The Ideas Page: The marital rape exception in criminal law is a colonial relic. It needs to go 9 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2025 JOURNALISM of COURAGE MUMBAI, latE citY, 16 PaGES ₹5.00 l www.indianexpress.com Da i lY f R o M : a H M E Da B a D , c H a N D i Ga R H , D E l H i , J a i P u R , Ko l K ata , l u c K N o w , M u M B a i , N aG P u R , Pat N a , P u N E , Va D o Da R a rEg.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 rNi rEgN. NO. 1543/57 1,386-KM Road PRojeCT To HaLVe TRaVeL TiMe ban on enTRy of non-bs Vi CaRs KiCKs in Today 4 years of delay, short 87-km stretch derails Rs 1-lakh-crore Delhi-Mumbai Expressway Air toxic, Delhi govt makes 50% work from home a must Project scrapped in March 2023, re-awarded to same Pune firm months later dheeraj Mishra delhi r A jAsT h A n ₹1,228 cr Kota Existing NH-48 dElhi-mumbai ExprEssway g UjA r AT karvad - JuJuwa Ratlam M A d h yA P r A d es h 21.75% completed Talsari - karvad ₹1,560 cr Total spent ₹565 cr Length: 25 km mumbai 4.85% completed Total spent ₹179 cr Length: 27 km Project cost ThE 87-km sTrETch Total spent ₹59.56 cr Length: 35 km ₹821 cr Surat THREE SMALL stretches in Gujarat adding up to just 87 km and awarded to a Pune contractor have ended up derailing the massive 1,386-km Delhi-Mumbai Expressway project being built at a cost of Rs 1.04 lakh crore, The Indian Express has learnt. Project cost Project cost Vadodara New Delhi, December 17 JuJuwa - GandEva U T TA r P r A d es h Dausa Sohna 36.23% completed n Most packages within Gujarat are targeted for completion between March and June 2026 The Pune contractor, Roadway Solutions India Infra Ltd (RSIIL), was first awarded all these three stretches in 2021. Two of these were scrapped in March 2023 due to delays, only to be re-awarded to the same company in November 2023 after it bid the lowest. At the end of almost four years now, less than 20 per cent of the 87 km has been completed, raising red flags in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. And frustrated at the slow progress, the NHAI is now considering issuing notices to RSIIL, that may even result in the termination of the contract. When contacted, Navjeet Gadhoke, Director, RSIIL, attributed the delay to “nonprovision of land by NHAI”. NHAI officials, however, blamed non-performance by RSIIL and contractual disputes and litigations for adversely affecting the pace of execution. The Expressway, which passes through Delhi, Haryana, »ConTinUed on PaGe 2 Hasina’s son sajeeb Wazed joy ‘Threat to India very real, Yunus trying to bring Islamists to power via rigged poll’ Rs 10,000 to be given to verified construction workers affected by GRAP rules drishti jain & devansh Mittal New Delhi, December 17 THE GOVERNMENT of Delhi will provide one-time assistance of Rs 10,000 each to construction workers hit by restrictions imposed on building activities under Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to combat air pollution, Labour Minister Kapil Mishra announced on Wednesday. Mishra also directed that from Thursday, all government and private institutions in Delhi must mandatorily switch to ‘work from home’ for 50 per cent of their employees. The decisions are part of a ExprEss exclusive nikhila Henry You and your mother Sheikh Hasina are in exile. Begum Khaleda Zia is critically ill and her son Tarique has not returned to Bangladesh. Could this be the end of the two most As Delhi moved to take steps, the Supreme Court called for a long-term plan instead of short-term measures. It called for a plan to do away with toll plazas from October to January 2026. series of steps announced by the Delhi government in re- After sentence by court, minister Kokate stripped of portfolios In Conversation With The J&K Chief Minister Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in conversation with The Indian Express National Opinion Editor Vandita Mishra at the Express Adda in New Delhi on Wednesday. RENuKa PuRi l Increase in expenditure of state over the years for the scheme Mumbai, December 17 By EP UNNY 100 128 158 92 MUNIR MAY VISIT WASHINGTON P 12 »ConTinUed on PaGe 2 Alok Deshpande Heena Khandelwal Business as Usual »ConTinUed on PaGe 2 Stand-up comic, poet, Maharashtra’s spending in rural storyteller Zakir Khan job scheme may jump six-fold is guest at Adda today after passage of VB-GRAM G Bill