The much-touted 3,570-km ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ began at Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu and will move northwards, passing through Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nilambur, Mysuru, Bellary, Raichur, Vikarabad, Nanded, Jalgaon, Indore, Kota, Dausa, Alwar, Bulandshahr, Delhi, Ambala, Pathankot and Jammu, before culminating in Srinagar.
The Congress party is touting the yatra as the biggest mass contact programme since Independence and a “turning point” in India’s political history. The march will proceed in two batches – from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. While the morning session will include fewer participants, the evening session will see mass mobilisation. The participants plan to walk around 22 to 23 km daily.
The party repeatedly asserted that its ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ from Kashmir to Kanyakumari is not a ‘Mann Ki Baat’ in any manner, but its objective is to ensure that the concerns and demands of the people reach Delhi.
“It gives me great joy to begin the great Yatra at this beautiful place. The Indian national flag represents every single state of our country. It belongs to every religion, language, state and caste. The BJP thinks this (Indian flag) is their personal property. They (BJP) think they can single-handedly determine the future of this country. They think they can frighten the Opposition through Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax department and Central Bureau of Investigation,” Rahul Gandhi said, addressing a public meeting in Kanyakumari.
The travellers will be sleeping in 59 containers mounted on trucks. Except for Gandhi, who because of his security detail will have a container to himself, the other yatris have to bunk together. Majority of these containers will sleep 12 persons.
The padayatra will reach Kerala on September 11 and will traverse through the State for the next 18 days, reaching Karnataka on September 30. In case there is voting in the Congress’ presidential election on October 17, all the yatris will be allowed to vote in Bengaluru Congress office as the yatra will be there.
Mohammad Zubair granted liberty to move Delhi High Court for quashing of Sitapur FIR
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted liberty to Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair to approach the Delhi High Court for quashing of the FIR lodged against him at Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh.
It said Zubair’s petition will be decided on its own merit, uninfluenced by the order of the Allahabad High Court, which had denied him the relief.
A bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hima Kohli noted that all the cases lodged against Zubair in Uttar Pradesh, including that in Sitapur, have been transferred as per top court’s order dated July 20 to the Special Cell of Delhi police for investigation.
The bench said, “…in terms of liberty which was granted in order dated July 20, 2022, the petitioner would be able to pursue his rights and remedies available under law before the Delhi High Court. In such an event, the petition under section 482 of CrPC (FIR quashing) shall be considered on its own merit without the order of Allahabad High Court coming in the way”.
The top court noted the submission of Additional Advocate General Garima Prashad that a copy of the letter from special secretary dated September 5 has been received stating that the case registered in Sitapur has been transferred to the special cell of Delhi Police.
At the outset, advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for Zubair said this is an appeal filed against the Allahabad High Court order dated June 10, 2022 rejecting his plea for quashing of the FIR.
“Nothing remains in it as the court has already directed the case to be transferred to Delhi police by its order of July 20. This is a Special Leave Petition against the High Court order and the court may indicate that we can file a petition before the Delhi High Court for quashing of the FIR under section 482 of CrPC”, she said.
Grover said all she is seeking is that the Allahabad High Court order should not come in the way.
On July 20, the top court had ordered the release of Zubair on interim bail in all the FIRs lodged in Uttar Pradesh against him for alleged hate speech, saying “exercise of the power of arrest must be pursued sparingly”, and transferred all the cases in U.P. to Delhi.
The court had said it finds no reason or justification for the “deprivation of his liberty to persist any further” and ordered disbanding of the SIT, constituted by the U.P. police, to probe the cases.
It had also rejected the U.P. government’s prayer to restrain Zubair from tweeting in the future, with a retort “Can a lawyer be restrained from arguing?” “How can a journalist be restrained from tweeting and writing? If he violates any law by tweeting or for that matter any citizen speaking in public or private, then he can be proceeded as per the law,” the top court had said in a detailed order passed after more than two hours of hearing.
The court said the direction for the transfer of investigation of the FIRs, which have been registered in Uttar Pradesh, to the special cell of Delhi Police shall apply to all the existing FIRs forming the subject matter of the tweets as noted earlier and to any future FIR to be registered against him under the same subject matter.
Sanjay Raut seeks bail from special court
Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, arrested last month in a money laundering case linked to a housing project in Mumbai, on September 7 moved a bail application before a special court in Mumbai.
His bail plea is likely to come up for hearing before judge M.G. Deshpande, presiding over the special PMLA court, on Thursday.
Raut, 60, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in early August under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for his alleged role in financial irregularities related to the redevelopment of Patra ‘Chawl’ (old row tenements) in suburban Goregaon.
The Shiv Sena politician is currently in jail under judicial custody. The Rajya Sabha member was found to be alleged beneficiary of more than ₹2 crore of the proceeds of crime, the ED has claimed.
Further, the central probe agency has claimed documents seized during its probe showed the purchase of properties at Alibaug, a coastal town in neighbouring Raigad district, by Raut involved substantial cash transactions. Raut, a close aide of Shiv Sena president and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, has denied any wrongdoing and dubbed the ED case against him as “false”.
