The Evening Wrap: Delhi HC stays Kejriwal’s bail order till it decides on ED’s plea

The Delhi High Court on June 21 paused the trial court order granting bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as it reserved its judgement on Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) plea challenging the bail order in the money laundering case linked to the alleged excise scam. “Till pronouncement, the operation of the impugned order shall remain stayed,” the High Court said. A Vacation Bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain said it will pronounce order on ED’s plea for stay on Kejriwal’s bail within two-three days. The ED’s counsel, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, sought a stay of the bail order, granted by a trial court on June 20, saying he was denied full opportunity to complete his argument by the trial court. The ASG argued that the trial court’s order, which has been made available today, is “perverse”. The High Court on Friday said the trial court order shall not be given effect to till it hears the ED’s plea challenging the relief granted in the money laundering case. The ED mentioned its plea for an urgent hearing before a Bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain, which said the trial court order shall not be acted upon. Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the ED, sought a stay on the trial court order contending that the agency was not given a proper opportunity to argue its case. He said the trial court pronounced the order around 8 p.m. on June 20 and the order is not yet made available to them. Even after passing of the order when the ED lawyers urged the trial court to keep its order in abeyance for 48 hours to enable them to approach superior courts, the prayer was not considered, the ASG contended. “I was not allowed to argue fully. I was not given proper time of 2-3 days to file written submissions. This is not done. On merits, I have an excellent case. The trial court said finish in half an hour as it wanted to deliver the judgment. It did not give us full opportunity to argue the case,” the ASG contended, “I am making the allegations with full seriousness,” he added. “Let the order be stayed and the plea be heard as early as possible. That order cannot be allowed to stand even for a day,” the law officer said. The plea was opposed by senior advocates Abhishek Singhvi and Vikram Chaudhari, representing Kejriwal, submitting that the allegations made by the ED counsel were patently incorrect and it was astonishing that they cannot accept anything with grace. “The noise and heat is not going to solve this problem,” Singhvi said. He said there are 10 judgements of the Supreme Court which say cancellation or reversal of bail is radically different from grant of bail. Advocate Chaudhari said, “This person (Kejriwal) was released by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court granted him liberty. This would be a travesty of justice. We are on caveat here and we should be given opportunity to be heard. We would address arguments. An ex-parte order of such a nature…” To this, Justice Jain said, “File is coming to me in 10-15 minutes after proper numbering, thereafter, you can start your arguments. You can argue for as much time as you want to argue”. The ED had arrested Kejriwal on March 21, shortly after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from arrest on his petition challenging summonses issued to him. While pronouncing the order on Thursday, the trial court ordered Kejriwal’s release on a personal bond of ₹1 lakh and imposed certain conditions, including that he will not try to hamper the investigation or influence the witnesses. On May 10, the Supreme Court had granted interim bail to the AAP supremo till June 1 to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections, saying he will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2. Kejriwal had surrendered before Tihar jail authorities on June 2 and has been there since then. Responding to the development, the Delhi CM’s wife Sunita Kejriwal said, “Even before Kejriwal’s bail order was uploaded, the ED reached HC. They are behaving as if he is a terrorist.” AAP leader Sanjay Singh accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of making a mockery of the justice system after the Delhi High Court put on hold the trial court order granting bail to Arvind Kejriwal. Taking to X, Singh said in a post in Hindi, “Look at the hooliganism of the Modi government, the trial court’s order has not yet come, even a copy of the order has not been received, so Modi’s ED reached the High Court to challenge which order? What is happening in this country? Modi ji, why are you making a mockery of the justice system? The whole country is watching you,” the AAP MP said. Supreme Court notice to NTA on NEET re-examination, says no to postponement of counselling process The Supreme Court on June 21 asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to respond to pleas for conducting a fresh National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2024 after allegations of question