DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 SECTION 6A OF CITIZENSHIP ACT VALID: MAJORITY RULING 18/10/2024 96 124 153 74 4-1, SC upholds citizenship provision for migrants to Assam from East Pak Bench calls for strict implementation of laws against illegal migration BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY SC upholds Parliament primacy, flags fraternity as key factor too APURVA VISHWANATH NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 17 ANANTHAKRISHNAN G THE WORLD ONE DIRECTION’S LIAM PAYNE DIES AFTER ‘FALL’ FROM HOTEL BALCONY BANGLA TRIBUNAL ISSUES WARRANT AGAINST HASINA PAGE 12 NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 17 UPHOLDING THE Constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which essentially sets March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date for entry into Assamforgrantofcitizenship,the Supreme Court Thursday called for stricter implementation of laws against illegal immigration andjudicialmonitoringoftheimplementationofimmigrationand citizenship legislations. In a 4-1 ruling by a Constitution Bench, the majority verdict by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices Surya Kant, M M Sundresh and Manoj Misra upheld the Constitutional validity of Section 6A and ruled that “immigrants who entered the State of Assam on or after 25.03.1971arenotentitledtothe protectionconferredvideSection 6Aandconsequently,theyaredeclared to be illegal immigrants”. In his dissenting opinion, Justice J B Pardiwala found “seriousproblems”inthe“mechanism by which the implementation of Section 6A is to take place” and held the provision “invalid with prospective effect”. That is to say, “ifsomeoneisapprehendedasan illegal immigrant after the pronouncement of this judgment, Section 6A of the Citizenship Act will have no application”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E BYFRAMINGthefraughtcitizenship question in Constitutional definitions of fraternity and plurality and firmly establishing the cut-off date for citizenship of thoseinAssamasMarch 24, 1971, the Supreme Court’s rulingThursdaypushesforanin- EXPLAINED The five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud clusive view on who is a citizen. “Our reading of the Constitution and precedents is thatfraternityrequirespeopleof differentbackgroundsandsocial circumstances to ‘live and let live’,” stated the majority view by Justice Surya Kant. On Section 6A of the ● Citizenship Act, which introduced a cut-off date specifically under the Assam Accord, the Court, while upholding it, said that citizenship cannot be interpreted in “a negativemannerthatselectively appliesittoaparticularsegment while labelling another faction as ‘illegal immigrants’.” In his opinion, concurring with the majority view, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that while the Constitution recognises a “right to conserve culture,” the provision must be readinlightofthe“multi-cultural CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 The dissent: Passage of time made Section invalid, more prone to abuse ANANTHAKRISHNAN G Justice J B Pardiwala gave a dissenting opinion NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 17 DECLARING SECTION 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 invalid with prospective effect, Justice J B Pardiwala, in his dissenting judgement, said the provision is “manifestly arbitrary” and “in the absence of any temporal limit to its application, with the efflux of time is rather counterserving the object with which it was enacted.” He said the “open-ended na- Shraddha Kapoor to unveil Screen; will be face of first digital cover ture of Section 6A has, with the passage of time, become more prone to abuse” and “promotes further immigration into Assam – immigrants come hoping with forged documents to set up the defence of belonging to pre1966 or the 1966-71 stream uponidentificationasaforeigner and reference to the tribunal”. DealingwithSection6A(3)of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MLA son raises doubts, detailed statement of cop on Siddique’s guard recorded EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, OCTOBER 17 MOHAMED THAVER BOLLYWOOD ACTOR Shraddha Kapoor will unveil The Indian Express's iconic film magazine Screen on Friday. The unveiling of Screen, which returns to the group after 11 years, will kick off with its first-ever digital cover featuring the Stree 2 star. Theevent,whichwillbeheld at the Four Seasons Hotel in Worli,willalsofeaturecelebrated