Putin mocks West, says Russia will press on in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on September 7 that Moscow will press on with its military action in Ukraine until reaching its goals and mocked Western attempts to drive Russia into a corner with sanctions.
Putin said at an annual economic forum in the far-eastern port city of Vladivostok that the main goal behind sending troops into Ukraine was protecting civilians in the east of that country after eight years of fighting.
“It wasn’t us who started the military action, we are trying to put an end to it,” Putin said, reaffirming his argument that he sent troops into Ukraine to protect Moscow-backed separatist regions in Ukraine, which have fought Ukrainian forces in the conflict that erupted in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
“All our action has been aimed at helping people living in the Donbas, it’s our duty and we will fulfill it until the end,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China during a meeting on the sidelines of the 2022 Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia on September 7, 2022. Photo: TASS Host Photo Agency via Reuters
Putin claimed that Russia has strengthened its sovereignty in the face of Western sanctions, which he said bordered on an aggression. “Russia has resisted the economic, financial and technological aggression of the West,” Putin said. “I’m sure that we haven’t lost anything and we won’t lose anything. The most important gain is the strengthening of our sovereignty, it’s an inevitable result of what’s going on.”
The Russian leader acknowledged that the national economy will shrink by 2% this year, but said that the economic and financial situation in Russia has stabilised, consumer prices inflation has slowed down and unemployment has remained low.
“There has been a certain polarisation in the world and inside the country, but I view it as a positive thing,” he added. “Everything unnecessary, harmful, everything that has prevented us from going forward will be rejected and we will gain development tempo because development can only be based on sovereignty.”
Putin emphasised that Russia will keep protecting its sovereignty in the face of what he described as an attempt by the U.S. and its allies to preserve their global domination, saying that “the world mustn’t be founded on the diktat of one country that deemed itself the representative of the almighty or even higher and based its policies on its perceived exclusivity.”
He scoffed at Western attempts to cap prices for Russian oil and gas, calling the idea “stupid” and saying that Russia will have enough customers in Asia. “The demand is so high on global markets that we won’t have any problem selling it,” he said.
“An attempt to limit prices by administrative means is just ravings, it’s sheer nonsense,” Putin said, adding that “it will only lead to a hike in prices.”
“If they try to implement this dumb decision, it will entail nothing good for those who will make it,” he warned. “Will they make political decisions contradicting contracts? In that case, we will just halt supplies if it contradicts our economic interests. We won’t supply any gas, oil, diesel oil or coal.”
Putin noted that “those who try to enforce something on us aren’t in a position today to dictate their will,” pointing at protests in the West against rising energy prices.
He rejected the EU’s argument that Russia was using energy as a weapon by suspending gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to Germany.
Putin reaffirmed the Russian argument that Western sanctions have hampered maintenance of the last turbine that remains in operation, forcing its shutdown.
He repeated that Moscow stands ready to “press the button” and start pumping gas “as early as tomorrow” through the Nord Stream 2, which has been put on hold by the German authorities.
Commenting on scores of critical media outlets being forced to shut down after the start of the military campaign in Ukraine following the passage of a new law that criminalised any reporting on military action that differs from the official line, Putin said their reporters were happy to leave the country.
“They were always working against our country while they were here, and now they happily moved out,” he said.
Russia’s top independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, was among the outlets that were forced to shut down under official pressure. On Monday, a court in Moscow upheld a motion from Russian authorities to revoke its license.
Dmitry Muratov, Nobel Peace Prize-winning editor-in-chief of the newspaper, called the ruling on Monday “political” and “not having the slightest legal basis.”
Putin sought to slight Muratov’s prize, describing it as politically driven and, in a side jab, compared it to the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Barack Obama while he was the U.S. president.
“We had business-like relations with President Obama, but what did they give him the Nobel prize for?” Putin said. “What did he do to help protect peace? I mean military operations in some regions of the world the president conducted.”
Commenting on the European Union’s decision to make it harder for Russian citizens to enter the 27-nation bloc, Putin said that Russia won’t respond in kind and will continue to welcome visitors. “We aren’t going to halt contacts, and those who do it, they isolate themselves and not us,” he said.
In Brief:
I-T department conducts survey on Centre for Policy Research, Oxfam India in FCRA case probe
The income tax department on Wednesday conducted a survey operation against Delhi-based think tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR), official sources said. The premises of the think tank located near Malcha Marg in central Delhi are being covered, they said. The exact reason for conducting the survey, where only business premises are covered by the taxman, was not known.
Ram Nath Kovind gets Z plus security
The Centre has accorded ‘Z plus’ category VIP security cover of a central paramilitary force to former President Ram Nath Kovind, officials said on Wednesday. Kovind will be granted the armed escort on an all-India basis and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) VIP security commando unit will render the task, they said. The Union Home Ministry sanctioned the cover recently, based on a recommendation made by Central intelligence agencies, and the force took over the task on September 5, they said.