paper leaks and other irregularities have dented the sanctity of the national-level exams for undergraduate medical admissions which saw 24 lakh aspirants appear across the country. A Vacation Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and S.V. Bhatti however refused to postpone or stay the counselling process scheduled to begin from July 6. “Counselling is a process. It only commences from July 6. It will continue for a week. Meanwhile, the applicants have many options...to amend/modify…” Justice Bhatti told a counsel for a petitioner. The court for the second consecutive week, issued notice to pleas seeking a CBI investigation into the allegations of irregularities. A petitioner urged the court to bring the NEET exam under its direct monitoring. “We are seeking re-conduct of the exam as NTA has withheld material information,” a lawyer argued. On Thursday, another set of petitioners had questioned the method used by the NTA to arrive at the figure of 1,563 candidates for retest scheduled on June 23. “How did the NTA arrive at the figure of 1563… What criteria was followed? The list of these students has not been made public on the website or anywhere…Absolutely arbitrary,” the petitioners submitted. One of the petitioners had challenged the validity of holding the re-test itself, arguing that the law has only prescribed for one NEET a year. Thursday had also seen the apex court decide to examine pleas questioning the Centre’s appointment of NTA chairman Prof. Pradeep Kumar Joshi as the head of the high-powered committee which had recommended re-test for 1,563 NEET-UG candidates who were given grace marks. Petitions had sought an independent panel constituted by the Supreme Court to enquire into the NEET imbroglio. In a recent hearing, the apex court had made it clear that it did not want “even.001% negligence” on the part of anyone in the conduct of the NEET-UG 2024 to be spared. Nikhil Gupta hasn’t requested consular access, says MEA Nikhil Gupta, the businessman accused in the U.S. for an assassination plot against Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has not asked for consular help, said the Ministry of External Affairs. Mr. Gupta was produced in a New York court on Monday after battling his extradition from the Czech Republic for nearly a year. He pleaded “not guilty” to charges that he hired a hitman at the behest of a senior Indian security official to kill Mr. Pannun, in return for having cases against him dropped in India. “We have so far not received any request for consular access from Mr. Gupta, but his family has got in touch with us, and we are in touch with the family members, and we are looking at the matter, as to what can be done,” said Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, confirming that Mr. Gupta was extradited to the U.S. on June 14. In a statement this week, U.S. Attorney-General Merrick Garland had said Mr. Gupta will “now face justice” in an American courtroom. “This extradition makes it clear that the Justice Department will not tolerate attempts to silence or harm American citizens,” he added. The government has denied that killing or targeting Khalistani separatists abroad is “Indian policy”. However, after U.S. agencies filed charges against Mr. Gupta in November, and identified - without naming - an Indian official while publishing transcripts, which if proven may implicate others in India’s security structure and leadership, the Ministry announced a “high-level” enquiry panel into the charges levelled by the U.S. When asked by The Hindu last month why no details about the composition of the committee, or its investigation thus far had been announced more than six months later, the Ministry spokesperson that he could only confirm “that the high-level committee has been constituted and the high-level committee is looking into all the inputs that were shared with us”. Meanwhile, India has consistently denied similar charges made by Canada on the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023, accusing Canada of continuing to give safe haven to violent, extremist Khalistani groups. Reacting to the Canadian Parliament’s decision to stand for a moment of silence this week to mark Nijjar’s death anniversary, Mr. Jaiswal said India opposes “any moves giving political space to extremism and those advocating violence”. “To advocate anti-India agenda is the real problem. And therefore, we have time and again been insisting that Canadian authorities take strict action against them,” he added, referring to Nijjar supporters who took out rallies and held “mock-court trials accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his killing”. The Ministry also took sharp aim at Australian Broadcaster ABC for a recent documentary entitled “Spies, secrets and threats: How the Modi regime targets people overseas”, which alleged that four Indian diplomats were expelled from Australia for espionage and spying over Khalistani activists, and contained accusations that groups allied to the BJP were engaged in “political interference” in Australia. “The documentary is biased and reflects unprofessional reporting. It appears to serve a particular agenda to malign India. We obviously oppose any such attempts to condone, justify, or even glorify terrorism,” said Mr. Jaiswal on Friday, but did not respond to specific questions about the alleged expulsion of Indian diplomats. Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case: Supreme Court grants two-week interim bail to activist Mahesh Raut The Supreme Court on June 21 granted interim bail for two weeks to activist Mahesh Raut, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, for attending the rituals following the death of his grandmother. A Vacation Bench of justices Vikram Nath and S.V.N Bhatti directed that the interim bail will commence from June 26 and Mr. Raut shall surrender without fail on July 10. The Bench passed the order on his application seeking interim bail to attend the rituals which are likely to be held on June 29-30 and July 5-6. “Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and the period of incarceration already undergone by the respondent and also the nature of request made for the purpose, we are inclined to grant two weeks interim bail to the applicant (Mr. Raut) which may commence from June 26, 2024 and end on July 10, 2024,” the Bench said. It said the terms and conditions of the release shall be determined by the special court and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) would be at liberty to request the trial court to impose such stringent conditions as may be necessary. “The applicant, on being released on June 26, shall surrender without fail on July 10, 2024, that is, on completion of two weeks,” it said. The top court had in September last year extended the stay granted by the Bombay High Court on the implementation of its verdict granting bail to Raut. The NIA had earlier challenged in the top court the September 21 last year order of the High Court granting bail to 33-year-old Raut, who was arrested in June 2018 and is presently lodged in judicial custody at the Taloja prison. After the High Court had pronounced its verdict, the counsel representing the NIA had sought stay on the operation of its order to enable the probe agency to challenge it before the Supreme Court. During the hearing on Friday, Raut’s counsel told the Bench that he was earlier granted bail by the Bombay High Court and the NIA approached the apex court challenging that order. The NIA’s counsel said Raut’s grandmother had passed away in May and he wanted interim bail now. “What is the necessity to rush to this court?” the NIA’s counsel said. The Bench said the NIA’s plea is pending before the apex court. “Bail granted by the High Court has been stayed by this court on your (NIA) petition. Obviously, where will the respondent move for interim bail?” the Bench said, adding, “because of the stay granted by this court, do you expect the special court to entertain the application filed by the applicant?” The case pertains to the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which according to the Pune Police was funded by Maoists. The inflammatory speeches made there led to violence at the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in Pune the next day, the police had alleged. The case was later probed by the NIA. Newly named Washington Post editor decides not to take job after backlash Newly named Washington Post editor Robert Winnett has decided not to take the job and remain in England amid leadership turmoil at the news organisation. The Post’s CEO and publisher, Will Lewis, announced Winnett’s decision to withdraw in a note to staff on Friday morning. He will stay as deputy editor of the Telegraph in London. Several published reports had raised questions about Winnett’s involvement in articles where a source was paid and information gathered through deceptive means — practices more commonplace in England but frowned upon by journalists in the United States. As part of a reorganisation that has backfired, Lewis had named Winnett, a former colleague, to take over the Post’s core newsroom functions after the November election. The Post’s former executive editor, Sally Buzbee, had quit rather than accept a demotion. The search for a new editor will begin immediately, Lewis told the staff. ₹15-25 lakh bribe taken from candidates ‘Mazdoor’, ‘Dai’, ‘Coolie’ jobs at BCB: CBI Candidates applying for jobs as ‘mazdoor’, ‘dai’, ‘coolie’ and ‘chowkidar’ at the Belgaum Cantonment Board allegedly paid bribes to the tune of ₹15-25 lakh, the CBI has said in its FIR related to the alleged recruitment scam. In its FIR, which was made public on Friday, the agency has booked five officials of the Belgaum Cantonment Board and 14 candidates who allegedly paid the bribes. The CBI begun its probe last year with a preliminary enquiry on the basis of complaint from a board member alleging corruption and illegalities in the recruitment process which was undertaken in 2022-23. The findings of the enquiry suggested that during 2022-23, 31 candidates for the post of mechanic, assistant sanitary inspector, coolie, mali, peon, dai, etc. were recruited, officials said. Officer Superintendent