BONDI BEACH shooter Sajid Akram brought his Europeanorigin wife to Hyderabad in 2001 for a nikah ceremony, and his son Naveed Akram — a co-accused in the terror attack — around 2004-05 to introduce him to his parents, The Indian Express has learnt based on conversations with investigators who have ques- »ConTinUed on PaGe 2 18/12/2025 sponse to the alarming decline in air quality in the Capital since the beginning of November. On Tuesday, it announced a ban on the entry into Delhi of private vehicles that are registered outside the Capital and are not compliant with the cleanest Bharat Stage (BS) VI tailpipe emissions standards, and said that pumps in Delhi cooperated. We have not found anything suspicious so far,” a Telangana intelligence officer who questioned them told The Indian Express. “They seemed shocked to know he (Sajid) could do something like this. They immediately told us all they knew about his visits to Hyderabad,” the officer said. Sajid, an Indian passport holder, moved to Australia in New Delhi, December 17 the deteriorating security situation in Bangladesh and activities of extremist elements threatening the Indian High Commission there. These are excerpts from the interview with Wazed: SC suggestions The Capital’s air quality has been dropping since the beginning of November. GaJENDRa YaDaV tioned close relatives. After 15 people were killed in the mass shooting that occurred during a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, law enforcement agencies identified the gunmen as Sajid (50) and his son Naveed (24). While the former left for Australia in 1998, the latter was born there. “Sajid’s family had to be questioned because we needed to know whether they had any inkling about the attack. They Hyderabad, December 17 Ritu sarin Sajeeb Wazed Joy is son and advisor of ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina ExplainEd Bondi shooter came to Hyderabad for nikah in 2001, with son later ‘I speak to my mother on the phone. I have been to Delhi and plan to go again’ IN FIRST remarks on the announcement of elections in Bangladesh next February and the ban that rules out participation of Awami League, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son and advisor of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said the interim government in Dhaka, headed by Muhammad Yunus, was attempting to appoint an Islamic regime. He also warned that the security situation in Bangladesh posed a heightened threat to India. Fifty-four-year-old Wazed, who lives in the US, made these remarks in an email interview with The Indian Express on the day Delhi summoned Dhaka’s High Commissioner to convey India’s “strong concerns” over E. ZAKIR KHAN dons many hats — stand-up comedian, writer, poet, lyricist and actor — and has emerged as one of the most recognisable voices of contemporary Indian storytelling. Over the last decade, he has built a loyal following through a deeply personal brand of humour that blends romance, heartbreak, family, ambition and quiet resilience. Most recently, in August 2025, he became the first Indian comedian to headline a full-length Hindi stand-up show at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York. total Expenditure State share*** 2020-21 2020.96 202 2021-22 2422.75 242 2022-23 3024.23 302 2023-24 4460.83 446 to get a budget of roughly 10 per cent of that which comes to around Rs 15,000 crore and with 40 per cent share to be borne by the state, we will have to shell out at least Rs 6,000 crore if we are to utilise the rest 60 per cent. This would mean we will see over 500 per cent jump in state’s expenditure on MGNREGA which is expected to be around Rs 900 crore for the current financial year,” the official said. »ConTinUed on PaGe 2 »ConTinUed on PaGe 2 2025-26* 2026-27** 9,000 15,000 900 6,000 all fiGuRES iN RS cRoRE; *PRoJEctED foR tHiS YEaR; ** aS PER PRoJEctioNS iN VBGRaMG Bill; ***StatE SHaRE at 10% of total uP to 2025-26 alok deshpande Zakir Khan Mumbai, December 17 ONCE THE legislation for the new national rural job guarantee scheme is passed by Parliament, Maharashtra’s expenditure on it will likely see a six-fold jump to Rs 6,000 crore in the first full year of implementation from just about Rs 900 crore now. The new Viksit Bharat — Guarantee for Rozgar and »ConTinUed on PaGe 2 Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-GRAM