The Evening Wrap: Delhi High Court on Delhi riots case

Student activists Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha walked out of Tihar prison on June 17, hours after a court in Delhi ordered their immediate release in the Delhi riots case. The order came two days after the Delhi High Court granted bail to Ms. Narwal, Ms. Kalita and Mr. Tanha. Director General (Delhi Prisons) Sandeep Goel confirmed that all three have been released. A senior jail official said Ms. Kalita and Ms. Narwal were released around 7 p.m. and Mr. Tanha at around 7.30 p.m. The three student activists were not released from the prison on time over delays in verifying their addresses and sureties. In its order for the immediate release of the trio, the Delhi court said the delay in the verification process by the police could not be a plausible reason for the accused to be kept imprisoned. After securing bail from the high court, the activists had moved the trial court, seeking immediate release from prison. When the trial court deferred the order on their plea for Thursday, they moved the Delhi High Court, which ordered the lower court to proceed with the issue with "promptitude and expedition". The three student activists were arrested in May 2020 and are accused of being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 violence, which left 53 people dead and more than 200 injured. The High Court, while granting them bail on June 15, had observed that "in an anxiety to suppress dissent, the state has blurred the line between right to protest and terrorist activity" and if such a mindset gains traction, it would be a "sad day for democracy". The Delhi Police have, however, moved the Supreme Court, challenging the high court judgement granting them bail in the case. Class 12 marks: SC approves CBSE's 30:30:40 formula The Supreme Court on Thursday gave in-principle clearance to the schemes placed on record by the CBSE and ICSE to assess the final marks of Class 12 students whose Board exams were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The CBSE has divided the marks' assessment process into two components — theory and practical. The theory component would be assessed by first giving 30% weightage to average scores obtained by students in Class 10 in their three best performing subjects out of a total five. Secondly, another 30% weightage would be given to marks based on the theory component of the final exam taken in Class 11. Finally, 40% weightage would be given for marks obtained in one or more unit tests, mid-term exams and pre-board exams in Class 12. So, if the total marks for theory is 80, the 30% weightage of Classes 10 and 11 would come to 24 marks each. The 40% weightage derived from performance in various tests conducted in Class 12 year would translate to 32 marks. On the practical component side, calculation would be on the "actual basis" of the marks uploaded by schools on the CBSE portal. According to the scheme, the total marks awarded should be in consonance with the past performance of the school in Class 12 Board examinations. A result committee under the principal would be formed in each school comprising two senior-most postgraduate teachers from the same school and two postgraduate teachers from neighbouring schools. The committee has been given the liberty to prepare the result by following the policy. The CBSE would aid them by establishing a help desk and also by providing software support to prepare the result. The CBSE said it would declare the results by July 31, 2021. In case any candidate is not satisfied with the assessment done, based on the policy, he or she would be given an opportunity to take the examinations to be conducted by the Board when the situation is more "conducive". "Most of the candidates will be happy with this scheme… When there is a manageable number you can consider holding a physical exam later," a Bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari addressed Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the Union of India, which is CBSE's controlling authority. On its part, the court asked Venugopal to "incorporate" two suggestions in the final schemes. "First, you have to provide an in-built dispute resolution mechanism in the policy for students unhappy with their assessment. Secondly, specify the timeline for the declaration of results and the date by which the optional (physical) exams would be conducted in the policy itself," Justice Khanwilkar addressed Venugopal. Have written thrice to PM to withdraw Dhankhar as West Bengal Governor, says Mamata West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday took a dig at Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's New Delhi visit as she said a "child can be cajoled into silence" but not an elderly man, adding that she has thrice written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw him from the state. Calling the governor a "Centre's man", Banerjee refrained from commenting much on his meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind and several other union ministers in Delhi. "What can I say? A child can be cajoled into silence. In this case, speech is silver; silence is golden," she said. Asked about media reports suggesting that the governor might be removed, Banerjee said she is not aware of any such development. "How do I know? When a governor is appointed, the state government is consulted. That, however, was not done in this case. I have written twice or thrice to the Prime Minister seeking his withdrawal from the state," she said. Dhankhar, who has shared a strained relationship with the TMC government since taking charge as the governor of the state in 2019, is in the national capital on a four-day trip. He has not specified any reason for the visit. The governor met Union ministers Prahlad Joshi and Prahlad Singh Patel on Wednesday. He also held a meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan earlier in the day. Dhankhar is scheduled to meet Home Minister Amit Shah later in the day. The ruling TMC in West Bengal on Wednesday accused Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar of violating constitutional norms and requested him not to