| Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day's biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. SC says farmers have a constitutional right to protest, but urges talks The Supreme Court on Thursday said farmers have a constitutional right to continue with their "absolutely perfect" protest as long as their dissent against the three controversial agricultural laws does not slip into violence. "We recognise the right to protest. There is no question of curtailing it. But it should not damage anybody's lives," a Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde observed. The court, however, said the purpose of the protesting farmers would not be served if they continued to sit without engaging in talks. "Yes, there is a protest that is going on... Yes, the protest is constitutional as long as it does not damage property and lives. It is an absolutely perfect protest. But their [farmers'] purpose cannot be realised if they continue to sit without talking," the CJI observed. The court reiterated its suggestion of forming an "impartial and independent committee" of experts in agriculture to hear both farmers and the Union government on the laws. "If their [farmers] protest has a purpose other than just to sit in protest, we are thinking of an independent committee before whom both sides can state their case while the protest goes on... The committee can give its opinion after hearing them. We expect parties [farmers and government] to follow the committee's opinion. Meanwhile, the protest will continue without causing violence or damage on both sides," Chief Justice Bobde suggested. Senior advocate P. Chidambaram, for Punjab, where most of the protesting farmers hail from, said the farmers actually wanted the Parliament to discuss amendments to the three laws. Farmer leaders not in favour of impleading themselves in SC case, to seek legal opinion  Farmers protest on new farm law issue at Singhu border on Thursday. Protesting farmer leaders will seek legal opinion on Friday, before taking any position in the Supreme Court case on their agitation. Most farm leaders are not in favour of impleading themselves in the case, they said. "After a meeting of the committee plus the Punjab leaders this afternoon, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha has decided to consult with four senior Supreme Court lawyers -- Dushyant Dave, Prashant Bhushan, Colin Gonsalves, and HS Phoolka -- before taking any position on the case," said K.V. Biju, national coordinator of the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh. "The leaders are not in favour of impleading themselves into the case, but we have decided to seek legal opinion first...It is the BJP which is behind this case, so why should we play into their hands?" Kisan Krantikari Union president Darshan Pal told The Hindu. "In the meanwhile, the agitation will continue. The court itself made it clear that we have every right to continue our protests." Farm leaders are worried about the legal precedent set during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) earlier this year. "When a PIL was filed on the anti-CAA protests, the court gave the order to vacate them. If the same thing happens, that will damage our movement," said one leader, who did not wish to be named. They also argued that this issue is the domain of the executive, not the judiciary. "The grammar of democratic governance must be articulated by the Government. Constitutional institutions like courts exist for checks and balances, not as replacement of the obligations to be performed by the political executive," said a statement from the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee. Rahul Gandhi urges Lok Sabha Speaker to protect MP's right to speak  Rahul Gandhi. File A day after walking out of a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Defence, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to express his "dismay" at the manner in which the meeting was conducted and asked Birla "to protect an elected MP's right to speak freely". Giving his version of Wednesday's events that saw him walkout from the Parliamentary panel meet, Gandhi said he was "repeatedly prevented" from speaking by the Chairman of the PSC on Defence, the BJP's Jual Oram, forcing him to walk out in protest. "Sir, as Speaker of the Lok Sabha and custodian of the House, I urge you to intervene and ensure that the discussion and presentations held in the defence committee are in consonance with the role and objective of the institution and that the right of elected MPs to speak freely is protected," Gandhi is learnt to have said in his letter. "You are aware that we are currently facing a serious national security challenge on our borders and that China has forcibly occupied our territory and martyred 20 of our soldiers. There are many critical matters to discuss at a time like this. I was therefore extremely disturbed to find that the Chief of Defence Staff and the top brass of the Army, Navy and Air Force, who have important matters to deal with, had been asked by the chairman to spend an entire afternoon explaining the colours and different types of uniforms and insignia worn by different ranks in our forces," the letter read. As was reported by The Hindu earlier, the Congress leader mentioned that he had put on record his objections after a BJP Rajya Sabha member talked about simplifying uniforms on the lines of those worn by the U.S. and other western forces. "I put on record that I objected to the MP's suggestion about asking our forces to make changes to their uniforms. I stated that it was not the committee's place to tell our forces what to wear...I mentioned our job, as members of the defence committee, was to discuss critical National Security matters of a strategic nature...At this point, I was repeatedly prevented from speaking. When other members of the committee objected and requested Shri Oram to allow me to speak, given that the committee was free to record its dissent after, he insisted, aap nahi bolenge (you won't speak)," Gandhi noted. Will not be cowed down, says