Vol. 67 No. 144 | SATURDAY | MARCH 16, 2024 | 34 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Quality at Value www.freepressjournal.in MEMBER: AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper Check out our verdict on films and OTT releases REVIEWS THIS WEEK THE FP BULLETIN YEDDY BOOKED UNDER POCSO J ust weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, former Karnataka chief minister and BJP strongman BS Yediyurappa was on Friday booked under tough Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). It was the mother of a 17-year-old girl who had lodged a complaint against the former chief minister stating that the alleged sexual assault took place on February 2 during a meeting about official matters. A stunned Yediyurappa, 81, later issued a statement saying: “I have come to know that a complaint has been filed against me by a woman. It must have been about a month, they used to visit but I didn’t pay attention. But one day, when I was told that they were crying, I called them and asked what happened. They told me they had been wronged.’’ NAVAL HERO OF 1971 NO MORE EDIT EB CASE REVEALS SORDID NEXUS F POINT: Cong wants BJP accounts frozen; seeks probe into allegations that at least 14 companies faced action from probe agencies FPJ NEWS SERVICE / NEW DELHI The knives are out for the BJP . Even as the Congress on Friday demanded a high-level probe by the Supreme Court into the revelations that at least 14 out of the top 30 companies that donated to political parties faced action from probe agencies, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the narrative of a link between the raids and donations was based on “assumptions". ‘‘I think you’ve based your premise on huge assumptions, that the money was given after the Enforcement Directorate raids happened," Sitharaman said, commenting on a question about the data released. “What if the companies gave the money and after , that, we still went and knocked at their doors through the Enforcement Directorate? It is just an assumption that the Enforcement Directorate went and knocked at their doors; they wanted to save themselves, and therefore they came up with the funds," the Finance Minister said. “The second COUNTERPOINT: Entire narrative of link between raids and donations based on “assumptions”: FM Poll schedule today Press conference to be live streamed GAURAV VIVEK BHATNAGAR NEW DELHI The Election Commission of India on Friday declared that it would be announcing the schedule for the General Elections to the Lok Sabha and some state Assemblies at 3 p.m. on Saturday March 16. , In 2019, the elections were announced on March 10 and were conducted in seven phases from April 11 to May 18 and the results were declared on May 23. That year, the elections to the state assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim were also held with the Lok Sabha polls. This time, the EC is also evaluating the possibility of conducting simultaneous polls in Jammu and Kashmir. The spokesperson for ECI STATE STRIKES A BLOW FOR SENIORS Formulates comprehensive policy for senior citizens to tackle delays in projects where they are affected URVI MAHAJANI / MUMBAI The Maharashtra government has informed the Bombay High Court that it has formulated a policy – State Government’s Comprehensive Policy for Senior Citizens – regarding delays in redevelopment of projects that affect senior citizens. The court expressed satisfaction with the policy and said the policy needed to be implemented in ‘letter and spirit’ and suggested that it include powers to cancel the developer’s appointment and to also impose hefty penalties. “We are quite satisfied with the approach of the state government to consider the issues… in regard to the need for shelter and/or a roof over their head, in the twilight years of their lives. The said policy needs to be implement- ed in letter and spirit,” a bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Firdosh Pooniwalla said on March 7. The HC was hearing a petition filed by Jayshree Dholi, 64, who vacated her building in 2019 when it was undertaken for redevelopment. Dholi is a member of Navin Manju CHSL in Mulund, along with 21 other residents and 19 shopowners. The project was stalled after a dispute with the developer and non-cooperation by certain members. CONTD. ON NATION said the press conference, where the announcement would be made, would also be livestreamed on social media platforms of the commission. The announcement was expected earlier this week but the surprise resignation of Election Commissioner Arun Goel had led to a peculiar situation where the strength of the three-member Commission had been reduced to just This he did through a series of distributorships in each and every district. Along with regular lottery tickets, fake lottery tickets were also sold, with the face value of five or ten rupees. No one caught on to the racket for a long time. Nobody knew why the police were not taking any action. That was the time when the new ADGP in charge of the organised crime wing of the Crime Branch, began to get regular intelligence of lottery tickets being sold openly It was an . activity that was punishable for up to two years imprisonment. When he began looking into the matter, he heard a story about Martin which was difficult to believe but the story was told by someone to whom Martin had given money This