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 HYDERABAD l tuesday l july 28, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 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 P R E E T H A N A I R @ 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 hitra k a lyan m o hant 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. Shift Ranganath from HYDRAA, HC directs CS T G N ai d u @ Hyderabad Pointing out “repeated violations” of judicial orders by HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath, the Telangana High Court on Monday directed Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju to relieve him of the post and identify a suitable officer to head the agency . Reading out the list of 63 pending contempt cases against the HYDRAA commissioner in open court, Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti refused to accept the written apology filed by Ranganath through an affidavit. The judge stated that the Record Ready State to issue Family Register Certificate repeated instances of disobedience left the court with no option but to recommend to the chief secretary that a different officer be appointed to head the agency . The court made the observations while hearing contempt proceedi n g s i n i t i at e d by Shanta Sriram Constructions Pvt Ltd, which alleged that HYDRAA officials had trespassed on its 40-acre land at Lothkunta in Medchal-Malkajgiri district despite subsisting high court restraint orders. During the previous hearing on July 24, the court withdrew its proposed direction for deployment of Army personnel after the Advocate General sought reconsideration, while directing the commissioner to personally appear and tender an unconditional apology. Instead, Ranganath filed only a written affidavit, which the court found unsatisfactory . “The commissioner, HYDRAA should be relieved of the post... if such an officer is allowed to continue, the majesty of the court and the dignity of law will be at peril,” Justice Jukanti observed, adding that Ranganath’s actions had placed the rule of law at risk.  E x pre s s N e w s Ser v i c e @ Hyderabad To help people who face difficulties in producing an authenticated and reliable record of their family composition for availing various government services, the state government has decided to introduce the “Telangana Family Register Certificate” through the MeeSeva platform on payment of a nominal fee of `62. The certificate is among the 12 documents accepted by ECI for the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The Revenue department issued orders on Saturday to create a state-wide electronic “Telangana Family Register”, saying the initiative would facilitate the delivery of citizen services, ensure uniform Continued on p4 The 63 contempt cases against me have been orchestrated by powerful land mafias whose interests we disrupted. HYDRAA’s actions have been in accordance with the Constitution and the law AV Ranganath, HYDRAA chief verification of family particulars and provide an accessible family record. The register will contain the Family Register Identification Number, which will be the same as the family’s ration card number, along with the name of the head of the family the names of all fam, ily members, their relationship to the head of the family, age, date of birth, gender, Aadhaar number and the family’s present address. The order clarified that the Family Register Certificate shall not, by itself, confer, create, extinguish or determine any right, title or interest in any property nor shall it be construed as a deter, mination of legal heirship.  Continued on p4 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