return to the state. Lakshadweep filmmaker Aisha Sultana gets interim anticipatory bail The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted interim anticipatory bail to Aisha Sultana, filmmaker, in a sedition case registered against her. Justice Ashok Menon ordered that she be granted interim anticipatory bail if she is arrested when she appears before the Kavaratti police on June 20 for interrogation in connection with the sedition case. She has been charged with offences under Sections 124 A (sedition) and 153 B (assertions against national integration) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for her alleged remark, in a Malayalam TV channel discussion, that the Union government had used a bio-weapon against the islanders. The court, while passing the interim order, also directed her to comply with the notice given by the police asking her to appear before them on June 20 for interrogation. The court also made it clear that if she was arrested, the police should allow the presence of her counsel during further interrogation. The bail order will remain in force for a week. The court ordered that the interim anticipatory bail be granted on her executing a bond for ₹50,000 with two solvent sureties for the like sum to the satisfaction of the investigation officer when she is arrested. When Sultana's petition came up for hearing, P. Vijayabhanu, senior counsel for the petitioner, submitted that she had made the statement during a heated discussion and she did not know its implications. When she realised her mistake, she had tendered an apology. She would appear before the police and cooperate with the investigation. Rebel LJP group elects Paras as party president The rebel group of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) on Thursday elected Pashupati Kumar Paras unopposed as the new party president. After his election, Paras, who days before had staged a coup in the party, told mediapersons, "I was elected according to the party's constitution and democratic process. The party has thrust a big responsibility on me and I'll take the party forward." The LJP's national executive committee meeting was held at the residence of senior party leader Suraj Bhan Singh in Patna. Singh later announced that no other nomination had been filed against Paras. After the coup in the party, the rebel LJP group had elected Singh, a party leader and former MP from Munger, as its working president. When asked why he and other party leaders had to break away from his nephew Chirag Paswan, the newly elected president said, "If nephew becomes an autocrat, what can an uncle do?" "I've been elected under the party's constitution, which says that every three years, election for the party president will take place. No one can be party president for life in a democratic set up," said the MP from Hajipur. Paras also urged partymen who had quit previously to "come back to fulfill dream of party's founder leader Ram Vilas Paswan". He asserted that there was no "internal bickering" in the LJP and the party would "take care of people coming from every section of the society". The LJP is currently an ally of the BJP at the Centre. Earlier, Chirag Paswan was removed from the post of LJP president after an emergency meeting of the party's national working committee. Out of total of six LJP MPs, five rebelled against Paswan. Paswan, however, on Wednesday nominated party leader and former MLA Raju Tiwari as the LJP State president. India calls for review of Pakistan bill relating to Kulbhushan Jadhav's right to appeal India on Thursday asked Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address the shortcomings in a Bill introduced in the country's national assembly last week providing for the right of appeal to Indian death-row convict Kulbhushan Jadhav. Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi said the Bill has a provision for inviting the municipal court to decide whether any prejudice has been caused to Jadhav on account of the failure to provide consular access in accordance with a verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). "We call upon Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address the shortcomings in the Bill," Bagchi said at a media briefing. He said the municipal court cannot be the arbiter of whether the State has fulfilled its obligation under international law. Bagchi also called upon the neighbouring country to comply with the judgment of the ICJ in the case relating to Jadhav. Jadhav, 50, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. Subsequently, India approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence. The Hague-based ICJ ruled in July 2019 that Pakistan must undertake an "effective review and reconsideration" of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav and also grant consular access to India without further delay. Stalin calls on PM Modi, hands over memorandum In his maiden visit to New Delhi as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday evening and handed over a memorandum containing the State government's demands. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Stalin said that his meeting with the PM was satisfactory. He said that the PM informed him he could be approached any time escalating the demands of the State government. The memorandum contained 25 major demands of the State government, including operationalising the HLL Biotech Ltd in Chengalpattu, to speed up the establishment of AIIMS in Madurai, and scrapping NEET for medical admissions. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 2,97,26,311 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 3,82,340. In Brief: Spain's Rafael Nadal pulled out of Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in Tokyo on June 17, saying he took the decision after consultations with his team. "I have decided not to participate at this year's Championships at Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in Tokyo," Nadal said on Twitter. "It's never an easy decision to take but after listening to my body and discussing it with my team I understand that it is the right decision," he added. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.

