DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 24 PAGES BY UNNY Echoes from Courtroom No. 24: Verdict unseated PM, she struck back at nation On June 12, 1975, the ruling by Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of Allahabad High Court set aside Indira Gandhi’s 1971 election, triggering a chain of events that led to the imposition of Emergency SHYAMLAL YADAV PRAYAGRAJ, JUNE 11 US backs India war on terror, its General calls Pak a partner in counter-terror DIVYA A NEW DELHI, JUNE 11 AS THE US State Department reaffirmed its strong support for India’s fight against terror, a top USmilitaryofficialsaidthecountry needs to have a relationship with bothIndia and Pakistan because of the Pakistani military’s roleincounteringthethreatfrom IslamicState-KhorasanProvince. State Department spokespersonTammyBrucesaid Tuesday that Christopher Landau, Deputy Secretary of State, “met with the Indian parliamentarydelegationlastweek, and he also reaffirmed the United States’ strong support of India in the fight against terrorism, and strategic partnership between those two countries”. The delegation led by CongressMPShashiTharoormet LandaulastweekinWashington aspartof Delhi’sglobaloutreach effort after Operation Sindoor. Meanwhile, during a hearing Tuesday by the House Armed Services Committee, General Michael Kurilla, chief of the US Central Command, described Pakistanasa“phenomenalpartner” in counter-terrorism. During his testimony, Kurilla highlighted the role of the PakistanmilitaryandArmychief Asim Munir in combating ISISKhorasan Province, or IS-KP. “The actions of our Pakistani partnersthatledtothearrestand extradition of Mohammad Sharifullah,theISIS-Kplannerbehind the 26 August 2021 suicide attack at Abbey Gate that killed 13 US service members and approximately 160 civilians, highlights Pakistan’s value as a partner in countering CASA terror EXOPs threats worldwide, and it will only increase as the Taliban continues to face security challengeswithinitsborders,”hesaid. “That’s why we need… to havearelationshipwithPakistan and with India. I do not believe it is a binary switch that we can’t have one with Pakistan if we have a relationship with India,” Kurilla said while answering questions from members of the panel, adding, “We should look at the merits of the relationship for the positives that it has.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPLAINED AT10amonJune12,1975,Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha reached Courtroom Number 24 of the Allahabad High Court and took hisseatinthejam-packedcourtroom. And then, he pronounced a judgment that would go on to have epochal consequences for then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi — and India. Allowing the petition of Raj Narain, who, following his loss to IndiraGandhiinthe1971election, had moved court alleging electoral malpractices by the Prime Minister, Justice Sinha said, “This petition is allowed and the electionof Smt. IndiraNehruGandhi, Respondent No. 1, to the Lok Sabha is declared void... (Indira Gandhi) accordingly stands disqualified for a period of six years from the date of this order.” For the first time in the history of independent India, a Prime Minister’s election had been set aside. Months earlier, the courtroom had witnessed another first — the Prime Minister being cross-examined for two consecutive days. Justice Sinha then signed on the order, one that would set off aspiralof eventsthatculminated in Indira Gandhi invoking Constitutional provisions to impose an internal Emergency – a 21-monthperiodthatwitnessed anunprecedentedsuspensionof fundamentalrightsandthesuppression of dissent across the country. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAGE 12 Implementation of quota linked to completion of delimitation exercise VIKAS PATHAK & LIZ MATHEW The blank editorial in The Indian Express after the Proclamation NEW DELHI, JUNE 11 THEEMERGENCY 50YEARSON Itsshadow—andlight AN EXPRESS SERIES, STARTING TODAY Courtroom No. 24 of the Allahabad High Court, from where Justice Sinha delivered his verdict, is now Courtroom No. 34. Shyamlal Yadav Ruling holds a mirror, stands vigil against subversion of due process APURVA VISHWANATH BENGALURU, JUNE 11 Indira Gandhi being sworn in as PM after the 1971 election. Express Archives FIFTY YEARS after the Allahabad High Court on June 12, 1975 declared as void the 1971 election of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi—ajudgmentthatsetoff a chain of events that led to the imposition of a national Emergency on June 25, 1975 — the ruling and what followed serve as a reminder of the Justice Sinha at the HC on June 12, 1975. Express Archives fragility of democracy and the collectiveresponsibilitytoguard against abuse of power. After losing to Indira Gandhi from Rae Bareli in the 1971 Lok Sabha polls, Raj Narain, a candidate of the Samyukta Socialist Party, had moved the Allahabad High Court alleging electoral malpractices by the then Prime Minister. Nearly four years after the election, the Allahabad High CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE MODI government intends torolloutreservationof seatsfor women, which is linked to the delimitation exercise, in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, highly-placed sources said Wednesday. Official sources said the governmentis targetingimplementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam that reserves onethird of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies in the next election. “The Census has been announcedandtheotherstepswill follow.Thewomen’sreservation Bill is linked to the delimitation process. We are aiming to roll it out in thenextelection,”sources in the government said. AccordingtotheConstitution (One Hundred and TwentyEighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, passed in September 2023, reservation of one-third of seats for women in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies E ● What the law says THE NARI Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam reserves onethird of all seats for women in Lok Sabha, state Assemblies and Delhi Assembly. This also includes seats reserved for SCs/STs. Once the Census is done, delimitation will be undertaken and, thereafter, constituencies will be reserved for women. The reserved seats will be rotated after each delimitation. shallcomeintoeffectafteranexercise of delimitation is undertaken based on figures from the first Census conducted after the enactment of the Act. Earlier this month, the government announced that the process of data collection for the Census, along with caste enumeration, would commence CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NO CONFIRMATION FROM BEIJING AMITABH SINHA NEW DELHI, JUNE 11 THE AXIOM-4 mission, which is to carry India’s Shubhanshu Shukla and three others to the International Space Station, is facing an uncertain delay now, after its scheduled launch on Wednesdayevening(Indiatime) had to be aborted due to problems in the rocket. The mission was supposed to take off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday at 5.30 pm (India time).ButduringtestsonMonday, aleakofliquidoxygen(LOx)from the Falcon 9 rocket was detected. SpaceX, the company that produces these rockets, had initially EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, JUNE 11 SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. X@SpaceX saidthatitwouldbeabletofixthe problem by Tuesday to enable a Wednesday launch. However, on Tuesday night, it was decided to put off the launch to allow more time to carry out the repairs. “Standing down from CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IN HIS first remarks after Leader of OppositioninLokSabhaRahul Gandhi's recent allegations of irregularities in the Maharashtra elections,includinginitselectoral roll,ChiefElectionCommissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar has said theprocessofpreparingtheelectoral roll in India is among the “most rigorous and transparent” in the world. TheCECmadetheseremarks whiledelivering thekeynote address at the Stockholm International Conference on Alarm bells in textile recycling hub Panipat over suspension of Bangladesh rags supply NEW DELHI, JUNE 11 DRONE WARFARE AND INDIA Govt looks at reservation for women in next LS elections Trump says China Axiom-4 launch put off as leak CEC: India’s electoral trade deal ‘done’: found in rocket; no new date yet roll preparation most 55% tariff, supply of rigorous, transparent rare earth minerals RAVI DUTTA MISHRA DEFENCE 33% LS, ASSEMBLY SEATS E X P L A I NE D BUSINESS AS USUAL `7.00 (`8 RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 TRADERSANDmanufacturersin Panipat,India’slargest textile recycling hub that receives discarded clothing from multiple countries for recycling and resale, have raised concerns over the suspension of shipments from Bangladesh, the top source of rags for recycling in India, The Indian Express has learnt. “Rags and recycled items were not part of the restriction on garments through the land border route that the governmentannouncedinMay.Traders in Panipat are complaining that the shipments from Bangladesh havebeenhaltedbutitisunclear why this step has been taken,” a person aware of the develop- ment said. While traders plan to raise the issue with the government, they remain unsure about the reasonforthehaltinexports.But the development comes amid heightened trade tensions between India and Bangladesh after Dhaka’s Chief Adviser MuhammadYunuscalledforthe extension of the Chinese economyaroundthestrategicallyim- portant North-East India region. This assumes significance as over 200 tonnes of rags are recycled in Panipat every day, with 150-200 mills operating in the sector.Theirkeysourcesofragsinclude discarded clothing from Western countries, but Bangladeshalonegeneratesover0.5millionmetrictonnesoftextilewaste from its factories each year. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CEC Gyanesh Kumar in Stockholm. X@ECISVEEP Electoral Integrity, organised by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International-IDEA), inSwedenonTuesday.Theevent The US and China teams in London on Tuesday. Reuters CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD CURFEW IN PARTS OF LOS ANGELES, U.S. CITIES BRACE FOR MORE PROTESTS ISRAEL KNESSET TO VOTE ON DISBANDING IN FIRST STEP TO POSSIBLE POLLS P 14 ANIL SASI NEW DELHI, JUNE 11 PRESIDENTDONALDTrumpsaid Wednesday that the United States hasreachedatradeagreement with China, including an easing of curbs imposed by Beijing on export of rare earth minerals and magnets that are key inputs for industries ranging from automobilesto electronics. “Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. He said China would supply “any necessary rare earths” and magnets, while the US would make concessionsonallowingChinese students to attend American universities. The Trump administration had recently begun to clamp down on the presence of Chinese nationals on US college campuses. “We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%. Relationshipisexcellent!”Trump wrote, without elaborating. Bloomberg quoted a White House official as saying that the agreement allows the US to charge a 55 per cent tariff on importedChinesegoods,which,crucially,includesa10percentbaseline “reciprocal” tariff, a 20 per cent tariff for fentanyl trafficking, CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 Feared extinct in Valley, rare sighting revives hope of Eurasian otter’s comeback PAGE 1 ANCHOR BASHAARAT MASOOD SRINAGAR, JUNE 11 FOR THREE decades, the Eurasian otter, once an integral partof Kashmir'saquaticecosystem,wasthoughttobeextinctin theValley. However,araresightingof thesemi-aquaticmammal has now been reported in south Kashmir. The otter, which has been globallyclassifiedas‘nearthreatened’ by the InternationalUnion for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),wasspottedintheLidder River in Srigufwara, south Kashmir. While villagers initially thought it was a crocodile, wildlife officials identified it as an Eurasian otter after watching videos captured by the villagers. That was later confirmed through photographic evidence. “It has been confirmed as Eurasian otter,” Suhail Ahmad Wagay, the Wildlife Warden for south Kashmir, told The Indian Express. “After it was reported, wesetupCCTVsurveillance,and we have captured it (on camera) at a few places.” The Eurasian otter, locally known as Vuder, was an integral partof Kashmir’saquaticecosystem and was abundantly found in the water bodies. Its presence was used to scare the children and keep them away from the water bodies. However, over the last three decades,itwasnotspottedinthe water bodies of the Valley, and it was thought to be extinct in Kashmir. The sudden decline in otters, a carnivorous mammal that feeds on fish and other aquatic fauna, was attributed to increased water pollution and hunting of the mammal for its The Eurasian otter had not been spotted in Kashmir for the last 25-30 years. Photo courtesy: Wildlife Institute of India fur. An official said, “The pollution in water bodies, especially the use of pesticides, is a cause for the death of fish, which are the primary food for the otters.” “Historical records suggest that Kashmir had a substantial otter population in Dachigam and the stream that fed the Dal lake. It was also commonly seen in Rambiara stream (in south Kashmir)andtheLidderriver(in Pahalgam),” Wagay said. “However, it was not spotted for the last 25-30 years, so we thought it had gone extinct (in Kashmir).” Wildlife officials say that this is the third occasion this year that it has been spotted in the Valley. “InMay,itwasfirstspottedin theGurezvalley,” Wagaysaid.“It was also spotted in Heerpora (in south Kashmir's Shopian district).” Wildlife officials say the sighting of the mammal is encouragingandcouldhelprestore Kashmir’s aquatic ecology. The sighting has also sparked excitement among wildlife enthusiasts in the Valley. “This is good news for people in general and experts in particular,” said one wildlife expert. “These sightings over the last six months indicate that the otter population may have increased; now the need is to protect them.” The Eurasian otters grow up to four feet and weigh around 10 kilograms. The otters can swim close to 10 kilometres in an hour andremainsubmergedinwater. Theycangoasdeepas20meters underwater. These mammals showheightenedactivityduring mornings and evenings. The Eurasian otter, known to be extremely territorial, is also the most widely distributed otter species. It is found in parts of Asia and northern Africa, as well as being spread across Europe.