man . had gone to Martin’s house to collect the money some three , crores. Martin made him wait and went upstairs and came GAURAV VIVEK BHATNAGAR / NEW DELHI one. With another EC, Anup Chandra Pandey having re, tired in mid-February only , Central Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar was left in office. CONTD. ON NATION Shinde son ruffles feathers in Nashik FPJ NEWS SERVICE / MUMBAI The announcement by the son of CM Eknath Shinde, Shrikant Shinde, naming Hemant Godse as the candidate from the Nashik LS constituency has , irked Mahayuti partners BJP and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction). The BJP state leadership, which too had staked a claim to this seat, dismissed the news and sent minister Girish Mahajan to Nashik on Thursday to take stock of the situation. Local leader Shantigiri Maharaj had expressed his desire to contest the Lok Sabha polls as a Mahayuti candidate, having recently met Shinde with a request. But Shrikant Shinde’s announcement has irked the Maharaj and his followers. The announcement has also not gone down well with alliance partner NCP as they , were seeking the seat for Pankaj Bhujbal, the nephew of senior NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal. CONTD. ON NATION Two things stand out on the matter of the electoral bonds. One, the BJP encashed the highest number of bonds worth Rs 6060.5 crore between April 12, 2019 and January 24, 2014. This was almost 47.5 per cent of the Rs 12,769 crore worth of electoral bonds encashed by the political parties during the period. And two, that at least 14 of the 30 companies which made the highest donations through electoral bonds are facing investigations by central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation or the Income Tax Department. The electoral bonds were introduced in 2018 and allowed individuals and entities to make anonymous donations to political parties. A fivejudge bench of the Supreme Court had on February 15 scrapped the scheme as “unconstitutional”. CONTD. ON NATION OUR BUREAU / NEW DELHI The government has characterised as “misplaced, misinformed and unwarranted” a remark that the United States’ “will closely monitor” India’s implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act, or CAA, further saying that it is an interference in New Delhi’s internal matters. back lugging a heavy suitcase which he handed over. The man took the suitcase and placed it in the dicky of his car and began counting the money along with the driver to make sure that he had not been shortchanged. The money was all in hundred rupee notes. Each bundle had a hundred notes and ten of each of these bundles had been further tied together to form a bigger bundle. When they finished counting the bundles they found that there was five crores, two crores more than what had been promised. CONTD. ON NATION On Thursday US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller was asked in his daily briefing if the American government is concerned that the CAA could affect religious freedom in India. “We are closely monitoring how this act will be implemented. Respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law for HC clears PM’s roadshow in TN ONLINE REPORT / CHENNAI The Madras High Court on Friday permitted a four-kmlong road show during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Coimbatore on March 18. The Coimbatore police had earlier declined to give permission for the same. The Bar and Bench reports that Justice N Anand Venkatesh pointed out that a meeting involving a Prime Minister would certainly cause hinderance to the free movement of public but that could not be a ground to deny permission. CONTD. ON NATION all communities are fundamental democratic principles," Miller responded. While the American observation had been brief and succint, the Indian reponse has been expansive and elaborate. “The Citizenship Amendment Act is about giving citizenship, not about taking away citizenship. It addresses the issue of statelessness, provides human FPJ NEWS SERVICE / NEW DELHI Union Home Minister Amit Shah has defended the rationale for the electoral bonds, saying they were introduced to “wipe out black money;" but he fears, now that the scheme has been scrapped, black money will return to the system. Talking at the Indian Today conclave, he said that before the scheme was implemented, donations to political parties were made through cash. After the scheme was launched, companies or indi- dignity and supports human rights," the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson took the pains of pointing out at a scheduled press briefing Friday afternoon. As regards the US State Department’s statement on the implementation of the CAA, we are of the view that it is “misplaced, misinformed, and unwarranted," he underlined. CONTD. ON NATION TAILPIECE Tax-free haven? `4.56L unpaid dues on civic chief’s bungalow FPJ NEWS SERVICE / MUMBAI I n an astounding act of omission, the BMC, which warns of action if citizens fail to clear their property tax arrears on a timely basis, has failed to check its own house – it is yet to collect 14 years’ worth of levy on the municipal commissioner’s bungalow in Malabar Hill! This information came to light in response to a query by RTI activist Anil Galgali, who had made an application to the civic body under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. 