THURSDAY 14 NOVEMBER 2024 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 Pages 16 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR MAHA ASSEMBLY POLLS: SC QUESTIONS AJIT PAWAR FOR USING SHARAD’S NAME PENTAGON STUNNED BY TRUMP'S DEFENSE CHOICE P10 SENSEX 77,690.95q984.23 WEATHER Generally clear. Partly cloudy in the evening. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 31°C and 21°C respectively. ‘GIVE ME A CHANCE TO REPRESENT WAYANAD’ P13 NIFTY 23,559.05q324.40 PONTING RESPONDS TO GAMBHIR’S OUTBURST P6 ` vs $ 84.40 GOLD 77,590.00 Supreme Court reins in bulldozer justice RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY PARMOD KUMAR SILVER 1,01,000 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 72.18p0.29 WARM GREETINGS Top court terms it unconstitutional, arbitrary and high-handed Max. 55% P16 Min. 72% TEMPERATURE Max: 31.2˚C SUN RISES 05:48 hrs MOON RISES 15:32 hrs NEW DELHI, 13 NOVEMBER Min: 21.6˚C SUN SETS 16:53 hrs MOON SETS 03:49 hrs R Full Moon on 16 November THUMBNAILS First-time voters show their ink-marked fingers after casting their vote in the first phase of the Jharkhand Assembly polls, on Wednesday. n ANI Over 64 pc voter turnout in first phase of J'khand polls: More than 64 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the first phase of voting in Jharkhand Assembly elections on Wednesday. The voting in 43 Assembly seats spread across 15,344 polling stations in the mineral-rich state was held peacefully without any incidents of violence. The polling was marked by a festive mood and enthusiastic participation across all districts. (Pg 5) eining in bulldozer justice being practiced in certain states targeting the residential and commercial buildings belonging to persons allegedly in conflict with the law, the Supreme Court on Wednesday termed it as unconstitutional, arbitrary, high-handed and violative of the rule of law, abuse of power by the executive and violative of fundamental right to life and shelter guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Laying down the guidelines that have to be strictly adhered to by the authorities while embarking on the demolition of structures belonging to an alleged accused, a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said that if the demolition is found to be in violation of the orders of the top court, “the officer/officers concerned will be held responsible for restitution of the demolished property at his/their personal cost in addition to payment of damages.” The judgment in the matter titled “Re: Directions in the matter of demolition of structures” deals with different dimensions relating to the issue, including rule of law, separation of powers, doctrine of public trust and public accountability, rights of the accused under the Constitution, principles of criminal law ~ the presumption of innocence of an accused till found guilty by a court and natural justice, right to shelter and permissibility of collective punishment Under JMM-Cong govt, every wrong thing done to make infiltrators permanent residents: Modi NIKHIL VYAS NEW DELHI, 13 NOVEMBER Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the JMMCongress on the issue of infiltration in Jharkhand, saying that the biggest worry in the state was about Bangladeshi infiltrators and asserted that the protection of 'Roti, Beti and Maati' (livelihood, daughters, and land) is the biggest issue in the Assembly elections in the state. Addressing a public rally at Deoghar in Jharkhand, he said: “I have been travelling around Jharkhand and I have noticed that the biggest worry here has been about the Bangladeshi infiltrators. As per whatever data has been available, we have learnt that the tribal population in Santhal has now reduced to half. We have to protect our tribal families and Jharkhandi from this and that should be our first priority." "What will happen if the tribal population continues to decrease like this? Your water, forests and land will be taken over by others. We have to save tribal families from this situation and also save Jharkhand. Wherever I have gone in Jharkhand in the past, the biggest concern has been about infiltration of foreigners," the PM said. "Jharkhandi pride and Jharkhand's identity have been the strength of all of you. What will happen if this identity is lost? Statistics show that the number of tribals in the Santhal region has almost halved," he said. A major conspiracy is taking place to change the identity of Jharkhand, Mr Modi said. In the JMM-Congress government, every wrong thing was done to make the infiltrators, who came from outside, permanent residents here, he alleged. “Documents were prepared overnight for these infiltrators. Tribal daughters were cheated in the name of marriage and their land was grabbed. These infiltrators snatched your employment from you and also snatched your bread. But look at the attitude of the government here. The JMM government told the court that there has been no infiltration in Jharkhand," Mr Modi said. on the family of an accused and the direction that have to be followed before any demotion drive is undertaken. Stating that the principle that “an accused is not guilty unless proven so (guilty beyond a reasonable doubt) in a court of law” is foundational to any legal system, Justice Gavai, authoring the judgment said: “The chilling sight of a bulldozer demolishing a building, when authorities have failed to follow the basic principles of natural justice and have acted without adhering to the principle of due process, reminds one of a lawless state of affairs, where “might was right”.” Justice Gavai added: “Such excesses at the hands of the executive will have to be dealt with the heavy hand of the law. Our constitutional ethos and values would not permit any such abuse of power and such misadventures cannot be tolerated by the court of law.” The court directed that: “No demolition should be carried out without a prior show cause notice returnable either in accordance with the time provided by the local municipal laws or within 15 days’ time from the date of service of such notice, whichever is later.” The directions also mandate providing of personal hearing by the designated authority to the person to be affected by the proposed demolition, recording of the minutes of such hearing, issuance offinalorder,anopportunity of appellate and judicial scrutiny of the final order, and video-graphing of the demolition proceedings. India backs early ceasefire in Gaza, says