The Evening Wrap: Bombay HC quashes FIRs against foreign Tablighis

The Hindu Newsletter - Here are the latest updates and the big news stories to follow today [The Hindu Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( Saturday 22, August 2020 [alt_text]( The Evening Wrap [Here are the biggest news stories of the day]( [alt_text]( Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. Bombay HC quashes FIRs against foreign Tablighis, says they were made “scapegoats” [Quashing the FIRs against 29 foreign nationals]( who were accused of participating in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Delhi without permission amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court said the action against them was taken in order to make them scapegoats during a pandemic. A division bench of Justice TV Nalawade and Justice MG Sewlikar said, “A political Government tries to find the scapegoat when there is pandemic or calamity and the circumstances show that there is probability that these foreigners were chosen to make them scapegoats. The aforesaid circumstances and the latest figures of infection in India show that such action against present petitioners should not have been taken.” Slamming the media for carrying propaganda about the Tablighis, Justice TV Nalawade said, “There was big propaganda in print media and electronic media against the foreigners who had come to Markaz Delhi and an attempt was made to create a picture that these foreigners were responsible for spreading covid-19 virus in India. There was virtually persecution against these foreigners.” “Smell of malice” in action taken Before quashing the FIRs, Justice Nalawade noted, “This action indirectly gave warning to Indian Muslims that action in any form and for any thing can be taken against Muslims. It was indicated that even for keeping contact with Muslims of other countries, action will be taken against them. Thus, there is smell of malice to the action taken against these foreigners and Muslim for their alleged activities. The circumstances like malice is important consideration when relief is claimed of quashing of F.I.R. and the case itself.” The 58-page judgment stated, “The record of this matter and the submissions made show that action of central government was taken mainly against Muslim persons who had come to Markaz Delhi for Tabligh Jamaat. Similar action was not taken against other foreigners belonging to other religions.” When the State sought a stay on the operation of the order on the grounds that an appeal was to be preferred, the Court replied that there was no “question of a stay”. The Tablighi Jamaat hit the headlines in March after authorities said a congregation at its headquarters in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area was responsible for a spike in Covid-19 infections. Centre asks States not to put restrictions on inter-State movement of people, goods The Centre has asked all States to ensure that [there should be no restrictions]( on inter-state and intra-state movement of persons and goods during the ongoing unlocking process. In a communication to chief secretaries of all States and Union Territories, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said there were reports that local level restrictions on movement were being imposed by various districts and States. Drawing attention to the Unlock 3 guidelines, Bhalla said such restrictions are creating problems in inter-state movement of goods and services and are impacting supply chains, resulting in disruption in economic activity and employment. [ Barricades have been placed near Kottakuppam as policemen stand guard near the inter-State border, in Puducherry. File ] Barricades have been placed near Kottakuppam as policemen stand guard near the inter-State border, in Puducherry. File The unlock guidelines clearly state that there shall be no restrictions on inter-state and intra-state movement of persons and goods, he said in the letter. The home secretary said restrictions amount to violation of guidelines issued by Ministry of Home Affairs under provisions of Disaster Management Act, 2005. Pakistan puts Dawood, Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi on terror list After decades of denial, [Pakistan has added]( the names of Dawood Ibrahim, as well as 26/11 LeT operations chief Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, and some leaders of the Taliban to its own list of terrorists and declared an assets freeze and travel ban as per the U.N. Security Council’s (UNSC) designations. [Dawood Ibrahim (left), Hafiz Saeed (middle) and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. Photos: The Hindu Photo Archive, AP]Dawood Ibrahim (left), Hafiz Saeed (middle) and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. Photos: The Hindu Photo Archive, AP LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar are also on the list of 88 names. This is the first time the Mumbai blasts mastermind has been acknowledged as a terrorist by Pakistan, albeit as a part of the UNSC list. The move is part of Pakistan’s commitment to the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which continues to scrutinise the country’s actions. CBI visits Sushant Singh Rajput’s Bandra flat to recreate death scene Members of the CBI team probing the Sushant Singh Rajput case visited the late actor’s residence in Bandra here on Saturday along with forensic experts to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to his death, an official said. Rajput was found dead at his flat on June14. The personnel of the central agency and forensic experts reached Rajput’s residence in Mont Blanc Apartment around 2.30 pm. “Rajput’s cook Neeraj