DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, JULY 19, 2025, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES A LASHKAR PROXY, TRF OWNED UP ATTACK Pahalgam attack outfit TRF placed on US terror list, boosts India efforts BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Strongaffirmation of counter-terror cooperation, saysJaishankar Merely living inside markaz not violation of orders: HC in Tablighi case SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, JULY 18 SOHINI GHOSH NEW DELHI, JULY 18 MERELY LIVING in a markaz did not amount to violation of prohibitory orders issued by the Government curtailing movement during the onset of Covid, the Delhi High Court has ruled while quashing 16 FIRs and related chargesheets against 70 Indians associated with the Tablighi Jamaat. The Jamaat was accused of spreading Covid by organising an international congregation at theNizamuddinMarkazinDelhi between March 13 and 15, 2020. InitsJuly17order,whichwas made public Friday, the court ruled that no offence is “even prima facie made out in the chargesheets”. It observed that the “continuation of these chargesheetswouldtantamount be abuse of the process and also is not in the interest of justice”. Notingthattheaccusedwere rendered “helpless” with the announcement of a sudden CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INS Nistar, India’s first indigenous diving support vessel, was commissioned into the Navy in Visakhapatnam on Friday. The ship is designed to undertake complex deep-sea saturation diving and rescue operations. X/@PRO_Vizag PAGES 7,9 SAYS FOR BJP, BENGAL’S PRIDE IS SUPREME, LAUNCHES PROJECTS OF `5,000 CR PM sounds poll bugle in Bengal: Mamata govt enabling infiltration, hindering development RELATED REPORTS BJP AT ITS HEELS, HOW MAMATA IS TRYING TO PUT NANO IN REARVIEW MIRROR AS MODI PROMISES PROGRESS, TMC SAYS THEY ARE ‘PACK OF LIES’ SWEETY KUMARI DURGAPUR, JULY 18 LAYING THE ground for the BJP’s campaign for next year’s Assembly elections in West Bengal,PrimeMinisterNarendra Modi on Friday lashed out at the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in the state, accusing it of enabling"infiltration"andhindering the state's development throughcorruptionandviolence. Addressing a massive BJP rally in Durgapur, where he launched several development projects worth over Rs 5,000 crore, the Prime Minister said: “The TMC is actively helping infiltrators. I want to say this very clearly that those who are not thecitizensof Indiaandhaveen- PAGE 3 PM Narendra Modi with actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty at BJP’s Durgapur rally on Friday. Partha Paul tered illegally will be dealt with fairness in accordance with the Constitution.” The Prime Minister’s charge against the TMC government of aiding infiltration by providing fake identity cards comes amid reports of Bengali-speaking migrants being detained and deportedtoBangladeshfromsome of the BJP-ruled states. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been consistently and forcefully hitting out at the BJP and the Central government over the issue, and linking it to Bengali identity. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 For ease of business, restaurants Justice Varma moves won’t need key MCD licence: L-G SC, challenges inquiry report indicting him CASH ROW: FACES IMPEACHMENT ‘Parallel,extra-constitutionalmechanism’ APURVA VISHWANATH IN A significant move that strengthens India’s fight against cross-border terror, the US State Department Friday designated The Resistance Front, a shadow outfit of Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba that had claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). In first remarks after Washington’s move, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar describeditasa“strongaffirmation of India-US counter-terrorism cooperation”. In a post on X with the hashtag Op Sindoor, he appreciated the decision of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the State Department, pointing out that the TRF was a LeT “proxy” and had “claimed responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam attack”. He said there is “zero tolerance for terrorism”. Designating an outfit as an FTO makes financing, aiding, advising and helping such an organisationacrimeunderUSlaw. Sources said this designation will support efforts to curb terrorism financing and to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BIG PICTURE PAGE 10 When a train comes to Aizawl Twenty-six people were killed in the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, a popular tourist destination in J&K, on April 22 As lines between terror outfits blur in Valley, challenges on ground BASHAARAT MASOOD SRINAGAR, JULY 18 THE DECISION by the US to designateTheResistanceFront(TRF) as a terrorist organisation is a diplomatic win for India and a message to Pakistan, but its impact on the ground remains to be seen, top security officials in the Valley said Friday. The decision comes threemonthsafterthePahalgam terrorattackthatkilled25tourists and a local ponywala. The TRF claimed responsibility for the attackonsocialmediachannels,but the NIA concluded during its investigation that all three attackers were Pakistani nationals. “It is a diplomatic win and puts Pakistan in a tight spot, but as far as the militancy is concerned, we will have to wait and watch. We have enough examples from the past — Lashkar, Jaish and even Hizb. All of them have been designated as ter● rorist organisations, yet they continued their attacks,” said a senior police officer,whohasbeenpartof Jammu andKashmirPolice’scounter-insurgency grid. E EXPLAINED A LIFELINE FOR SUBMARINES The Nizamuddin Markaz in New Delhi. File `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES, `20 IN ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Liquor ‘scam’ probe: ED arrests Baghel’s son Chaitanya, gets his custody for 5 days A 51-km rail line comes to the Mizoram capital, bringing both hope and a sense of foreboding NEW DELHI, JULY 18 FACING AN impeachment motion following a probe into allegationsof cashbeingfoundathis official residence in New Delhi, former Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma moved the Supreme Court Friday, calling its in-house inquiry mechanism that indicted him as “a parallel, extra-constitutional mechanism”. “Primarily, the