FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms Vol. 14 No. 280 | BHOPAL | TUESDAY | MARCH 25, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 FREE www.freepressjournal.in ESTD-1983 iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL MONEY Sports TOP TRIO RETAINED P.15 Justice Varma repatriated to Allahabad High Court PTI Dhankhar praises transparency The Supreme Court collegium on Monday confirmed the transfer of Delhi High Court's Justice Yashwant Varma, facing an enquiry over the alleged discovery of huge cash from his official residence and from whom judicial work was withdrawn, to his parent Allahabad High Court. The transfer recommendation to the Centre was made public in a resolution uploaded on the top court website. "The Supreme Court Collegium in its meetings held on March 20 and 24, 2025 has recommended the repatriation of Justice Yashwant Varma, Judge, High Court of Delhi, to the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad," said the resolution. fp Briefs RIYADH US, Russia talks begin The high-stakes meeting between a US delegation led by US Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Wiktkoff and Kremlin negotiators has started in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, where the Trump administration is pushing for a ceasefire. NEW DELHI 24% hike in MPs’ salaries The Centre on Monday notified a 24 per cent hike in the salaries of members of Parliament with effect from April 1, 2023, on the basis of the Cost Inflation Index, taking their monthly salaries to Rs 1.24 lakh besides certain allowances and perks. MUMBAI Kamra’s 'traitor' jibe sparks row The political storm over comedian Kunal Kamra's alleged mocking of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde intensified on Monday with tremors being felt in Parliament premises and across Maharashtra. Today in IPL MATCH NO. 5 GT Vs PBKS AHMEDABAD; 7:30 PM (Detail report on Sports Page) Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday lauded the Chief Justice of India (CJI) for making all material related to the controversy involving a Delhi High Court judge publicly available, calling it an "unprecedented" move since independence. On March 21, the Supreme Court said Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya had initiated an in-house inquiry against Justice Varma and there was a separate proposal to transfer him. "There is misinformation and rumours are being spread with regard to the incident at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma," the SC statement added. Upon receiving the information, the apex court said Chief Justice Upadhyaya "commenced the in-house enquiry procedure, collecting evidence and information". Justice Upadhyaya was stated to have commenced the enquiry prior to a meeting of the apex court collegium on March 20. Justice Varma's proposed transfer could come into effect after the Centre accepts the recommendation. The alleged cash discovery happened following a fire at Varma's Lutyens Delhi residence at around 11.35 pm on March 14, prompting the fire officials to rush to the spot and douse it. 4Continued on | P8 Allahabad High Court Bar Assn opposes transfer The Allahabad High Court Bar Association on Monday demanded the scrutiny of judgments of Justice Yashwant Varma, subjected to an enquiry over the alleged discovery of huge cash from his residential home, and opposed his proposed repatriation to his parent Allahabad High Court Jeweller fights off armed robber, foils daylight heist Overpowers accused, a B.Com graduate, before he could escape VIDEOS GO VIRAL Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL A daring jewellery showroom owner in Rohit Nagar Market foiled a daylight robbery attempt and, with the help of his staff, managed to capture the armed culprit under Shahpura police station on Monday afternoon. The accused even opened fire, but his pistol misfired, allowing the jeweller to overpower him. Police have arrested the accused and are interrogating him. According to reports, Manoj Jain, a resident of Vishnu Hi-Tech City and owner of Akshansh Jewellers, was at his shop around 1 PM with an employee when a masked man entered and asked to see gold chains. When Manoj requested him to remove the cloth covering Several videos of the dramatic robbery attempt have surfaced online. In one clip, Manoj is seen grappling with the armed looter, while another shows him being escorted away by policemen. A separate video captures locals and traders thrashing the robber, as police struggle to shield him from the enraged crowd. his face, the man suddenly pulled out a pistol and aimed it at him, demanding jewellery. 4Continued on | P8 HC upholds Five get life term for looting army officers, Hindu Marriage Act for Jains raping female friend Sets aside family court’s order Our Staff Reporter INDORE FP News Service MHOW Fourth Upper Session Judge of Mhow court Ravishankar Dohre on Monday announced life imprisonment to five people in connection with looting and abducting army officers and gang rape of the latter's female friend at a picnic spot near Mhow, about five and a half months ago. Special public prosecutor of Mhow court Sandhya Uike told said the incident of loot, abduction and gang rape took place near Jaam Gate on Mhow- Mandleshwar road between 2 and 3 AM on the night of September 11 last year. A case under relevant sections was registered at Badgonda police station of Mhow the next day. The police completed its investigation along with necessary arrests and submitted the final report of the case in the court within a month, on October 12. The prosecution started evidence in court from October 26 and statements of defence witnesses were recorded on March 20 this year. Prosecution and defence counsels presented their final arguments on March 21 and after a gap of only five months and 12 days from the date of filing the case, the judgment was delivered on Monday. After hearing both sides, judge Ravi Shankar Dohre convicted the five accused and sentenced them to life imprisonment. He also ordered them to pay Rs 50,000 to the rape victim and Rs 10,000 each to the other three victims. In a landmark ruling, the Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh high court has set aside an order by a local family court which had denied the applicability of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, to the Jain community. The division bench comprising justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Sanjeev S Kalgaonkar, ruled that Jains were covered under the Act, reaffirming their right to seek divorce under its provisions. The case involved an appeal by Nitesh Sethi, who had filed for mutual divorce under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, alongside his wife, Shikha Sethi. The couple got married in July 2017 as per Hindu rituals but had been living separately since April 2018. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 ujjain Land crisis stalls industrial growth Nirukt Bhargava UJJAIN Investment proposals worth around Rs 50,000 crore are in the pipeline for Ujjain’s Vikram Udyogpuri, with Rs 5,000 crore worth of proposals already pending before the authorities. However, a severe shortage of land has become a major roadblock to new industrial develsenior official from the Madopment. hya Pradesh Industrial DeThe Global Investors’ velopment Corporation Summit (GIS) held in (MPIDC) stated, “InBhopal last month vestment proposals yielded positive reworth Rs 50,000 sults for Ujjain, atcrore were retracting significant ceived for Vikram E XC LU S I V E investment interest. Udyogpuri, but acHowever, the governquiring sufficient ment faces challenges in land and developing acquiring land to accomnecessary infrastructure remodate these projects. A mains a challenge.” FP PRESS PUNE Currently, about 325 acres of land in Vikram Udyogpuri, located on the Ujjain-Dewas Road, is fully occupied. Forty-eight companies have begun setting up units, with some already starting manufacturing operations at an investment of Rs 2,000 crore. 4Continued on | P8 INDORE NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Edit Judicial probity vital P.6 US tariff will lead India to focus on self-reliance CASH-DISCOVERY ROW | Judicial work withdrawn from Delhi HC judge over alleged discovery of cash at residence NEW DELHI UJJAIN Cinema Salman returns with a bang P.14 SC sets up task force over students' mental health PTI NEW DELHI SC notice to MP govt on Mandsaur firing Seeks response in 4 weeks Our Staff Reporter The Supreme Court on Monday took note of the recurring cases of student suicides in higher educational institutions and formed a National Task Force (NTF) to address the mental health concerns of students and prevent such incidents. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed Delhi Police to register an FIR on the complaints of the family members of two students who died by suicide while studying at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, in 2023. Noting a "disturbing pattern", the apex court said these tragedies underscored the urgent need for a more robust, comprehensive and responsive mechanism. See Nation BHOPAL In a major development, the Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh government regarding the Mandsaur firing incident in June 2017, in which five farmers lost their lives. The court has sought a response from the state within four weeks. The notice was issued following a petition by former MLA Paras Saklecha, who has been demanding that the government should table the Jain Commission report in the Legislative Assembly. The Jain Commission was constituted on June 12, 2017, to investigate the firing incident Jain Commission was constituted on June 12, 2017, to investigate firing incident at Parshvanath Chowpatty at Parshvanath Chowpatty in Pipaliya Mandi, Mandsaur, where police opened fire on protesting farmers. The commission submitted its findings on June 13, 2018, but the report has not been made public or discussed in the assembly even after nearly seven years. Saklecha had initially moved theHigh Court on May 3, 2022, urging the government to act on the commission’s findings and table the report within six months of its submission. However, on October 14, 2024, a division bench of Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Binod Kumar Dwivedi rejected the plea, stating that there was no basis for tabling the report after such a long gap. Challenging the High Court's decision, Saklecha filed a petition in the Supreme Court on January 8, 2025. On Monday, a bench comprising Justice Sandeep Das and Justice Vikram Mehta issued the notice to the state government, asking for a response within four weeks. Speaking to Free Press, Saklecha said, "The Supreme Court has taken note of our plea and has sought a response from the state government. Senior advocate Vivek Tankha argued on my behalf in the court." MLA Chintamani refuses to apologise Says he put his views before House; Cong comes in support of legislator Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL BJP legislator Chintamani Malviya has stuck to his statement even after getting a notice from the party leadership. Malviya took the government to task over acquiring land SIMHASTHA REMARK from farmers for Simhastha. Malviya has further said he had not issued any statement at any public place. During an interaction with media persons on Monday, Malviya said a legislator had the special right to present his views before the House. There is no question of tendering an apology, Malviya said, adding that nor is he in the habit of doing so. Malviya has stuck to his guns over acquiring land from the farmers. But he is yet to receive any notice from the party, and when he receives, he will reply to it with evidence, Malviya said. The Congress has come in support of Malviya. In an interaction with media persons, MPCC president Jitu Patwari said serving notice on Malviya was an insult to farmers, Dalits and democracy. Notices are served on an MLA for raising the issues of farmers, Patwari said, adding that by preventing its legislator from speaking in the House, the BJP gagged the voice of democracy. The Congress is with Malviya over the issue raised by him, he said. Serving notice on Malviya has raised a storm from Bhopal to Delhi. Because Malviya is very close to the RSS, the organisation may intervene in the issue. According to sources, the central leadership has also sought information about the issue.