G Bill, 2025, is likely to strain state finances, government officials said. Some of the populist poll announcements such as the CM Majhi Ladki Bahin have already burdened the exchequer with additional spending of Rs 36,000 crore in a year. “As per the present content of the bill, while the total estimated requirement stands at Rs 1,51,282 crore, we (Maharashtra) expect Mumbai, December 17 MAHARASHTRA MINISTER and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Manikarao Kokate was stripped of his portfolios of Sports and Minority Affairs late Wednesday. The development comes a day after the Nashik sessions court convicted him and awarded him two-year imprisonment for tampering with documents to acquire a government flat. “As of now he continues to be the minister without a portfolio. The decision about his resignation will be taken soon. The portfolios will now be with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar,” said a senior NCP leader. 2024-25 5972.23 597 l BOOK By ASHOK TANDON, A MEMBEr Of VAJPAyEE’S PMO, SHEDS NEW LigHT ON THE gOiNgS-ON WiTHiN THE ruLiNg COALiTiON AND THE OPPOSiTiON When NDA considered govt minus Vajpayee, and BJP suggested he be President Vikas Pathak for five years once fresh elections were ordered. Ashok Tandon, a member WHEN ATAL Bihari Vajpayee’s of Vajpayee’s PMO as in-charge 13-month government fell by of media relations, writes about one vote in April 1999, there this little-known anecdote of were murmurs in the NDA that 1999 in his book Atal Sansmathe alliance should try to stake ran, which was released on fresh claim with the support of Tuesday. some new parties after replacThe argument was that “if ing Vajpayee. the United Front government However, the (which preceded the paGE 1 move was stoneNDA’s) could replace walled by Trinamool H D Deve Gowda as Congress chief MaPrime Minister with mata Banerjee and MDMK I K Gujral, why could the NDA leader Vaiko, who also had the not do the same” to explore support of BJD chief Naveen forming an alternative governPatnaik. Vajpayee survived, ment, Tandon writes. and the NDA returned to power But Banerjee and Vaiko reNew Delhi, December 17 anchor A B Vajpayee being sworn in as PM for a third time on October 13, 1999, months after his government fell by one vote. aRcHiVE; Atal Sansmaran, published by Prabhat Prakashan, was released Tuesday jected the idea straightaway, saying there would be “No NDA government without Vajpayee”. Patnaik also took the same line. Tandon says, “Mamata Banerjee and Vaiko could go to any extent to defend Vajpayee, be it at an NDA forum or a public rally — Mamata considered him a father figure and freely poured her heart out when she spoke with him.” As per Tandon, what remained unclear to those in the PMO was who was behind the campaign to replace Vajpayee. The senior journalist also writes about why no alternative government could be formed after the fall of the Vajpayee coalition, despite the combined Opposition having the numbers. According to him, Congress president Sonia Gandhi tried, but felt betrayed by the Left, and hence refused to support any ‘third front’ parties. The “betrayal”, as per Tandon, was that Gandhi had come to know that even as CPI(M) leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet encouraged her to stake claim to form the government after Vajpayee’s coalition fell, he goaded Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to say he would not support her as PM. Tandon cites from Gujral’s book Matters of Discretion to say that Surjeet wanted Jyoti Basu to be PM. Gujral also wrote that he had cautioned Gandhi on April 20, 1999, to not be “naive” and trust the Left, saying it would betray her at the last moment. In Tandon’s words, Surjeet shared with Gandhi a list of 288 MPs apparently ready to sup- port the Congress, asking her to stake claim. Accordingly, she met President K R Narayanan on April 21, 1999, and told him she had the support of 272 members, and more would join. The next day, Mulayam and the Left bloc’s Revolutionary Socialist Party and Forward Bloc vetoed the name of Gandhi, indicating their 28 MPs would not support the Congress if she was the PM. According to Tandon, while Surjeet wanted Basu as PM, he also had a plan-B in case the West Bengal Chief Minister refused — President Narayanan, whose candidature would have »ConTinUed on PaGe 2