The Evening Wrap: India calls U.S. court summons in Pannun murder plot ‘unwarranted imputations’

The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday called the summons issued in civil case by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the U.S.-based pro-Khalistan attorney, as “unwarranted” and “unsubstantiated” imputations. The summons was issued by South District of New York court on Wednesday. The lawsuit names India’s foreign intelligence agency personnel and others, including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief Samant Goel, R&AW agent Vikram Yadav and Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta. In November 2023, the United States government alleged an Indian plot targeting Pannun, who heads the radical outfit, Sikhs for Justice. The explosive allegations, contained in a U.S. Department of Justice indictment, accuse a senior Indian intelligence official, referred to as CC-1, of masterminding the assassination plot. In a news briefing on Thursday, the MEA said that India will continue to stay out of the Trade pillar of Indo Pacific Economic Agreement. During Quad summit meet, India’s accession to IPEF Framework agreement will be signed. Later in the day, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, in a press briefing, said, “We have taken certain action, and the allegations are being inquired into by a high level committee and the relevant agencies on both sides have engaged on this.” When asked about the Summons issued in a New York District Court for NSA Ajit Doval, the Former R&AW chief Samant Goyal and others, Misri said the case was based on “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations”. “I would only invite your attention to the person behind this particular case whose antecedents are well known,” he said, referring to Pannun. “I would also underline the fact that the organization that this person represents, is an unlawful organization, has been declared as such under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and it has been done so on account of its involvement in anti national and subversive activities aimed at disrupting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India,” he said. India abstains from UNGA vote against Israel, says focus should be “building bridges” The effort of the United Nations should be to “build bridges” between the Israeli and Palestinian sides, said India, explaining a decision to abstain from a resolution at the UN General Assembly that called on Israel to vacate Palestinian territories on the basis of an opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). India was among 43 nations that abstained from the resolution, which was adopted by the UN body, as more than two-thirds of the countries present, a massive 124 (of 181) voted in favour of it. Sources said the resolution’s calls for sanctions, and to stop arms exports to Israel may have also spurred India’s decision to abstain. “Our joint efforts should be directed towards bringing the two sides closer, not drive them further apart. We should strive towards building bridges, not furthering the divides,” said India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations P. Harish giving the Explanation of Vote (EoV) after the abstention. In the explanation, Harish reiterated India’s position on a two-state solution for Israel-Palestine peace, and the importance of the UN charter. He also repeated India’s formulation of the violence, which blames neither Hamas for the terrorist attacks last year that killed over 1,200, and took about 250 hostages, nor does it name Israel for the reprisal bombardment of Gaza and the West Bank that has left more than 35,000 dead, including nearly 15,000 children, according UN figures. “We unequivocally condemn the terror attacks on Israel on 7th October 2023; we condemn the loss of civilian lives in the conflict; we call for an immediate ceasefire and immediate and unconditional release of all hostages; and we stand for unrestricted and sustained humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip,” the EoV said, adding that India remains an advocate of “dialogue and diplomacy”. The abstention by India was a marked departure from its previous record of voting in favour of resolutions that call on Israel to withdraw troops from occupied Palestinian territories including Gaza. Sources said India abstained as it had some differences over the wording of the resolution, that imposes a one-year deadline on Israel to withdraw forces from occupied territories, which some of the other abstaining countries called “unrealistic”. In particular, the sources pointed to the UNGA resolutions demand for punitive sanctions on Israel, which are not contained in the ICJ opinion that the UNGA had requested in December 2022, and was finally delivered on July 19 this year. In para 5, the UNGA resolution (A/ES-10/L.31/Rev.1) moved by the State of Palestine and about 30 co-sponsors calls for sanctions, including “travel bans and asset freezes”, against Israeli officials and others who enable the illegal occupation. In addition the resolution calls for other countries to stop imports of products manufactured in illegal Israeli settlements and to stop the “transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel, the occupying Power, in all cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”. Indian companies have joint ventures with Israeli defence companies, and manufacture, under license, some parts which go back to parent companies in Israel and these can be sold to anyone by them, officials say while asserting that India’s exports to Israel are very low. The