The Evening Wrap: It’s Om Birla vs Kodikunnil Suresh for Lok Sabha Speaker election

Kodikunnil Suresh of the Congress on June 25 filed the nomination for the post of Lok Sabha speaker as the INDIA bloc candidate. Congress leader K.C. Venugopal said the Opposition will contest Speaker’s election and accused the govt of being non-committal on giving Deputy Speaker’s post to the Opposition. Senior Cabinet Minister Rajnath Singh had reached out to the Opposition leaders on behalf of the government in a bid to build consensus for the post of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament. But Venugopal and DMK’s T.R. Baalu walked out of Rajnath Singh’s office, refusing to endorse the NDA’s nominee for the Speaker’s post. Meanwhile, Kota MP Om Birla filed nomination for the post of the Lok Sabha Speaker as an NDA consensus candidate, a position he held in the previous House. JD(U) leader and Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh told reporters in New Delhi that Birla’s name was decided unanimously by all NDA parties and that senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh also reached out to the Opposition for their support. Hitting out at the Opposition, Lalan Singh said they wanted a decision on the post of Deputy Speaker immediately despite Rajnath Singh requesting that everyone should sit together and discuss the issue when the time comes for the selection. His Cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal said it would have been better to have a consensus candidate and criticised the Opposition for putting forth conditions. Democracy cannot be run on conditions, he asserted. Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the Opposition will support the government on the Lok Sabha Speaker’s choice if the convention is followed and the Deputy Speaker’s post is given to the Opposition bloc. He also said that Singh was yet to get back to them on the Opposition’s demand for the Deputy Speaker’s post. Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants constructive cooperation but has not returned party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s call on the demand, as promised, which amounts to an insult. “The entire Opposition has said that they will support the government on the Speaker’s post, but the convention is that the post of Deputy Speaker is given to the Opposition,” he said. “Union Minister Rajnath Singh had called Mallikarjun Kharge ji and has said that he will return his call, but it has not been done. While Modi ji wants constructive cooperation they are insulting our leader by not returning the call,” he told reporters. “The intention of Modi is not clear as the post of Deputy Speaker should be with the Opposition. But Narendra Modi ji says something and does something else,” he alleged. Not consulted over INDIA bloc’s nominee for Lok Sabha Speaker: Trinamool Congress The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on June 25 said the party was not consulted on the Opposition’s decision to field Congress MP K. Suresh as the INDIA bloc’s joint nominee for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker. As Suresh filed his nomination for the election of Speaker on June 25 morning, the Trinamool Congress was not among the INDIA bloc parties that signed his paper. When TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee was asked about his party’s stand on the issue, he said they have not been contacted over it yet. “No one contacted us, there have been no talks, unfortunately this has been a unilateral decision,” he said. “Our party leadership, Mamata ji will decide,” he said. Later, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Banerjee were seen chatting inside Lok Sabha. When Rahul Gandhi came out of the House after his affirmation, he was asked by the media if he could reach an agreement with Banerjee over the Speaker issue. In a brief reply, the Congress leader said, “Jai Samvidhan (hail Constitution)”. Suresh, a seven-term Lok Sabha MP, is the Opposition’s pick for the Speaker, who will go up against the BJP’s Om Birla. Chaos erupts in Lok Sabha as MPs invoke ‘Hindu Rashtra’ and ‘Palestine’ during oath-taking ceremony Chhatra Pal Singh Gangwar, BJP MP from Bareilly, stirred controversy on June 25, after he hailed ‘Hindu Rashtra’ after taking the oath as a member of the Lower House of the Parliament. After taking oath on the second day of the Parliament session, the 68-year-old BJP leader said ‘Jai Hindu Rashtra, Jai Bharat’ and Opposition MPs were up in arms. N.K. Premachandran, who represents the Kollam Lok Sabha constituency, was heard saying “How can he say that?” Other members of the Opposition said that the Bareilly MP’s remarks were anti-constitutional. The Chair assured the members that the remarks will not go on record. Earlier, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi hailed Palestine after taking oath as a Lok Sabha member, triggering an uproar from the treasury benches that led to the Chair striking it off the record. Owaisi hailed his state Telangana, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the AIMIM’s slogan for Muslims and Palestine. This was objected to by some members of the treasury benches, leading to an uproar after he finished his oath. Radha Mohan Singh, who was in the Chair at the time, assured the members that anything apart from the oath will not go on record. The disturbance continued for few minutes, after which the oath-taking resumed. Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab returned to the Chair soon, and said that only oath or affirmation is being recorded. “I have said earlier please avoid invoking anything other than oath or affirmation. That is only to be recorded...That should be adhered to,” he said. Delhi High Court stays Arvind Kejriwal’s bail in Excise policy case The Delhi High Court on June 25 stayed the trial court’s June 20 order releasing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on bail in the Excise Policy case noting that the trial court did not “appropriately appreciated the material on record” submitted by the Enforcement Directorate. The High Court referred to certain remarks made by the trial court judge where it had observed that it was not possible to go through thousands of pages of documents filed by the respective parties. “The court of the opinion that such observation was totally unjustified and also reflected that the trial court has not applied it mind to the material placed before the court at the time of dealing with the bail application,” the High Court said. “Accordingly the application (ED’s) is allowed. The operation of the impugned order is stayed,” the high court said acting on ED’s plea challenging the bail granted to the Chief Minister last week. The High Court also took note of the submission made by Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju that the trial court judge had not given them adequate opportunity to ED to oppose the bail application filed by the chief minister as per Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). “The trial court ought to give adequate opportunity to the ED to advance it argument on the bail application,” the high court said. The Supreme Court, on Monday, while hearing Kejriwal’s plea challenging the High Court’s suspension of bail granted to him pointed out that it was “unusual” for orders to be reserved in stay applications as conventionally they are pronounced soon after the Court concludes hearing arguments. The apex court will now hear the case on June 26. The Delhi Chief Minister was arrested by the ED on March 21. The agency had alleged that Kejriwal was the ‘kingpin’ was the Delhi Excise policy scam. After remaining in jail for weeks, he was released on May 10 by the Supreme Court to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. He returned to jail on June 2 as the apex court denied him further relief. Before the High Court, the ED had moved an urgent plea challenging the trial court’s bail order, which was passed late last Thursday evening. ASG Raju, representing the ED, had contended that the agency was not given adequate opportunity to argue its case by the trial court. On the other hand, senior advocates Abhishek Singhvi and Vikram Chaudhari, representing Kejriwal, had urged the High Court not to stay the bail order; they instead suggested that the court send him back to jail if it found overwhelming and cogent circumstances. Presenting his case before the High Court, Raju had said, “Material facts were not considered by the trial court. There cannot be a better case for cancellation of bail than this one. There cannot be greater perversity than this.” “I was not allowed to argue fully. I was not given proper time of 2-3 days to file written submissions. This is not done. On merits, I have an excellent case. The trial court said ‘finish off in half an hour’ as it wanted to deliver the judgment. It did not give us full opportunity to argue the case,” he had said. “I am making the allegations with full seriousness,” Raju said, adding that he was denied the opportunity to present his case, as provided by Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The trial court did not even look at his reply on the ground that it was bulky, he had said. He also mentioned that the trial court had given findings contrary to those of the High Court while upholding Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest. “There is evidence that Kejriwal demanded ₹100 crore but it was not considered by trial court,” he said. Refuting Raju’s claims, Singhvi said, “This matter lasted for five hours (before the trial court). Nearly 3 hours 45 minutes were taken by Raju (ED) and then trial judge is faulted because she does not repeat every comma and full stop.” He also called out the ED for attempting to malign the trial court judge by claiming she did not give the agency enough time to argue and did not consider material evidence. “It is extremely unfortunate the way Mr. Raju has maligned the trial court judge,” he added. Bombay HC orders release of accused juvenile in Pune Porsche car crash The Bombay High