The Evening Wrap 17 JUNE 2021

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Student activists Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, Asif Iqbal Tanha released from prison on bail Student activists Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha walked out of Tihar prison on June 17, hours after a court in Delhi ordered their immediate release in the Delhi riots case. The order came two days after the Delhi High Court granted bail to Ms. Narwal, Ms. Kalita and Mr. Tanha. Director General (Delhi Prisons) Sandeep Goel confirmed that all three have been released. A senior jail official said Ms. Kalita and Ms. Narwal were released around 7 p.m. and Mr. Tanha at around 7.30 p.m.   The three student activists were not released from the prison on time over delays in verifying their addresses and sureties. In its order for the immediate release of the trio, the Delhi court said the delay in the verification process by the police could not be a plausible reason for the accused to be kept imprisoned. After securing bail from the high court, the activists had moved the trial court, seeking immediate release from prison. When the trial court deferred the order on their plea for Thursday, they moved the Delhi High Court, which ordered the lower court to proceed with the issue with "promptitude and expedition". The three student activists were arrested in May 2020 and are accused of being the "masterminds" of the February 2020 violence, which left 53 people dead and more than 200 injured. The High Court, while granting them bail on June 15, had observed that "in an anxiety to suppress dissent, the state has blurred the line between right to protest and terrorist activity" and if such a mindset gains traction, it would be a "sad day for democracy". The Delhi Police have, however, moved the Supreme Court, challenging the high court judgement granting them bail in the case. Class 12 marks: SC approves CBSE's 30:30:40 formula The Supreme Court on Thursday gave in-principle clearance to the schemes placed on record by the CBSE and ICSE to assess the final marks of Class 12 students whose Board exams were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The CBSE has divided the marks' assessment process into two components — theory and practical. The theory component would be assessed by first giving 30% weightage to average scores obtained by students in Class 10 in their three best performing subjects out of a total five. Secondly, another 30% weightage would be given to marks based on the theory component of the final exam taken in Class 11. Finally, 40% weightage would be given for marks obtained in one or more unit tests, mid-term exams and pre-board exams in Class 12. So, if the total marks for theory is 80, the 30% weightage of Classes 10 and 11 would come to 24 marks each. The 40% weightage derived from performance in various tests conducted in Class 12 year would translate to 32 marks. On the practical component side, calculation would be on the "actual basis" of the marks uploaded by schools on the CBSE portal. According to the scheme, the total marks awarded should be in consonance with the past performance of the school in Class 12 Board examinations. A result committee under the principal would be formed in each school comprising two senior-most postgraduate teachers from the same school and two postgraduate teachers from neighbouring schools. The committee has been given the liberty to prepare the result by following the policy. The CBSE would aid them by establishing a help desk and also by providing software support to prepare the result. The CBSE said it would declare the results by July 31, 2021. In case any candidate is not satisfied with the assessment done, based on the policy, he or she would be given an opportunity to take the examinations to be conducted by the Board when the situation is more "conducive". "Most of the candidates will be happy with this scheme… When there is a manageable number you can consider holding a physical exam later," a Bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari addressed Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the Union of India, which is CBSE's controlling authority. On its part, the court asked Venugopal to "incorporate" two suggestions in the final schemes. "First, you have to provide an in-built dispute resolution mechanism in the policy for students unhappy with their assessment. Secondly, specify the timeline for the declaration of results and the date by which the optional (physical) exams would be conducted in the policy itself," Justice Khanwilkar addressed Venugopal. Have written thrice to PM to withdraw Dhankhar as West Bengal Governor, says Mamata  West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday took a dig at Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's New Delhi visit as she said a "child can be cajoled into silence" but not an elderly man, adding that she has thrice written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw him from the state. Calling the governor a "Centre's man", Banerjee refrained from commenting much on his meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind and several other union ministers in Delhi. "What can I say? A child can be cajoled into silence. In this case, speech is silver; silence is golden," she said. Asked about media reports suggesting that the governor might be removed, Banerjee said she is not aware of any such development. "How do I know? When a governor is appointed, the state government is consulted. That, however, was not done in this case. I have written twice or thrice to the Prime Minister seeking his withdrawal from the state," she said. Dhankhar, who has shared a strained relationship with the TMC government since taking charge as the governor of the state in 2019, is in the national capital on a four-day trip. He has not specified any reason for the visit. The governor met Union ministers Prahlad Joshi and Prahlad Singh Patel on Wednesday. He also held a meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan earlier in the day. Dhankhar is scheduled to meet Home Minister Amit Shah later in the day. The ruling TMC in West Bengal on Wednesday accused Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar of violating constitutional norms and requested