DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2025, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES Trump underlines reciprocal tariff for India amid talk of trade agreement SINCE 1932 `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES, `20 IN ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM PM, UNION MINISTERS TO ATTEND SWEARING-IN TODAY RekhaGuptaisDelhiCM,says willtakecityto‘newheights’ Cabinet to have ‘Whatever you charge, I am charging. representation He (Modi) said, no, no, I don’t like that’ from across sections of Delhi RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 19 Uttarakhand to stop outsiders from buying farm land in 11 of 13 districts AISWARYA RAJ DEHRADUN, FEBRUARY 19 THE UTTARAKHAND Cabinet Wednesday approved a new draft law banning people from outside the state from buying agricultural and horticultural land in 11 of the state’s 13 districts. The new draft law will be tabled in the ongoing Budget Session of the Assembly. In a tweet, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami called it a “historic step”. “Our government is the protector of rajya, sanskriti, aur mool swaroop,” he said. “Today, the Cabinet has approved a strict land law, fully respecting the long-standing demand of the peopleof thestateandtheirsentiments. This historic step will protecttheresourcesof thestate, cultural heritage and the rights of the citizens, as well as play an important role in maintaining theoriginalidentityof thestate.” Under the new draft law, people from outside the state — except for Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar — will not be allowed to purchase horticultural andagriculturalland,anddistrict magistrates will no longer have the authority to approve land purchases. This is a departure from the current rule, which states that non-residents can purchase up CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Trump and Modi met at the White House last week E The likely ● fallout WHILE DETAILS of reciprocal tariffs are expected in April, a report by Goldman Sachs stated that India could be affected by Trump’s tariffs at a country level, product level, or through nontariff barriers, and this could complicate their trade relations. high tariffs, Elon Musk, advisor to the US government and CEO of Tesla and X, called Indian tariffs “unfair”. Notably, he also met Modi and top Indian officials during the Prime Minister’s visit to the US last week. “The tariffs CM-designate Rekha Gupta outside her residence in New Delhi on Wednesday. Gajendra Yadav BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY From DUSU president to councillor to Delhi CM SAMAN HUSAIN & ANKITA UPADHYAY NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 19 ONWEDNESDAYevening,asthe news came in that Rekha Gupta had been chosen as the next Chief Minister of Delhi, a huge crowd of BJP supporters and her family members gathered CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION Ragging deaths: Complaints spike but system stuck in grey zone, SC guidelines remain on paper MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 19 ■THE VIDEO shows a boy on a cot with his hands and legs tied. A group of other boys is seen jabbing him with a sharp object, laughing while doing so, while the victim is heardcrying.Thisclipisnowthefocus of a Kerala police investigation into an alleged case of ragging at a government nursing college in Kottayam — the latest reminder of a menace that continues to haunt the hallways of educational institutions across the country. SUPREME COURT guidelines to eradicate ragging from 15 years ago that haven’t gone much beyond tokenism on college campuses; government regulations that remain on paper; a regulatory system that, authorities say, is undermined by complaints that are either “frivolous” or difficult to track down — and the challenge of coming up with a widely accepted legal definition of ragging itself. Thesearethekeyreasonsbehind a sharp spike in ragging complaints logged so far by a dedicated helpline set up in 2009 by the University Grants CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 DEATHONCAMPUS 8,000 ragging complaints to UGC helpline 208% surge in ragging complaints 1,202 complaints from UP, most among states 78 suicide/ death cases alleged due to ragging Cong’s Alka Lamba (right) posted this photo with Gupta on X. This was when they won DUSU polls in 1995 RUPSA CHAKRABORTY & PALLAVI SMART MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 19 INSIDE UGC CHIEF FLAGS WEAK ENFORCEMENT OF REGULATIONS P 9 NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 19 DAYS AFTER 18 people were killed in a stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday questionedtheRailwaysonthesaleof excess tickets at railway stations. HearingaPILontheFebruary 15 stampede, the division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela sought a response from the Centre and Railways. “If youfixthenumberof pas- LOOKING FOR CLOSURE Note: Data from 2012 to 2023 from UGC, RTI suicide/ death cases in Maharashtra, most among states SOHINI GHOSH Narender Singh and Bindu