Court on June 25, 2024, passed an order to release the minor accused in the Pune luxury car accident case that claimed two lives. While passing the order, the court also declared the impugned remand orders as illegal and set them aside. A division bench of Justices Bharti Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande on June 21 queried if it amounted to confinement when the juvenile accused in the Pune Porsche case was granted bail but was taken back in custody and kept in an observation home. The verdict was passed on an habeas corpus petition filed by the minor’s aunt who is seeking the accused’s release from the observation home. The 17-year-old accused in the case is released into the care and custody of the petitioner aunt. After the release, the minor must continue his sessions with the psychologist, the court directed. Bail matters shouldn’t be adjourned unnecessarily, says SC, hopes HC will decide Satyendar Jain’s plea on July 9 Observing that bail matters should not be adjourned unnecessarily, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it hoped the Delhi High Court will decide the bail plea of jailed former AAP Minister Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case at the next hearing. A Bench of Justices Manoj Misra and S.V.N. Bhatti made the observation while disposing of Jain’s plea against the High Court’s decision of adjourning the hearing of his bail application for six weeks. “It goes without saying that bail matters are not to be unnecessarily adjourned. Therefore, we hope and trust that the High Court shall take its call on the next date of hearing,” it said. The High Court has listed Jain’s bail plea for hearing on July 9. During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Jain, said he has challenged the long adjournment order. Singhvi said a substantial question of law has arisen from the case as to whether an incomplete charge sheet can be filed by the investigating agency to defeat an accused’s right of default bail. He said a similar matter was under consideration of a three-judge bench of the apex court and urged the Vacation Bench that Jain’s bail plea be tagged with it. Justice Misra told Singhvi that the Bench is sitting in combination of two judges and therefore cannot decide the issue which is pending consideration of the three-judge Bench. “Let the issue be decided by the High Court and then we will take it up. The High Court will deal with the merits of the case taking into account the factual aspect,” the Bench said, adding that the impugned order before the court is just a one line adjournment order. It said that the three-judge Bench of the top court is considering a point of law and it may not be appropriate for a two-judge Bench to deal with it. The Bench ordered, “This petition is against an order of the Delhi High Court adjourning the hearing of the bail application to July 9. Singhvi submits that the question of law which would govern the decision of the High Court is engaging the attention of a 3-judge bench of this Court and therefore it is appropriate that this matter is tagged with that matter. “We do not find any merit in the submission because the high court will decide the matter on its own merits and if the petitioner is aggrieved with the high court’s order, he can challenge it.” Delhi water crisis: Atishi hospitalised after health worsens during hunger strike Delhi Water Minister Atishi was admitted to the hospital on June 25 after her sugar level plummeted to 36, during her indefinite hunger strike over the water crisis in Delhi. The AAP leader was admitted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital in the National Capital in the early hours of Tuesday. Her health condition deteriorated as she was on an indefinite hunger strike demanding the Haryana government to release Delhi’s share of water. On Tuesday, her indefinite hunger strike entered the fifth day. “Atishi’s blood sugar level fell to 36, so she has been admitted to LNJP Hospital,” AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj posted on X. “Her blood sugar levels had been dropping since last night. When we submitted her blood sample, her sugar levels came out to be 46. When we checked her sugar levels from a portable machine, her sugar levels came out to be 36... Doctors are checking her vitals and only after that will they give suggestions,” he added. Atishi has vowed her indefinite hunger strike will continue till the Haryana government provides water to Delhiites and till the gates of the Hathnikund Barrage are not opened, said the party. The AAP has alleged that the neighbouring State of Haryana is supplying 100 million gallons per day (MGD) less water every day, which has severely affected the lives of 28 lakh people in Delhi, adding to the problem of water shortage. The water crisis in Delhi was triggered by the rising temperature and heatwaves, which increased the water demand. The people of Delhi have been counting on water tankers to avail their daily requirements of water. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange freed from prison, will plead guilty in deal with U.S. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will plead guilty to a felony charge in a deal with the U.S. Justice Department that will allow him to walk free and resolve a long-running legal saga that spanned multiple continents and centred on the publication of a trove of classified documents. Assange left a British prison on Monday and will appear later this week in the U.S. federal court in the Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Western Pacific. He is expected to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information, the Justice Department said in a letter filed in court. The guilty plea, which must be approved by a judge, brings an abrupt conclusion to a criminal case of international intrigue and to the U.S. government’s years-long pursuit of a publisher whose hugely popular secret-sharing website made him a cause célèbre among many press freedom advocates who said he acted as a journalist to expose U.S. military wrongdoing. Investigators, by contrast, have repeatedly asserted that his actions broke laws meant to protect sensitive information and put the country’s national security at risk. He is expected to return to Australia after his plea and sentencing, which is scheduled for Wednesday morning, local time in Saipan, the largest island in the Mariana Islands. The hearing is taking place there because of Assange’s opposition to traveling to the continental U.S. and the court’s proximity to Australia. In Brief: Indian and Russian officials are looking at the possibility of a short visit to Russia by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in early July, diplomatic sources said on June 25. If the visit takes place, then it will be the first trip of the Indian Prime Minister to Russia in nearly five years. Modi had last visited Russia in September 2019. There is no confirmation by the Indian side on the possible visit by Modi. The visit is being planned for the annual India-Russia summit. Russian media, quoting a Kremlin official, reported that active preparations are underway for Modi’s visit to Russia. “I can confirm that we are preparing a visit by the Prime Minister of India,” Kremlin official Yuri Ushakov said, according to RIA Novosti news agency. If Modi travels to Russia, then he and President Vladimir Putin are set to hold the India-Russia annual summit after a gap of three years. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 25 June 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Lok Sabha Speaker election: It’s NDA’s Om Birla vs INDIA bloc’s Kodikunnil Suresh [Kodikunnil Suresh of the Congress on June 25 filed the nomination for the post of Lok Sabha speaker as the INDIA bloc candidate.]( Congress leader K.C. Venugopal said the Opposition will contest Speaker’s election and accused the govt of being non-committal on giving Deputy Speaker’s post to the Opposition. Senior Cabinet Minister Rajnath Singh had reached out to the Opposition leaders on behalf of the government in a bid to build consensus for the post of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament. But Venugopal and DMK’s T.R. Baalu walked out of Rajnath Singh’s office, refusing to endorse the NDA’s nominee for the Speaker’s post. Meanwhile, Kota MP Om Birla filed nomination for the post of the Lok Sabha Speaker as an NDA consensus candidate, a position he held in the previous House. JD(U) leader and Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh told reporters in New Delhi that Birla’s name was decided unanimously by all NDA parties and that senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh also reached out to the Opposition for their support. Hitting out at the Opposition, Lalan Singh said they wanted a decision on the post of Deputy Speaker immediately despite Rajnath Singh requesting that everyone should sit together and discuss the issue when the time comes for the selection. His Cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal said it would have been better to have a consensus candidate and criticised the Opposition for putting forth conditions. Democracy cannot be run on conditions, he asserted. Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the Opposition will support the government on the Lok Sabha Speaker’s choice if the convention is followed and the Deputy Speaker’s post is given to the Opposition bloc. He also said that Singh was yet to get back to them on the Opposition’s demand for the Deputy Speaker’s post. Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants constructive cooperation but has not returned party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s call on the demand, as promised, which amounts to an insult. “The entire Opposition has said that they will support the government on the Speaker’s post, but the convention is that the post of Deputy Speaker is given to the Opposition,” he said. “Union Minister Rajnath Singh had called Mallikarjun Kharge ji and has said that he will return his call, but it has not been done. While Modi ji wants constructive cooperation they are insulting our leader by not returning the call,” he told reporters. “The intention of Modi is not clear as the post of Deputy Speaker should be with the Opposition. But Narendra Modi ji says something and does something else,” he alleged. Not consulted over INDIA bloc’s nominee for Lok Sabha Speaker: Trinamool Congress The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on June 25 said the party was [not consulted on the Opposition’s decision]( to field Congress MP K. Suresh as the INDIA bloc’s joint nominee for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker. As Suresh filed his nomination for the election of Speaker on June 25 morning, the Trinamool Congress was not among the INDIA bloc parties that signed his paper. When TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee was asked about his party’s stand on the issue, he said they have not been contacted over it yet. “No one contacted us, there have been no talks, unfortunately this has been a unilateral decision,” he said. “Our party leadership, Mamata ji will decide,” he said. Later, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Banerjee were seen chatting inside Lok Sabha. When Rahul Gandhi came out of the House after his affirmation, he was asked by the media if he could reach an agreement with Banerjee over the Speaker issue. In a brief reply, the Congress leader said, “Jai Samvidhan (hail Constitution)”. Suresh, a seven-term Lok Sabha MP, is the Opposition’s pick for the Speaker, who will go up against the BJP’s Om Birla. Chaos erupts in Lok Sabha as MPs invoke ‘Hindu Rashtra’ and ‘Palestine’ during oath-taking ceremony Chhatra Pal Singh Gangwar, BJP MP from Bareilly, stirred controversy on June 25, after he [hailed ‘Hindu Rashtra’]( after taking the oath as a member of the Lower House of the Parliament. After taking oath on the second day of the Parliament session, the 68-year-old BJP leader said ‘Jai Hindu Rashtra, Jai Bharat’ and Opposition MPs were up in arms. N.K. Premachandran, who represents the Kollam Lok Sabha constituency, was heard saying “How can he say that?” Other members of the Opposition said that the Bareilly MP’s remarks were anti-constitutional. The Chair assured the members that the remarks will not go on record. Earlier, AIMIM leader [Asaduddin Owaisi hailed Palestine]( after taking oath as a Lok Sabha member, triggering an uproar from the treasury benches that led to the Chair striking it off the record. Owaisi hailed his state Telangana, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the AIMIM’s slogan for Muslims and Palestine. This was objected to by some members of the treasury benches, leading to an uproar after he finished his oath. Radha Mohan Singh, who was in the Chair at the time, assured the members that anything apart from the oath will not go on record. The disturbance continued for few minutes, after which the oath-taking resumed. Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab returned to the Chair soon, and said that only oath or affirmation is being recorded. “I have said earlier please avoid invoking anything other than oath or affirmation. That is only to be recorded...That should be adhered to,” he said. Delhi High Court stays Arvind Kejriwal’s bail in Excise policy case The [Delhi High Court on June 25 stayed the trial court’s June 20 order]( releasing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on bail in the Excise Policy case noting that the trial court did not “appropriately appreciated the material on record” submitted by the Enforcement Directorate. The High Court referred to certain remarks made by the trial court judge where it had observed that it was not possible to go through thousands of pages of documents filed by the respective parties. “The court of the opinion that such observation was totally unjustified and also reflected that the trial court has not applied it mind to the material placed before the court at the time of dealing with the bail application,” the High Court said. “Accordingly the application (ED’s) is allowed. The operation of the impugned order is stayed,” the high court said acting on ED’s plea challenging the bail granted to the Chief Minister last week. The High Court also took note of the submission made by Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju that the trial court judge had not given them adequate opportunity to ED to oppose the bail application filed by the chief minister as per Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). “The trial court ought to give adequate opportunity to the ED to advance it argument on the bail application,” the high court said. The Supreme Court, on Monday, while hearing Kejriwal’s plea challenging the High Court’s suspension of bail granted to him pointed out that it was “unusual” for orders to be reserved in stay applications as conventionally they are pronounced soon after the Court concludes hearing arguments. The apex court will now hear the case on June 26. The Delhi Chief Minister was arrested by the