FREE PRESS The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms VOL. 13 NO. 262 | BHOPAL | TUESDAY | MARCH 5, 2024 | PAGES 16 `3 - AGENCIES New Delhi MPs and MLAs taking bribe to vote or make a speech inside the legislature are not immune from prosecution, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday in a landmark verdict overturning its 1998 judgement, and said bribery and corruption by lawmakers "erode the foundation" of Indian Parliamentary democracy. Setting aside a five-judge constitution bench judgement of 1998 in the JMM bribery case, a larger bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud also said corruption and bribery by MPs and MLAs eat into probity in public life. In the JMM bribery case, the Supreme Court had, by a 3:2 majority, held that lawmakers have immunity against criminal prosecution for any speech made and vote cast inside the House under Articles 105(2) and 194(2) WHAT THE 7-JUDGE BENCH SAID Protection granted under Articles 105 and 194 cannot protect lawmakers in bribery cases because they have no link with their duties as members of the House. Corruption and bribery by legislators can potentially destroy the functioning of the Indian Parliamentary democracy. COMMENTS ON THE 1998 VERDICT Chief Justice of India said, "We disagree with the judgment in PV Narasimha (case). The judgment in that case which granted immunity to legislators for taking bribes to cast votes has wide ramifications and is overruled." The 1998 judgment results in a "paradoxical situation" where a legislator who accepts a bribe and votes accordingly is protected, and a legislator who, despite taking a bribe, votes independently is prosecuted. WHAT THE VERDICT MEANS Cash-for-votes trading has been a massive challenge in preserving the sanctity of electoral mandates. Prior to Monday's judgment, no MP or MLA could be prosecuted if they took a bribe and cast their vote accordingly. But now they have lost this immunity. The court held that the crime was complete the moment a lawmaker accepted the bribe, and the immunity he/she enjoys inside the House won't provide protection in this case. I t is a salutary, desirable, welcome judgement. It is something which sets right the law and it should have CONGRESS been done earlier is laudatory judgement, will ensure clean Itthe asystem.will ensure cleanitpolitics andAdeepenpolitics andbydeepen people's faith in He said on X, "SWAGATAM! great judgment the Hon'ble Supreme Court which people's faith in the system. r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 EDIT AS POLLS LOOM, BJP GETS EARLY START of the Constitution, In a unanimous judgement on Monday, a seven-judge bench held that Articles 105 and 194 of the Constitution, which deal with the powers and privileges of MPs and MLAs in Parliament and legislative assemblies, seek to sustain an environment in which debate and deliberation can take place within the legislature. "This purpose is destroyed when a member is induced to vote or speak in a certain manner because of an act of bribery," said the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna, M M Sundresh, P S Narasimha, J B Pardiwala, Sanjay Kumar and Manoj Misra. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the verdict in a post on X. "SWAGATAM! A great judgment by the Hon'ble Supreme Court which will ensure clean politics and deepen people's faith in the system," he said. CONTD. ON P8 27.30c. 9.00c Sunrise : 06.44 Sunset : 06.32 SC to Stalin Jr: You abused your right NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Monday rebuked Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin over his "eradicate Sanatan dharma" remark and asked why he has moved the court with his plea for clubbing together the FIRs filed against him after abusing his right to freedom of speech and expression. A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta told Stalin that being a minister he should have SANATANA ROW been careful with his statements and mindful of the possible consequences they could have. "You abuse your right under Article 19(1)(a) (right to freedom of speech and expression of the Constitution). You abuse your right under Article 25 (freedom of conscience, the freedom to profess, practice, and propagate religion). "Now you are exercising your right under Article 32 (to file plea in the Supreme Court directly)? Do you not know the consequences of what you said? You are not a layman. You are a minister. You should know the consequences," the bench said and adjourned the matter till March 15. CONTD. ON P8 DIVINE TRIBUTE NEWS BRIEF Go Tell Sonia Gandhi: Mann fumes at Cong The Punjab Assembly on Monday witnessed chaotic scenes during the discussion on the state budget when Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann engaged in a heated argument with the Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa following the former's request to the Governor to "lock" the opposition in the assembly. "Who does Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi sit with? With me. Have you ever sat with them? On the one hand, you are making agreements (on seat sharing) with us. Go and tell them (Sonia and Rahul Gandhi) not to give Kurukshetra, Delhi and Gujarat (Lok Sabha) seats for us," Mann said. Jaya Prada gets conditional bail RAMPUR: Former MP and actor Jaya Prada, declared an 'absconder' in connection with two cases related to election code violation, appeared before a court here on Monday and was later granted conditional bail. The actor was the BJP candidate from Rampur in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and was defeated by the Samajwadi Party's Azam Khan. She was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rampur in 2004 and 2009 on a Samajwadi Party ticket. The SP expelled her subsequently. Dentist kills