non-binding resolution followed two waves of bombings across Lebanon that killed about 30 people and wounded 3,000 as pagers and personal devices packed with explosives were detonated, that the Lebanese government has blamed Israel for and came ahead of the one year mark of the attacks in Israel and Israeli operations on Gaza. India’s vote, that is seen as support for Israel, appeared to be at some divergence from recent remarks by the government. At an India-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting in Riyadh last week External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had said that the situation in Gaza was the “foremost concern”. India-made ammunition enters Ukraine, irks defence partner Russia: Report Artillery shells sold by Indian arms makers have been diverted by European customers to Ukraine and New Delhi has not intervened to stop the trade despite protests from Moscow, according to eleven Indian and European government and defence industry officials, as well as a Reuters analysis of commercially available customs data. The transfer of munitions to support Ukraine’s defence against Russia has occurred for more than a year, according to the sources and the customs data. Indian arms export regulations limit the use of weaponry to the declared purchaser, who risks future sales being terminated if unauthorised transfers occur. The Kremlin has raised the issue on at least two occasions, including during a July meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, three Indian officials said. Details of the ammunition transfers are emerging for the first time. The foreign and defence ministries of Russia and India did not respond to questions. In January, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a news conference that India had not sent or sold artillery shells to Ukraine. Two Indian government and two defence industry sources told Reuters that Delhi produced only a very small amount of the ammunition being used by Ukraine, with one official estimating that it was under 1% of the total arms imported by Kyiv since the war. The news agency couldn’t determine if the munitions were resold or donated to Kyiv by the European customers. Among the European countries sending Indian munitions to Ukraine are Italy and the Czech Republic, which is leading an initiative to supply Kyiv with artillery shells from outside the European Union, according to a Spanish and a senior Indian official, as well as a former top executive at Yantra India, a government-owned company whose munitions are being used by Ukraine. The Indian official said that Delhi was monitoring the situation. But, along with a defence industry executive with direct knowledge of the transfers, he said India had not taken any action to throttle the supply to Europe. Like most of the 20 people interviewed by Reuters, they spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. The Ukrainian, Italian, Spanish and Czech defence ministries did not respond to requests for comment. Delhi and Washington, Ukraine’s main security backer, have recently strengthened defence and diplomatic cooperation against the backdrop of a rising China, which both regard as their main rival. India also has warm ties with Russia, its primary arms supplier for decades, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refused to join the Western-led sanctions regime against Moscow. But Delhi, long the world’s largest weapons importer, also sees the lengthy war in Europe as an opportunity to develop its nascent arms export sector, according to six Indian sources familiar with official thinking. Ukraine, which is battling to contain a Russian offensive toward the eastern logistics hub of Pokrovsk, has a dire shortage of artillery ammunition. The White House declined to comment and the U.S. State Department referred questions on Delhi’s arms exports to the Indian government. India exported just over $3 billion of arms between 2018 and 2023, according to data compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute think-tank. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said at an August 30 conference that defence exports surpassed $2.5 billion in the last fiscal year and that Delhi wanted to increase that to about $6 billion by 2029. Commercially available customs records show that in the two years before the February 2022 invasion, three major Indian ammunition makers — Yantra, Munitions India and Kalyani Strategic Systems — exported just $2.8 million in munitions components to Italy and the Czech Republic, as well as Spain and Slovenia, where defence contractors have invested heavily in supply chains for Ukraine. Between February 2022 and July 2024, the figure had increased to $135.25 million, the data show, including completed munitions, which India began exporting to the four nations. Giving anticipatory bail in NDPS Act case ‘very serious’ issue, unheard of: Supreme Court “Granting anticipatory bail in a case registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act is a “very serious” issue and “unheard of”,” the Supreme Court said on Thursday. A Bench headed by Justice B.R. Gavai and also comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and K.V. Viswanathan was hearing a plea filed by an accused seeking regular bail in a case lodged for alleged offences under provisions of the NDPS Act in West Bengal. The Bench directed the West Bengal government to consider whether the State proposes to file an application seeking cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to four accused in a case. It issued notice to the State of West Bengal on the accused’s bail plea and