villupuram l saturday l may 21, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Navjot Sidhu walks in; Indrani, Azam step out Navjot Sidhu surrendered before a Patiala court on Friday to serve his one-year jail term over a 1988 road rage death case Navjot Singh Sidhu Azam Khan Indrani Mukherjea no amenities in ward where sidhu is lodged veiled azam attack on samajwadi party Sidhu is lodged in Ward 10 of the Patiala Central Jail with around 10 other inmates, sources said. There are no beds, televisions or other amenities in the ward. Elsewhere, Indrani Mukerjea, arrested for allegedly murdering her daughter Sheena Bora, was released from Mumbai’s Byculla prison, two days after the Supreme Court granted her bail | P8 ■ ■ Samajwadi Party’s Azam Khan too was out of jail on Friday, a day after the apex court granted interim bail in a cheating case In what seemed like an attack on the SP leadership, Azam told media that “Those who put poison in the roots of these withered trees (referring to himself) were my own dear ones” 88 Number of cases registered against Azam Khan CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI SC transfers Gyanvapi case to dist judge express read Give Velumani inquiry report copy: SC to HC Chennai: The SC on Friday directed the Madras High Court to supply a copy of the report of preliminary inquiry conducted against S P Velumani over alleged graft in awarding of tenders during his tenure as TN minister and asked the HC to dispose of the cases on merits | P5 ‘Railway staff in TN must learn Tamil’ Chennai: Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday urged railway employees working in TN to learn Tamil. “I recommend all railway staff working in TN learn Tamil for better interaction with rail users and smooth and safe operation of trains,” said Vaishnaw| P4 Jet cleared to fly, may take off in July-Sep New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday granted a revalidated Air Operator Certificate to Jet Airways, allowing the airline to resume commercial flight operations. The airline was grounded three years ago due to financial distress. The airline is hoping to restart flight operations by September | P10 over `100/kg Tomatoes will be sold at 65 TN govt shops E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ Chennai A day after the price of tomato touched `100 per kg in the Chennai retail market, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday said the fruit will be sold through 65 farm fresh vegetable (Pannai Pasumai) shops across the State for `70-85 per kg. It will also be sold at ration shops in the future depending on the demand, officials said, as prices are expected to rise. According to officials from the cooperatives department, tomatoes will be procured from local farmers to be sold through the Pannai Pasumai shops. The retail price of tomato has skyrocketed to `90 to `120 a kg in various parts of TN on the back of a supply shortage caused by rains in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The procurement price of the Agricultural Producing Marketing Committee (APMC) in Mysore was `70 per kg on Friday and could cross `100 soon, said sources. On Thursday, four tonnes of tomatoes were sold at the shops in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchy alone. Kannaiyan Subramanian, a tomato farmer in Thalavadi, said farmers in TN opted against growing tomatoes after first-grade tomatoes were procured for `4 per kg in March and April. “Peak summer is also an offseason for tomato cultivation in TN,” he added.  P5 Says better if a senior judicial officer hears it due to complexity & sensitivity of the matter mosque committee, that the survey report should not be selectively leaked. The Supreme Court on Friday Ahmedi went on to argue that transfer red the Gyanvapi his challenge is to the trial mosque case to the district court’s decision to appoint the judge in Varanasi from that of probe commission itself. “It is the civil judge (senior division) prohibited by the 1991 Act and in the city, stating it is betthe Constitution itself... Stater if a senior and experitus quo that was in existenced judicial officer ence for the last 500 years hears it because of the has been altered. It is complexities and sensibeing sealed,” he said. tivity of the matter. The bench, however, The court also disaid there are various rected the district nuances that will come judge to prioritise an into consideration. Bench’s application of the “The ascertainment poser mosque committee of religious character challenging the main- “Suppose there is of a place as a procesa Parsi temple tainability of the suit. sual instrument may and there is a It said its interim ornot fall foul of Section der of May 17 will con- cross in the corner 3 or 4 of the Act. These tinue till the maintain- of the area. Does are matters where we the presence of ability is decided and will not hazard an eight weeks after that. Agyari make the opinion,” the court cross Agyari or The SC also directed orally remarked. appropriate arrange- Agyari Christian? On the question of This hybrid ments