DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● POSTAL REGN. NO. JAIPUR CITY/001/2024-26 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Abetment of suicide charge must not be False lead & new footage later, Saif invoked casually: SC stabbing suspect remains elusive TWO DOZEN POLICE TEAMS JOIN MANHUNT ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, JANUARY 17 IN A significant ruling, the Supreme Court Friday held that the offence of abetment of suicide should not be invoked mechanically only to assuage the immediate feelings of the distraught family of the dead person, but must follow the higher threshold mandated by law. The bench of Justices A S Oka and K V Viswanathan said the Supreme Court “has, over the last several decades, repeatedly reiterated the higher threshold, mandatedbylawforSection306 IPC (now Section 108 read with Section 45 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023) to be at- tracted. They, however, seem to have followed more in the breach. Section 306 IPC appears to be casually and too readily resorted to by the police.” Writingforthebench,Justice Viswanathan said, “While the persons involved in genuine caseswherethethresholdismet should not be spared, the provision should not be deployed against individuals only to assuage the immediate feelings of the distraught family of the deceased.” The ruling stated that “the conductof theproposedaccused and the deceased, their interactions and conversations preceding the unfortunate death of the deceased should be approached CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Policesaysuspect changedclothes tomisleadthem, releasenewphoto VIJAY KUMAR YADAV & MOHAMED THAVER New photo of the suspect put out by police; (left) Saif’s mother Sharmila Tagore at Lilavati Hospital, Friday. ANI MUMBAI, JANUARY 17 MORETHAN40hoursafteractor Saif Ali Khan was stabbed in a brazen attack inside his Bandra (West) residence, the suspect continued to elude Mumbai police. Police believe he could be a “hardenedcriminal”sinceheappearstohavechangedhisclothes to mislead investigators after he left the scene of the crime. Friday saw a massive manhunttotracethesuspect,withat least two dozen teams from the local police, Crime Branch and crime intelligence unit working to make headway. In the morning, the Bandra Sisodia flags shoes, saris by BJP’s Verma, says EC turning blind eye MALLICA JOSHI NEW DELHI, JANUARY 17 SENIOR AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has alleged that theElectionCommissionisturning a blind eye to poll code violationsaheadof theAssemblyelections in Delhi early next month. In an interview to The Indian Express, Sisodia referred to allegations that the BJP’s New Delhi candidate Parvesh Verma distributed shoes to sanitation workers, and saris and Rs 1,100 to women in the constituency. The Returning Officer of the constituency has filed two complaintswith police —one fordis- THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW tributing shoes and the second for distributing saris. In both cases,policehaverecordedNonCognizable Reports. Speaking about the challengestheAAPfacesaheadof the polls, Sisodia said, “...what is a bigger issue is that the ECI (Election Commission of India) has become compromised. We can see clearly that a candidate is distributing shoes; the candidate is admitting he is distributing Rs 1,100; it is clear that voters are being registered artificially at MPs’ house addresses but there is no action. Whatisblackandwhiteinterms of election processes, is being so cleanly washed out that you don’t see anything. We have never seen such a compromised Election Commission.” He, however, said the party still has faith in the institution. “If the Election Commission decides, irrespective of how many fake voters are registered, howmuchmoneyisdistributed, we will not do anything even if CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 police detained a “suspect” and brought him in for questioning. But five hours later, he was let go as police found that he had no linkwiththecase.Policesources saidthemanwaspickedupashe resembledtheaccused,whowas caughtonCCTVatSaif’sbuilding, and had a history of petty crime. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RELATED REPORTS PAGE 6 President’s At Home this R-Day ‘will sound, taste and feel like South India’ RAHUL BAJORIA SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS RUN-UP TO BUDGET 2025-26 PAGE 15 EXPRESS NETWORK NEET ASPIRANT FROM ODISHA FOUND DEAD IN KOTA PAGE 3 LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, JANUARY 17 THE AT Home event at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Republic Day this year will have a southern flavour. With President Droupadi Murmu keen on showcasing the cultural diversityof thecountry,thefive states of the South will feature big, right from the welcome programme to the artistes featured and part of the guest list and cuisine, sources said. The invitessent out forthe At Home, which is hosted by the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The Rashtrapati Bhavan invitation with a southern theme. Express Jaipur JAISHANKAR WILL ATTEND Day after Trump inaugural, Quad meet likely with India at table Secy of State nominee Marco Rubio backed Indo-US ties to counter China SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, JANUARY 17 AS EXTERNAL Affairs Minister S Jaishankar heads to the US to attend the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on January 20, a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Quad grouping is likely to take place in Washington DC. This could mark the first meeting of the Quad foreign ministers — from US, Japan, Australia and India — under the Trump 2.0 administration and is expected to take place on January 21. Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the four ministers are expected to be at the inauguration. Japanese Foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya; Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong; and Jaishankar will have the opportunity to meet US Secretary of StatenomineeMarcoRubioon thesidelinesof theinauguration. Rubio is known to be a China CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 TRUMP DIALS XI PAGE 16 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY E EXPLAINED SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2025, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES Choppy waters ● ahead THE QUAD is seen as a counter to China’s growing assertion in the IndoPacific region. With Trump, who revived the Quad in his first term, now threatening to impose higher tariffs on China, tensions are likely to mount on both strategic and economic fronts.