The Editorial Page: Beyond Maduro, why Delhi has a new window of opportunity in the region 10 TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2026 JOURNALISm of COURAGE AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 18 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 Happening today 2020 DELHI RIOTS cASES: BENcH cITES ‘HIERARcHY Of PARTIcIPATION’ lA cOURT IN SURAJPUR will No bail for Umar & Sharjeel as SC makes distinction; five get relief lELEcTION cOMMISSION of Can renew bail pleas after examination of witnesses or completion of a year: SC hear the Akhlaq lynching case. After rejecting the UP govt’s plea to withdraw all charges against the accused, the court had on December 23 fast-tracked the trial. India is scheduled to publish the draft list under the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh. lWEST BENgAL cM Mamata Banerjee to move court against the SIR of electoral rolls, alleging it has triggered fear, harassment and administrative arbitrariness. lSOMALIA’S PRESIDENT will visit close ally Turkey following Israel’s recognition of the selfproclaimed republic of Somaliland. Ankara has denounced Israel’s move, calling it “overt interference in Somalia’s domestic affairs”. TRACk THESE AND MORE ON WWW.INDIANExPREss.cOM Gujarat moves to control, regulate coaching centres Ritu Sharma Ahmedabad, January 5 IN THE wake of a number of student suicide cases, fire incidents, lack of facilities and allegedmalpractices,theGujarat government is set to control and regulate coaching centres across the state. With a focus on student safety, mental well-being and transparency, the Gujarat government is ready to move a bill – the Gujarat Coaching Institute (Management) Bill - in the Legislative Assembly's budget session that will enforce rules on private coaching centres. »cONTINUED ON PAgE 2 INsIDE pAgE 3 Ananthakrishnan g New Delhi, January 5 CITING “HIERARCHY of participation”, the Supreme Court onMondaydeniedbailtoUmar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, saying the prosecution material shows their “central and formative role” and “involvement at the level of planning, mobilisation and strategic direction”. Sayingthatallaccuseddon't stand on the same footing, the bench of Justices Aravind KumarandNVAnjariagranted conditionalbailtofiveothersin the case — Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed. “All the appellants do not stand on equal footing as regards culpability...Thehierarchyofparticipationemergingfromtheprosecution’scaserequiresthecourt toexamineeachapplicationindividually,” the bench said. Saying that there was a prima facie case against Khalid and Imam under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the courtsaidit“issatisfiedthatthe prosecution material, taken at face value as required at this stage,disclosesaprimafacieattribution of a central and By EP UNNY UmarKhalidandsharjeelImam The two, according to the prosecution, were the first ones to act after the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed in early December 2019, by creating WhatsApp groups and distributing pamphlets in Muslim populated areas calling for protests and chakka-jam. Thefivewhogotbail gULfISHA fATIMA She was part of a group called Pinjra Tod, which police claimed was one of the groups behind the alleged plot. SHIfA UR REHMAN Accused of misusing his position in the Alumni Association of Jamia Millia Islamia to finance the riots. MEERAN HAIDER Accused of crowdfunding the protests, allegedly received funds from several individuals, including witnesses. MOHD SALEEM KHAN He was alleged to be one of the main organisers at the Chand Bagh anti-CAA protest site. SHADAB AHMED Allegedly played a vital role in orchestrating the riots, leading protest intended to paralyse Delhi. INsIDE A bITTErSwEET vErdIcTforkINof 5 who goT bAIL p 9 Sc crEATES hIErArchy of offENdErS p 14 formative role by the appellants…Umar Khalid and SharjeelImamintheallegedconspiracy. The material suggests involvement at the level of planning, mobilisation and strategic direction, extending »cONTINUED ON PAgE 2 Supreme Court expands definition of terror, raises bar for granting bail Apurva Vishwanath New Delhi, January 5 FROM ENDORSING an expansivedefinitionofa“terroristact” to drawing a hierarchy among the accused and justifying prolonged pre-trial incarceration, the Supreme Court Monday, in denying bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, effectively raised the bar even higher for those seeking bail under stringent anti-terror laws. “While the period of incarcerationundergonebytheseappellants is substantial and has beendulyconsidered,theCourt isnotpersuadedthat,on the present record, continued detention has crossed the threshold of constitutional impermissibility so as to overridethestatutoryembargo.The complexity of the prosecution, the nature of evidence relied upon, and the stage of the pro- ceedings do not justify their enlargement on bail at this