and his flatmate Siddharth Pithani also accompanied the CBI team,” an official said. Meanwhile, another CBI team visited the state-run Cooper Hospital in the city on Saturday, where the autopsy on the late actor had been performed. One more CBI team visited the Bandra police station to meet officials of the Mumbai police, who had investigated the actor’s death. The Supreme Court had on Wednesday upheld the transfer of an FIR -- lodged in Patna against actress Rhea Chakraborty and others for allegedly abetting Rajput’s suicide -- to the CBI. Following the apex court’s nod, the investigating agency has started its probe into the death of the late 34- year-old actor. It is worth mentioning here that for all the high voltage media coverage -- which is still at a fever pitch more than two months after the actor’s death – investigating agencies have so far failed to unearth any evidence of a crime having been committed. At the same time, private chat messages of the late actor’s girlfriend have been broadcast on national TV channels, and Chakraborty has been relentlessly vilified in a media trial. Non-BJP politicians, including the likes of NCP leader and Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik, have alleged that the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar and the BJP are politicising the Sushant Singh case. “People are angry with the Modi government and Nitish’s misgovernance in Bihar. They want to divert the attention of the people. The central government played a big role in defending the Bihar government in this case. It is collusion between these two governments. They are using the case for political purposes,” he told Outlook magazine on Thursday. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, however, has dismissed these allegations. “The investigation of Sushant Singh Rajput case has nothing to do with Bihar elections,” he told news channels earlier this week. Rajput hails from Bihar. It might be interesting to watch out if news channels continue to play up the case every day right up to the Bihar elections, which are due in October-November this year. Bloomsbury withdraws book on Delhi riots after backlash Bloomsbury India on Saturday withdrew the publication of their new book, Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story by Monica Arora, Sonali Chitalkar and Prerna Malhotra, following a public backlash. As we had reported yesterday, the publishers were taken to task on social media after it emerged that BJP leader Kapil Mishra, who had allegedly given an inflammatory speech inciting the riots, had been invited as a guest of honour for the book launch. In a statement, the publishing house said, “Bloomsbury India had planned to release Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story in September, a book purportedly giving a factual report on the riots in Delhi in February 2020, based on investigations and interviews conducted by the authors. However, in view of very recent events including a virtual pre-publication launch organised without our knowledge by the authors, with participation by parties of whom the Publishers would not have approved, we have decided to withdraw publication of the book.” Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments “Keeping its commitment of exponentially increasing daily Covid-19 tests, India has crossed a significant milestone of [testing more than 10 lakh samples]( in a day, taking the cumulative tests to more than 3.4 crore,” Union Health Ministry said. [ A health worker takes a swab sample from a person at a apartment in Srirangam, in Tiruchi. ] A health worker takes a swab sample from a person at a apartment in Srirangam, in Tiruchi. “In a testament to the determined, focussed, consistent and coordinated efforts of the Centre and the state and UT governments, India has conducted 1 million tests in a span of 24 hours. With 10,23,836 tests done on Friday, India has achieved its resolve to test 10 lakh samples daily,” the Ministry said, adding that enhanced diagnostic lab network has also led to this achievement. At present, the country has a network of 1,511 labs, comprising 983 in the government sector and 528 private labs. The number of reported coronavirus [cases from India stood at 30,26,847]( at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 56,642. In Brief: A suspect ISIS operative, arrested following a brief exchange of fire, had planned terror strikes in high footfall areas of the national capital, Delhi Police officials said on Saturday. Two pressure cooker IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) were recovered from Mohammad Mustakeem Khan, alias Abu Yusuf, a resident of Balarampur in Uttar Pradesh. He was arrested on Friday night. Khan had planned a terror strike in the national capital on August 15, but could not do so due to heavy security arrangements, said P S Kushwah, DCP (Special Cell). Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today's Top Picks [alt_text]( [Coronavirus | SPB continues to be on ventilator and ECMO support]( [alt_text]( [Mahatma Gandhi’s iconic glasses sell for $340,000 in UK]( [alt_text]( [COVID-19 pookkalams with native flowers]( [alt_text]( [Turkey to convert another former church to mosque]( You are receiving this email because you are a user of [thehindu.com]( If you do not wish to receive any such emails, [unsubscribe here.](mailto:rm-0b4veyu0bf2f90kauhrxfebysa8hk6v@newsalert.thehindu.com?subject=Unsubscribe&body=You will be unsubscribed from our mailing list.) To ensure you continue to receive emails from The Hindu in your inbox, please add newsletters.th@newsalert.thehindu.com to your contact. 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