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 ■ ■ cjp’s dire warning MADURAI l tuesday l july 28, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE CITY EDITION CJP on Monday warned it would be forced to resume its agitation if the government does not give written assurance of withdrawal of criminal cases against protesters by Tuesday CJP spokesperson Saurav Das accused police of continuing coercive action despite the deal. “Hundreds of students arrested in Bihar and Bengal,” he said CJP also flagged several reports of Instagram accounts linked to students and volunteers being taken down Spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said CJP submitted a draft deal to ministers J P Nadda and Jitendra Singh, and it was agreed that they would share a written agreement by Tuesday Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal announced legal support for those facing police action and said he would pay `1 crore for a legal assistance platform The CJP had called off its 36-day agitation at Jantar Mantar on Saturday after the government accepted its key demands Day’s developments 1 Bihar govt to withdraw all cases lodged against protesters over NEET paper leak, release those jailed, as per a late night notification 2 A Bihar police constable has been suspended for opening fire on protesters with an AK-47 in Siwan during Bihar Bandh on July 25 over the paper leak issue 3 SC defers consideration of conducting NEET-UG in online mode, stating it will see what the new task force suggests 4 Amid charges of the Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery exam paper leak, the Gujarat Ayurved University said it has ordered an inquiry Stand-off over, debate on paper leak bill in LS today Bill introduced amid protest, Speaker allocates 6 hrs for discussion PREE T H A N A IR @ New Delhi THE Lok Sabha is likely to function normally on Tuesday after a week-long stalemate with the Opposition agreeing to participate in the debate on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill 2026. The bill, introduced in the House on Monday by Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh amid loud protests and sloganeering, initially failed to break the impasse as Opposition parties continued to demand a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the police action against student protestors. The legislation proposes stricter punishment of up to 10 years in jail and `50 lakh fine for the guilty . With repeated disruptions stalling proceedings, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla intervened and adjourned the House, urging both sides to resolve their differences. He gave the government and Opposition a three-hour window to negotiate so that discussion on the bill could We did not want begin at 5 pm. to be seen as According to sources, duropposing examination ing the back channel talks, reforms. We are the government conveyed conscious of the that it was prepared for a six-hour discussion if the fact that the youth are watching Opposition cooperated. The Opposition, in turn, sensed A senior Oppn leader that insisting on a boycott could allow the government to push the bill through without any debate. Senior Congress leaders subsequently met the Speaker and informed him that the Opposition was ready to participate in the discussion on Tuesday . “We have decided to join the debate while raising the issue of police brutality against students protesting at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere,” a senior Opposition leader said. As the House reassembled at 5 pm, Opposition members continued sloganeering amid calls by the chair to discuss the bill as the matter pertained to the future of crores of youth. Protests can’t justify police excesses: SC s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o ha n t y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Monday said the right to peaceful protest was constitutionally guaranteed and cannot be denied merely because there is agitation, while questioning police excesses on protesters during the CJP’s Sansad Chalo march on July 20 and calling for a uniform national protocol on handling demonstrations. The top court’s three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said it will hear all pleas filed against police excesses at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday . “Any allegations of police Just because there excess must be independently examined. The right to is agitation does not mean there can peaceful, lawful protest is abbe ‘lathi charge’... solutely guaranteed under discipline is needed Constitution. So long as it is which is essential peaceful agitation, merely beto democratic cause there is agitation, there process can’t be (excess)... Merely because agitation is there, it CJI Surya Kant doesn’t mean lathi-charge. Discipline is integral to democratic process,” CJI Kant orally remarked. He also clarified that the life of every individual, including police personnel, is equally important. The bench made the observations on hearing a batch of petitions, mentioned by lawyers for hearing, concerning police action during recent student protests. Justice Bagchi stressed that injuries to individuals, whether students or policemen, are of equal concern. The petitioners sought appropriate directions and orders from the court for an independent probe into the police action. E x p r e s s Re a d ‘K’taka doesn’t need TN nod for Mekedatu dam’ New Delhi: Answering a question on Mekedatu, the centre on Monday informed Parliament that there was no need for Karnataka to obtain the consent of TN, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry to construct the Mekedatu reservoir | P4 HC bins GOs giving jobs to Karur victims’ kin Madurai: The Madras HC on Monday struck down the TN government’s orders granting compassionate appointments to the kin of those killed in the stampede during a TVK poll rally in Karur last September | P4 lifters continue to dominate Gyaneshwari Yadav bagged a silver in 53kg while Bindyarani Devi won bronze in 58kg at CWG | pti TN forms panel to boost revenue, tax collection e x p r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu government has constituted a high-level Revenue Augmentation Committee, headed by noted economist and former Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, to recommend measures to strengthen revenue mobilisation and improve tax administration. The committee will submit reports and recommendations within three months. Economist Dr KP Krishnan, tax policy expert Arbind Modi, former CBEC Chairman Najib Shah (retd), Finance Department Additional Chief Secretary MA Siddique, and Director of the Madras Institute of Development Studies Dr M Suresh Babu are the other members of the panel. A GO dated July 24 said the government’s decision to set up the panel follows the findings of the White Paper on Fiscal Management of Tamil Nadu, released in June 2026, which observed that the state’s decline in own-tax revenue was largely due to administrative shortcomings, leakages and corruption, rather than an economic slowdown. According to the White Paper, Tamil Nadu’s owntax revenue-to-GSDP ratio declined to 5.45% in 202526, lowest in two decades.  P7 White Paper flagged dip in SOTR According to a recent White Paper, decline in state’s own-tax revenue (SOTR) was largely due to administrative shortcomings and corruption, and not because of economic slowdown A Dubai-Mumbai IndiGo flight that made emergency landing at the Rajkot International Airport on Monday after smoke was detected in its cargo hold | PTI