ED on March 21. The agency had alleged that Kejriwal was the ‘kingpin’ was the Delhi Excise policy scam. After remaining in jail for weeks, he was released on May 10 by the Supreme Court to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. He returned to jail on June 2 as the apex court denied him further relief. Before the High Court, the ED had moved an urgent plea challenging the trial court’s bail order, which was passed late last Thursday evening. ASG Raju, representing the ED, had contended that the agency was not given adequate opportunity to argue its case by the trial court. On the other hand, senior advocates Abhishek Singhvi and Vikram Chaudhari, representing Kejriwal, had urged the High Court not to stay the bail order; they instead suggested that the court send him back to jail if it found overwhelming and cogent circumstances. Presenting his case before the High Court, Raju had said, “Material facts were not considered by the trial court. There cannot be a better case for cancellation of bail than this one. There cannot be greater perversity than this.” “I was not allowed to argue fully. I was not given proper time of 2-3 days to file written submissions. This is not done. On merits, I have an excellent case. The trial court said ‘finish off in half an hour’ as it wanted to deliver the judgment. It did not give us full opportunity to argue the case,” he had said. “I am making the allegations with full seriousness,” Raju said, adding that he was denied the opportunity to present his case, as provided by Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The trial court did not even look at his reply on the ground that it was bulky, he had said. He also mentioned that the trial court had given findings contrary to those of the High Court while upholding Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest. “There is evidence that Kejriwal demanded ₹100 crore but it was not considered by trial court,” he said. Refuting Raju’s claims, Singhvi said, “This matter lasted for five hours (before the trial court). Nearly 3 hours 45 minutes were taken by Raju (ED) and then trial judge is faulted because she does not repeat every comma and full stop.” He also called out the ED for attempting to malign the trial court judge by claiming she did not give the agency enough time to argue and did not consider material evidence. “It is extremely unfortunate the way Mr. Raju has maligned the trial court judge,” he added. Bombay HC orders release of accused juvenile in Pune Porsche car crash The Bombay High Court on June 25, 2024, passed an order to [release the minor accused in the Pune luxury car accident case]( that claimed two lives. While passing the order, the court also declared the impugned remand orders as illegal and set them aside. A division bench of Justices Bharti Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande on June 21 queried if it amounted to confinement when the juvenile accused in the Pune Porsche case was granted bail but was taken back in custody and kept in an observation home. The verdict was passed on an habeas corpus petition filed by the minor’s aunt who is seeking the accused’s release from the observation home. The 17-year-old accused in the case is released into the care and custody of the petitioner aunt. After the release, the minor must continue his sessions with the psychologist, the court directed. Bail matters shouldn’t be adjourned unnecessarily, says SC, hopes HC will decide Satyendar Jain’s plea on July 9 Observing that [bail matters should not be adjourned unnecessarily]( the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it hoped the Delhi High Court will decide the bail plea of jailed former AAP Minister Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case at the next hearing. A Bench of Justices Manoj Misra and S.V.N. Bhatti made the observation while disposing of Jain’s plea against the High Court’s decision of adjourning the hearing of his bail application for six weeks. “It goes without saying that bail matters are not to be unnecessarily adjourned. Therefore, we hope and trust that the High Court shall take its call on the next date of hearing,” it said. The High Court has listed Jain’s bail plea for hearing on July 9. During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Jain, said he has challenged the long adjournment order. Singhvi said a substantial question of law has arisen from the case as to whether an incomplete charge sheet can be filed by the investigating agency to defeat an accused’s right of default bail. He said a similar matter was under consideration of a three-judge bench of the apex court and urged the Vacation Bench that Jain’s bail plea be tagged with it. Justice Misra told Singhvi that the Bench is sitting in combination of two judges and therefore cannot decide the issue which is pending consideration of the three-judge Bench. “Let the issue be decided by the High Court and then we will take it up. The High Court will deal with the merits of the case taking into account the factual aspect,” the Bench