juncture,” the Court said. TheCourtalsocitedanother reasontojustifypre-trial detention of Khalid and Imam: ensuring that they do not attempt to influence protected witnesses in the case. The SC allowed the two accused to approach the trial court again for bail after one year or after E. »cONTINUED ON PAgE 2 US President Donald Trump with Senator Lindsey Graham aboard Air Force One on Sunday. REUTERS ‘cAN RAISE TARIffS QUIcKLY’ India’s cut Russian oil: Senator; Trump says Modi knew ‘I was not happy’ Hope for movement before new US envoy Sergio Gor takes charge Shubhajit Roy & Ravi Dutta Mishra New Delhi, January 5 VETERAN REPUBLICAN leader and US Senator Lindsey Graham, chairman of the SenateBudgetCommittee,hassaid that Indian Ambassador to the USVinayKwatrainformedhim about New Delhi reducing its purchases of Russian oil and asked him to convey to President Donald Trump to “relieve the tariff” imposed on India. Graham, standing next to USPresidentDonaldTrumpon Air Force One Sunday, spoke about his tariff bill that seeks to impose 500 per cent levies on imports from countries buying Russian oil. Trump said Prime Minister NarendraModi“knewIwasnot happy” with India’s purchases of Russian oil and that Washington can raise tariffs on New Delhi “very quickly”. Trump and Graham’s remarks come when India is on thepathtoreducingoilimports from Russia, ever since the 25percenttariffswereimposed »cONTINUED ON PAgE 2 Call on Bangladesh seamer’s IPL ouster taken at top level in BCCI ‘No discussion’ among Board members or consultation with IPL before KKR told to release Mustafizur Devendra Pandey Mumbai, January 5 S.I.T To probE SUrENdrANAgAr brIbEry cASE business as Usual l THEcAsEAGAINsTTHEsEVEN THE DECISION to instruct IPL franchiseKolkataKnightRiders to release Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman from its squad wasn't the outcome of discussionsamongmembersof the Indian cricket board — the ExPREss exclusive league’s governing council wasn’t consulted, either. Thedecision,whichresulted inBangladeshrefusingtotravel to India for next month's T20 World Cup, was taken at the highest level in the board, The IndianExpresshas learnt. “We ourselves got to know about this through the media. There was no discussion. No suggestion was taken from our side,” a top BCCI official, who is also associated with the IPL, told this newspaper. »cONTINUED ON PAgE 2 Gandhinagar typhoid traced to drainage water mixing with drinking supply, all hands on deck Parimal A Dabhi Gandhinagar, January 5 GANDHINAGAR MP and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been “in constant touch” with the state government over the issue, 75 health teams are working on the ground,MunicipalCorporation staffhavebeenpressedintoservice on “a war footing” to inspect more than 20,800 houses and cover more than 90,000 people, round-the-clock OPDs Over 100 cases of suspected typhoid have been detected in Gujarat’s capital. EXPRESS have been started in affected areas, and food arrangements made for relatives of those under treatment. With the deaths in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, from contaminated water spiralling into a major crisis for the state BJP government,thepartyistaking nochancesfollowingatyphoid outbreak in parts of Gandhinagar, linked to leak of drainage water into a drinking water pipeline. More than 100 cases of suspected typhoid have been detectedinthestatecapital.While around 20 people were dis- charged after treatment, more than 90 are under treatment at Gandhinagar Civil Hospital as well as health centres; their condition is stable, officials said. Medical Superintendent of Gandhinagar Civil Hospital Mita Parikh said that as the incubation period of typhoid is 10-15 days, they are expecting around 10 fresh cases daily till January 20. With a number of patients admittedinprivatehospitalsor »cONTINUED ON PAgE 2 l PONGAL COMING, JANA NAYAGAN AND PARASAKTHI RELEASE BACk TO BACk Vijay farewell vs Stalin kin’s big-budget debut: TN’s political fight on big screen Arun Janardhanan In the narrow space between those two mornings, TamilNaduwilldowhatitdoes ON PAPER, it is a Pongal clash. best. It will turn a festival into a Inpractice,itisadressrehearsal. referendum. Then it will go Two films. Two release dates. back to work. Twocampsthatspeaklikeparty There is a political fight, of mouthpieces even course. But the fight PAGE 1 when they say they is also personal, beare only talking tween DMK leader aboutcinema.Vijay’s Udhayanidhi Stalin’s JanaNayaganlandsfirst,onJa- ecosystemandVijay’snewparty, nuary 9. Parasakthi, produced Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. by a member of the DMK first Jana Nayagan is being family,followsonJanuary10,its billed as Vijay’s last screen apdate having been advanced pearance before a full-fledged from January 14. »cONTINUED ON PAgE 2 Chennai, January 5 anchor Jana Nayagan will be released January 9, Parasakthi the next day Ahmedabad