kochi l tuesday l march 05, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION Prachanda snaps alliance, leads new coalition in Nepal Nepal nitished, 3 new ministers take oath Prime Minister Prachanda ended the 15-month partnership with Nepali Congress and formed an alliance with Communist Party of Nepal (UML) Rift over national assembly chief post It was like what Nitish Kumar did in Bihar — ending an allinace and joining another in the space of a few hours while staying at the helm. Prachanda’s Communist Party (Maoist Centre) snapped ties with Deuba’s Nepali Congress. The PM then signed a deal with critic and former premier K P Sharma Oli’s UML. Three ministers then took the oath of office on Monday ■ ■ Differences between the Nepali Congress and the Maoist Centre grew over budget allocation to certain projects The other issue was the post of Chairman of the National Assembly. Nepali Congress, the largest party in the House with 89 seats, wanted the post for itself while Prachanda wanted it for his party 32 seats alone held by Prachanda in the 275-member Nepal house 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 Bribed lawmakers lose judicial shield Seven-judge bench overturns SC’s 1998 verdict in the JMM bribery case that protected Soren from CBI prosecution S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi Quick response team personnel trying to remove agitated local residents who blocked the ambulance carrying the body of Indira, who was killed in a wild elephant attack, at Neriamangalam on Monday | Shiyami Protests erupt as wild jumbo attack claims another life N e j m a s u l a i m a n @ Idukki In the fifth loss of life to wild elephant attacks in Idukki this year, a 70-year-old woman was killed by a tusker at Kanjiraveli, near Neriamangalam, on Monday, triggering massive protests. Indira Ramakrishnan, of Mundokkulathil House, was returning after taking breakfast to her husband, Ramakrishnan, who was collecting arrow roots from his plantation, when the tusker that strayed into the residential area trampled and gored her around 9am. Susan Thomas, a neighbour of Indira, said she cried for help on seeing the elephant attacking her. People working in a nearby plantation rushed to the spot and took Indira to a hospital in Kothamangalam. However she died on the way . Meanwhile, tension prevailed on the taluk hospital premises in Kothamangalam, where Indira’s body was brought for postmortem, as the UDF staged a protest demanding immediate steps to mitigate the wild elephant menace on the forest fringes. The protesters took the body of Indira out of the mortuary and held a demonstration. The police later took over the body forcibly and completed the postmortem examination. Muvattupuzha MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan and Perumbavoor MLA Eldhose Kunnappally launched an indefinite hunger strike in Kothamang alam on Monday evening demanding steps to end wild animal attacks. The Kothamangalam police later registered a case against Kuzhalnadan, Idukki MP Dean Kuriakose, Ernakulam DCC president Mohammad Shiyas, and 50 others, for protesting with the body of the victim. According to local residents, wild elephants have been roaming in the village — located close to the Neriamangalam forest range — for the past several days. ● More on P6 Mins visit victim’s house, hand over compensation Industries Minister P Rajeeve and Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine visited the house of Indira on Monday evening and handed over a cheque for I10 lakh as compensation. In a landmark ruling, a sevenjudge bench of the Supreme Court on Monday unanimously said an MP or MLA cannot claim immunity from prosecution on a charge of bribery in connection with the vote or speech in the legislature. The ruling overturned a fivejudge bench’s 3:2 verdict in 1998 in the JMM bribery case to save P V Narasimha Rao’s minority government. The CBI had accused JMM chief Shibu Soren of taking a bribe to defeat a noconfidence motion against the government in 1991. The 1998 ruling said lawmakers had immunity from prosecution if they cast their vote in the House or spoke on a subject after taking bribe. That verdict created a peculiar situation as a lawmaker who took bribe but did not vote in favour of the bribe giver became liable for prosecution. The seven-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and justices A S Bopanna, M M Sundresh, Manoj Misra, P S Narasimha, J B Pardiwala and Sanjay Kumar that nixed the immunity from prosecution for lawmakers | PTI Monday’s verdict authored by CJI D Y Chandrachud said, “Taking bribe is an independent offence and has no connection with what is said and done, by a MP or MLA inside House. Hence immunity granted by