namesfromtheHindifilmindustry, including filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, and actors VikrantMasseyandVijayVarma. Screen has been a leading voice in Indian entertainment since1949.Themagazine,which has covered the Indian film in- ZEESHAN SIDDIQUE, son of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique who was shot dead recently, on Wednesday raised concerns over the actions of his father’s security guard during the attack, following which the crime branch recordedadetailed statement of the police guard on Thursday. Head constable S Sonawane, who wastheloneguardwithSiddique when the attack took place on October 12 night, is the complainantinthemurdercaseFIR. During a meeting with Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar on Thursday, MUMBAI, OCTOBER 17 Shraddha Kapoor dustry closely over the decades, willnowbebackinanewavatar. Aftertheunveilingof thedigitalcover,theeventwillhosttwo panel discussions. 'Screen Live' will see Shraddha take centre stageasshediscussesherlife,career and stardom, especially afterthesuccessof Stree2,thehorror-comedythatmadehistoryat CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SAINI IS HARYANA CM AGAIN Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and others at the swearing-in ceremony of the new state government, in Panchkula on Thursday. Jasbir Malhi REPORT,PAGE7 Person listed in US indictment no longer with Govt: MEA, State Dept NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 17 IN THE first official confirmation, both India and the United States onThursdaysaidapersonidentified as “CC1” in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment — linked to an alleged plot to kill US-based Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun—was“nolongeranem- Gurpatwant Singh Pannun ployeeoftheIndiangovernment”. The Ministry of External Affairs' spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also confirmed the visit of the high-level Indian enquiry Wants Modi to visit Pak, says ‘let’s pick up the threads where we left’ SHUBHAJIT ROY LAHORE, OCTOBER 17 UNDERLINING THAT India and Pakistan should “bury the past” and “think of the future”, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Thursday said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to Islamabad for the SCO meetingwasa“goodbeginning” and a “good opening” and the twocountries“shouldmoveforward from here”. Sharif, brother of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and chief of the PML(N) which leads the ruling coalition, told a group of visiting Indian journalists: “Baat jo hai aise hi badhti hai… baat khatam nahi honi chahiye… achcha hota agar Modi saab khud tashreef laate (This is how talks move forward, talks should not stop, it would have been better if Mr (Narendra) Modi had come himself)” for the SCO meeting. Sharif met the journalists at Former Pak PM Nawaz Sharif the office of the Chief Minister of PakistanPunjabwhere Maryam Nawaz Sharif, his daughter and CM, was present. Statingthatthey“shouldpick up the threads where we left” — he was referring to his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made a sudden visit to Pakistan in December 2015 — Sharif said, “We have lost 75 years, now (we) should think of the next 75 years.” “I tried to mend the relationship, but they were disrupted again and again,” he said – the disruptions were a reference to the Kargil war and the attacks in India by Pakistan-based terrorists following his meetings with CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Hamas leader Sinwar, architect of October 7 attack, killed in Gaza: Israeli forces confirm ASSOCIATED PRESS DEIR AL-BALAH (GAZA STRIP), OCTOBER 17 ISRAELI FORCES in Gaza killed Hamas’ top leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year’s attack on Israel that sparked the war, the military said Thursday. Troops appeared to have run acrosshiminabattle,onlytodiscover afterwards that a body in the rubble was the man Israel has hunted for more than a year. Sinwar has topped Israel’s mostwantedlistsincethebeginningof theIsrael-Hamaswarjust over a year ago, and his killing strikes a powerful blow to the militantgroup.Therewasnoimmediate confirmation from Hamas of his death. The military confirmed Sinwar’s death after conducting DNA and other tests on a body thatitsaidwasamongthreemilitants killed Wednesday during Yahya Sinwar operations in Gaza. Foreign Minister Katz called Sinwar’s killing a “military and moral achievement for the Israeli army,” saying it would “create the possibility to immediately release the hostages.” AnIsraelisecurityofficialsaid it appeared that the man who turned out to be Sinwar was killedinabattle,notinaplanned CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DETAILED REPORT PAGE 12 JNU plans Shivaji centre: Lessons from his era on Akhand Bharat FOILED PLOT TO KILL PANNUN EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Nawaz: Jaishankar visit good opening, India & Pak need to move forward committee -- established to review the evidence shared by the USgovernmentregardingthealleged involvement of Indian nationalNikhilGuptaandanIndian official in the Pannun plot. The visit was first announced by the US on Monday. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RELATED REPORT PAGE 6 VIDHEESHA KUNTAMALLA NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 17 THE JAWAHARLAL Nehru University (JNU) is planning to start a 'Centre of Excellence' named after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,whichwilldrawlessons from his era to understand the “concept of Akhand Bharat” and his“struggleforHindaviSwaraj”, The Indian Express has learnt. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Centre for Security & Strategic Studies in the School of InternationalStudies,whichwill besupportedbytheMaharashtra government,willfocusonteaching Indian strategic thought, Marathamilitaryhistory,Shivaji’s naval strategy and guerilla warfare among other subjects, accordingtotheproposalreviewed by The Indian Express. The centre is expected to offer diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate courses starting July 2025. When contacted, Professor Amitabh Mattoo, Dean of School of International Studies at JNU, told The Indian Express: “The idea tostartthecentreoriginatedfrom theVice-Chancellorandsomefacultymembers…TheMaharashtra government too wanted to commemorate the thinking of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and hismaritimestrategieswhichare internationally recognised.” Asked why Shivaji was chosen, Mattoo said: “The mandate of the school is to teach security CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 In battleground Maharashtra, why the outcome may hinge on 31 seats winning margin in 31 Assembly segments less than 5,000 votes. The analysis of voting trends from the Lok Sabha elections shows that the MVA led in 158 ZEESHAN SHAIKH Assembly segments, a number MUMBAI, OCTOBER 17 well past the majority mark of 145 in the 288-member IN THE Lok Sabha elecAssembly. The Mahayuti tions, the Maha Vikas too is seemingly a formiAghadi (MVA) alliance of dable contender with Opposition parties dealt leads in 125 segments. the ruling Mahayuti alWhile the gap between liance a blow by win- DECISION the two alliances is 33, ning 30 of the 48 Lok the 31 low-margin con2024 Sabha seats. Assemblystituencies, from segment data, however, Andheri West and shows that the elections are Malad West in Mumbai to likely to be a close call, with the Dahanu in Palghar and PAGE 1 ANCHOR PARTY LEAD IN ASSEMBLY SEATS AS PER LS RESULTS At the Ghatkopar election office on Thursday. Amit Chakravarty Majalgaon in Beed, hold the potential to sway the outcome in favour of either side. Even the closely contested seats seem to be equally distributed between the two alliances. While the MVA secured a lead in 16, the Mahayuti was not far behind Regions W-Maharashtra Vidarbha Marathwada Thane/Konkan N-Maharashtra Mumbai Total BJP 17 15 7 11 20 9 79 SS 11 4 4 12 2 7 40 NCP Cong NCP* 2 15 19 29 5 14 3 4 2 5 4 5 6 68 33 SS** 6 8 15 9 4 15 57 Others AIMIM Total 70 1 62 1 2 46 1 39 35 36 3 2 288 (SP)*, Shiv Sena (UBT)**, Mahayuti: 125, MVA: 158 with leads in 15. Though voting patterns in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls differ largely, the Lok Sabha polls offer the closest comparison as the political landscape of the state has changed following the splits in the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The MVA consists of the Congress, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar). The BJP along with its allies Shiv Sena and NCP make up the Mahayuti. Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar are hoping to capitalise on the sympathy generated for them post the split even as the Congress has seemingly regained its footing in the state. On the other hand, the Mahayuti has been propelled by the recent Haryana win and is also banking heavily on the sops that the state government has announced in recent weeks. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2