The Evening Wrap: Supreme Court says activist Teesta Setalvad to continue on bail

The Supreme Court on July 19 quashed and set aside a Gujarat High Court order, which had directed activist Teesta Setalvad to immediately surrender in a forgery/fabrication case linked to the 2002 Gujarat riots. A Bench led by Justice B.R. Gavai said Setalvad would continue to enjoy bail in accordance with a September 2, 2022 decision of the Supreme Court. The three-judge Bench found that Setalvad had not been questioned even once by the police in the case after the Supreme Court granted her interim bail in September last year. “The passport of the appellant already surrendered will be in custody of session court. The appellant shall not make any attempt to influence witnesses and shall stay away from them,” the bench said. The bench also granted the Gujarat Police liberty to directly move the Supreme Court if attempt is made to influence witnesses in the case. It said that the chargesheet was already filed in the case, and that the evidence was mostly documents already in the hands of the probe agency. “There is hardly any reason for fear that they would be tampered.” The court said there was no further need for Setalvad to be in custody anymore. The Supreme Court criticised the July 1 judgment of a Single Judge Bench of the High Court to be full of “contradictions”. Setalvad was taken into custody on June 25 last year along with former Gujarat Director General of Police R.B. Sreekumar and ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a case registered by the Ahmedabad crime branch police for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent people in the post-Godhra riots cases. An Ahmedabad sessions court had on July 30, 2022 rejected the bail applications of Setalvad and Sreekumar, saying their release will send a message to wrongdoers that a person can level allegations with impunity and get away with it. The High Court had on August 3, 2022, issued a notice to the State government on the bail plea of Setalvad and fixed the matter for hearing on September 19. Setalvad is accused of forgery, fabrication of evidence, making false charges of offences with intent to injure, conspiracy in connection with the 2002 riots cases. 11 parties with 91 MPs remain on fence as BJP, Congress sew up alliances While 65 parties have joined either the BJP or the Congress-led coalition, there are at least 11 more with a total 91 Members in Parliament who have chosen to stay neutral for now in the high-stakes general elections next year. Three of the fence-sitters rule fairly large States — Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha that together send 63 members to Lok Sabha — where the Congress or other Opposition parties have been pushed to the margins. The Congress and 25 other Opposition parties on Wednesday unveiled the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to take on the BJP-led NDA, which now has 39 parties. The parties that aren’t part of either of the groupings are: YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Bahujan Samaj Party, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Janata Dal (Secular), Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) and SAD (Mann). The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), which swept the elections in Andhra Pradesh in 2019, and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has been ruling Odisha since 2000, have largely voted in favour of the BJP-led government in the Parliament. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which has been ruling Telangana since it was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, had taken the lead in exploring the possibility of an Opposition alliance earlier this year, but is not part of the newly formed coalition. Mayawati-led BSP, which has nine MPs, is also out of the Opposition alliance. The BSP, which ruled Uttar Pradesh four times, has announced it would go it alone in the Lok Sabha elections next year and the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. “We have to ensure that there is a ‘helpless’ (majboor) government and not a strong government at the Centre. Only this would ensure that the interests of the poor, dalits, adivasis, oppressed and minorities are upheld even if the BSP doesn’t come to power,” Mayawati said in a statement in New Delhi. BJD supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik slammed the BJP for not giving adequate support to the State in Central schemes and have asked party MPs to raise the issue vociferously in the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning on Thursday (July 20). Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, which has also been left out of the Opposition alliance, said the party was being treated as “political untouchables”. The AIMIM has a sizable presence in Hyderabad and surrounding areas in Telangana and is seeking to expand in States such as Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Karnataka. AIMIM spokesperson Waris Pathan took potshots at the Opposition alliance contending that leaders such as Nitish Kumar, Uddhav Thackeray and Mehbooba Mufti, who had joined hands with the BJP earlier, were part of the gathering in Bengaluru, but the AIMIM, which was also working to defeat the BJP was being ignored. ‘Jeetega Bharat’ tagline for Opposition alliance INDIA A day after the Opposition parties announced the name for their alliance as ‘INDIA’, they finalised Jeetega Bharat as the combine’s tagline, setting the tone for their 2024 Lok Sabha campaign. The Hindi