for wuzu (ablumaintainability, the character is not tion before namaz) on bench said: “The mounknown,” the the mosque premises ment you argue that if they have not been bench orally said the appointment of made already. In the the commissioner is May 17 order, the SC directed void ab initio because the suit is that the area where the ‘Shival- barred by the Act, it is faringa’ is indicated to have been fetched, because we can’t decide found should be fully protected the maintainability of suit here while Muslims should get free right now. We have to adopt fair access to the mosque for process... We have to maintain worship. peace and balance on the The bench accepted the re- ground.” It kept the special quest of senior advocate Hufeza leave petition open and will Ahmadi, appearing for the hear the matter in July . E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi Police deliberately killed gang-rape suspects: Panel E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ New Delhi File photo of police at the site where four gang-rape suspects were shot dead, on the outskirts of Hyderabad | express What next Three scenarios High HC accepts 1 TelanganahearingCourt 2 Ifpanel’stake into 3 State govt resuming findings, moves SC pending PILs, but does it could also claiming evidence not take the Sirpurkar Commission report on record. Trial could then go back to the Sessions Court in the main case of gang-rape and murder consideration that prima facie a case has been established by the report. It can then commit the case to Sessions Court for trial submitted before a commission of inquiry is not admissible before a court of law Just as mob lynching is unacceptable, so is any idea of instant justice. At any point of time, rule of law must prevail. Punishment for the crime has to be only by the procedure established by law - Sirpurkar Commission report Grave violation of human rights by any standards impunity is not justice for women - Kalpana Kannabiran, legal scholar A Supreme Court-appointed panel that probed the alleged encounter killing of four persons in the gang-rape and murder of a young veterinarian in Hyderabad in 2019, tore into the police version of the events, saying it was “concocted”, adding the suspects were “deliberately fired upon with an intent to cause their death”. Pointing out that three of the four suspects were minors, the panel headed by retired Supreme Court judge V S Sirpurkar recommended trial of 10 accused policemen for murder. “It cannot be said that the police party fired in self-defence or in a bid to re-arrest the deceased suspects. The record shows that entire version of the police party beginning from the safe house to the incident at Chatanpally is concocted. It was impossible for the deceased suspects to have snatched the weapons of the police and they could not have operated the fire arms. Therefore, the entire version is unbelievable,” the report said. “...it cannot be believed that the deceased suspects might have died due to the indiscriminate firing from the pistols allegedly snatched by them and it has to be held that all the deceased suspects died due to the injuries caused by the bullets fired by the police party It cannot also be believed . the deceased suspects opened fire towards the police,” the report said.  CONTINUED ON: P5 Forget LPG, get 40% cheaper piped gas in TN by yr end C S h i va k u m a r @ Chennai AS the price of a cooking gas cylinder breaches `1,000 across Tamil Nadu, households in East Tambaram, Sholinganallur, Karapakkam, Semmencherry West Tambaram, and Perun, gudi might be able to switch to relatively cheaper piped natural gas connections soon. While 24x7 supply of piped gas will begin only after six or seven Jab-o-meter Take your shot May 19 13,07,905 doses May 20 13,41,844 doses Total doses 1,92,11,04,655 NATIONWIDE May 19 May 20 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 2,364 2,259 2,582 2,614 10 20 tamil nadu May 19 May 20 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 42 41 0 37 44 0 months, registration has started in Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts through AG&P Pratham, which was awarded a gas distribution licence by the Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board. The company will exclusively supply piped natural gas (PNG) to households, commercial businesses, and industries, and compressed natural gas (CNG) for use in vehicles in the two districts, where it is currently laying pipelines. Similarly, Torrent has been laying pipelines in Chennai. According to S Rangarajan, regional head, Kanchi Geo g raphical Area, AG&G Pratham, the price of piped natural gas will be 30% to 40% cheaper than LPG cylinders. “The gas consumption will be measured through a meter in- stalled in the kitchen based on which you have to pay the charges,” he said. Consumers can use the existing stoves but the nozzle will be changed. Households will be charged `6,750 as installation fee of which `6,000 is refundable. “We have registered 5,000 connections and are planning to register 40,000 connections by the end of the year. P2