Vol. 67 No. 148 | THURSDAY | MARCH 21, 2024 | 28 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Quality at Value www.freepressjournal.in MEMBER: AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION VAIBHAV TATWAWAADI’S ARTICLE 370 EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper Actor asserts that it is not a propaganda movie EDIT PUTIN’S HUGE WIN IN SHAM POLL CENTRE DEFENDS CJI’S EXCLUSION Contends independence of Election Commission does not stem from the presence of a judicial member on the selection committee OUR BUREAU / NEW DELHI The Centre on Wednesday defended in the Supreme Court the appointment of two new election commissioners under a 2023 law that excludes the CJI from the selection committee, saying the independence of the Election Commission does not arise from the presence of a judicial member on the committee. In an affidavit filed in the apex court, the Union Law Ministry rejected the petitioner's claim that the two election commissioners were hastily appointed on March 14 to "pre-empt" the orders of the top court the next day when , the matters challenging the 2023 law were listed for hearing on interim relief. The affidavit has been filed in response to a batch of pleas, including those by Congress leader Jaya Thakur and the Association for Democratic Reforms, challenging the 2023 legislation. "It is submitted that the case of the petitioners is premised on one fundamental fallacy that the independence can only be maintained in any authority when the selection committee is of a particular formulation. It must be noted that the independence of the Election commission, or any other organisation or authority does not arise from , and is not attributable to the presence of a judicial member in the selection committee," the affidavit said. Refuting the petitioners' claim that no list of probable appointees was shared with the opposition, the Centre said that the names of short-listed persons were made available to Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on March 13, 2024, after the Search Committee had finalised six names for recommendation. CONTD. ON NATION PIL on poll freebies in SC today OUR BUREAU / NEW DELHI The Supreme Court agreed to list for hearing on Thursday a PIL against the practice of political parties promising freebies during elections. The PIL has also sought a direction to the Election Commission to invoke its powers to freeze the election symbols and cancel the registration of such political parties which offer freebies. "This is important. We will keep this on board tomorrow," the bench, comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said on Wednesday . The court took note of the submissions of senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, appearing for lawyer and PIL CONTD. ON NATION Rahul has to reckon with EC ‘Shakti’ GAURAV VIVEK BHATNAGAR NEW DELHI The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday complained to the Election Commission of India about a speech by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at Shivaji Park in Mumbai regarding the use of the word “Shakti” and charged that he had deliberately used the word to insult the religious values associated with it. As such, the BJP insisted, this constituted a violation of the Model Code of Conduct and demanded that the commission order registration of an FIR against Gandhi in the matter. The BJP has taken umbrage at Rahul Gandhi’s analogy of the word ‘Shakti’ which finds a mention in Hindu rituals and mythology Stretching the . analogy and making it a part of his political lexicon, he had likened it to the all-en- compassing ‘Shakti’ that they were fighting against (read Modi and the government agencies like ED). Rahul, carried away by his own rhetoric, had taken the metaphor a step further and suggested that ‘‘the king’s soul is in the EVM.’’ For the BJP the word “Shakti” is a byword for Goddess Durga which it says is “one of the most revered deities”. CONTD. ON NATION TOP 1% IN INDIA HOLD 40% OF WEALTH Inequality in India has skyrocketed since the early 2000s, with the income and wealth share of the top 1% population rising significantly. BHUSHAN GAGRANI IS CITY’S CIVIC BOSS ■ A topper of 1990 IAS batch, he had taken exam in Marathi. Brings experience in urban development, water resources and Marathi language to the table ■ Saurabh Rao will be new civic chief of Thane and Kailash Shinde of Navi Mumbai Outgoing BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal (right) welcomes newly appointed Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani as he arrives to take charge at BMC headquarters, in Mumbai PIC: SALMAN ANSARI KALPESH MHAMUNKAR / MUMBAI B hushan Gagrani, Additional Chief Secretary Chief Ministers Office, has been , appointed the new commissioner and administrator of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, while Saurabh Rao will be the new municipal commissioner of Thane and Kailash Shinde, the new civic chief of Navi Mumbai. Gagrani is a topper of the 1990 batch, having bagged the third rank in the IAS exams, and is the first officer to have taken the exam in Marathi. He has an MCom as well as an MA in history from Kolhapur University an LLB , from Nagpur University and an MBA from Birmingham University He also has a PhD in . administration from Mumbai University . In the initial years, Gagrani handled work related to land revenue, district and development administration. He has also served as the CEO of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Zilla Parishad, director of youth development and sports at Pune and as the district collector of Sindhudurg. He has further served as the managing director of MIDC and CIDCO, as deputy secretary at Mantralaya, as secretary of Maharashtra departments of tourism, medical education, drugs and public health. CONTD. ON NATION 0 0 36 c. 27 c. Sunrise : 06:42 am Sunset : 06:50 pm Chargesheet can’t be ruse to keep one in detention OUR BUREAU / NEW DELHI Keeping an accused in custody without trial is akin to detention which hampers liberty the Supreme Court , said on Wednesday while deprecating the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) practice of filing supplementary chargesheets in money laundering cases to defeat the accused's right of getting default bail. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta took exception to the ED filing four supplementary chargesheets, the latest on March 1, 2024, in a money laundering case arising from alleged illegal mining in Jharkhand. The accused,Prem Prakash, is an alleged aide of former Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who was arrested by the ED last month on money-laundering charges. Prakash was denied bail by the Jharkhand High Court in January last year. He had then moved the Supreme Court, which noted he had spent 18 months in jail and called it a “clear case of bail”. Justice Khanna said an accused cannot be denied the benefit of default bail by filing supplementary chargesheets. Under the current law an arrested individual is eligible for default bail if the authorities are unable to complete the investigation, or file a final charge sheet, within timelines set under Code of Criminal Procedure. CONTD. ON NATION