posted it for hearing after four weeks. The petitioner’s counsel told the Bench that four of the six accused in the case were granted pre-arrest bail while one of them was on regular bail. “In NDPS matter, anticipatory bail?” the Bench wondered. “In NDPS matter, anticipatory bail is unheard of,” it said. “We can issue notice (on the plea) and direct the State to file an application for cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to the co-accused,” the Court observed. “Grant of anticipatory bail in a NDPS matter is a very serious issue. We, therefore, direct the State to consider whether it proposes to file an application for cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to the co-accused,” the top court said. In the plea, the accused challenged the Calcutta High Court’s order of July this year dismissing his application seeking regular bail in the case lodged in October 2023. “The samples that were sent to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) have tested positive indicating that the materials seized from the petitioner are contraband,” the High Court had said in its order. “In view of commercial quantity of ‘ganja’ being involved and keeping in mind the restrictions in Section 37 of the NDPS Act, we are not inclined to grant bail to the petitioner at this stage,” it said. Your letter to PM Modi driven by compulsion to market a failed product: Nadda to Mallikarjun Kharge BJP president J. P. Nadda on Thursday accused Rahul Gandhi of having a history of abusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and OBCs, and of siding with anti-India forces, days after the Opposition party charged ruling alliance members with using violent language against the Leader of Opposition. In a tit for tat response after Congress president Mallikarjun Khargewrote to PM Modi over some members of the BJP-led NDA using “extremely objectionable” statements against Gandhi, Nadda cited his party’s own litany of complaints against the LoP and other Congress members for their choice of words against the Prime Minister. Nadda said Gandhi has a history of calling the entire Other Backward Classes, including the PM, a “thief” and using extremely indecent words against Modi. “Under what compulsion are you trying to justify Rahul Gandhi,” the BJP president asked his Congress counterpart in a three-page letter written in Hindi. He claimed that Kharge’s letter was driven by his political compulsion to market a “failed product” repeatedly rejected by people. He told the Congress president, “Your comments are far from truth. It appears from your letter that you have either forgotten the misdeeds of Mr. Gandhi and other leaders or have deliberately ignored them.” Kharge had on Tuesday raised with PM Modi the issue of “extremely objectionable” and violent statements by ruling alliance members targeting Gandhi and urged him to discipline his leaders. In his letter, the Congress leader demanded that strict legal action should be taken against those giving such statements so that Indian politics can be prevented from degenerating and nothing untoward happens. The world is shocked that a Union Minister and a Minister from Uttar Pradesh are calling Gandhi “number one terrorist”, while a Shiv Sena MLA announced a reward of ₹11 lakh to the person who “cuts off the tongue of the Leader of the Opposition and brings it to him”, he had said. Hitting back, Nadda said Rahul Gandhi had once spoken of people “beating up” Modi with baton, betraying his “disrespectful” mindset. His mother Sonia Gandhi, he added, had once called PM Modi, then Gujarat Chief Minister, “maut ka saudagar”, he added. He told Kharge in his letter, “You and your party leaders kept glorifying such unfortunate and shameful comments. Why had the Congress then forgotten about political probity?” In a swipe, Nadda said it might be Kharge’s compulsion to defend a failed product and even glorify it, but as the Congress president he should have introspected as well. In Brief:Centre probes death of 26-year-old EY employee Amid the ongoing row over the death of a 26-year-old Chartered Accountant allegedly due to extreme work pressure at the firm, the Union Labour Ministry on Thursday has taken up the complaint. Former Minister and BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar took to X and said, “This is very sad but also disturbing at many levels.” He further urged the Ministry of Labour to further investigate the matter. He said, “I rqst [request] Govt of India, Mansukh Mandaviya and Shobha Karandlaje to investigate these allegations made by the mother of unsafe and exploitative work environment that claimed the life of young, full of future Anna Sebastian Perayil.” FIR registered against Ravneet Singh Bittu over ‘terrorist’ remark against Rahul Gandhi An FIR has been registered against Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu for his alleged remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the statements he made in the U.S. about the condition of Sikhs in India, police said on Thursday. The case was filed based on a complaint by one of the officer-bearers of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, they said. “The FIR was registered under sections 353 (2) (making, publishing or circulating a statement or report with false information, rumors, or alarming news), 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot- if rioting be committed; if not committed) and 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at High Grounds police station here,” a police officer said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 19 September 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]( Gurpatwant Pannun murder plot: India calls U.S. court summons ‘unwarranted imputations’ The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday called the summons issued in civil case by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the U.S.-based pro-Khalistan attorney, as [“unwarranted” and “unsubstantiated” imputations](. The summons was issued by South District of New York court on Wednesday. The lawsuit names India’s foreign intelligence agency personnel and others, including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief Samant Goel, R&AW agent Vikram Yadav and Indian businessman Nikhil Gupta. In November 2023, the United States government alleged an Indian plot targeting Pannun, who heads the radical outfit, Sikhs for Justice. The explosive allegations, contained in a U.S. Department of Justice indictment, accuse a senior Indian intelligence official, referred to as CC-1, of masterminding the assassination plot. In a news briefing on Thursday, the MEA said that India will continue to stay out of the Trade pillar of Indo Pacific Economic Agreement. During Quad summit meet, India’s accession to IPEF Framework agreement will be signed. Later in the day, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, in a press briefing, said, “We have taken certain action, and the allegations are being inquired into by a high level committee and the relevant agencies on both sides have engaged on this.” When asked about the Summons issued in a New York District Court for NSA Ajit Doval, the Former R&AW chief Samant Goyal and others, Misri said the case was based on “unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations”. “I would only invite your attention to the person behind this particular case whose antecedents are well known,” he said, referring to Pannun. “I would also underline the fact that the organization that this person represents, is an unlawful organization, has been declared as such under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and it has been done so on account of its involvement in anti national and subversive activities aimed at disrupting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India,” he said. India abstains from UNGA vote against Israel, says focus should be “building bridges” The [effort of the United Nations should be to “build bridges” between the Israeli and Palestinian sides, said India]( explaining a decision to abstain from a resolution at the UN General Assembly that called on Israel to vacate Palestinian territories on the basis of an opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). India was among 43 nations that abstained from the resolution, which was adopted by the UN body, as more than two-thirds of the countries present, a massive 124 (of 181) voted in favour of it. Sources said the resolution’s calls for sanctions, and to stop arms exports to Israel may have also spurred India’s decision to abstain. “Our joint efforts should be directed towards bringing the two sides closer, not drive them further apart. We should strive towards building bridges, not furthering the divides,” said India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations P. Harish giving the Explanation of Vote (EoV) after the abstention. In the explanation, Harish reiterated India’s position on a two-state solution for Israel-Palestine peace, and the importance of the UN charter. He also repeated India’s formulation of the violence, which blames neither Hamas for the terrorist attacks last year that killed over 1,200, and took about 250 hostages, nor does it name Israel for the reprisal bombardment of Gaza and the West Bank that has left more than 35,000 dead, including nearly 15,000 children, according UN figures. “We unequivocally condemn the terror attacks on Israel on 7th October 2023; we condemn the loss of civilian lives in the conflict; we call for an immediate ceasefire and immediate and unconditional release of all hostages; and we stand for unrestricted and sustained humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip,” the EoV said, adding that India remains an advocate of “dialogue and diplomacy”. The abstention by India was a marked departure from its previous record of voting in favour of resolutions that call on Israel to withdraw troops from occupied Palestinian territories including Gaza. Sources said India abstained as it had some differences over the wording of the resolution, that imposes a one-year deadline on Israel to withdraw forces from occupied territories, which some of the other abstaining countries called “unrealistic”. In particular, the sources pointed to the UNGA resolutions demand for punitive sanctions on Israel, which are not contained in the ICJ opinion that the UNGA had requested in December 2022, and was finally delivered on July 19 this year. In para 5, the UNGA resolution (A/ES-10/L.31/Rev.1) moved by the State of Palestine and about 30 co-sponsors calls for sanctions, including “travel bans and asset freezes”, against Israeli officials and others who enable the illegal occupation. In addition the resolution calls for other countries to stop imports of products manufactured in illegal Israeli settlements and to stop the “transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel, the occupying Power, in all cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”. Indian companies have joint ventures with Israeli defence companies, and manufacture, under license, some parts which go back to parent companies in Israel and these can be sold to anyone by them, officials say while asserting that India’s exports to Israel are very low. The