Constitution to them for fearless deliberation and debate of issues inside the House cannot shield them from prosecution.” The court said corruption and bribery by legislators destroy the functioning of parliamentary democracy. “Bribery is not rendered immune EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @P’thitta/T’Puram Swinging into damage-control mode, the BJP on Monday sought to assuage P C George even as it asked him to mind his tongue, a day after he launched a scathing attack on SNDP supremo Vellappally Natesan and his son and BDJS leader Thushar Vellappally ac, cusing them of conspiring to deny him the party ticket for Pathanamthitta. On a day when BJP state president K Surendran advised George to exercise restraint when speaking in public, party candidate from Pathanamthitta, Anil K Antony who was also , at the receiving end of George’s acerbic tongue, visited the former Kerala Congress leader P C George offers sweets to BJP’s Pathanamthitta candidate Anil K Antony at his residence in Poonjar on Monday at his home in Poonjar and sought his blessings. Though he promised all help to ensure Anil’s victory George , said he doesn’t think the latter will have the same level of support from the bishops that he enjoys. “I am now holding discussions to get their (bishops) support for Anil. I have their “Corruption and bribery of members of the legislature erode the foundation of Parliamentary democracy. It... creates a polity which deprives citizens of a responsible, responsive and representative democracy,” the bench said backing due to my direct interactions with them over a period of time,” he told reporters after meeting Anil. George had earlier said Anil was not a familiar face in Pathanamthitta and that it would be a tough task to get him introduced to the voters. In a virtual U-turn on Monday, he said everyone knows Anil’s father, A K Antony who , is the senior-most Congress leader in Kerala. This would make Anil’s job easier. Anil said George had assured him all the support to ensure his victory “P C George is one . of the most senior politicians in the state. I will follow his advice,” said Anil. The ‘patch-up’ talks, however, came after much embarrassment for the BJP following open allegations by George on Sunday ● More on P6 . e x p r e ss r e a d Student death: Accused charged with conspiracy Kalpetta: The police probing the death of J S Sidharthan, a student of Pookode veterinary college, has charged all 18 accused with criminal conspiracy. All 130 students who were present at the hostel when Sidharthan was subjected to mob trial were handed a oneweek suspension. P7 E xpress N ews S ervice @T’Puram L50k withdrawal cap on govt employees’ salary T’Puram: The state government started disbursing salary on Monday even as Finance Minister K N Balagopal said employees can withdraw only up to Rs 50,000 for the time being. P7 cheerful start Kajal Luhar and Nisha G M, from Nepal, and Reshmi Kumari from Bihar, students of Govt HSS for Girls, Ernakulam, gesture as they come out of their school after attending the SSLC Sanskrit examination on Monday | A Sanesh the soup. It was Sita who had filed the appeal that was decided by the seven-judge bench against her. She was accused of taking bribe to vote for a particular candidate in the 2012 Rajya Sabha polls in Jharkhand. She, however, did not vote for the candidate. When the CBI went after her, Sita moved the Jharkhand High Court citing the 1998 rul- Erodes foundation of democracy BJP’s carrot & stick approach pays off, P C George reined in for now Don’t name KU youth festival ‘Intifada’: V-C Kerala University (KU) Vice Chancellor Dr Mohanan Kunnummal has directed that the name ‘Intifada’ given to the upcoming varsity youth festival be removed to ensure that the sentiments of no section of students, faculty or public are hurt. The Arabic word ‘intifada’ translates to ‘uprising’ or ‘shaking off ’ and has been used to describe periods of violent Palestinian protests against Israel. In a directive to the registrar, director of student services and chairman of the varsity students’ union, the V-C said the word ‘intifada’ having a direct link with the Palestine-Israel issue could have implications on the country’s foreign policy as well. “This could lead to a legal conundrum which will not be in the best interests of the university he said. ,” The V-C said the university’s reputation could be badly affected in such an event. “On the other hand, nobody will be badly affected, no controversy will be created and no one’s sentiments will be hurt even if no specific name is given to the youth festival,” he rea● More on P6 soned. under Article 105 or 194 because a member indulging in bribery indulges in a criminal act which is not