Mamata on Central deputation of IPS officers  Mamata Banerjee. Describing the Government of India's order of Central deputation for three serving IPS officers of West Bengal despite the State's objection a "colourable exercise of power and blatant misuse of emergency provision of IPS Cadre Rule 1954," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday that West Bengal was "not going to cow down in front of expansionist and undemocratic force." Despite the objection of the State government, the Centre had called the three IPS officers on Central deputation. The officers were deployed in the security of BJP president J.P. Nadda when his convoy was attacked at Diamond Harbour on December 10. The three officers are Inspector General (South Bengal) Rajeev Mishra, Deputy Inspector General (Presidency Range) Praveen Kumar Tripathi, and Diamond Harbour Superintendent of Police Bholanath Pandey. Banerjee said such a move before the elections was against "the basic tenets of the federal structure." "This act is nothing but a deliberate attempt to encroach upon the State's jurisdiction and demoralise the serving officers in WB. This move, particularly before the elections is against the basic tenets of the federal structure. It's unconstitutional & completely unacceptable!" Banerjee tweeted. Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee had on December 12 written to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla that the order was a tool to "coerce and terrorise" IPS and IAS officers of West Bengal. "Your motive is very clear that by taking them [the IPS officers] you want to create pressure," the MP had written. Yogasana to become a competitive sport  The Sports Minister said yogasana will be inducted in future Khelo India Games programme. Yogasana will be a competitive sport in the country, the Ministries of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Homoeopathy), and Youth Affairs and Sports announced at a joint press conference today. They said they planned to establish yogasana as a competitive sport globally. "The Central government took the decision to promote yogasana as a competitive sport after extensive consultation with stakeholders over the last 3-4 years. The National Board of Promotion and Development of Yoga and Naturopathy in 2019 recommended that yogasana be recognised as a competitive sport," Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, said. He added an exhaustive document containing the rules, regulations and syllabus for yogasana competitions had been prepared, and the technical committee had also made a list of the asanas (compulsory and optional) after exhaustive research. "Work for automation of the scoring system to introduce objectivity in marking has been initiated and district/ State/ national/ world championships in yogasana are proposed in 2021. A pilot championship of traditional yogasana by the name of 'National Individual Yogasana Sports Championship' (virtual mode) is proposed to be organised in February 2021," he said. SC dismisses U.P. govt's plea against HC order quashing Kafeel Khan's detention  Dr Kafeel Khan addresses a press conference in Jaipur, on September 3 soon after his release from Mathura jail. The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by the Uttar Pradesh government against an Allahabad High Court decision quashing the detention of Dr. Kafeel Khan under the National Security Act (NSA). A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde, however, said any remarks made by the High Court on the facts of the case in its September order would not interfere in the ongoing prosecution of the case. "Case will be decided on its own merits," the Bench observed. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, for Dr. Khan's mother Nuzhat Perween, argued against the State's appeal. "The man has been out for three months now and there have been no problems," Jaising submitted. Chief Justice Bobde told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the court would not intervene against the quashing of the detention order and told the State "to get on with whatever prosecution is pending". Dr Khan had been in custody since January 29 for his remarks during a speech at an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) event in Aligarh Muslim University in December last year. The High Court had, in its order, said that his speech did not "disclose any effort to promote hatred or violence" and termed the three extensions of his detention illegal. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 99,75,255 at the time of writing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,44,829. In Brief: The Delhi Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution that the three farm laws should be "repealed" by the central government. "More than 20 farmers have been martyred in the protest. I want to ask the central government, how many more lives will you take before you listen to the farmers of the country?" Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked. French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for Covid-19, the French Presidency said on Thursday. "The President of the Republic has been diagnosed positive for Covid-19 today," his office said in a statement. "This diagnosis was made following an PCR test performed at the onset of the first symptoms." Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished him a speedy recovery. "Wishing my dear friend @EmmanuelMacron a speedy recovery and the best of health," Modi tweeted. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully placed into a transfer orbit India's 42nd communications satellite, CMS-01, carried on board the PSLV-C50, from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR on Thursday. India's workhorse launch vehicle, the PSLV, in its 52nd mission, rose into the skies at 3.41 p.m. The satellite was placed into a precise Geo-Synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) roughly 20 minutes after lift-off. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
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