tagline means “India will win” and is likely to be replicated in several regional languages, sources said. According to them, during the meeting in Bengaluru on Tuesday, several leaders felt that the word ‘Bharat’ should feature in the name of the alliance. “It was decided that it would feature in the tagline,” a senior leader said. Several leaders stressed that coinage of the tagline was a result of a joint effort by several leaders. Listen to today’s episode of the In Focus podcast Why are state governments complaining about denial of food grains under OMSS? Last month, the Union government stopped the sale of rice and wheat from the Central pool under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS). This has provoked sharp reactions from state governments led by Opposition parties, especially Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, who have accused the Centre of “playing politics” and of being “anti-poor”. So, why exactly has the Union government put an end to state governments sourcing grains under the OMSS? Is it to curb inflation, as it claims? And is there a case for OMSS to be made available once again for state governments? In election-bound Rajasthan, Congress brings in Bill promising minimum guaranteed income The Congress-led Ashok Gehlot government on Tuesday introduced ‘The Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill, 2023’ in the Assembly, in what is widely expected to be the last session before the State goes for polls in less than four months. The legislation, for the first time in the country, provides legislative backing for urban employment guarantee schemes and also makes pension a legal right with the provision of 15% annual increment. Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections the Congress in its manifesto had promised Nyay — a minimum income guarantee programme — which promises ₹72,000 each annually as a minimum income to the 20% families in the poorest of the poor category. Since then the party has rarely spoken about the scheme. This Bill comes the closest to the Congress’s 2019 promise. Under the Bill, every adult person residing in the rural areas of the State shall have a right to get guaranteed employment for doing permissible work of at least additional 25 days in a financial year on completion of maximum days of work as prescribed by Union government’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Every person falling in the category of old age/specially abled/widow/single woman with prescribed eligibility shall be entitled to a pension under this Act. And this pension, as per the legislation, will be increased at the rate of 15% per annum. Speaking to The Hindu, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said, “It is my firm belief that the social security should be considered an entitlement of people. It is the “right” of one and all to be able to lead their life with dignity.” He further added that the COVID-19 pandemic proved importance of such measures. Arguing in favour of the legislation, social activist Nikhil Dey of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan said that it brings a unique approach to an undisputed need for minimum income guarantees for crores of vulnerable families across the country. “The law combines employment guarantees for those who can work [both in rural and urban areas] and minimum social security pensions for those who can’t — thereby ensuring a minimum legal income guarantee for all,” he said. Several other States too have in recent years introduced employment guarantee schemes for the urban areas but only via executive order. This is the first time the Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme will get legislative backing. “This is also the first time that social security pensions will become a legal guarantee. Again, within that, the provision for a minimum amount of ₹1,000 with automatic increments every year of 15% is both significant in amount, and scope [almost universal for the unorganised sector], and a breakthrough in the demand for indexing entitlements for the economically vulnerable,” Dey said. He pointed out that this legislation has a universal application unlike the centrally sponsored pension scheme which is extended only for Below Poverty Line families. In the absence of a fresh census, the BPL numbers are outdated. The pension offered by the Centre is also stuck at ₹200 per month and has been stagnant since 2007. In Brief: The five persons suspected to be part of a terror module that was busted by the CCB, were radicalised by LeT operative T. Nazir who was arrested in connection with the 2008 serial bomb blast in Bengaluru. He is in Central prison at Parappana Agrahara in Bengaluru, according to sources in the police. The accused — Syed Suhel Khan, 24, Mohammed Umar, 29, Zahid Tabarej, 25, Syed Mudaseer Pasha, 28, and Mohammed Fazil, 30 — were working as mechanics and drivers. They were arrested by R.T. Nagar police in 2017 in connection with the kidnap and murder of a businessman, Noor Ahmed, along with the prime accused Junaid Ahmed. Twenty-one persons were arrested in the murder case. From among them, Nazir and Junaid selected five, and created a terror module during their 18-month incarceration. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 19 July 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Supreme Court grants bail to Teesta Setalvad in post-Godhra riots case, sets aside Gujarat High Court order The [Supreme Court on July 19 quashed and set aside a Gujarat High Court order, which had directed activist Teesta Setalvad to immediately surrender]( in a forgery/fabrication case linked to the 2002 Gujarat riots. A Bench led by Justice B.R. Gavai said Setalvad would continue to enjoy bail in accordance with a September 2, 2022 decision of the Supreme Court. The three-judge Bench found that Setalvad had not been questioned even once by the police in the case after the Supreme Court granted her interim bail in September last year. “The passport of the appellant already surrendered will be in custody of session court. The appellant shall not make any attempt to influence witnesses and shall stay away from them,” the bench said. The bench also granted the Gujarat Police liberty to directly move the Supreme Court if attempt is made to influence witnesses in the case. It said that the chargesheet was already filed in the case, and that the evidence was mostly documents already in the hands of the probe agency. “There is hardly any reason for fear that they would be tampered.” The court said there was no further need for Setalvad to be in custody anymore. The Supreme Court criticised the July 1 judgment of a Single Judge Bench of the High Court to be full of “contradictions”. Setalvad was taken into custody on June 25 last year along with former Gujarat Director General of Police R.B. Sreekumar and ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a case registered by the Ahmedabad crime branch police for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent people in the post-Godhra riots cases. An Ahmedabad sessions court had on July 30, 2022 rejected the bail applications of Setalvad and Sreekumar, saying their release will send a message to wrongdoers that a person can level allegations with impunity and get away with it. The High Court had on August 3, 2022, issued a notice to the State government on the bail plea of Setalvad and fixed the matter for hearing on September 19. Setalvad is accused of forgery, fabrication of evidence, making false charges of offences with intent to injure, conspiracy in connection with the 2002 riots cases. 11 parties with 91 MPs remain on fence as BJP, Congress sew up alliances While 65 parties have joined either the BJP or the Congress-led coalition, there are at least [11 more with a total 91 Members in Parliament who have chosen to stay neutral]( for now in the high-stakes general elections next year. Three of the fence-sitters rule fairly large States — Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha that together send 63 members to Lok Sabha — where the Congress or other Opposition parties have been pushed to the margins. The Congress and 25 other Opposition parties on Wednesday unveiled the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to take on the BJP-led NDA, which now has 39 parties. The parties that aren’t part of either of the groupings are: YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Bahujan Samaj Party, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Janata Dal (Secular), Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) and SAD (Mann). The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), which swept the elections in Andhra Pradesh in 2019, and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has been ruling Odisha since 2000, have largely voted in favour of the BJP-led government in the Parliament. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which has been ruling Telangana since it was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, had taken the lead in exploring the possibility of an Opposition alliance earlier this year, but is not part of the newly formed coalition. Mayawati-led BSP, which has nine MPs, is also out of the Opposition alliance. The BSP, which ruled Uttar Pradesh four times, has announced it would go it alone in the Lok Sabha elections next year and the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. “We have to ensure that there is a ‘helpless’ (majboor) government and not a strong government at the Centre. Only this would ensure that the interests of the poor, dalits, adivasis, oppressed and minorities are upheld even if the BSP doesn’t come to power,” Mayawati said in a statement in New Delhi. BJD supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik slammed the BJP for not giving adequate support to the State in Central schemes and have asked party MPs to raise the issue vociferously in the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning on Thursday (July 20). Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, which has also been left out of the Opposition alliance, said the party was being treated as “political untouchables”. The AIMIM has a sizable presence in Hyderabad and surrounding areas in Telangana and is seeking to expand in States such as Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Karnataka. AIMIM spokesperson Waris Pathan took potshots at the Opposition alliance contending that leaders such as Nitish Kumar, Uddhav Thackeray and Mehbooba Mufti, who had joined hands with the BJP earlier, were part of the gathering in Bengaluru, but the AIMIM, which was also working to defeat the BJP was being ignored. ‘Jeetega Bharat’ tagline for Opposition alliance INDIA A day after the Opposition parties announced the name for their alliance as ‘INDIA’, they finalised [Jeetega Bharat as the combine’s tagline]( setting the tone for their 2024 Lok Sabha campaign. The Hindi tagline means “India will win” and is likely to be replicated in several regional languages, sources said. According to them, during the meeting in Bengaluru on Tuesday, several leaders felt that the word ‘Bharat’ should feature in the name of the alliance. “It was decided that it would feature in the tagline,” a senior leader said. Several leaders stressed that coinage of the tagline was a result of a joint effort by several leaders. Listen to today’s episode of the In Focus podcast [Why are state governments complaining about denial of food grains under OMSS?]( Last month, the Union government stopped the sale of rice and wheat from the Central pool under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS). This has provoked sharp reactions from state governments led by Opposition parties, especially Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, who have accused the Centre of “playing politics” and of being “anti-poor”. So, why exactly has the Union government put an end to state governments sourcing grains under the OMSS? Is it to curb inflation, as it claims? And is there a case for OMSS to be made available once again for state governments? In election-bound Rajasthan, Congress brings in Bill promising minimum guaranteed income The Congress-led [Ashok Gehlot government on Tuesday introduced ‘The Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill, 2023’ in the Assembly]( in what is widely expected to be the last session before the State goes for polls in less than four months. The legislation, for the first time in the country, provides legislative backing for urban employment guarantee schemes and also makes pension a legal right with the provision of 15% annual increment. Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections the Congress in its manifesto had promised Nyay — a minimum income guarantee programme — which promises ₹72,000 each annually as a minimum income to the 20% families in the poorest of the poor category. Since then the party has rarely spoken about the scheme. This Bill comes the closest to the Congress’s 2019 promise. Under the Bill, every adult person residing in the rural areas of the State shall have a right to get guaranteed employment for doing permissible work of at least additional 25 days in a financial year on completion of maximum days of work as prescribed by Union government’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Every person falling in the category of old age/specially abled/widow/single woman with prescribed eligibility shall be entitled to a pension under this Act. And this pension, as per the legislation, will be increased at the rate of 15% per annum. Speaking to The Hindu, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said, “It is my firm belief that the social security should be considered an entitlement of people. It is the “right” of one and all to be able to lead their life with dignity.” He further added that the COVID-19 pandemic proved importance of such measures. Arguing in favour of the legislation, social activist Nikhil Dey of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan said that it brings a unique approach to an undisputed need for minimum income guarantees for crores of vulnerable families across the country. “The law combines employment guarantees for those who can work [both in rural and urban areas] and minimum social security pensions for those who can’t — thereby ensuring a minimum legal income guarantee for all,” he said. Several other States too have in recent years introduced employment guarantee schemes for the urban areas but only via executive order. This is the first time the Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme will get legislative backing. “This is also the first time that social security pensions will become a legal guarantee. Again, within that, the provision for a minimum amount of ₹1,000 with automatic increments every year of 15% is both significant in amount, and scope [almost universal for the unorganised sector], and a breakthrough in the demand for indexing entitlements for the economically vulnerable,” Dey said. He pointed out that this legislation has a universal application unlike the centrally sponsored pension scheme which is extended only for Below Poverty Line families. In the absence of a fresh census, the BPL numbers are outdated. The pension offered by the Centre is also stuck at ₹200 per month and has been stagnant since 2007. In Brief: [The five persons suspected to be part of a terror module that was busted by the CCB, were radicalised by LeT operative T. Nazir who was arrested in connection with the 2008 serial bomb blast in Bengaluru](. He is in Central prison at Parappana Agrahara in Bengaluru, according to sources in the police. The accused — Syed Suhel Khan, 24, Mohammed Umar, 29, Zahid Tabarej, 25, Syed Mudaseer Pasha, 28, and Mohammed Fazil, 30 — were working as mechanics and drivers. They were arrested by R.T. Nagar police in 2017 in connection with the kidnap and murder of a businessman, Noor Ahmed, along with the prime accused Junaid Ahmed. Twenty-one persons were arrested in the murder case. From among them, Nazir and Junaid selected five, and created a terror module during their 18-month incarceration. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [Sign up for free]( Today’s Top Picks [[Airbus C-295 aircraft manufacturing ecosystem taking shape in India] Airbus C-295 aircraft manufacturing ecosystem taking shape in India]( [[An alternative alliance will emerge after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls: BRS leader B. Vinod Kumar] An alternative alliance will emerge after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls: BRS leader B. 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