FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLI No. 337 | INDORE | THURSDAY | MAY 15, 2025 | Pages 14 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 www.freepressjournal.in ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: INDORE UJJAIN MONEY World US lifts crippling Syria curbs P.10 PUNE BHOPAL NASHIK Cinema ‘Tacky, absolute disaster’ P.12 GUTTER LANGUAGE | Jabalpur High Court takes suo motu cognizance of minister Vijay Shah’s derogatory, communal and sexist comments on Colonel Sofia Qureshi FIR ON SHAH AS HC ACTS OVER INSULT TO COLONEL Minister may have to quit over his jibe FP News Service Mhow’s Manpur police late on Wednesday night complied with Madhya Pradesh High Court’s order to DGP to lodge an immediate FIR against Minister Vijay Shah for using scurrilous and offensive language against a senior Indian Army officer. Earlier in the day, a division bench comprising Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Anuradha Shukla took suo moto cognisance of the issue and issued the directive in response to the minister’s remarks made during a public event at Raikunda village in Dr. Ambedkar Nagar (Mhow) on Monday. On May 12, Shah made the controversial statment while addressing a gathering. The video of the incident also went viral on social media platforms. The court ordered that an FIR be lodged under Sections 152, 196(1)(b), and 197(1)(c) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and fp Briefs NEW DELHI JNU ends ties with Turkish University Jawaharlal Nehru University has suspended an academic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Turkiye's Inonu University, citing national security considerations, officials of the university here confirmed on Tuesday. The MoU was inked on February 3 for a period of three years. NEW DELHI 31 Maoists killed in 21 days Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that security forces killed 31 notorious Naxalites in the Kurraguttalu Hills (KGH) on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border in the biggest ever operation against Naxalism. In a post on X, Shah said, "Achieving a historic breakthrough in the resolve of #NaxalFreeBharat security forces killed 31 notorious naxalites in the Kurraguttalu Hills (KGH) on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border in the biggest ever operation against Naxalism." NWC too condemns Shah Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Minister Vijay Shah used “language of the gutters” against Colonel Sofia Qureshi. His comments are “disparaging and dangerous”, not just to the officer, but to the military institution itself Jabalpur High Court Bench CONG FILES PLAINT Congress on Wednesday lodged a police complaint at Shyamla Hills station demanding an FIR against Tribal Affairs Minister Vijay Shah for his derogatory remarks against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi. Led by state chief Jitu Patwari, the party accused Shah of insulting a woman Army officer and defaming the armed forces. Patwari also urged PM Modi to sack Shah. stressed that the registration must be completed by Tuesday evening. The court warned that failure to comply may result in contempt proceedings against the DGP. 4Continued on | P8 Pakistan hands over BSF jawan to India after 21 days Possibilities of minister Vijay Shah’s resignation have increased after the high court ordered registration of an FIR under various sections of the sedition law. The BJP was trying to quell the public anger against Shah by asking him to apologise for his obscene comments on Colonel Sofia Qureshi. The police had to register an FIR after the court order. The pressure is mounting PTI PTI India and Pakistan on Wednesday handed each other's borderguarding personnel captured by the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Pakistan Rangers respectively at the International Borders (IB) between the two countries, officials said. BSF jawan Purnam Kumar Shaw was handed over to India, 21 days after he was apprehended by the Rangers from along the International Border in Punjab. Shaw was apprehended by the Pakistan Rangers a day after the Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 26 people were killed. The officials said a Pakistan Ranger apprehended by the BSF from the Rajasthan border on May 3 was also handed back to the neighbouring country. Constable Shaw was handed over to the BSF by the Pakistan Rangers at 10.30 am at the joint check post (JCP) Attari in Amritsar district opposite Pakistan's Wagah, a BSF spokesperson said. A picture of the jawan released by the force showed a bearded Shaw with ruffled hair and wearing a dark green round-neck T-shirt. "Today at 1030 hours Constable Purnam Kumar Shaw has been taken back from Pakistan by the BSF at the AttariWagah border," the spokesperson said. Shaw had "inadvertently" crossed over to the Pakistan territory while on operational duty in the Ferozepur sector on April 23 around 11.50 am and detained by the Pak Rangers, he said. 4Continued on | P8 An Indian-origin college student from the US died in the Bahamas after accidentally falling from a hotel balcony just days before he was set to graduate. Gaurav Jaisingh was a student at Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts and was in the Bahamas for an annual senior class trip when he died in the accident on Sunday. Jaisingh was set to graduate later this week. Bentley University said in a post on X that "it's been a difficult few days and our community is feeling the emotional toll of the tragic loss of Gaurav Jaisingh '25. Our hearts go out to Gaurav's family and friends. We plan to honour Gaurav at the undergraduate commencement ceremony," scheduled for May 17. 