two daughters, self HAZARIBAG: A 40-yearold dental surgeon died by suicide after poisoning his two minor daughters in Jharkhand's Hazaribag district on Monday afternoon, police said. The exact cause has not yet been established, but family feud is suspected to be a reason, a police officer said. CASH SEIZURE comes to over Rs 2 cr POLICE REMAND till March 9 OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in The CBI on Monday arrested DGM and PD, NHAI, PIU, Bhopal and PD, NHAI Vidisha in ongoing investigation of Rs 20 lakh bribery case. The CBI court later sent them on police remand till Friday. Till now, eight people have been arrested in the case. The CBI has so far recovered cash and seizure worth over Rs 2 crore, including the bribe money . Moody’s ups growth forecast to 6.8 % for ‘24 AGENCIES New Delhi Global rating agency Moody's on Monday raised India's growth forecast for 2024 calendar year to 6.8 per cent on "stronger-than-expected" economic data and said that the country will remain the fastest growing India to remain fastest growing G-20 nation among G20 countries. In its Global Macroeconomic Outlook for 2024, Moody's Investors Service said with global headwinds fading, the Indian economy should be able to register 6-7 per cent real GDP growth comfortably. For 2025, the GDP growth is estimated at 6.4 per cent. Moody's had projected a 6.1 per cent growth for 2024 earlier. CONTD. ON P8 On Monday, the CBI arrested Deputy General Manager & Project Director, NHAI, PIU, Bhopal Rajendra Kumar Gupta, and Project Director NHAI Vidisha, Hemant Kumar. Following allegations that directors of a Bhopalbased private company was delivering bribes to NHAI officials through their employees, the CBI had registered a case against four NHAI officials, the Bhopal-based firm, its two directors, employees and others. The bribe was given for issuance of completion certificates, processing of bills, smooth progression of awarded works, etc. in various road projects of NHAI. CONTD. ON P8 CINEMA ALL DISTS TO GET MEDICAL COLLEGES ON PPP MODEL DIST HOSP to be attached with colleges & 75% beds for poor OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in The Cabinet has decided to open Medical Colleges in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode in those districts which do not have Medical Colleges. The local district hospital will be attached to these medical colleges. These hospitals would have to reserve 75 per cent of the beds for the poor, and only 25 per cent of the beds could be used for commercial activities. The district hospital staff salary and expenditure would have to be borne by the investor. Government will provide land at collector rate to the investor. This decision has been taken as the of government plans to ensure that every district shall have their own Medical College. Cabinet approved the proposal to take a loan of Rs 5000 crores from the New Development Bank for construction of roads. Around 3,500 km of road length will be constructed in those regions where roads are in bad shape. A 27 km long ring road will be constructed at the cost of Rs 147 crores in Byohari of Shahdol district, and in 2 more NHAI proj Man, minor son, daughter dir held in Rs 20L found hanging from tree bribery case SUICIDE NOTE mentions PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI OTHER CABINET DECISIONS n Approval of Rs 69.48 crore for continuation of Dial 100. n Sanction of Rs 5,042 crores for different irrigation schemes. n Amendment in MP Panchayat Service Rule 11 for appointment on compassionate grounds. n Nod for participation of state smart city in selection process under CITIIS 2.0 scheme. n New building of State Judicial Academy to be constructed at the cost of Rs 485 crores in Jabalpur. the first phase, 14.50 km long ring road will be constructed at the cost of Rs 81 crores. The cabinet also approved a cable-stayed bridge over Narmada river in Jabalpur, with the caveat that the river would not be affected in any way . In this regard, revised administrative approval of Rs 177.12 crores was given. A 21 km long Neemuch by-pass road will be constructed at the cost of Rs 111 crores. The road connecting Ujjain will be up- graded. The two-lane road would be turned into fourlane and four-lane road would be turned into a sixlane road. Cabinet nod was given for the construction of Greenfield Access Controlled Highway to connect Ujjain with Jabra based Express Way Interchange. This project will be based on Public Private Partnership Hybrid Annuity Model and its cost will be more than Rs 5017. 22 crores. The road will be 102.80 km long. OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in Yadav: Govt to develop dharamshala in Ayodhya CM, Cabinet bow at Ram Lalla’s feet TRIPLE SUICIDE SHOCKS MANDSAUR harassment by some villagers FP NEWS SERVICE Garoth A man and his two minor children were found hanging from a tree in village Rundi, Shagarh police station, Mandsaur district, plunging the entire village into deep grief. The deceased trio were identified as Prakash Banjara and two of his minor kids; daughter Suman, 13, and son Akash, 10. According to SP Anurag Sujania, the deceased Prakash Banjara, allegedly hanged his two children before taking his own life. CONTD. ON P8 The spot where a man committed suicide along with his two kids ACCUSED'S HOUSE VANDALISED BY MOB The news of the deaths spread like wildfire, inciting anger among the villagers who took matters into their own hands by vandalising the house of the accused and setting ablaze an agricultural machine on the farm. The situation escalated further when the police arrived at the scene and were met with a hostile crowd, prompting them to resort to mild force to disperse the agitated villagers. In response to the volatile situation, the police have deployed additional forces in the village to maintain law and order. The bodies of the deceased have been sent for post-mortem, and investigations into the circumstances surrounding their deaths are underway. SP Anurag Sujania assured that the matter is being taken seriously, and efforts are being made to identify and apprehend those responsible for the alleged harassment mentioned in the suicide note. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and his cabinet members, accompanied by their wives, paid obeisance at Ram Lalla temple in Ayodhya on Monday. They all went to Ayodhya by special plane after the cabinet meeting. After worshipping Lord Ram in Ayodhya, Chief Minister said that his life has become successful after having the darshan of Lord Ram. As it is the result of good deeds of many lives that one can have a glimpse of god Ram. It felt that Lord Ram is physically sitting inside the temple. On reaching Ayodhya, CM and cabinet ministers sang the song in praise of almighty Ram. It was later in the evening that Mohan cabinet members returned to Bhopal. Earlier , CM dedicated the cabinet held at Mantralaya to Lord Ram. Trump wins Colorado ballot IAF airlifts patient with critical disqualification case in SC head injuries in Ladakh's Zanskar NEW YORK NEW DELHI: A patient with critical head injuries was on Monday airlifted in an Indian Air Force aircraft to Leh from a village in the Zanskar region of south Ladakh after continuous snowfall cut off ground access, it said. The Indian Air Force (IAF) also posted photographs of the Cheetah helicopter airlifting on X. "An IAF aircraft successfully evacuated a patient with critical head injuries from Atting village in the Zanskar region of south Ladakh, following continuous snowfall, which had cut off all ground access to the region #HarKaamDeshkeNaam," it said in the post. nomical prices of $175,000 (Rs 1.86 crore) when the official rate for the same ticket is at $6 (Rs 497), the minimum price ticket. On the other hand, there are also tickets that were prized at $400 (Rs 33,148), the most expensive ones, without any taxes on the official site. However, the problem that has occured is that since all tickets on the official web- site have been sold out, the die-hard cricket fans eager to watch the India-Pakistan blockbuster are forced to shell out money almost 30 times the actual rate. Resale websites like StubHub and SeatGeek were the ones that were selling tickets at these astronomical sums which a lot of fans are more than happy to lap up. Such is the craze The US Supreme Court handed Donald Trump a major victory on Monday as he campaigns to regain the presidency, overturning a judicial decision that had excluded him from Colorado's ballot under a constitutional provision involving insurrection for inciting and supporting the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The justices unanimously reversed a Dec. 19 decision by Colorado's top court to kick Trump off the state's Republican primary ballot on Tuesday after finding that the US Constitution's 14th Amendment disqualified him from again holding public office. for arguably the biggest rivalry in world sport even though the match is more than three months away . As per a report in USA Today, the T20 World Cup resale ticket prices has now crossed that of Super Bowl and NBA Finals. The average resale ticket price for Super Bowl 58 was $9,000 while seats for NBA Finals was as high as $24,000. India and Pakistan have locked horns with each other on seven occasions in T20 World Cup history with India holding a definite upper hand. Team India have a 6-1 record against Pakistan having beaten the arch-rivals twice in the inaugural edition in 2007, then in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2022. Rs 1.86 cr: Ticket for India-Pak T20 in NY HARIDEV PUSHPARAJ Mumbai When you say big-ticket marquee clash in world sport, nothings gets bigger than India vs Pakistan and that's a cliche by now. For perspective, tickets for the June 9th clash of the T20 World Cup between the arch-rivals in New York are going at astro- QUALITY AT VALUE www.freepressjournal.in EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE SC: NO IMMUNITY TO MPS, MLAS TAKING BRIBE FOR VOTING INZAMAM QUESTIONS PCB’S DECISION TO REMOVE HAFEEZ SPORTS r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; WEATHER FP Interacting with cabinet ministers before the cabinet, CM said that government would develop dharamshala in Ayodhya. The govt will also take step to develop Dharmshala at main religious places within and outside the state. Other state govts will be inspired to develop Dharamshala at religious places situated in MP. Cottage industry will be encouraged for production f things required at temples such as decoration material, stone statues. The training to SHGs and Youths would get training from skilled artists of Mathura and Jaipur. A stall would be provided for sale of such kind of items. While going to Ayodhya by plane, he told that Lord Ram has a deep connection with Madhya Pradesh since Vikramaditya time period. HC bins Mahua’s plea in defamatory content case NEW DELHI The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed an interim plea by TMC leader Mahua Moitra, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha recently, seeking to restrain BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai from posting or circulating any "fake and defamatory" content against her. Justice Sachin Datta, while pronouncing the order, said "I have dismissed the injunction application". The high court had on December 20, 2023 reserved its order on the interim application after hearing the counsel for Moitra, Dubey and Dehadrai. The expelled Lok Sabha member, in her plea filed in October last year, sought permanent injunction against Dubey , CONTD. ON P8