Mahalingeshwar Y. Talukdar, Computer Programmer Basavaraj S. Gudodagi, Data Entry Operator Prakash C. Goundadkar, Head Master Parasharam S. Birje and Assistant Teacher Uday S. Patil — who have been booked — worked in various capacities in examination process as per orders issues by then CEO, they said. The CBI has alleged that the then CEO of the Cantonment Board Anand K. (now deceased) was the controlling and appointing authority for the recruitment process who was involved in setting the question paper and answer keys for the examination, they said. In conspiracy with the five officials, Anand K. demanded and accepted illegal gratification in the range of ₹15-25 lakh from the aspirants to influence the selection process, the CBI has alleged. “Their illegal intention and overt actions consequent thereof caused selection of candidates favourable to them in the recruitment process by dishonest and illegal means,” the CBI has alleged in the FIR. The CBI enquiry findings showed that the question paper was set only in English but most of the candidates could not read and understand it. “It is further alleged that eligible candidates were either rejected or not qualified as they could not pay the illegal gratification to the above named public servants. It is further alleged that while candidates from all over the country appeared for the examination, all the selected candidates were from either Belgaum or nearby places only.” “It was further alleged that many of the selected candidates are related or known to the officials of the Cantonment Board,” the FIR alleged. In brief Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, on Friday said the State government would meet the educational expenses and hostel fees of all children, who have lost either one or both of their parents to the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, until they graduated. Responding to a calling attention motion in the Legislative Assembly, the Chief Minister said besides the ₹10 lakh solatium that has already been announced, the government would offer ₹5,000 per month to children who have been orphaned. “Moreover, the government will also deposit ₹5 lakh under the names of these children and this sum, along with the interest, will be given to them when they turn 18. In the case of children who have lost one of their parents, the sum will be ₹3 lakh. These children will also get priority in all government schemes,” he said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 21 June 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Delhi High Court stays Kejriwal’s bail order till pronouncement of its verdict on ED’s plea The Delhi High Court on June 21 [paused the trial court order granting bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal]( as it reserved its judgement on Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) plea challenging the bail order in the money laundering case linked to the alleged excise scam. “Till pronouncement, the operation of the impugned order shall remain stayed,” the High Court said. A Vacation Bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain said it will pronounce order on ED’s plea for stay on Kejriwal’s bail within two-three days. The ED’s counsel, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, sought a stay of the bail order, granted by a trial court on June 20, saying he was denied full opportunity to complete his argument by the trial court. The ASG argued that the trial court’s order, which has been made available today, is “perverse”. The High Court on Friday said the trial court order shall not be given effect to till it hears the ED’s plea challenging the relief granted in the money laundering case. The ED mentioned its plea for an urgent hearing before a Bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain, which said the trial court order shall not be acted upon. Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the ED, sought a stay on the trial court order contending that the agency was not given a proper opportunity to argue its case. He said the trial court pronounced the order around 8 p.m. on June 20 and the order is not yet made available to them. Even after passing of the order when the ED lawyers urged the trial court to keep its order in abeyance for 48 hours to enable them to approach superior courts, the prayer was not considered, the ASG contended. “I was not allowed to argue fully. I was not given proper time of 2-3 days to file written submissions. This is not done. On merits, I have an excellent case. The trial court said finish in half an hour as it wanted to deliver the judgment. It did not give us full opportunity to argue the case,” the ASG contended, “I am making the allegations with full seriousness,” he added. “Let the order be stayed and the plea be heard as early as possible. That order cannot be allowed to stand even for a day,” the law officer said. The plea was opposed by senior advocates Abhishek Singhvi and Vikram Chaudhari, representing Kejriwal, submitting that the allegations made by the ED counsel were patently incorrect and it was astonishing that they cannot accept