0 Sunrise : 06:47 am Sunset : 06:49 pm which it had ordered the bank to disclose all details concerning electoral bonds. The court said that the data provided by the SBI was incomplete. “Who is appearing for the State Bank of India? They have not disclosed the bond numbers. It has to be disclosed by the State Bank of India," Chief Justice Chandrachud said right at the outset of the hearing. In its notice to the SBI, the Supreme Court bench has asked the bank to explain the lapse during the next hearing on March 18. CONTD. ON NATION Black money to return: HM Delhi tells US to keep nose out of CAA You can keep the `2 cr, honey! Lottery sales had been banned sometime in 2003 by the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu. When the government changed the following year, it made a quiet comeback and soon it was being sold openly Santiago Martin . was one of those behind the sales of lottery There was no . lottery in Tamil Nadu, so he dealt with its bulk sales, getting lottery from the North East states like Sikkim, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura and selling it all over the south, and in Tamil Nadu. The Supreme Court on Friday asked the election commission of India (ECI) to return the electoral bond data to the State Bank of India (SBI) for nondisclosure of the electoral bonds’ numbers which link recipients to donors. A five-judge bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said that the SBI has not fully complied with the court’s order of March 11 in ED shadow on half of big donors 0 31 c. 27 c. Bond details: SC prods SBI OUR BUREAU / NEW DELHI assumption is, are you sure they gave it to the BJP? They probably gave it to the regional parties," she added. The statement came even as the Congress demanded the freezing of the ruling BJP’s bank accounts for alleged corruption in the electoral bonds scheme. It further claimed the ruling party got 50 per cent of the money received through these bonds. Sitharaman, however, suggested that the previous system of donations to political parties was “completely imperfect". CONTD. ON NATION A COUPLE OF CRORES MATTERED LITTLE TO THE LOTTERY KING SANTIAGO MARTIN V SUDARSHAN / MUMBAI India’s forex kitty expands $10.47 bn to $636.095 bn CHRONOLOGY SAMJHIYE… REDEVELOPMENT PROJECTS ormer Navy Chief Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas passed away on Friday; he was 90. Known for his sharp tactical acumen, Admiral Ramdas played a crucial role in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war in his capacity as commander of the gunnery ship INS Beas. The INS Beas had blocked the strategic sea lanes from the Pakistani Navy with aggressive manoeuvering and foiled Islamabad’s attempts to evacuate over 90,000 troops from then East Pakistan. A communication specialist, Ramdas became the 13th chief of the Indian Navy on December 1, 1990 and retired from service on September 30, 1993. He expected India to emerge as a maritime power and sit at the global high-table. He is survived by his wife Lalita Ramdas and three daughters. It was during his tenure as Chief of Naval Staff that women were inducted into the armed forces, with the Navy taking the lead. Over the years, Ramdas became an outspoken voice on social causes, coming out in defence of the Constitution, especially the values of liberty, equality, fraternity and secularism. FOREX RESERVES JUMP TO OVER TWO-YEAR HIGH Galgali revealed, “BMC’s tax assessment and collection department has started taking strict action to recover property taxes but for the last 14 years, has failed to collect tax arrears of Rs 4.56 lakh owed on the municipal commissioner’s bungalow.” The activist had filed an RTI application at the commissioner’s office on December 29, 2023, seeking information about the number of electrical units consumed monthly by the municipal commissioner’s official resiCONTD. ON NATION dence. viduals had to submit a cheque to the Reserve Bank of India to purchase bonds for donations to parties. He said there was a perception that the BJP had benefited from the bonds scheme because it is in power. But the Home Minister had a pressing query:"The BJP received around Rs 6,000 crore through electoral bonds. The total bonds (of all parties) amounted to Rs 20,000 crore. So, where did the rest of the bonds worth Rs 14,000 crore go?" . CONTD. ON NATION MVA in huddle at the Trident KALPESH MHAMUNKAR MUMBAI Seat-sharing talks among the parties constituting the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) resumed on Friday, at the Trident hotel in Nariman Point. There had been a temporary lull in discussions as Congress leaders from the state had been engrossed in managing the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra (BJNY), which had reached Maharashtra on Monday . Congress leaders like Balasaheb Thorat and Nana Patole took their leave of the yatra on Wednesday and returned to Mumbai for further talks on seat-sharing. The meeting was attended by Uddhav Thackeray, MP Sanjay Raut, Nana Patole, Ramesh Chennithala, K C Venugopal Rao and Jitendra Awhad. However, no invitation was extended to the chief of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, Prakash Ambedkar. It is being said that the MVA is keen on bringing in the VBA into its fold, with the alliance having offered four Lok Sabha seats to the CONTD. ON NATION party .