said, adding that the impugned order before the court is just a one line adjournment order. It said that the three-judge Bench of the top court is considering a point of law and it may not be appropriate for a two-judge Bench to deal with it. The Bench ordered, “This petition is against an order of the Delhi High Court adjourning the hearing of the bail application to July 9. Singhvi submits that the question of law which would govern the decision of the High Court is engaging the attention of a 3-judge bench of this Court and therefore it is appropriate that this matter is tagged with that matter. “We do not find any merit in the submission because the high court will decide the matter on its own merits and if the petitioner is aggrieved with the high court’s order, he can challenge it.” Delhi water crisis: Atishi hospitalised after health worsens during hunger strike Delhi Water Minister [Atishi was admitted to the hospital]( on June 25 after her sugar level plummeted to 36, during her indefinite hunger strike over the water crisis in Delhi. The AAP leader was admitted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital in the National Capital in the early hours of Tuesday. Her health condition deteriorated as she was on an indefinite hunger strike demanding the Haryana government to release Delhi’s share of water. On Tuesday, her indefinite hunger strike entered the fifth day. “Atishi’s blood sugar level fell to 36, so she has been admitted to LNJP Hospital,” AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj posted on X. “Her blood sugar levels had been dropping since last night. When we submitted her blood sample, her sugar levels came out to be 46. When we checked her sugar levels from a portable machine, her sugar levels came out to be 36... Doctors are checking her vitals and only after that will they give suggestions,” he added. Atishi has vowed her indefinite hunger strike will continue till the Haryana government provides water to Delhiites and till the gates of the Hathnikund Barrage are not opened, said the party. The AAP has alleged that the neighbouring State of Haryana is supplying 100 million gallons per day (MGD) less water every day, which has severely affected the lives of 28 lakh people in Delhi, adding to the problem of water shortage. The water crisis in Delhi was triggered by the rising temperature and heatwaves, which increased the water demand. The people of Delhi have been counting on water tankers to avail their daily requirements of water. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange freed from prison, will plead guilty in deal with U.S. WikiLeaks founder [Julian Assange will plead guilty to a felony charge]( in a deal with the U.S. Justice Department that will allow him to walk free and resolve a long-running legal saga that spanned multiple continents and centred on the publication of a trove of classified documents. Assange left a British prison on Monday and will appear later this week in the U.S. federal court in the Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Western Pacific. He is expected to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information, the Justice Department said in a letter filed in court. The guilty plea, which must be approved by a judge, brings an abrupt conclusion to a criminal case of international intrigue and to the U.S. government’s years-long pursuit of a publisher whose hugely popular secret-sharing website made him a cause célèbre among many press freedom advocates who said he acted as a journalist to expose U.S. military wrongdoing. Investigators, by contrast, have repeatedly asserted that his actions broke laws meant to protect sensitive information and put the country’s national security at risk. He is expected to return to Australia after his plea and sentencing, which is scheduled for Wednesday morning, local time in Saipan, the largest island in the Mariana Islands. The hearing is taking place there because of Assange’s opposition to traveling to the continental U.S. and the court’s proximity to Australia. In Brief: Indian and Russian officials are looking at the [possibility of a short visit to Russia by Prime Minister Narendra Modi]( in early July, diplomatic sources said on June 25. If the visit takes place, then it will be the first trip of the Indian Prime Minister to Russia in nearly five years. Modi had last visited Russia in September 2019. There is no confirmation by the Indian side on the possible visit by Modi. The visit is being planned for the annual India-Russia summit. Russian media, quoting a Kremlin official, reported that active preparations are underway for Modi’s visit to Russia. “I can confirm that we are preparing a visit by the Prime Minister of India,” Kremlin official Yuri Ushakov said, according to RIA Novosti news agency. If Modi travels to Russia, then he and President Vladimir Putin are set to hold the India-Russia annual summit after a gap of three years. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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