anything with grace. “The noise and heat is not going to solve this problem,” Singhvi said. He said there are 10 judgements of the Supreme Court which say cancellation or reversal of bail is radically different from grant of bail. Advocate Chaudhari said, “This person (Kejriwal) was released by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court granted him liberty. This would be a travesty of justice. We are on caveat here and we should be given opportunity to be heard. We would address arguments. An ex-parte order of such a nature…” To this, Justice Jain said, “File is coming to me in 10-15 minutes after proper numbering, thereafter, you can start your arguments. You can argue for as much time as you want to argue”. The ED had arrested Kejriwal on March 21, shortly after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from arrest on his petition challenging summonses issued to him. While pronouncing the order on Thursday, the trial court ordered Kejriwal’s release on a personal bond of ₹1 lakh and imposed certain conditions, including that he will not try to hamper the investigation or influence the witnesses. On May 10, the Supreme Court had granted interim bail to the AAP supremo till June 1 to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections, saying he will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2. Kejriwal had surrendered before Tihar jail authorities on June 2 and has been there since then. Responding to the development, the Delhi CM’s wife Sunita Kejriwal said, “Even before Kejriwal’s bail order was uploaded, the ED reached HC. They are behaving as if he is a terrorist.” AAP leader Sanjay Singh accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of making a mockery of the justice system after the Delhi High Court put on hold the trial court order granting bail to Arvind Kejriwal. Taking to X, Singh said in a post in Hindi, “Look at the hooliganism of the Modi government, the trial court’s order has not yet come, even a copy of the order has not been received, so Modi’s ED reached the High Court to challenge which order? What is happening in this country? Modi ji, why are you making a mockery of the justice system? The whole country is watching you,” the AAP MP said. Supreme Court notice to NTA on NEET re-examination, says no to postponement of counselling process The Supreme Court on June 21 asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to respond to pleas for conducting a fresh National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2024 after allegations of question paper leaks and other irregularities have dented the sanctity of the national-level exams for undergraduate medical admissions which saw 24 lakh aspirants appear across the country. A Vacation Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and S.V. Bhatti however [refused to postpone or stay the counselling process scheduled to begin from July 6](. “Counselling is a process. It only commences from July 6. It will continue for a week. Meanwhile, the applicants have many options...to amend/modify…” Justice Bhatti told a counsel for a petitioner. The court for the second consecutive week, issued notice to pleas seeking a CBI investigation into the allegations of irregularities. A petitioner urged the court to bring the NEET exam under its direct monitoring. “We are seeking re-conduct of the exam as NTA has withheld material information,” a lawyer argued. On Thursday, another set of petitioners had questioned the method used by the NTA to arrive at the figure of 1,563 candidates for retest scheduled on June 23. “How did the NTA arrive at the figure of 1563… What criteria was followed? The list of these students has not been made public on the website or anywhere…Absolutely arbitrary,” the petitioners submitted. One of the petitioners had challenged the validity of holding the re-test itself, arguing that the law has only prescribed for one NEET a year. Thursday had also seen the apex court decide to examine pleas questioning the Centre’s appointment of NTA chairman Prof. Pradeep Kumar Joshi as the head of the high-powered committee which had recommended re-test for 1,563 NEET-UG candidates who were given grace marks. Petitions had sought an independent panel constituted by the Supreme Court to enquire into the NEET imbroglio. In a recent hearing, the apex court had made it clear that it did not want “even .001% negligence” on the part of anyone in the conduct of the NEET-UG 2024 to be spared. Nikhil Gupta hasn’t requested consular access, says MEA Nikhil Gupta, the businessman accused in the U.S. for an assassination plot against Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, [has not asked for consular help]( said the Ministry of External Affairs. Mr. Gupta was produced in a New York court on Monday after battling his extradition from the Czech Republic for nearly a year. He pleaded “not guilty” to charges that he hired a hitman at the behest of a senior Indian security official to kill Mr. Pannun, in return for having cases against him dropped in India. “We have so far not received any request for consular access from