DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2024, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES ‘Encounter’ that killed Thane accused: Police have to come clean, underlines Bombay HC OMKAR GOKHALE MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 25 RAISING SEVERAL questions on thepoliceclaimthattheaccused in the Badlapur sexual assault casewasgunned downin“retaliatory firing”, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday said “this cannot be termed as an encounter”. Saying the incident “could have been avoided”, the HC called for a “fair and impartial probe”, adding that it would be “constrained to pass orders” otherwise. Pointing out that “four BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY CONTOURS OF REDEPLOYMENT POSSIBLE AFTER NEXT ROUND OF MILITARY TALKS Himachal takes India and China make ‘progress’ on pending LAC issues in eastern Ladakh Both sides explore solution that factors in pre-standoff positions, to address issues in Arunachal AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 25 INDIA AND China are learnt to havemade“significantprogress” in narrowing their gap on pending issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. This includes exploring the contours of a possible solution that factors in their respec- tive pre-April 2020 positions while agreeing to address existing issues in Arunachal Pradesh, The Indian Express has learnt. Sources said this might implythatIndiantroops,whoseaccess to certain patrolling points along the LAC were blocked either by Chinese troops or due to theimplementationof thebuffer zones created in the backdrop of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E E X P L A I NE D CALLS FOR FAIR & IMPARTIAL PROBE `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 At centre ● of dispute FRICTION POINTS such as Galwan Valley, north and south banks of Pangong Tso, Gogra-Hot Springs area have seen some resolution with buffer zones. Legacy issues of Depsang Plains and Demchok remain — troops at Depsang Plains were blocked from accessing patrol points. Disengagement one part of problem, main issue is patrolling: Jaishankar YOSHITA SINGH NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 25 THE INDIA-CHINA relationship wouldinfluencethefutureof the entire world, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said while makingitclearthatpeaceneeded to be restored on the border first forbilateraltiestomoveforward. Addressing an event hosted by the Asia Society and the Asia Society Policy Institute here on Tuesday,JaishankarnotedIndia's “difficulthistory”withChinaand said the “parallel rise” of the two countriespresented“avery,very unique problem”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION On RG Kar probe radar: Firm handled medical waste for 44 months without plant to treat it Company got fresh waste-disposal contract despite flouting previous deal’s terms JAY MAZOOMDAAR KOLKATA, SEPTEMBER 25 Shuaib Masoodi J&K PHASE 2 TURNOUT DROPS: 57% Foreign diplomats witness voting at Bemina polling booth in Srinagar during Phase 2 of J&K Assembly elections, Wednesday. The turnout was 57%, down from 61% in Phase 1. PAGE9 In Jammu, BJP gets its house in order, Congress fumbles its initial advantage ARUN SHARMA JAMMU, SEPTEMBER 25 AT THE start of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly poll campaign, the BJP, that had won 25 of the 37 seats in the Jammu province in 2014, looked on a shaky wicket. Therewasstronganti-incum- DELHI RIOTS CASES Judges’ new postings mean bail pleas to be heard afresh, third time SOHINI GHOSH NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 25 THE DELHI High Court is set to hear afresh the bail pleas of four accused in the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots for the third time in just over two years. Filed separately beginning March 2022, the bail pleas of Abdul Khalid Saifi, Gulfisha Fatima, Md Saleem Khan and Shifa Ur Rehman have been argued fully bytheir lawyers twice before two different benches. With both the benches, the presiding Judge was appointed as Chief Justice of another HC, and no verdict was delivered. With Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, who headed the bench that last heard the case, taking oath as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh HC on Wednesday, the case will have to be heard de novo(fromthebeginning)before a new bench. In April 2022, a bench comprising Justices Siddharth Mridul and Rajnish Bhatnagar began hearing the bail pleas. The bench reserved its order in all four cases — for Saifi on January 5, 2023; for FatimaonFebruary13,2023;and for Khan and Rehman on March 6,2023.Thebailpleasoftwoother accused, Athar Khan and Shadab Ahmad,werealsoheardatlength. Whilebothsidescompletedtheir arguments, the accused were to submit a rejoinder to rebut the prosecution’s arguments. On July 5, 2023, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended Justice Mridul for appointment as Chief Justice of Manipur HC. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 bency against the party, ther bungled its start over the rise in eviction withconfusionovercandrives, property tax and didate lists, leading to toll plazas under the protestsbysupportersof Centre-run J&K administhebignameswhowere DECISION dropped. tration, as well as deep 2024 disappointment that the However, as the J&K J&K promised benefits from polls hit the mid-way the Article 370 abrogation, such point Wednesday, with the secas more jobs and investments, ond of three phases voting, hadnotmaterialised.TheBJPfurCONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE CBI is probing the sale and disposal of biomedical waste as partof itsallegedcorruptioncase at Kolkata’s R G Kar Medical College Hospital, the epicentre of a political firestorm after last month’s rape and murder of a medical intern there. A little-known company, SNG Envirosolutions, could hold one key to this in the manner it grew to handle up to 70% of waste from government hospi- GOVT & POLITICS MANIPUR: SECURITY ADVISOR DISPUTES INTEL INPUT, CMO BACKTRACKS PAGE 11 At a protest against the healthcare ‘syndicate’ in Kolkata. File tals across the state, including at RG Kar, without owning a single waste treatment plant, in viola- tion of its contract’s terms, an investigation by The Indian Express has revealed. Records show that in 2019, the company, owned by Kolkata businessman S P Singh, won the contract by tying up with aDelhi firm that owned a treatment plant in UP. AtadailyrateofRs8-9perbed — there are an estimated 80,000 governmenthospitalbedsacross the state — SNG collected tonnes of hospital waste daily for 44 monthsrelyingonasub-contract with its rival. All this while, SNG operated from a “table” in the premisesof oneitskeyinvestors, a business family of Kolkata. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 UP cue, Cong minister says owners’ ID must at eateries SAURABH PARASHAR SHIMLA, SEPTEMBER 25 A DAY after the Uttar Pradesh government made it mandatory for food outlets across the state to display the name and address of operators, proprietors and managers, Himachal Pradesh’s Minister for Public Works Department and Urban Development, Vikramaditya Singh, said that the owner’s ID card will have to be displayed in every eatery and food stall in the Congress-ruled state. A day after the decision was taken at a meeting held at his office, he posted on Facebook, “In Himachal Pradesh too, every eatery and fast food cart will have to display the owner’s ID so customers don’t face any sort of inconvenience. To this effect, an orderhasbeenpassedinameeting of the Urban Development and Municipal Corporation. Jai Shri Ram.” Contacted by The Indian Express, he said, “I will only like to say that this decision is statecentric, it is for the well-being of people of the state.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPLAINED POLITICS CLAUSE6 OFASSAM ACCORD PAGE 15