4See | World Justice Gavai sworn in as CJI PTI NEW DELHI Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, who has been part of several benches that delivered landmark rulings including the one upholding the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 bestowing special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was on Wednesday sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of India. The 64-year-old was administered oath by President Droupadi Murmu at a brief ceremony at the Ganatantra Mandap in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He succeeds Justice Sanjiv Senior leader of the BJP and former chief minister Uma Bharti also demanded removal of Vijay Shah from the ministry. She said the minister should be sacked and an FIR should be registered against him. Uma further said the minister had put the nation to shame. on the minister to resign after the FIR. 4Continued on | P8 BJP’s state unit president sent a team of party workers led by former minister Manvendra Singh to the residence of Colonel Sofia Qureshi in Nowgong. The party workers led by Singh tendered an apology to Sofia’s family. “Sofia is the daughter of our nation,” Singh said. NEW YORK AMRITSAR Uma Bharti demands minister’s removal VD sends BJP workers to Sofia’s residence Indian-origin college student from US dies in Bahamas Khanna, who demitted office on Tuesday on attaining the age of 65. CJI Gavai, who was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, will have a tenure of over six months and would demit office on November 23. He took the oath of affirmation in Hindi. Soon after he took oath, CJI Gavai sought blessings of his mother Kamal Tai Gavai by touching her feet. 4Continued on | P8 If a woman can fly Rafale fighter jet in the Indian Air Force, then why are fewer women officers in gender neutral posts of Judge Advocate General (legal) branch of the Army, the Supreme Court wondered recently and questioned the Centre's rationale on a 50-50 selec- tion criterion. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan on May 8 reserved its verdict on the plea of two officers Arshnoor Kaur and Astha Tyagi, who despite securing 4th and 5th ranks respectively -- higher in merit than their male counterparts -weren't selected for the JAG department due to fewer vacancies earmarked for women. The officers challenged the disproportionate vacancies for men and women and said they could not be selected as there were only three vacancies for women out of the total six posts. "Prima facie, we are satisfied with the case set up by the petitioner 1 Arshnoor Kaur," the bench noted while reserving its verdict. The top court went on, "Accordingly, we direct the respondents to initiate whatever action is required for the purpose of her induction MP bags Rs 7,935 cr investment at CM’s B’luru roadshow PTI NEW DELHI/BEIJING India on Wednesday outrightly rejected as "vain and preposterous" China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh and said such attempts will not alter the "undeniable" reality that the state "was, is, and will" always remain an integral part of India. New Delhi's reaction came in response to Beijing announcing Chinese names for 27 places in Arunachal Pradesh, including 15 mountains, four passes, two rivers, a lake and five inhabited areas. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet. "We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. "Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically," he said. Jaiswal was responding to a media query on the issue. 4Continued on | P8 to examine a very larger issue that what is the output of the High Courts? How much we are In a matter pertaining to the spending on the system, what is delay of nearly 3 years by the the actual output? What is the Jharkhand High performance scale? Court in pronouncWhat is the benchmark ing verdict in rewhich should be there? served criminal Some of the judges, we appeals, the Supreme know, they work so Court on Tuesday exhard, their commitpressed inclination to ment is something that examine the "per- Justice Surya Kant we always feel formance outputs" of proud...but there are High Courts across other judges who are the country. unfortunately disLive Law reported appointing us... there that the Court also are certain things we questioned certain are hearing and maybe High Court judges' this matter we would practice of rising for like to be very frank tea/coffee breaks, Justice NK Singh and blunt to deal with while commenting that if the some of the avoidable issues judges only take lunch breaks, which are unnecessarily inviting there would be better perform- decision in terms of functioning ance and results. “We would like of High Courts...they are usually Agencies NEW DELHI CM Mohan Yadav hands over land allotment letter to the CMD of BEML in Bengaluru, Karnataka Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Madhya Pradesh has received investment proposals worth Rs 7935 crore during the roadshow led by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav in Bengaluru, Karnataka, on Wednesday. These proposed investments are expected to create 18,975 employment opportunities in the state. A major highlight of the event was CM handing over a land allotment letter for 148 acres to Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML). The company is set to establish a metro coach manufacturing unit in the Umaria area of Raisen district, with an investment of Rs 1800 crore. The foundation stone of the project is expected to be laid within a month. The Chief Minister also held one-on-one meetings with key industrialists during an interactive session titled “Investment Opportunities in Madhya Pradesh”. He informed potential investors that the state has introduced a new industrial policy and established industry facilitation cells in all districts. He highlighted the availability of land bank, as well as adequate water and electricity, which make Madhya Pradesh a highly viable investment destination. 4Continued on | P8 On the larger issue of belated delivery of verdicts, judges say mandatory guidelines are necessary to safeguard trust in the system getting up for tea break, coffee break, this break, that break...why don't they continuously work till...? Except that you need a lunch break. It will be better performance, better result also", observed Justice Surya Kant. A bench of Justices Kant and N Kotiswar Singh was dealing with a petition filed by 4 convicts, as judgments on their criminal appeals were heard and reserved by the High Court about 2-3 years back, but the orders remained to be pronounced. 4Continued on | P8 SC pushes for footpath guidelines The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed all states and union territories to frame guidelines to ensure proper footpaths for pedestrians calling it their constitutional right. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan observed in the absence of footpaths pedestrians were forced to walk on roads, making them vulnerable to risks and accidents. "It is necessary to have proper footpaths for citizens. They should be such that they should be accessible for persons with disabilities and removal of encroachments is mandatory," it said. WPI inflation BALOCH ACTIVISTS DECLARE FREEDOM dips to 13-month FP News Service low of 0.85% MUMBAI PTI NEW DELHI Wholesale price inflation dropped to a 13-month low of 0.85 per cent in April with softening in prices of food articles, fuel and manufactured products, with experts projecting further easing in the data of next month, government data showed on Wednesday. WPI-based inflation was 2.05 per cent in March. It was 1.19 per cent in April last year. WPI inflation lower than 0.85 per cent was last recorded in March, 2024, when it was 0.26 per cent. As per the WPI (Wholesale price index) data, deflation in food, and fuel and power WPI, along with disinflation in manufactured products drove the moderation. ‘If women fly Rafale, why fewer JAG posts for them’ PTI Preposterous: India rejects China renaming places in Arunachal SC mulls performance audit of HCs offgrid NEW DELHI E-paper Edit The troll army’s toxic politics P.6 ‘Defence exports surge to `23,622 cr in FY25: Rajnath JABALPUR/MHOW/INDORE MUMBAI in the next available training course for appointment as Judge Advocate General (JAG)". The bench referred to a newspaper article that a woman fighter pilot would be flying Rafale aircraft and said in such a scenario she could be taken as a prisoner of war. 4Continued on | P8 The phrase “Republic of Balochistan” is trending widely on social media following a dramatic declaration of independence by Baloch nationalist leaders. Spearheaded by noted writer and activist Mir Yar Baloch, the move has once again brought global attention to Balochistan’s long-standing grievances against Pakistan, its geopolitical importance, and its recent diplomatic overtures toward India—particularly as hostilities escalate between New Delhi and Islamabad. Mir Yar Baloch posted multiple statements on X (formerly Twitter) on May 9, India successfully tests counter-swarm drone system ‘Bhargavastra’ Agencies NEW DELHI A new low-cost Counter Drone System in Hard Kill Mode 'Bhargavastra', has been designed and developed by Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited (SDAL) signifying a substantial leap in countering the escalating threat of drone swarms. The micro rockets used in this counter-drone system underwent rigorous testing at the Seaward Firing Range, Gopalpur achieving all designated objectives. Three trials were conducted for the rocket at Gopalpur on May 13 in presence of senior officials of Army Air Defence (AAD). Two trials were conducted by firing one rocket each. One trial was conducted by firing two rockets in salvo mode within 2 seconds. All four rockets performed as expected and achieved the required launch parameters underscoring its pioneering technology in mitigating largescale drone attacks. formally asserting Balochistan’s independence and urging the Indian government to permit the opening of a Baloch embassy in New Delhi. 4Continued on | P8 COPYCAT SHEHBAZ PTI LAHORE Pakistan Prime M i n i s te r Shehbaz Sharif visited Pasrur Cantonment in Sialkot on Wednesday and interacted with officers and soldiers involved in the recent military confrontation with India. Pasrur Cantonment, Sialkot, is some 130kms from Lahore. Operation Sindoor was launched by India on the intervening night of May 6 and 7 to avenge the killings of 26 people in the Pahalgam terror attack. Indian armed forces targeted nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, killing over 100 terrorists.