Vol. 67 No. 87 | TUESDAY | JANUARY 9, 2024 | 22 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Quality at Value www.freepressjournal.in EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper ALL BACK TO JAIL BILKIS BANO CASE: Early release of 11 convicts by Gujarat quashed OUR BUREAU / NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the Gujarat government's early release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case and sent them back to the jail, holding that the Gujarat government was not competent to pass the remission orders on August 15, 2022. The court said that the Maharashtra government, within whose jurisdiction the offence was tried, was alone permitted to decide on the remission of sentence of the convicts.It held that the Gujarat government usurped the power of the Maharashtra government by deciding the remission plea. Bilkis and others had approached the top court against the remission order in November 2022. The divisional bench of IN TANDEM WITH CONVICTS ■ Gujarat government was "complicit and acted in tandem" with the convicts ■ Use of power by Gujarat to grant relief to the convicts amounted to usurpation of power of Maharashtra government Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan, while pronouncing the verdict, also said one of the convicts had suppressed facts and misled the apex court by making false statements. The top court said the Gujarat government had acted in tandem with the convicts in granting them remission which vindicated the SC's earlier order by which the trial was shifted outside the state. It said the convicts cannot be allowed to remain out of jail since their remission has been quashed and directed them to report to jail authority within two weeks. CONTD. ON NATION ■ On the Supreme Court's May 2022 ruling that held Gujarat to be competent to decide the plea for premature release of the convicts, the bench headed by Justice Nagarathna found that the convict who had approached the top court had suppressed material facts. ■ The court found the convict had "played fraud" on it. THIS IS WHAT JUSTICE FEELS LIKE T his is what justice feels like, Bilkis Bano said after the Supreme Court quashed the remission. In a statement issued through her lawyer, Bano thanked the top court for the verdict and said "today is truly the onset of New Year for me". "These are tears of relief. I have smiled for the first time in over a year and a half. I have hugged my children. It feels like a stone the size of a mountain has been lifted from my chest, and I can breathe again," Bano said. In SENA VERDICT D-DAY JAN 10 FPJ NEWS SERVICE / MUMBAI Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narwekar will deliver his verdict on the disqualification petitions against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and several MLAs on January 10; a rebellion by the Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena had split the party in June 2022, Vidhan Bhavan officials said on Monday . The deadline set by the Supreme Court for the delivering the verdict was Deof cember 31, 2023 but just a fortnight before, on December 15, the apex court gave a 10-day extension and set January 10 as the new date for a decision. In June 2022, Shinde and several MLAs had rebelled against then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray lead, ing to a split in the Sena and the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which also comprised the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress. CONTD. ON NATION HAPPY PRAVASI BHARATIYA DIVAS You bring cars, we will bring donkeys Azad Maidan showdown SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE MUMBAI, NANDED First, there was the agitation threatened by Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil; and, now, OBC community leaders too have upped the ante. After state minister Chhagan Bhujbal, OBC leader Prakash Shendge is on the warpath. He has said if the Maratha community brings 10 lakh cars to protest at the OBC reservation rescue meeting to be held at Naigaon Narsi in Nanded district, “we too have 2,000 donkeys and sheep and will protest at Azad Maidan”. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar, former MP Vikas Mahatme, Prof T P Munde, Avinash Bhosikar, Sachin Naik and other dignitaries were present when Shendge made this statement. Shendge criticised Manoj Jarange-Patil, who is fighting for Maratha reservation. CONTD. ON NATION MALDIVE’S LAKSHYA (DWEEP) IS CHINA When beaches turn diplomatic battlefields the statement, she added that journeys like that of hers can never be made alone. "I have had my husband and my children by my side. I have had my friends who have given me so much love at a time of such hate, and held my hand at each difficult turn. I have had an extraordinary lawyer, Advocate Shobha Gupta, who has walked with me unwaveringly for over 20 long years, and who never allowed me CONTD. ON NATION to lose hope in the quest for justice," she said. Boycott Maldives calls