Mr. Gupta, but his family has got in touch with us, and we are in touch with the family members, and we are looking at the matter, as to what can be done,” said Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, confirming that Mr. Gupta was extradited to the U.S. on June 14. In a statement this week, U.S. Attorney-General Merrick Garland had said Mr. Gupta will “now face justice” in an American courtroom. “This extradition makes it clear that the Justice Department will not tolerate attempts to silence or harm American citizens,” he added. The government has denied that killing or targeting Khalistani separatists abroad is “Indian policy”. However, after U.S. agencies filed charges against Mr. Gupta in November, and identified - without naming - an Indian official while publishing transcripts, which if proven may implicate others in India’s security structure and leadership, the Ministry announced a “high-level” enquiry panel into the charges levelled by the U.S. When asked by The Hindu last month why no details about the composition of the committee, or its investigation thus far had been announced more than six months later, the Ministry spokesperson that he could only confirm “that the high-level committee has been constituted and the high-level committee is looking into all the inputs that were shared with us”. Meanwhile, India has consistently denied similar charges made by Canada on the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023, accusing Canada of continuing to give safe haven to violent, extremist Khalistani groups. Reacting to the Canadian Parliament’s decision to stand for a moment of silence this week to mark Nijjar’s death anniversary, Mr. Jaiswal said India opposes “any moves giving political space to extremism and those advocating violence”. “To advocate anti-India agenda is the real problem. And therefore, we have time and again been insisting that Canadian authorities take strict action against them,” he added, referring to Nijjar supporters who took out rallies and held “mock-court trials accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his killing”. The Ministry also took sharp aim at Australian Broadcaster ABC for a recent documentary entitled “Spies, secrets and threats: How the Modi regime targets people overseas”, which alleged that four Indian diplomats were expelled from Australia for espionage and spying over Khalistani activists, and contained accusations that groups allied to the BJP were engaged in “political interference” in Australia. “The documentary is biased and reflects unprofessional reporting. It appears to serve a particular agenda to malign India. We obviously oppose any such attempts to condone, justify, or even glorify terrorism,” said Mr. Jaiswal on Friday, but did not respond to specific questions about the alleged expulsion of Indian diplomats. Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case: Supreme Court grants two-week interim bail to activist Mahesh Raut The Supreme Court on June 21 [granted interim bail for two weeks to activist Mahesh Raut]( an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, for attending the rituals following the death of his grandmother. A Vacation Bench of justices Vikram Nath and S.V.N Bhatti directed that the interim bail will commence from June 26 and Mr. Raut shall surrender without fail on July 10. The Bench passed the order on his application seeking interim bail to attend the rituals which are likely to be held on June 29-30 and July 5-6. “Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and the period of incarceration already undergone by the respondent and also the nature of request made for the purpose, we are inclined to grant two weeks interim bail to the applicant (Mr. Raut) which may commence from June 26, 2024 and end on July 10, 2024,” the Bench said. It said the terms and conditions of the release shall be determined by the special court and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) would be at liberty to request the trial court to impose such stringent conditions as may be necessary. “The applicant, on being released on June 26, shall surrender without fail on July 10, 2024, that is, on completion of two weeks,” it said. The top court had in September last year extended the stay granted by the Bombay High Court on the implementation of its verdict granting bail to Raut. The NIA had earlier challenged in the top court the September 21 last year order of the High Court granting bail to 33-year-old Raut, who was arrested in June 2018 and is presently lodged in judicial custody at the Taloja prison. After the High Court had pronounced its verdict, the counsel representing the NIA had sought stay on the operation of its order to enable the probe agency to challenge it before the Supreme Court. During the hearing on Friday, Raut’s counsel told the Bench that he was earlier granted bail by the Bombay High Court and the NIA approached the apex court challenging that order. The NIA’s counsel said Raut’s grandmother had passed away in May and he wanted interim bail now. “What is the necessity to rush to this court?” the NIA’s counsel