non-binding resolution followed two waves of bombings across Lebanon that killed about 30 people and wounded 3,000 as pagers and personal devices packed with explosives were detonated, that the Lebanese government has blamed Israel for and came ahead of the one year mark of the attacks in Israel and Israeli operations on Gaza. India’s vote, that is seen as support for Israel, appeared to be at some divergence from recent remarks by the government. At an India-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting in Riyadh last week External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had said that the situation in Gaza was the “foremost concern”. India-made ammunition enters Ukraine, irks defence partner Russia: Report [Artillery shells sold by Indian arms makers have been diverted by European customers to Ukraine]( and New Delhi has not intervened to stop the trade despite protests from Moscow, according to eleven Indian and European government and defence industry officials, as well as a Reuters analysis of commercially available customs data. The transfer of munitions to support Ukraine’s defence against Russia has occurred for more than a year, according to the sources and the customs data. Indian arms export regulations limit the use of weaponry to the declared purchaser, who risks future sales being terminated if unauthorised transfers occur. The Kremlin has raised the issue on at least two occasions, including during a July meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, three Indian officials said. Details of the ammunition transfers are emerging for the first time. The foreign and defence ministries of Russia and India did not respond to questions. In January, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a news conference that India had not sent or sold artillery shells to Ukraine. Two Indian government and two defence industry sources told Reuters that Delhi produced only a very small amount of the ammunition being used by Ukraine, with one official estimating that it was under 1% of the total arms imported by Kyiv since the war. The news agency couldn’t determine if the munitions were resold or donated to Kyiv by the European customers. Among the European countries sending Indian munitions to Ukraine are Italy and the Czech Republic, which is leading an initiative to supply Kyiv with artillery shells from outside the European Union, according to a Spanish and a senior Indian official, as well as a former top executive at Yantra India, a government-owned company whose munitions are being used by Ukraine. The Indian official said that Delhi was monitoring the situation. But, along with a defence industry executive with direct knowledge of the transfers, he said India had not taken any action to throttle the supply to Europe. Like most of the 20 people interviewed by Reuters, they spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. The Ukrainian, Italian, Spanish and Czech defence ministries did not respond to requests for comment. Delhi and Washington, Ukraine’s main security backer, have recently strengthened defence and diplomatic cooperation against the backdrop of a rising China, which both regard as their main rival. India also has warm ties with Russia, its primary arms supplier for decades, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refused to join the Western-led sanctions regime against Moscow. But Delhi, long the world’s largest weapons importer, also sees the lengthy war in Europe as an opportunity to develop its nascent arms export sector, according to six Indian sources familiar with official thinking. Ukraine, which is battling to contain a Russian offensive toward the eastern logistics hub of Pokrovsk, has a dire shortage of artillery ammunition. The White House declined to comment and the U.S. State Department referred questions on Delhi’s arms exports to the Indian government. India exported just over $3 billion of arms between 2018 and 2023, according to data compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute think-tank. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said at an August 30 conference that defence exports surpassed $2.5 billion in the last fiscal year and that Delhi wanted to increase that to about $6 billion by 2029. Commercially available customs records show that in the two years before the February 2022 invasion, three major Indian ammunition makers — Yantra, Munitions India and Kalyani Strategic Systems — exported just $2.8 million in munitions components to Italy and the Czech Republic, as well as Spain and Slovenia, where defence contractors have invested heavily in supply chains for Ukraine. Between February 2022 and July 2024, the figure had increased to $135.25 million, the data show, including completed munitions, which India began exporting to the four nations. Giving anticipatory bail in NDPS Act case ‘very serious’ issue, unheard of: Supreme Court “Granting anticipatory bail in a case registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act is a [“very serious” issue and “unheard of”]( the Supreme Court said on Thursday. A Bench headed by Justice B.R. Gavai and also comprising Justices Aravind Kumar and K.V. Viswanathan was hearing a plea filed by an accused seeking regular bail in a case lodged for alleged offences under provisions of the NDPS Act in West Bengal. The Bench directed the West Bengal government to consider whether the State proposes to file an application seeking cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to four accused in a case. It issued notice to the State of West Bengal on the accused’s bail plea and posted it for hearing