Jaishankar STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 13 NOVEMBER Describing Saudi Arabia as an important factor of stability in the region, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday expressed deep concern over the continuing conflict in Gaza and called for an early ceasefire. “While we condemn acts of terrorism and hostagetaking, we are deeply pained by the continuing death of innocent civilians. Any response must take into account the international humanitarian law and we support an early ceasefire. India has also consistently stood for a resolution of the Palestine issue through a twostate solution,” he said at a meeting here with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. Mr Jaishankar said India and Saudi Arabia have a similar interest in preserving the stability of the region and in driving their respective economies to greater prosperity. Referring to growing India-Saudi Arabia ties, he said the defence partnership between the two countries has also witnessed several firsts over the last few years, including a joint land exercise and two naval exercises. “We have had regular exchanges on training and capacity building and our cooperation has now extended to defence industries and exports as well,” he added. CCPA issues guidelines to maintain transparency in coaching sector STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 13 NOVEMBER In a measure intended to protect the rights of consumers and maintain transparency in the coaching sector, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued a set of comprehensive guidelines to address the issue of misleading advertisements by coaching centres. The ‘Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisement in Coaching Sector, 2024,’ aim to safeguard students and the public from deceptive marketing practices commonly employed by coaching centres, Mrs Nidhi Khare, Chief Commissioner, CCPA, and Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs said on Wednesday while interacting with the media. The guidelines were drafted in the wake of growing concerns about false/misleading claims, exaggerated success rates, and unfair contracts that coaching institutes often impose on stu- dents. Such practices have been found to mislead students, influencing their decisions by concealing important information, giving false guarantees etc. “We have seen coaching centres deliberately concealing information from prospective students. Therefore, we have come out with the guidelines to provide guidance to people involved in the coaching industry,” Mrs Khare told reporters. Under the new guidelines, coaching centres are prohibited from making false claims regarding courses offered and duration; faculty credentials; fee structure and refund policies; selection rates and exam rankings; and guaranteed job security or salary increases. The guidelines define ‘coaching’ to include academic support, education, guidance, study programmes and tuition, but exclude counselling, sports and creative activities. Coaching centres cannot use names, photographs or testimonials of successful candidates without written consent obtained after selection. They must display disclaimers prominently and disclose important information about courses. The guidelines cover all forms of advertising across academic support, education, guidance and tuition services. However, they exclude counselling, sports and creative activities. The guidelines will apply to every person engaged in coaching, meaning not just the coaching centres, but also any endorsers or public figures promoting their services through advertisements. Endorsers, who lend their name or reputation to coaching centres, will now be responsible for ensuring that the claims they endorse are accurate and truthful. Mrs Khare said coaching centres should accurately represent the service, facil- ities, resources and infrastructure. They should truthfully represent that the courses offered are duly recognised and have the approval of a competent authority such as AICTE, UCG, etc. Violations will attract penalties under the Consumer Protection Act, Mrs Khare added. A committee, chaired by the then Chief Commissioner, CCPA, was constituted to frame the guidelines. It included the representative of several organisations namely Central Consumer Protection Authority, Department of Personnel & Training, Ministry of Education, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (as a special invitee), National Law University (NLU) Delhi, Law firm and Industry stakeholders. Based on the suggestion of the committee, the CCPA put up the draft guidelines for public comments on 16 February. Public suggestions were received from 28 stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee greets an elderly man during her visit to Darjeeling, on Wednesday. n SNS India, China begin weekly patrols in Ladakh, eye further troop reductions PARWINDER SANDHU NEW DELHI, 13 NOVEMBER Days after successfully completing a de-escalation process in the eastern Ladakh areas of Demchok and Depsang, India and China have commenced weekly patrols along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The first patrol round, completed in early November, saw the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) begin its patrols in Depsang on Monday, while Indian troops had conducted their first patrol on 4 November, shortly after resuming patrols in Demchok. Following the de-escalation, sources indicated that the next phase will involve a gradual de-induction of troops, although no specific timeline for this step has been set. Previously, the Indian Army refuted media claims of logis- tical roadblocks in the Depsang area, emphasising that the patrolling process continues smoothly as agreed with the Chinese side. The new patrolling protocol comes after four years of heightened tensions and military buildup, including the 2020 Galwan Valley clash that resulted in 20 Indian casualties and saw both nations deploy significant military resources to the LAC. This period of tension ultimately led to rounds of diplo- matic and military talks, culminating in the mutual disengagement recently achieved. In a symbolic gesture during the Diwali festival, Indian and Chinese troops exchanged sweets at multiple LAC locations, including ChushulMaldo and Daulat Beg Oldi, underscoring a commitment to reduced hostilities. Surveillance along the LAC will remain in effect, employing advanced technology to uphold the agreement.