Vol. 67 No. 176 | WEDNESDAY | APRIL 24, 2024 | 27 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Quality at Value www.freepressjournal.in MEMBER: AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2023 EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper SRIKANTH’S SONG LAUNCH Aamir Khan recalls making Papa Kahte Hain Yogi sees designs to enforce Sharia EDIT NSE SET TO LAUNCH F&O CONTRACTS ON NIFTY NEXT 50 FROM TODAY CROSSING THE LIMIT PM ACCUSES CONG OF QUOTA DIVERSION The exchange will levy no charges on these trades till Oct 31 0 0 33 c. 29 c. Sunrise : 06:16 am Sunset : 06:58 pm Charges that under Congress rule Dalit and Backward quota will be misappropriated MANISH GODHA / JAIPUR BISWAJEET BANERJEE LUCKNOW Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath raised the decibel level on Tuesday by alleging during a rally in Amroha that the Congress, through its manifesto, wants to enforce the Sharia law and redistribute people's property . "The Congress and its allies have betrayed the country and have yet again come to you with a false manifesto. They are claiming that if they form a government, they will implement the Sharia." Yogi underscored the dichotomy and conflict between THE FP BULLETIN V ADRA COUNTER ON MANGALSUTRA: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra countered Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments about the Congress robbing people of their wealth to give it to "infiltrators", questioning whether such a thing had ever happened in the 50-year rule of the party. As for mangalsutras, her mother's was sacrificed for the country and her grandmother's gold was donated during the war, she pointed out. Speaking in Bengaluru, Ms Gandhi Vadra questioned her audience what they feel when they turn on the television. Not plans for their welfare or development, but "crazy talk" and demands. S PECTRUM AUCTION WILL CONTINUE: The government will continue to auction telecom spectrum and the administrative allocation route will be used sparingly, only in those cases where it is technically not feasible to conduct auctions or for areas that are strategic in nature, according to officials. The statement comes even as the Department of Telecom (DoT) is gearing up to hold the next round of spectrum auction on June 6. K EJRIWAL JUDICIAL CUSTODY TILL MAY 7: A Delhi court on Tuesday extended by 14 days till May 7 the judicial custody of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and BRS MLC K Kavitha in the excise policy and money laundering cases. Delhi will vote in the general election on May 25. H EATWAVE IN 4 POLLING STATES: The India Meteorological Department has forecast a heat wave in the days ahead, which is worrisome given that six phases of polling are still left. A red alert for heat has been issued in West Bengal for the next three days; again, temperatures in Bihar will exceed 40 degrees Celsius. A heat wave is expected in eastern Uttar Pradesh after 24 hours and in western Uttar Pradesh after two days. The temperature will remain hot and humid in Kerala, too. Higher temperatures, especially over 40 degrees Celsius, have an impact on voter turnout. A NACONDA SMUGGLER: Customs authorities at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) nabbed a passenger for attempting to smuggle as many as 10 yellow anacondas hidden in his checked-in luggage. The officials intercepted the passenger who arrived from Bangkok and arrested him for wildlife trafficking. constitutional principles and the Sharia and demanded, "You tell me, will this country be run in accordance with the Constitution framed by Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar or as per Shariat?" PM Modi had also referred to Muslims by innuendo in one of his speeches -- pointedly referring to them as ‘infiltrators’ and those ‘who have many children’ -- while harping on the Congress' pledge to redistribute national resources. "Congress leaders say in their manifesto that they will implement 'vyaktigat kanoon' (personal laws). CONTD. ON NATION Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accused the Congress party of diluting the reservation of Dalits and tribals to earmark quota for specific minorities based on religion. Addressing his last election rally in Rajasthan on Tuesday PM Modi said, , “ soon as the Congress came to power As at the Centre in 2004, one of its first initiatives was to facilitate Muslim reservation in Andhra Pradesh. This was a pilot project that the Congress wanted to implement nationwide. Between 2004 and 2010, the Congress made four attempts to introduce Muslim reservation in Andhra Pradesh, but due to legal hurdles, the plans were not realized,” the PM added. Slamming the opposition for going against the Constitution to indulge in The truth is that when the Congress and the INDI Alliance were in power, they wanted to grant reservation to one section of the society by cutting into the quotas meant for Dalits and backward classes, which is completely against the Constitution. – PM MODI ‘appeasement politics’, PM Modi asserted, “The truth is that when the Congress and the INDI Alliance were in power, they wanted to grant reservation to one section of the society by cutting into the quotas meant for Dalits and backward classes, which is completely against the Constitution. The reservation rights that Dr Babasaheb gave to Dalits, backward classes, and tribals, the Congress and the INDI Alliance wanted to give them to specific minorities based on religion.” CONTD. ON NATION HC dismisses Bohra legal suit URVI MAHAJANI / MUMBAI The Bombay High Court dismissed the suit challenging Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin’s