after four weeks. The petitioner’s counsel told the Bench that four of the six accused in the case were granted pre-arrest bail while one of them was on regular bail. “In NDPS matter, anticipatory bail?” the Bench wondered. “In NDPS matter, anticipatory bail is unheard of,” it said. “We can issue notice (on the plea) and direct the State to file an application for cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to the co-accused,” the Court observed. “Grant of anticipatory bail in a NDPS matter is a very serious issue. We, therefore, direct the State to consider whether it proposes to file an application for cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to the co-accused,” the top court said. In the plea, the accused challenged the Calcutta High Court’s order of July this year dismissing his application seeking regular bail in the case lodged in October 2023. “The samples that were sent to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) have tested positive indicating that the materials seized from the petitioner are contraband,” the High Court had said in its order. “In view of commercial quantity of ‘ganja’ being involved and keeping in mind the restrictions in Section 37 of the NDPS Act, we are not inclined to grant bail to the petitioner at this stage,” it said. Your letter to PM Modi driven by compulsion to market a failed product: Nadda to Mallikarjun Kharge BJP president [J. P. Nadda on Thursday accused Rahul Gandhi]( of having a history of abusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and OBCs, and of siding with anti-India forces, days after the Opposition party charged ruling alliance members with using violent language against the Leader of Opposition. In a tit for tat response after Congress president Mallikarjun Khargewrote to PM Modi over some members of the BJP-led NDA using “extremely objectionable” statements against Gandhi, Nadda cited his party’s own litany of complaints against the LoP and other Congress members for their choice of words against the Prime Minister. Nadda said Gandhi has a history of calling the entire Other Backward Classes, including the PM, a “thief” and using extremely indecent words against Modi. “Under what compulsion are you trying to justify Rahul Gandhi,” the BJP president asked his Congress counterpart in a three-page letter written in Hindi. He claimed that Kharge’s letter was driven by his political compulsion to market a “failed product” repeatedly rejected by people. He told the Congress president, “Your comments are far from truth. It appears from your letter that you have either forgotten the misdeeds of Mr. Gandhi and other leaders or have deliberately ignored them.” Kharge had on Tuesday raised with PM Modi the issue of “extremely objectionable” and violent statements by ruling alliance members targeting Gandhi and urged him to discipline his leaders. In his letter, the Congress leader demanded that strict legal action should be taken against those giving such statements so that Indian politics can be prevented from degenerating and nothing untoward happens. The world is shocked that a Union Minister and a Minister from Uttar Pradesh are calling Gandhi “number one terrorist”, while a Shiv Sena MLA announced a reward of ₹11 lakh to the person who “cuts off the tongue of the Leader of the Opposition and brings it to him”, he had said. Hitting back, Nadda said Rahul Gandhi had once spoken of people “beating up” Modi with baton, betraying his “disrespectful” mindset. His mother Sonia Gandhi, he added, had once called PM Modi, then Gujarat Chief Minister, “maut ka saudagar”, he added. He told Kharge in his letter, “You and your party leaders kept glorifying such unfortunate and shameful comments. Why had the Congress then forgotten about political probity?” In a swipe, Nadda said it might be Kharge’s compulsion to defend a failed product and even glorify it, but as the Congress president he should have introspected as well. In Brief: Centre probes death of 26-year-old EY employee Amid the ongoing row over the death of a 26-year-old Chartered Accountant allegedly due to extreme work pressure at the firm, the [Union Labour Ministry on Thursday has taken up the complaint](. Former Minister and BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar took to X and said, “This is very sad but also disturbing at many levels.” He further urged the Ministry of Labour to further investigate the matter. He said, “I rqst [request] Govt of India, Mansukh Mandaviya and Shobha Karandlaje to investigate these allegations made by the mother of unsafe and exploitative work environment that claimed the life of young, full of future Anna Sebastian Perayil.” FIR registered against Ravneet Singh Bittu over ‘terrorist’ remark against Rahul Gandhi An [FIR has been registered against Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu]( for his alleged remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the statements he made in the U.S. about the condition of Sikhs in India, police said on Thursday. The case was filed based on a complaint by one of the officer-bearers of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, they said. “The FIR was registered under sections 353 (2) (making, publishing or circulating a statement or report with false information, rumors, or alarming news), 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot- if rioting be committed; if not committed) and 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at High Grounds police station here,” a police officer said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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