inaugu- Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan arrives for the press conference in New Delhi on Thursday. Anil Sharma EXPRESS NETWORK PM SILENT, HAS ‘PSYCHOLOGICALLY COLLAPSED’: RAHUL THEY ARE PLAYING WITH LIVES: NET CANDIDATES PAGE 7 ingthestudentwingABVPwhich said Thursday that “jab praja ke tarafsesawaalhai,tosarkarketaraf sejawabhonachahiye(whenpeopleaskquestions,thegovernment must answer).” Stating there was a “question mark” on the “credibility” of the National Testing Agency which conducts these examinations, ABVP national general secretary CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 rated and laid the foundation stones for 84 projects worth Rs 1,500 crore in the infrastructure, educationandhealthsectors.He also issued appointment letters to2,000peoplewhohadgotemployment in various government departments. The PM said he was in Kashmir to “personally thank the people” for raising the flag of democracy high in the recently held parliamentary elections. “This morning, when I was preparing for my Srinagar visit, I was excited. When I thought about why I was so excited, two reasonscametomymind–there is a third reason as well, which is thatIhaveworkedhereforalong time and have been introduced toalotof people.Onereasonwas the developmental projects of JammuandKashmirandthesecond was that it was my first interaction with you after the parliamentary elections," he said. “You made democracy win. You broke all records (for voter turnout) of the last 35-40 years. It shows that the youth here have deep trust in democracy. I wanted to visit the Kashmir CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE BJP’S BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB APPOINTED PRO TEM SPEAKER PAGE 5 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 When people ask questions, Govt must answer, says ABVP amid Sangh unease DEEPTIMAN TIWARY, VIKAS PATHAK & LALMANI VERMA THE DEATH toll in the hooch tragedy in Tamil Naidu’s Kallakurichi district increased to 38onThursday,witharound100 others hospitalised. Most of the victims consumed the spurious liquor at Karunapuram in Kallakurichi on Tuesday night. As the spurious liquor started to take effect on Wednesday,theywereadmitted at the Kallakurichi Government MedicalCollegeandHospital,and hospitals in Salem, Villupuram, and the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research in Puducherry. The deceased included two women and a trans person. Several of the victims succumbed on Wednesday night. Sourcesindicatedthattheofficial death toll may be understated, as several individuals reportedly died before reaching medical facilities. KallakurichiDistrictCollector M S Prasanth visited the hospitalisedvictimsandwasmonitoring the medical response. Over 2,000 police personnel from various districts have been Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the ‘Empowering Youth, Transforming J&K’ event in Srinagar on Thursday. ANI HC strikes down Bihar quota hike to 65%, cites right to equality SANTOSH SINGH PATNA, JUNE 20 THE PATNA High Court Thursday set aside Bihar government’s November 2023 decision to raise the reservation cap in state government jobs and admission to education institutions from 50% to 65%, citing principles of equality. The Nitish Kumar-led government had raised the reservation cap on the basis of the Bihar Caste Survey report which showed that about 85% of the state population belonged to OBC, EBC, SC and ST communities, with the EBC being the largest social population with 36.1%. The ruling JD(U) said it was examiningtheordertodecideits next move. The party said it will takemeasurestorestorethe65% quota and will push for its inclusion in the Ninth Schedule so that it cannot be challenged further. In its 87-page verdict, a division bench of Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Harish Kumar, which heard a set of petitions challenging the quotahike,said:“That,adequate representationisthecoreof both Articles 15(4) & 16 (4) (of the Constitution); was reiterated andtheruleof 50%limitinreser- vationwasreaffirmedbyvarious decisions. That, the exception provided, to exceed the 50% limit, was confined and restricted to extenuating circumstancesandcharacteristicallyinherent aspects akin to far-flung areas thus being kept away from the mainstream of National life, is undisputed. That these conditions do not exist and was not demonstratedintheinstantcase is abundantly clear.” “That,theStateattemptedno in-depthstudyoranalysisbefore providing for enhancement of the reservation percentage is established from the records,” the bench said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 In 2036 Olympics bid, India to pitch for inclusion of yoga, kabaddi, kho kho PAGE 1 ANCHOR MIHIR VASAVDA MUMBAI, JUNE 20 FOR SOME, yoga at the Olympic Gamesmightbeastretch.Butnot to India’s sports administrators. As it doubles down on efforts to bring the 2036 Olympics home, India is likely to push for the inclusion of yoga, which has been the country’s soft-power tool, in the sports programme. Yoga is among the six sports that the Mission Olympics Cell — under the Sports Ministry — feels can be recommended for inclusionintheOlympics.Theotherfive are: Twenty20 cricket, kabaddi, chess,squashandkhokho. The idea was first discussed last year in December — two months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially declared India’s interest in hosting the 2036 Olympics during a meeting of the Sports Authority of India’s Mission Olympic Cell (MOC). The MOC includes some of India’s top former athletes, high-ranking federation officebearers and officials from the Sports Ministry and Sports Authority of India. Asix-pagesummaryofrecommendations for the 2036 Olympics,reviewedbyTheIndian Express, also stresses the need to createasafeenvironmentbyconducting Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) and ProtectionofChildrenfromSexual Offences Act (POCSO) awareness sessions,curbingthedopingmenace,makingthefederationsmore accountable, focusing on grassroots,developingcoachesandreferees, and building more infrastructure. It was also noted that a separate committee will look into new sports that can be “recommended for addition at the 2036 Games considering India’s prowess at it and the rich history for the sport in our country”. People practice yoga during the 22nd annual ‘Solstice in Times Square’ in New York City on Thursday. Reuters The International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules allow the Organising Committee of a specific edition of the Games to propose the inclusion of one or more sports, which are popular intheregion.Karate,forinstance, made its Olympic debut three years ago at the Tokyo Games, while Los Angeles included flag football, a little-known sport in the wider world but widely played in the US. The potential inclusion is based on certain set factors, including the bare minimum that the sport be governed by an international federation recognised by the IOC. Incidentally, during the Paris Olympics next month, yoga classes will be held as an exhibition at the Louvre. According to the IOC, countries in “double digits” have expressed interest in hosting the Games in 2036, which is the earliest available vacant slot. The 2024 Olympics will begin in ParisonJuly26,withLosAngeles and Brisbane scheduled to host the next two editions in 2028 and 2032, respectively. The IOC has held early rounds of talks with the Indian Olympic Association as well as the Sports Ministry. A decision onthehostisunlikelytobetaken at least for the next year or two. India, however, has stepped up its efforts. The 2036 Olympic bid found a mention in the BJP’s electionmanifesto,signallingthe government’s intent. And next month in Paris, an ‘India House’ will be created to woo top IOC membersandlobbyforthe2036 Olympics. Apart from looking at potential new sports that can be proposed for addition, the MOC has emphasisedseveralotherfactors to prepare for the 2036 Games with the doping menace being a high priority. With the country ranked on top of the World Anti Doping Agency’s list of dope offenders, the Olympic Cell recommended a “robust and frequent doping CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata