Vol. 67 No. 134 | TUESDAY | MARCH 5, 2024 | 25 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Quality at Value www.freepressjournal.in MEMBER: AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION Mo Sarkar ki Guara odi antee Hamara Sankalp Viksit Bhara at THE FP BULLETIN ELECTORAL BONDS: SBI PLEA S tate Bank of India on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking an extension of time till June 30 to disclose details of each electoral bond encashed by political parties. In an application filed before the top court, SBI contended that retrieval of information from "each silo" and the procedure of matching the information of one silo to that of the other would be a timeconsuming exercise. SC had said the information had to be given to the EC by March 6. HIRANANDANI QUIZZED B uilder and businessman Niranjan Hiranandani of real estate major Hiranandani Group on Monday appeared before the officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at the agency's Ballard Estate office to record his statement regarding a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations case.  was He questioned by the ED for more than 10 hours. Afterwards, he said, 'The case is 15 years old. there's nothing new to the case. It's been seen maybe 42 times; today is the 43rd time we have been called. If the violation was there, so you mean to say it was not seen 41 times?” GOKHALE BRIDGE MISMATCH A fter being criticised for the height gap of two metres between the newly constructed Gokhale Bridge in Andheri and the CD Barfiwala flyover, the civic authorities in a statement released on Monday night, said that “it was not possible to connect the two bridges as they are sloping in the opposite direction”. The BMC also expressed fear that the steep slope would lead to accidents. The two lanes of the Gokhale Bridge were opened on February 26. However, the adjoining Barfiwala flyover is nonaccessible to them due to the height gap, causing inconvenience to commuters. Scan for more information FROM OUR BUREAU / NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Monday held that MPs and MLAs do not enjoy immunity from prosecution for taking bribe to make a speech or cast a vote in the legislature. A seven-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud unanimously overruled the 1998 verdict delivered by a five- Constitution. Articles 105 and 194 deal with the powers and privileges of MPs and MLAs in Parliament and legislative assemblies. BRIBE FOR VOTE The CJI, who read the operative part of the verdict for the bench, said bribery is not immune under the articles as it erodes probity in public life. "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. “The judgment of the majority in Narsimha Rao (case) which grants immunity to legislators has a grave danger and thus overruled,” the 7-judge bench noted. In 1998, a 3:2 majority judgement of a five-judge bench in PV Narasimha Rao v State (CBI/SPE) held that legislators enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for bribery in matters connected to their speech and votes in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies. CONTD. ON NATION SC censure for Stalin over NIA STEPS IN Sanatana Dharma remarks SHANKAR RAJ / BENGALURU With the local police yet to make headway in the bomb blast at the Rameswaram Café in Brookefield here on Friday , the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Monday stepped in and took over the probe. The NIA taking over comes in the backdrop of the mounting criticism from the Karnataka unit of the BJP that the Siddaramaiah government was soft-peddling the probe. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Monday handed over the case to the NIA, and the officials will handle the case. At least 10 people were injured in the incident, and all are currently being treated at multiple private hospitals. According to the CCTV footage, the suspect has been identified as 28 to 30 years old. He came to the cafe during lunch and bought a coupon for Rava idli but left the cafe without having the idli. CONTD. ON NATION AGENCIES / NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Monday reprimanded Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin for comments against Sanatana Dharma,  which had sparked outrage last year. Bar and Bench reports that a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta  orally observed that Stalin had abused his rights under Articles 19(1)(a) (freedom of “You have abused your rights. You should have realised the consequences. you are a Minister, not a layman,”  Court said. the speech and expression) and 25 (freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion) of the Indian Constitution in making such comments. The Court added that Stalin should have been more aware of the consequences of his remarks. "You have abused your rights under 19(1)a and 25! You know what you have said and now have come under 32? You should have realised the consequences, you are a Minister, not a layman,"  Court said. the CONTD. ON NATION ‘Mera Bharat, mera parivar’ N CHITHRA/ CHENNAI In what could well become the BJP’s election slogan of 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday came up with the coinage ‘Mera Bharat, Mera Parivar’ (My India, My Family) in an indirect response to RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav’s recent jibe at him for not having a family . “Mera Bharat, Mera Parivar hain”, he said addressing a BJP public meeting in Chennai and to ensure the local crowd got his message, he asked them to raise slogans in Tamil that “Naan Dhaan, Moidiyin Kudumbam” (I am Modi’s Family). He accused parties such as the DMK and Congress of functioning with the motto of “family first”, whereas ‘Modi says ‘Nation First’. “Therefore, the INDI Alliance have come up with a new formula to abuse me. They are saying Modi has no family Do those . with families have a licence for corruption for them and their families?,” he rhetorically posed. He said for these parties, abusing Modi repeatedly was a hobby . He went on to add that he was not for ‘mauj masti’ (fun and frolic) but for the country . “This is my country this is , my family The 140 crore Indi. ans are my family Hence, to . brighten up their future, I am working day and night and for their development. The farmers and the poor are my family I have dedicated my. self to empower them. CONTD. ON NATION SNIPERS FOR SHAH VISIT S BALAKRISHNAN / MUMBAI The Malabar Hill police has asked all housing societies and owners to let it post snipers on the terraces of their buildings on March 5 and 6 in view of VIP movements. VIPs normally stay at the Sahyadri guest house or Raj Bhavan. But never in the past has such a request to station sharp shooters been made. Apparently the high security preparations are being made for the visit of Union home minister Amit Shah.Apart from posting snipers on terraces, the Malabar Police also wants all residents to inform it of new tenants, CONTD. ON NATION CHANDIGARH: BJP MOPS UP SENIOR MAYORAL POSTS RAJESH MOUDGIL / CHANDIGARH In a setback to the INDIA bloc constituents Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress, the rival BJP won both the senior deputy mayor and the deputy mayor seats here on Monday . The BJP’s Kuljeet Sandhu secured 19 votes and won the election for senior deputy mayor post of Chandigarh defeating AAP-Congress com- bine candidate Gurpreet Gabi by three votes in the house of 36 members - Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, who is a BJP member, also has voting rights as an ex-officio member of the Municipal Corporation (MC). One vote was declared invalid. Likewise BJP’s Rajendra Sharma won the post of deputy mayor with 19 votes while the alliance candidate Nirmala `1.86 cr: Ticket for India-Pak T20 in NY B he Supreme Court on Monday restored Donald Trump to 2024 presidential primary ballots, rejecting state attempts to hold him accountable for the Capitol riot. judge bench in the JMM bribery case by which MPs and MLAs were granted immunity from prosecution for taking bribe to make a speech or vote in the legislature. Pronouncing the verdict, the CJI said bribery is not protected by parliamentary privileges and the interpretation of the 1998 verdict is contrary to Articles 105 and 194 of the BENGALURU BLAST: 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 archrivals in New York are going at astronomical 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. T Over 4 c crore houses constructed Overturning a 1998 verdict, the ruling says bribery is not protected by parliamentary privileges as it erodes probity in public life HARIDEV PUSHPARAJ / MUMBAI SC RESTORES TRUMP well being of the poor f SC REMOVES SHIELD FOR MPS NADDA QUITS RS haratiya Janata Party president Jagat Prakash Nadda (63) on Monday resigned as a Rajya Sabha member, sparking rumours that Prime Minister Modi wants him to run in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections alike a score of ministers being moved from the Rajya Sabha to the Lok Sabha. Means ensurin ng cbc 22201/13/0327/2324 Government of india EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper However, the problem that has occured is that since all tickets on the official website have been sold out, the diehard 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 for arguably the biggest rivalry in world sport even though the match is more than three months away . CONTD. ON NATION Devi got 17 votes. The newly elected mayor Kuldeep Kumar of AAP was the presiding authority for both these elections. The BJP which earlier had 14 seats had improved its strength on February 19 last after three AAP councillors hopped over to the saffron party – Punam Devi, Neha Musawat and Gurcharan Kala. CONTD. ON NATION NALLASOPARA ENCOUNTER Cops arrested after HC rap URVI MAHAJANI / MUMBAI The Bombay High Court on Monday asked the police to probe the possible involvement of senior officers in the case of alleged fake encounter of Joginder Rana, who according to police was a wanted criminal and was killed in 2018 in Nallasopara. The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which was formed following HC order in September last year, on March 2, arrested two policemen — head constable Manoj Sapkal and assistant sub inspector Mangesh Chavan — who shot dead Joginder Rana. The arrests were made following a rap from the high court last week. CONTD. ON NATION QUESTIONS OVER HOLLYWOOD INFLUENCER LIFE STORY Think like a monk, fake like Jay Shetty SOHAM SHETTY / MUMBAI Jay Shetty a prominent self-help podcast, er and life coach, is embroiled in controversy over alleged plagiarism in his Instagram posts and falsehoods in his life story Shetty's website claims he spent . childhood vacations in India with monks, absorbing their teachings, which has been a central part of his narrative. However, a recent report in The Guardian, raises questions about the authenticity of his narrative and his credibility as a self-help guru. Born in London and a business school graduate, Shetty hosts the popular "On Purpose" podcast, featuring guests like Michelle Obama and Kim Kardashian. He operates the Jay Shetty Certification School, where students pay thousands of dollars to learn his philosophy . Shetty has also attended a White House state dinner for visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2023, according to the Guardian. He also had a one-on-one interview with Joe Biden about the US administration’s mental health initiatives. The report doubts the accuracy of Shetty's narrative, suggesting he fabricated a rags-to-riches backstory to bolster his self-help persona. Allegations include misrepresentation of his educational qualifications and embellishment of pivotal life events. Critics accuse him of exploiting his spiritual identity for financial gain. Despite being just one among many self-help gurus, his demand for large sums of money for guidance CONTD. ON NATION raises eyebrows. DGIPR 2023-24/9170