grow louder FPJ NEWS SERVICE / MUMBAI In the background of worsening relations between India and Maldives, the aviation and tourism committee of the Indian Chamber of Commerce has appealed to its members like the Indian Association of Tour Operators, Travel Agents Association of India, Travel Agents Federation of India, Adventure Tour Operators Association of India, and the Association of Domestic Tour Operators to stop promoting travel and tourism to Maldives ``in view of the anti-India feelings expressed by the ministers of Maldives". Dr. Subhash Goyal, chairman of the aviation & tourism committee of the chamber has requested that HC order on Pune by-election stayed OUR BUREAU / NEW DELHI Observing that it will lay down the guidelines on conducting by-elections, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Bombay High Court order asking the Election Commission to immediately hold the by-poll for the Pune Lok Sabha seat, which is vacant since March 29, 2023, after the death of MP Girish Bapat. At the same time, the top court rapped the poll panel for not holding the by-election for the seat for such a long time despite the law mandating conducting polls expeditiously . "The seat got vacant on March 29, 2023. What was the Election Commission doing since then?" asked the bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. "We will lay down guidelines on holding of elections on account of vacancy the ," bench said. The top court took note of the submission of the poll panel that the tenure of the present Lok Sabha is ending on June 16 this year, and holding the by-election will not serve any purpose in view of the fact that the general elections are also due later this year. CONTD. ON NATION all enquiries for Maldives be diverted to Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and other destinations which can be promoted in the Indian Oean area, including Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Bali, Phuket. He also urged the hotel industry to invest in Lakshadweep which will give “better returns than Maldives.” CONTD. ON NATION BJP minister loses election in Rajasthan MANISH GODHA / JAIPUR The newly formed BJP government in Rajasthan received a major setback when Congress candidate Rupendra Singh Kunnar won the deferred election in the Sri Karanpur assembly seat. He has defeated BJP candidate Surendra Pal Singh TT by more than 11000 votes. This is seen as a big blow to the BJP government as the party had already administered the oath of office to party candidate Surendra Pal Singh TT and assigned him departments like agricultural marketing. (Article 164 (4) of the Constitution allows any CONTD. ON NATION PRESIDENT MOHAMED MUIZZU ARRIVES IN CHINA IN THE BACKDROP OF ‘SUMMONING’ OF ENVOYS IN NEW DELHI AND MALE V SUDARSHAN_/ MUMBAI Signs of India's Neighbourhood First policy taking a knock became further evident on Monday when New Delhi summoned Maldivian envoy for suitable messaging followed by the Indian envoy to Maldives finding himself in the Maldivian foreign ministry for a “pre-arranged” meeting. By an uncanny coincidence all this happened the same day the newly elected Madlivian President Mohamed Muizzu arrived in China to establish the new strategic pecking order. Until now, New Delhi has been the first port of call for incoming presidents. Not for Muizzu, who chose Turkey a fact that the Chinese , took delight in pointing out, via Global Times, in an editorial headlined “What does Maldivian President's break with tradition signify?” The editorial, probably written before three junior ministers of the Maldivian government left New Delhi smarting Bullet train: 100% land acquisition OUR CORRESPONDENT / MUMBAI In a significant development, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor has achieved a major milestone, with the completion of 100 per cent land acquisition for the ambitious project. As of January 8, 2024, all necessary land parcels in Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli (DNH) and Maharashtra have been successfully acquired, paving the way for the rapid advancement of this transformative infrastructure initiative. Confirming the development, a senior official of the National High Speed Rail Cor- poration said, “The project has reached a crucial stage, with all civil contracts awarded for the Gujarat and Maharashtra sections of the corridor. This marks a substantial step forward in the overall development of the high-speed rail network. “Over 120.4km of girders have been launched, and more than 50 per cent i.e. 271km of pier casting has been completed, showcasing the project’s commitment to efficient and robust construction methodologies,” he said. Apart from that, the laying of the Reinforced Concrete (RC) track bed has commenced in Surat and LAST WORD AAP & CONG OVERCOME INITIAL HUMP GAURAV VIVEK BHATNAGAR NEW DELHI Anand. The innovative Japanese Shinkansen-inspired track system is being introduced for the first time in India and reflects the commitment towards adopting