him not to return to the state. Lakshadweep filmmaker Aisha Sultana gets interim anticipatory bail The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted interim anticipatory bail to Aisha Sultana, filmmaker, in a sedition case registered against her. Justice Ashok Menon ordered that she be granted interim anticipatory bail if she is arrested when she appears before the Kavaratti police on June 20 for interrogation in connection with the sedition case. She has been charged with offences under Sections 124 A (sedition) and 153 B (assertions against national integration) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for her alleged remark, in a Malayalam TV channel discussion, that the Union government had used a bio-weapon against the islanders. The court, while passing the interim order, also directed her to comply with the notice given by the police asking her to appear before them on June 20 for interrogation. The court also made it clear that if she was arrested, the police should allow the presence of her counsel during further interrogation. The bail order will remain in force for a week. The court ordered that the interim anticipatory bail be granted on her executing a bond for ₹50,000 with two solvent sureties for the like sum to the satisfaction of the investigation officer when she is arrested. When Sultana's petition came up for hearing, P. Vijayabhanu, senior counsel for the petitioner, submitted that she had made the statement during a heated discussion and she did not know its implications. When she realised her mistake, she had tendered an apology. She would appear before the police and cooperate with the investigation. Rebel LJP group elects Paras as party president The rebel group of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) on Thursday elected Pashupati Kumar Paras unopposed as the new party president. After his election, Paras, who days before had staged a coup in the party, told mediapersons, "I was elected according to the party's constitution and democratic process. The party has thrust a big responsibility on me and I'll take the party forward." The LJP's national executive committee meeting was held at the residence of senior party leader Suraj Bhan Singh in Patna. Singh later announced that no other nomination had been filed against Paras. After the coup in the party, the rebel LJP group had elected Singh, a party leader and former MP from Munger, as its working president. When asked why he and other party leaders had to break away from his nephew Chirag Paswan, the newly elected president said, "If nephew becomes an autocrat, what can an uncle do?" "I've been elected under the party's constitution, which says that every three years, election for the party president will take place. No one can be party president for life in a democratic set up," said the MP from Hajipur. Paras also urged partymen who had quit previously to "come back to fulfill dream of party's founder leader Ram Vilas Paswan". He asserted that there was no "internal bickering" in the LJP and the party would "take care of people coming from every section of the society". The LJP is currently an ally of the BJP at the Centre. Earlier, Chirag Paswan was removed from the post of LJP president after an emergency meeting of the party's national working committee. Out of total of six LJP MPs, five rebelled against Paswan. Paswan, however, on Wednesday nominated party leader and former MLA Raju Tiwari as the LJP State president. India calls for review of Pakistan bill relating to Kulbhushan Jadhav's right to appeal India on Thursday asked Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address the shortcomings in a Bill introduced in the country's national assembly last week providing for the right of appeal to Indian death-row convict Kulbhushan Jadhav. Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi said the Bill has a provision for inviting the municipal court to decide whether any prejudice has been caused to Jadhav on account of the failure to provide consular access in accordance with a verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).   "We call upon Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address the shortcomings in the Bill," Bagchi said at a media briefing. He said the municipal court cannot be the arbiter of whether the State has fulfilled its obligation under international law. Bagchi also called upon the neighbouring country to comply with the judgment of the ICJ in the case relating to Jadhav. Jadhav, 50, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. Subsequently, India approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence. The Hague-based ICJ ruled in July 2019 that Pakistan must undertake an "effective review and reconsideration" of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav and also grant consular access to India without further delay. Stalin calls on PM Modi, hands over memorandum In his maiden visit to New Delhi as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday evening and handed over a memorandum containing the State government's demands. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Stalin said that his meeting with the PM was satisfactory. He said that the PM informed him he could be approached any time escalating the demands of the State government. The memorandum contained 25 major demands of the State government, including operationalising the HLL Biotech Ltd in Chengalpattu, to speed up the establishment of AIIMS in Madurai, and scrapping NEET for medical admissions. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments  The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 2,97,26,311 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 3,82,340.   In Brief: Spain's Rafael Nadal pulled out of Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in Tokyo on June 17, saying he took the decision after consultations with his team. "I have decided not to participate at this year's Championships at Wimbledon and the Olympic Games in Tokyo," Nadal said on Twitter. "It's never an easy decision to take but after listening to my body and discussing it with my team I understand that it is the right decision," he added. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.

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