In-House Procedure, adopted via a 1999 Full Court Resolution to handle complaints against judges and preserve judicial independence while maintaining public faith, unjustifiablyextendsbeyondthe intendedscopeof self-regulation and fact-finding. By culminating PAGE 1 ANCHOR Justice Yashwant Varma INSIDE LOK SABHA TO TAKE UP MOTION SEEKING JUSTICE VARMA’S REMOVAL PAGE 7 in recommendations for removalfromconstitutionaloffice, it creates a parallel, extra-constitutional mechanism that derogates from the mandatory framework under Articles 124 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE Chaitanya Baghel, son of Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, being produced at the PMLA court in Raipur on Friday. ANI Delhi L-G V K Saxena and former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant with Vandita Mishra, National Opinion Editor, The Indian Express, at the Expresso event in Delhi, Friday. Abhinav Saha EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, JULY 18 RESTAURANTS IN Delhi may no longer need to run from pillar to post every year to seek a key tradelicencefromtheMunicipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) — this requirement is being done away with to facilitate ease of business, according to LieutenantGovernorVKSaxena. Speaking at The Indian Express Expresso event, Saxena said, “Today, there is a need for ease of doing business... People should not have to come to the government; the government shouldgotothepeople.Wehave endedthelicencingsysteminthe city. We have allowed the threestar and four-star hotels to operate 24 hours… If we talk about the MCD licence, I would like to tell you that it was cleared in the last meeting... MCD licences will not be required for restaurants.” The MCD issues a Health Trade Licence to restaurants, which is mandatory for operation and is renewed annually. Last month, the L-G had passed a notification that Delhi Police clearanceswouldnotberequired CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 JAYPRAKASH S NAIDU RAIPUR, JULY 18 TRUMP AUTHORISES ATTORNEY GENERAL TO SEEK RELEASE OF EPSTEIN PAPERS P 14 EU SANCTIONS ON ROSNEFT-BACKED NAYARA ENERGY P 15 CHAITANYA BAGHEL, son of formerChhattisgarhChief Minister and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel,wasarrestedonFridayby the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on charges of money launderinginconnectionwiththeallegedRs2,161-croreliquorscam. He was subsequently producedbeforeaspecialPrevention ofMoneyLaunderingAct(PMLA) court in Raipur and remanded in ED custody for five days. According to the ED, the alleged scam involved a syndicate of senior state bureaucrats, politicians, and excise department officials who are accused of running a “parallel” excise department, wherein liquor was sold to the public, but no money came to the state exchequer, causingthegovernmentalossof CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Self-defence teacher, aapda mitra: Odisha student’s life snuffed out SUJIT BISOYI BHUBANESWAR, JULY 18 FROM A modest village on the Odisha-West Bengal border, the 20-year-old had high hopes when she left her home and family around two years ago to pursueadegreeataleadinggovernment college in Balasore, northern Odisha. On July 12, when she set herself on fire on the college campus because her complaints alleging sexual harassment by a professor were ignored, her dreamsof abetterlifewereshattered. She died two days later. “When she got admission intoafive-yearintegratedcourse in the college, she proudly rememberedtheeminentpersons who had studied there. She was happy being a student of such a reputed institution,” her father said, describing her as “strongwilled and industrious”. He recalled her affinity to activismandherdesiretobothhelp and teach others. “My daughter was brave, which is why she raisedhervoiceagainsttheinjustice done to her. She fought against the system until her last breath.Iwillnevergetbackwhat I have lost, but other parents shouldn’tsufferlikeme,”hesaid. The younger of two siblings, the woman had associated herself with the ABVP, the student affiliate of the RSS, since school. Even before formally joining the organisation, she would participate in every ABVP programme near her village. Localsrecalledhowproactive she was during cyclones in the area in her capacity as an Aapda Mitra (friend during disaster). “She probably learnt nationalismandvolunteerismbecause of her association with ABVP — always happy to help others and motivating them never to give up,” said her friend, who shared aroomwithherinaprivatemess A statewide bandh was called on Thursday by Opposition parties in Odisha to protest the student’s death. PTI inBalasoreforthepasttwoyears. Barely a month ago, they shifted to a new mess, where the woman celebrated her birthday. “We’veknowneachotherforfour years as we were in the same instituteduringhighersecondary,” the friend said. Her roommate said the woman had been “tense and upset” since June 30, the day she submittedacomplainttothecollege principal against the professor. “Though we didn’t belong to the same course, she used to call medidiandsharedalmosteverything. She was distraught the evening before she set herself on fire. Around 8 pm, she called her mother and shared her ordeal. Her mother asked me to console her,” said her friend. Until late night, the woman wasonthephone,crying.Sherefuseddinner.“Shewasawakeuntil 3 am that night,” her friend said. “She told me about her meeting with the principal and checkedif Icouldjoinher.Icouldn’t as I had a class.” “Werelyonfoodfromasmall eaterynearourmess.Theydeliver food around 2.30 pm every day, but she asked them to send it by 1pmthatday.Whywouldsomeoneplanlunchbeforesettingherself ablaze? I am still looking for ananswer,”shesaid.The accused assistantprofessor,SamirKumar Sahu,andprincipal,DillipKumar Ghose, have been arrested. Batchmates said the woman wasatrainedself-defenceexpert and would teach other women on campus. “She was an allrounder. A good painter, singer, actor and human being,” said a batchmate.Studentsrecalledshe had been facing attendance issues for several reasons, including her mother’s surgery and a grandparent’s death. Her friends claimedshewasbeingbulliedonline ever since she complained against the professor. “That possibly added to her mental pressure,” said a friend. Kolkata