essential for the function of casting a vote or giving a speech in the legislature,” the bench ruled. If the JMM bribery case verdict protected JMM chief Shibu Soren from prosecution, Monday’s ruling put his MLA daughter-in-law Sita Soren in 18 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express ing to seek protection from prosecution. But the HC rejected it on the ground that she had not cast her vote in favour of the alleged bribe giver and was thus not entitled to the protection under Article 194(2). Commenting on the 1998 verdict, the seven-judge bench said, it resulted in a paradoxical outcome as it rewarded a lawmaker who accepted bribe and voted on agreed terms with immunity but prosecuted those who accepted illegal gratification but voted independently. The minority judgment highlighted the prima facie absurdity in the paradox, it added. The bench said a member engaging in bribery commits a crime. “This action may bring indignity to the House of Parliament or Legislature and may also attract prosecution. What it does not attract is the immunity given to the essential and necessary functions of a member of Parliament or Legislature,” it said. buying time Extend electoral bond data sharing deadline to June 30: SBI to SC ers had a right to know which party is getting money from whom and how much before The State Bank of India on they excercise their franMonday sought to buy time chise. Polling is expected to from the Supreme Court for be over by June 30. In its application, the SBI submitting to the Election Commission of India full contended that retrieval of data on electoral bonds en- information stored in each silo and the procecashed by political dure of matching parties. the information of With the SC’s one silo with the deadline for the SBI set to end on Chronology samjhiye: other is a time-conMarch 6 (Wednes- first elections, then suming exercise. The data related day), the bank re- disclosure of electoral quested time till bonds. What makes to the issuance of the ruling party so the bond and the June 30 to complete nervous about data on their rethe task. revealing the source demption was kept In its landmark of its bottomless recorded in two difverdict last month campaign finance ferent silos. No striking down the coffers? central database electoral bonds Jairam Ramesh, was maintained. scheme for politiCong gen secy This was done to cal funding, the ensure that donors’ court had ordered , the SBI to furnish the data to anonymity the SBI said. “It is submitted that donor the poll panel by March 6. The ECI was directed to pub- details were kept in a sealed cover at the designatlish the information on its ed branches and all website by March 13. The court such sealed covers had the upwere deposited in coming Lok the Main Branch Sabha elecof the Applicant tions in mind bank, which is when it set the located in Mumtimelines bebai,” the plea cause it said votsaid. E xpress N ews S ervice @ New Delhi Kejriwal skips 8th ED summons The Delhi CM expresses readiness to appear before agency, in connection with excise policy case, through video-conferencing March 12 fighting social taboo Inmates have a day out, in a first for Nooranad leprosy asylum B I JU E PAUL @ Alappuzha For Nagarajan, last Sunday was special. “I arrived at the asylum some 55 years ago from Tamil Nadu and have very rarely ventured out of its gates. We spent most of the day at Azheekal beach and enjoyed our time with friends of the asylum,” says the resident of Nooranad leprosy sanatorium. In the 89-year history of the sanatorium, this was the first time inmates were taken out for a picnic. Around 30 boarders and 22 staff visited Azheekal beach, which straddles the Alappuzha and Kollam border. Sanatorium superintendent Dr P V Vidhya made arrangements for the trip with the permission of the district collector and district medical officer (DMO). “Every year, staff of the sanatorium organise a picnic. This time we thought of including residents to the trip. A staff council meeting made the decision, which required the approval of the collector and DMO. We wrote a letter to collector John Samuel and DMO Dr Jumana Varghese, who accepted our request,” indicated Vidhya. “After getting the consent of The inmates and staff of Nooranad Leprosy Sanatorium enjoying thier vacation at the Azheekal beach on Sunday | Express the hospital management committee, we contacted the Mavelikkara KSRTC bus depot for a vehicle for transportation. We started the journey on Sunday afternoon. We spent around three hours on the beach,” Vidhya said. Of the 85 inmates of the sanatorium, 30 were part of the trip. Staff members managed the entire expenditure, she ● More on P6 added.
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