position as the 53rd Da’i al-Mutlaq or spiritual head of the Dawoodi Bohra community on Tuesday , . The HC held that the ‘nass’ conferred by the 52nd Dai Mohammed Burhanuddin on his son Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, is valid. have dismissed the suit,” said “I Justice Gautam Patel, dismissing the suit filed by Taher Fakhruddin challenging Syedna Muffadal Saifuddi’s succession as the spiritual leader. The HC had set out five issues in the suit including the preliminary issue of whether it was maintainable. The court held that the suit was maintainable. Howev- The late Syedna’s halfbrother had sought a declaration that he was the community leader, based on a secret ‘nass’ by the deceased leader er, on the issue of whether Syedna Khuzaima Qutbuddin could prove that the ‘nass’ conferred on him via a private communication on December 10, 1965, was valid, the court answered in the negative. ‘Nass’ is a process or bequest of a predecessor to his successor, making him the next Da’i al-Mutlaq of the Bohra community across the globe. The late Syedna’s half-brother, Qutbuddin, had challenged the succession in the high court. He had sought a declaration that he was the leader of the community , based on a secret ‘nass’ (conferment of succession) by the deceased leader on December 10, 1965. After Qutbuddin’s death in 2016 in the USA, his son Syedna Taher Fakhruddin became the plaintiff and sought that he be declared the leader. Fakhruddin has claimed his father conferred the ‘nass’ upon him and thus, he should be declared the Da’i al-Mutlaq. After pronouncing the judgment, the court expressing apprehension, requested the counsels appearing for the plaintiff to see that feelings were contained. CONTD. ON NATION RAIN MAN Unmindful of the heavy shower, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray held a rally in Parbhani city, bringing back memories of Sharad Pawar making a similar pitch in rain during the Satara bypoll in 2020. Mahayuti vs MVA: the knives are out Fearing arrest, Fadnavis had split Shiv Sena: Raut S BALAKRISHNAN / MUMBAI The political war of words between the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) peaked on Tuesday, with Shiv Sena (UBT) MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut claiming that the then senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had, fearing his imminent arrest, split the original Shiv Sena and pulled down the Uddhav Thackeray government. Raut was responding to a claim by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde that the Thackeray government had ordered a probe against several BJP leaders, including Fadnavis, Girish Mahajan, Prasad Lad, Ashish Shelar and Pravin Darekar and was preparing to arrest them. Shinde told a section of the media recently that Thackeray had wanted to arrest Fadnavis in the phonetapping case. However, sources in the BJP pooh-poohed Raut’s claim by stating that the Shiv Sena split because of massive resentment against the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray Senior leaders . like Eknath Shinde and others were routinely humiliated and this was the reason for their revolt in June 2022. “If 36 MLAs of a party decide to take the risk of revolting when it is in power, then certainly the discontent must be very deep in that organisation. Uddhav first wanted his son Aaditya to be made the CM, but Sharad Pawar shot down the idea and then suggested that Uddhav himself become the CM though he completely lacked administrative experience. Uddhav was sworn in in November, 2019 and before he could settle down, the state was in the grip of the pandemic. Uddhav lost touch with his MLAs and cadres. CONTD. ON NATION PSBs can’t issue Nine-judge Bench poser on cessed buildings LOCs for default Can privately owned resources be considered “material resources of the community?” PTI / NEW DELHI Indian and foreign borrowers URVI MAHAJANI / MUMBAI In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court ruled on Tuesday that public sector banks do not have the power in law to issue Look-Out Circulars (LOCs) against default borrowers, whether they are Indian citizens or foreigners. A bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Madhav Jamdar held as unconstitutional the clause of an office memorandum issued by the Central government, which empowers the chairmen of public sector banks to issue LOCs against default borrowers. The bench refused to stay the order, as requested by the Union government’s counsel Aditya Thakker. In effect, the high court has quashed all the LOCs against defaulters issued by public sector banks. The court has also directed the Bureau of Immigration not to act upon such LOCs. The bench has, however, clarified that the judgment would not affect those orders issued against any defaulter by a tribunal or a criminal court, restraining them from travelling abroad. However, PSBs are at liberty to approach courts or tribunals to get LOCs issued against defaulters. The judges have emphasised that while the office memorandum issued by the Centre was not ultra vires the Constitution, the clause empowering the chairman of a public sector bank to issue an LOC was “arbitrary and without power in law”. The HC passed the judgment while bearing a batch of petitions challenging the validity of at least eight circulars/ office memoranda (OM) issued by the Central government regarding the guidelines for issuance of LOCs in respect of Indian citizens and foreigners. CONTD. ON NATION The Maharashtra government came up with a law for acquiring old and dilapidated buildings that were unsafe as the tenants were sitting tight over the properties and landlords had no money for repairs, the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday while examining whether privately owned resources can be considered "material Kejriwal finally gets insulin GAURAV VIVEK BHATNAGAR / NEW DELHI After much brouhaha over Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal not being given insulin despite high blood glucose levels, and the matter even being raised in courts, the Tihar Jail authorities finally administered him two units of insulin on Monday evening. The jail authorities said Kejriwal was given a “low dose” of insulin after his blood sugar CONTD. ON NATION resources of the community". Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud made the observations while dealing with a host of petitions filed by landlords who are up in arms against the State law. The CJI-headed nine-judge constitution bench is considering the vexed question arising from petitions about whether private properties can be considered "material resources of the community" under Article 39 (b) of the Constitution, which is a part of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP). Article 39(b) makes it obligatory for the State to frame a policy the ensure "that the ownership and control of material resources of the community are so distributed as to best subserve common good". CONTD. ON P17 Cong Surat nominee goes off grid Surfaces in Goa amid buzz he is joining BJP MELVYN THOMAS / SURAT Nilesh Kumbhani, the man who has created a political commotion by allegedly orchestrating his own disqualification from the Surat Lok Sabha seat, is learnt to have abruptly gone off the grid only to surface in Goa with his family even as the Con, gress and AAP workers staged demonstrations outside his house in Sarthana in Surat. On his return, speculations are rife that Kumbhani may join the BJP and reap a big reward for his ‘about-turn,’ possibly a ticket for the upcoming Surat Municipal Corporation elections. According to sources, Kumbhani had been in contact with a former Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader who is now associated with a mainstream party in the Saurashtra region. After he was nominated LAST WORD by the Congress for the Surat seat, Kumbhani reached out to the PAAS leader and they held a hush-hush meeting. It is widely believed that Kumbhani and the PAAS leader, with the support of powers that be, orchestrated the entire plot of 'operation unopposed'. Numerous theories have been doing the rounds since the returning officer declared Mukesh Dalal from the BJP as the uncontested candidate. CONTD. ON NATION Kids below 12 to be seated with parent in planes FPJ NEWS SERVICE / NEW DELHI Airlines should ensure that children up to the age of 12 years are allocated seats with at least one of their parents or guardians in a flight, the DGCA has said. The from the aviation watchdog comes against the backdrop of instances of children below the age of 12 years not being seated along with their parents or guardians during flights. CONTD. ON NATION TAILPIECE Dream Girl missing in action in Mathura Know your noodles For Hema Malini's critics in Mathura, her absence is reminiscent of the lines in her famous song 'Dream girl':'Kabhi toh milegi, kahin toh milegi, aaj nahin toh kal...' RASHME SEHGAL / MUMBAI Vrindavan brings to mind lush green landscapes with forests along the Yamuna where Krishna performed his ‘leelas’. Today the 48 ‘ghats’ of , Vrindavan built by Raja Himmat Bahadur 600 years ago in the classical Braj-Rajasthan tradition along the river front are all but destroyed through governmental indifference and by a group of builders determined to take over this prime property . Bollywood actress-turnedpolitician Hema Malini, instead of getting herself pho- tographed wearing an expensive Kanjeevaram sari with ripe wheat stalks in her hand as she did in 2014 and then again in 2024, could have used these ten precious years she has represented the Mathura Lok Sabha constituency to restore and preserve this unique heritage. She describes herself as a Krishna devotee whose dream for her constituency of Mathura, which includes Vrindavan, remains incomplete. She is seeking re-election citing divine intervention, as Krishna wants her to complete the tasks’ set into motion ten years ago. One day before filing her nomination, Hema Malini performed Yamuna puja at Vishram Ghat. The Yamuna she paid homage to is a dark, stinking body of water, just as it was ten years ago when she performed similar pujas in 2014 and 2019, insisting even then that her top priority would be have the Yamuna cleaned. Those in Vrindavan and Mathura believe Krishna’s legacy would have been much better served if she had worked to have the waters of the Yamuna cleaned. CONTD. ON NATION Airport Customs seize Rs 4.4cr gold, Rs 2cr diamonds in noodle packets SOMENDRA SHARMA / MUMBAI Over 6.815 kilograms of gold valued at Rs. 4.44 crore and diamonds valued at Rs 2.02 crore, totally amounting to Rs 6.46 crore have been seized in 13 cases by Mumbai Airport Customs officers, between April 19 and 21. Interestingly , the diamonds were found concealed in noodle packets, while the gold was found concealed on the body of passengers – in the rectum – and in the baggage of passengers and inside their undergarments. Four passengers have been arrested, agency officers said. According to Customs, a foreign national travelling from Colombo to Mumbai was intercepted and found carrying gold bars and a cut piece, with a total net weight of 321 grams, concealed inside her undergarments. Ten Indian nationals – from Dubai (2), Abu Dhabi (2), Bahrain (1), Doha (1), Riyadh (1), Muscat (1), Bangkok (1) and Singapore CONTD. ON NATION (1) – were