cutting-edge technologies. Additionally another signif, icant achievement includes the completion of the first mountain tunnel, measuring 350 metres in length and with a diameter of 12.6 metres, near Zaroli Village in Valsad, Gujarat, accomplished in just 10 months. CONTD. ON NATION TAILPIECE Century Bazaar being torn down for housing complex KARNATAKA MINISTER SHRUTI PANDIT / MUMBAI The iconic Century Bhavan at Prabhadevi, which was earlier known as Century Bazaar, is being torn down to create space for an elite residential complex. All shop and office owners have been told that they will have to shut shop by March 31, 2024. “Century Bazaar was our bus stop!” recalls Divya Mehta, who used to travel from a nearby building to Mahim for school. “People still say Century Bazaar and not ‘Bhavan’ despite the change nearly two decades ago. I guess… for me it will always remain Century Bazaar, the landmark it was.” Century Bazaar or Happy Home, as it was also known, was one of the first department stores in the city The . two-storey store stocked and sold almost everything from a safety pin to jewellery When . they closed the department store, refurbished it as a mini mall, it hosted Croma, Starbucks, Nature’s Basket, and Juice (salon). There’s also a cafeteria on the first floor near Starbucks for office goers from the other wing of the building that along with the Century Textile Mills office and a couple of other businesses of the Birla Group, also has UCO bank. While the rest of the establishments are aware of the closure from April 1, 2024, Juice manager says that they have not been told about it. The Croma and Starbucks managers are confident that their companies will house them in other stores. “We have been told that they will soon have another store in the vicinity But if that doesn’t . happen before this one closes, we will work at other stores till it opens,” says a staffer at Starbucks. “That’s Tata for you,” says Radhika, 23, who overhears me talking to the staff. “They will always take care of their staff.” That said, there are a few regulars at Starbucks who are quite upset about the store being shut down. “ a loyal cusAs tomer, witnessing the closure of my beloved hangout is disheartening. CONTD. ON NATION STOKES BELAGAVI ROW FPJ NEWS SERVICE BENGALURU K arnataka’s Minister for Women and Child Welfare Laxmi Hebbalkar has stirred up a controversy in the state with her statement that the border district Belagavi belonged to Maharashtra before Independence. Hebbalkar had issued the statement while attending the Sixth Kannada Convention organised at Karadga with remarks that were at once provocative and worth noting, coming from the world's smallest Muslim majority nation, pointed out that for India, “Maldives, due to its strategic importance, has become a piece of meat in the struggle between China and India.” According to the Maldive's Sun, Indian envoy “Munu Mahawar has been asked to come in for a meeting at the Foreign Ministry at 12:00 pm Monday ...The move comes after Ibrahim Shaheeb, the Maldivian ambassador in New Delhi, was summoned by India’s External Affairs Ministry earlier on Monday .” It was not clear by Monday evening if the Maldivian foreign Ministry went beyond their initial view that the remarks made by the three suspended junior ministers -Malsha Shareef, Mariyam Shiuna and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid were their “personal opinion” and did not reflect the views of the government. CONTD. ON NATION Village in Belagavi District on Sunday . While describing the rich history of Kannada language and Karnataka state, she stated that Belagavi was part of Maharashtra before Independence. Her video in which the statement appears has gone viral on social media. While the Congress was silent on the controversial statement, the BJP hit back. CONTD. ON NATION T he leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress held the first formal bilateral meeting on Monday to discuss seat sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to the media following the nearly two-hour meeting, Congress general secretary Mukul Wasnik termed the talks as “very fruitful” and “very meaningful”. He said “both the parties put forward their views regarding the coordination of seats.” Terming AAP as a “strong party” in the INDIA bloc, he said there will be more discussions with it on seat sharing. The meeting assumes significance as it is likely to impact at least 20 seats – 13 in Punjab and 7 in Delhi. In both these states the AAP is in power. On Monday though, the discussion was centred around Delhi only . In Delhi, the AAP had first formed the government with Congress support in 2013. The party had ended the three-term rule of the Congress by eating into its traditional vote bank. Yet the grand old party had supported it to keep the BJP out of power. In that election, BJP had won 32 seats, AAP 28 and the Congress 8, while others had bagged two. The gamble had not paid off for the Congress. CONTD. ON NATION