at their Gurgaon home. Their son Tushar, 19, died on IIT-Guwahati campus in 2014. Renuka Puri 10 A MOTHER in Assam who came to know that her son’s body had signs of a gunshot wound and a stab injury on the neck; a father in UP who gave up hope after pursuing his daughter’s death for three years; an elder brother in Telangana who re- mains hopeful that justice will be delivered. These are the searing stories that bring to life the number 78 — the count of students who died on campus allegedly due to ragging, between 2012 and 2023, according to data from the University Grants Commission (UGC) that was obtained under the RTI Act and investigated by The Indian Express. CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 YEARS ON RESHAPING THE REPUBLIC CASE BY LANDMARK CASE AN EXPRESS SERIES People’sEducationSociety,acultural society, as an “unlawful association” for being a “danger to public peace” and “carrying on propaganda on behalf of the Communist Party”. The society’s secretary, V G Row – a veteran trade unionist CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 1952 STATEOFMADRASVSVGROW lays the groundwork for what would become the “proportionality test”, the gold standard for ensuring laws that encroach on fundamental rights are narrowly tailored to suit their purpose. In 2017, the SC expanded on this test when recognising the fundamental right to privacy. The SC also invoked the test to strike down the Centre’s electoral bonds scheme in 2024, ruling that anonymous donations disproportionately affected the voters' right to information. Hearing PIL on stampede, Delhi HC asks Rlys: Why sell excess tickets? THE WORLD ‘Doors are open, hoping my son will come home’ ON AUGUST 10, 1942, the British declared the Congress Working Committee, the All India Congress Committee and the four Provincial Congress Committees as “unlawful associations”undertheCriminalLaw Amendment Act of 1908. The colonial law, a precursor to many later-year laws meant toprosecuteterroristandunlawful activities, allowed the arrest of members of an 'unlawful association', so declared by the provincial government. Less than a decade later, in March 1950, the same law was invokedbytheCongressgovernment in Madras to declare the RELEVANCE NOW: The ruling CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RUPSA CHAKRABORTY & PALLAVI SMART 75 NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 19 NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 19 ELEVEN DAYS after it ousted the AAPtoendits27-yearexilefrom power in the Capital, the BJP Wednesday named 50-year-old Rekha Gupta, the newly-elected MLA from Shalimar Bagh, as Chief Minister of Delhi. A first-time legislator, Gupta will be administered the oath of office Thursday with six other ministersattheRamlilaMaidan. The composition of the Council of Ministers, sources said, will have “adequate representation” fromeachof thecity’sprominent castes and community groups, including a leading Sikh face. In first remarks after being named CM, Gupta, who was said to have topped the list of “young andorganisationally-experienced leaders in the party” prepared by theBJPbrassinconsultationwith theRSSoverthelast week,said,“I thank our Central leadership, PrimeMinisterModi,allourMLAs for this responsibility.” She said she was “fully committed to… take Delhi to new heights”. Is the law encroaching on rights? How labour activist’s case led to Supreme Court ‘test’ APURVA VISHWANATH JATIN ANAND EXPLAINED DAYS AFTER his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attheWhiteHouse,USPresident DonaldTrumphasindicatedthat tariff concessions for India may not be on offer yet. Duringatelevisioninterview withFoxNews,Trumpdescribed his conversation with Modi: “Here’s what we’re going to do: reciprocal.Whateveryoucharge, I am charging. He (Modi) responded, ‘No, no, I don’t like that.’ No, no, whatever you charge,Iamgoingtocharge.Iam doing that with every country.” “Now,if hebuiltthefactoryin India,that’sokay,butthat’sunfair to us. It’s very unfair,” he said. “I toldPrimeMinisterModiyesterday — he was here. Here’s what youdo.We’regoingtobeveryfair with you. They charge the highesttariffsintheworld,justabout.” Trump’s comments follow India’sdecisiontoslashtariffson a range of US products, such as bourbon whiskey, ahead of both countries announcing a trade deal aimed at doubling trade. Indian government officials stated that India hopes to secure concessions during the trade deal negotiations. Reiterating concerns over In this series, The Indian Express tracks down the women and men who reshaped the Republic sengers to be accommodated in a coach, then why do you sell... why do the number of tickets soldexceedthatnumber?Thatis a problem... If you implement a simple thing in letter and spirit, such a situation can be avoided. On rush days, you may increase that number to accommodate the rush... but not fixing the strengthtobeaccommodatedin acoach,thisprovisionappearsto have been neglected all along,” the bench said in oral remarks. The PIL — filed by a Delhibased organisation of lawyers, entrepreneurs and profession- als, Arth