said. The Bench said the NIA’s plea is pending before the apex court. “Bail granted by the High Court has been stayed by this court on your (NIA) petition. Obviously, where will the respondent move for interim bail?” the Bench said, adding, “because of the stay granted by this court, do you expect the special court to entertain the application filed by the applicant?” The case pertains to the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which according to the Pune Police was funded by Maoists. The inflammatory speeches made there led to violence at the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial in Pune the next day, the police had alleged. The case was later probed by the NIA. Newly named Washington Post editor decides not to take job after backlash Newly named Washington Post editor Robert Winnett has [decided not to take the job]( and remain in England amid leadership turmoil at the news organisation. The Post’s CEO and publisher, Will Lewis, announced Winnett’s decision to withdraw in a note to staff on Friday morning. He will stay as deputy editor of the Telegraph in London. Several published reports had raised questions about Winnett’s involvement in articles where a source was paid and information gathered through deceptive means — practices more commonplace in England but frowned upon by journalists in the United States. As part of a reorganisation that has backfired, Lewis had named Winnett, a former colleague, to take over the Post’s core newsroom functions after the November election. The Post’s former executive editor, Sally Buzbee, had quit rather than accept a demotion. The search for a new editor will begin immediately, Lewis told the staff. ₹15-25 lakh bribe taken from candidates ‘Mazdoor’, ‘Dai’, ‘Coolie’ jobs at BCB: CBI Candidates applying for jobs as ‘mazdoor’, ‘dai’, ‘coolie’ and ‘chowkidar’ at the Belgaum Cantonment Board allegedly paid bribes to the tune of ₹15-25 lakh, the [CBI has said in its FIR]( related to the alleged recruitment scam. In its FIR, which was made public on Friday, the agency has booked five officials of the Belgaum Cantonment Board and 14 candidates who allegedly paid the bribes. The CBI begun its probe last year with a preliminary enquiry on the basis of complaint from a board member alleging corruption and illegalities in the recruitment process which was undertaken in 2022-23. The findings of the enquiry suggested that during 2022-23, 31 candidates for the post of mechanic, assistant sanitary inspector, coolie, mali, peon, dai, etc. were recruited, officials said. Officer Superintendent Mahalingeshwar Y. Talukdar, Computer Programmer Basavaraj S. Gudodagi, Data Entry Operator Prakash C. Goundadkar, Head Master Parasharam S. Birje and Assistant Teacher Uday S. Patil — who have been booked — worked in various capacities in examination process as per orders issues by then CEO, they said. The CBI has alleged that the then CEO of the Cantonment Board Anand K. (now deceased) was the controlling and appointing authority for the recruitment process who was involved in setting the question paper and answer keys for the examination, they said. In conspiracy with the five officials, Anand K. demanded and accepted illegal gratification in the range of ₹15-25 lakh from the aspirants to influence the selection process, the CBI has alleged. “Their illegal intention and overt actions consequent thereof caused selection of candidates favourable to them in the recruitment process by dishonest and illegal means,” the CBI has alleged in the FIR. The CBI enquiry findings showed that the question paper was set only in English but most of the candidates could not read and understand it. “It is further alleged that eligible candidates were either rejected or not qualified as they could not pay the illegal gratification to the above named public servants. It is further alleged that while candidates from all over the country appeared for the examination, all the selected candidates were from either Belgaum or nearby places only.” “It was further alleged that many of the selected candidates are related or known to the officials of the Cantonment Board,” the FIR alleged. In brief Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, on Friday said the State [government would meet the educational expenses and hostel fees]( of all children, who have lost either one or both of their parents to the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, until they graduated. Responding to a calling attention motion in the Legislative Assembly, the Chief Minister said besides the ₹10 lakh solatium that has already been announced, the government would offer ₹5,000 per month to children who have been orphaned. “Moreover, the government will also deposit ₹5 lakh under the names of these children and this sum, along with the interest, will be given to them when they turn 18. In the case of children who have lost one of their parents, the sum will be ₹3 lakh. These children will also get priority in all government schemes,” he said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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