Vidhi, through advocates Aditya Trivedi and Subhi Pastor — seeks the court’s directions to the government for implementation of provisions of the Railways Act, 1989, specifically Sections 57 and 147. According to Section 57, the Railways has to fix the maximum number of passengers per compartment, and display that number inside or outside each compartment in Hindi, English and one or more regional languages used in the area. Section 147 deals with trespass, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MUDA case: Lokayukta police to close probe against Siddaramaiah EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE TRUMP CALLS ZELENSKYY A DICTATOR: MOVE FAST FOR PEACE EU PREPARES PLAN TO BOOST ARMS SUPPLIES TO UKRAINE PAGE 12 EXPLAINED EXPERT EXPLAINS INDIA’S QATAR OPPORTUNITY P14 Police cite lack of evidence against CM and wife BENGALURU, FEBRUARY 19 CITING LACK of evidence, the Karnataka Lokayukta police is set to file a closure report in its investigationintoallegedirregularities in the allotment of 14 housing sites by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's wife in 2021. In a notice to RTI activist Snehamayi Krishna, who filed the original private complaint seeking a probe into the MUDA land allotments, the Lokayukta policeonWednesdaysaidnoevidence of corruption had been found, signalling its move to file a closure report (B report). Theinvestigationbeganafter the registration of an FIR on September 28, 2024, against Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathi B M, brother-in-law Mallikarjun Swamy, and a landowner, Devaraju J, under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian PenalCodesectionsforbreachof CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 A car crash and 3 bodies in a flat: How Kolkata Police was sent into a whirl PAGE 1 ANCHOR SWEETY KUMARI KOLKATA, FEBRUARY 19 SUICIDEORmurder?That’swhat Kolkata Police is now investigating after a bizarre sequence of events that started with a car crash and culminated in the discoveryof threebodiesinamultistoreyed apartment building. On Wednesday, a car with three men — Pranay Dey, 44, brother Prasun Dey, 42, and Prasun’s minor son — crashed into a pillar near Abhishikta More on Kolkata’s EM Bypass. During questioning, Pranay allegedly made a startling confession: that they had intentionally crashed the car in a “suicide attempt”andthathisfamilymembers — his wife and teenage daughter and his sister-in-law — had already killed themselves. “On Wednesday, around 9 am,TangraPoliceStationreceived informationthatanaccidentvictim, Pranay Dey, had informed police that three female bodies were lying in the three-storeyed house,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rupesh Kumar saidatapressconferenceheheld in the evening. A police team that was dispatched immediately to a buildingintheTangraneighbourhood of east Kolkata discovered the bodiesof twowomen—Pranay’s 44-year-old wife Romi Dey and Prasun’s 39-year-old wife Sudeshna Dey — and Pranay’s minor daughter, all in separate rooms in a flat on the first floor. JCP Kumar said there were bloodstains in the flat. According to police, no suicidenotewasfoundatthehouse. While Sudeshna and Romi Deybothhadcutsontheirthroats and wrists, the minor appeared to have bruises, minor nasal and Police personnel in Tangra neighbourhood of east Kolkata where the Dey family lived. Partha Paul lips injuries and was “frothing in themouth”whenshewasfound, a police officer said. While their bodies have been sent for post mortem, the two men and the child in the car were admitted to Kolkata’s Ruby General Hospital for treatment. According to police, the Deys own a leather-manufacturing unitthatemploys200peopleand live in a “well-furnished” threestoreyed building in Tangra. However, the family was in debt, with a cheque of Rs 23 lakh that they issued recently bouncing. Initial police investigations appear to suggest multiple suicide attempts by the victims, withpolicesourcesclaimingthat the family had first unsuccessfully tried to kill themselves on February17by lacingtheir payas (rice pudding) with poison. “They then changed their plan, resulting in clean-cut injuries,” an officer told The Indian Express. A police source who is part of the investigation said the nature of injuries suggests that “the victims were not fully conscious or aware when they were inflicted with the injuries, indicating foul play rather than self-harm”. “Thispointstowardsmurder, wherethevictimswereincapacitated before the fatal injuries were inflicted,” the source said. Sources also claim that while the accidents occurred at 3 am, CCTV images from the area showsacar,presumablybelonging to the family, leaving the house at 12:51 am, with the hours in between “still unaccounted for”. On Wednesday evening, on a complaint by Romi’s father Swapan Kumar Banerjee, police registered a murder case under section 103 (1) the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). KolkataPoliceCommissioner Manoj Verma said the cause of death was yet to be determined, and that investigators were CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata