The Evening Wrap: U.P. agrees to SC proposal to have ex-judge monitor Lakhimpur Kheri probe

The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday agreed to the Supreme Court’s suggestion to appoint a retired judge to monitor the investigation into the Lakhimpur Kheri murders and violence. The cases concern a convoy, allegedly belonging to Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra, ploughing into a group of farmers and civilians protesting the controversial agricultural laws and the ensuing violence at Lakhimpur Kheri district. Minister’s son Ashish Mishra is a prime accused in the case concerning the farmers’ deaths. “We leave it to Your Lordships... You may appoint whoever you want,” senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for U.P., submitted before a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana. The Bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, after a briefly conferring among themselves, said it needed a day to zero in on the judge. “We are considering former Punjab and Haryana HC Judge Rakesh Kumar Jain or others. We have to consult them,” the court said. Salve stated that the government had left it to the wisdom of the court. However, he made a suggestion. He made a point that the court’s choice of a retired judge should not rest on whether he or she was from the State or outside. “You mean it can be from any State...” the court sought to clarify from him. Salve explained that the focus should be on the person, the judge, whether or not from or outside the State. “It should be just that Your Lordships are appointing a person...” he offered. The Bench indicated that it may consider either a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge willing to take up the assignment. The court further asked the government to provide it with a list of names of IPS officers of U.P. cadre, but who were not native to the State to be considered for inclusion in the task force. It noted that some of the members of the present task force were of sub-inspector level or drawn from the Lakhimpur Kheri police station itself. Salve interjected that a senior police officer had been recently appointed to the task force. But the court said the task force needed to be upgraded. It asked the government to provide the list by November 16. It posted the case next for November 17. The suggestion from the court to have a retired judge at the helm came after it expressed its waning confidence about the fate of the investigation at the hands of the State police. It observed that such a step may be necessary to “infuse fairness and impartiality” in the probe. In an earlier hearing, the CJI stated, “The investigation is not going the way we expected... We are here to see that a proper investigation takes place. There is a need to appoint a retired High Court judge to monitor it (investigation) without bias”. The court had refused to entertain suggestions from lawyers to order the CBI to take over from the police. “The CBI is not the solution to everything,” it said. Delhi air pollution: SC asks Centre to hold emergency meeting The Supreme Court on Monday said the “cat is out of the bag” to prove that urban factors such as construction activities, industry, vehicular exhaust and road dust were actually the major causes of pollution in the Capital and not farmers’ stubble burning. A special Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana gleaned the fact from the affidavits filed by the Centre and the Delhi Government. The Centre, for one, stated that farm fires in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh contributed only 10% of the pollution. In the previous hearing, the court had questioned the narrow focus of the Centre and the Delhi Government on farmers. “You say 76% of the pollution is caused by industry, dust, vehicles and construction and not due to stubble burning... So the cat is out of the bag... So, you are now trying to target pollution that is insignificant?” Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, on the Bench, asked both Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and senior advocate Rahul Mehra, appearing for the Centre and Delhi, respectively. “Are you agreeing in principle that farm fires are not the major cause? So all that hue and cry had no scientific or actual basis?” Justice Surya Kant queried. Chief Justice Ramana noted that the court had been insisting that stubble burning was not the major cause. “Pollution is caused by city-related issues... You first take care of them and then we will come to stubble burning,” he observed, nudging the Centre, Delhi and States towards a firm commitment to act against pollution. The court was shocked to realise that Delhi had only 69 mechanised road sweepers to cover the entire streets of the Capital. Mehra was quick to assure “commitment at the top”. He said the municipal corporations in Delhi were autonomous bodies and suggested the court should ask the Mayors to file “specific” affidavits. “This is like the story told by grandma... Everyone is passing the buck,” Chief Justice Ramana scoffed. Justice Kant lashed out at the Delhi Government for coming up with “lame excuses”. He said if this went on, the court would be constrained to order an audit inquiry into the money the government spent on “popularity slogans” seen across the Capital. Justice Chandrachud asked, “How will you augment the number of machines in the next 24 hours”. Justice Kant stated, “Municipal corporations say they don’t even have the money to pay their staff”. Mehra, after conferring with officials, said “MCD can say how many they require, the government will release the funds. We are committed... We will do on a war footling”. “Tall words...” the CJI reacted at one point. The Delhi counsel persisted that the government had been doing everything the Union of India had asked to quell pollution. Mehra said, “Everything that needs to be done further, will be done in 24 to 48 hours”. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, for the petitioners, said the Centre had made a “wrong statement in court today on stubble burning as their high-powered meeting last night has recorded that stubble burning even now is responsible for 35-40% of Delhi air pollution”. He said construction needed to be regulated rather than banned. The court scheduled the next hearing for November 17. Congress demands ‘white paper’ from BJP, AAP on steps taken to tackle pollution in Delhi The Congress demanded a “white paper” from both the Centre and the Delhi Government on November 15 on the steps taken by them to tackle pollution in the national capital and said they should be held accountable for playing with the health of people. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill accused both the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of indulging in a blame game and wasting the taxpayers’ money on “hollow” advertisements. “AAP’s Delhi government and BJP’s central government should issue a white paper on what steps they have taken to tackle the black pollution except hollow advertisements and playing blame game politics and wasting the taxpayers’ money,” he said. Shergill said the Supreme Court’s observations have exposed the “spineless and careless approach” of the AAP and the BJP towards tackling pollution. The truth is that Delhiites are paying a heavy price for the BJP’s and the AAP’s politics, and their obsession with self publicity, he noted, soon after the apex court came down heavily on the two governments over the rising air pollution in the national capital. “It is high time political accountability was fixed and the people of Delhi should hold both the BJP and the AAP accountable for playing with their health and jeopardising it,” the Congress leader said. People have been suffering due to the severe air pollution in the national capital over the last few days with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of over 500. Three months ahead of Uttar Pradesh elections, PM Modi to open Purvanchal Expressway on November 16 With three months left for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday inaugurate the 341-km six-lane Purvanchal Expressway that would connect the State capital to the eastern regions of the State. Since the leading Opposition Samajwadi Party has built a formidable caste alliance against the ruling BJP in the region and claimed credit for the project, the new expressway has come under the political spotlight, much like the Agra-Lucknow Expressway built under Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Politics over the expressway intensified after the Ghazipur administration denied permission to the SP to hold a roadshow to Azamgarh, citing that no traffic would be allowed on the expressway on November 16 due to Modi’s launch of the highway on the same day. In response, Yadav on Monday at a press conference said his party would shower petals at different places on the highway and mark a ‘symbolic’ launch of the highway the foundation stone of which, he said, was laid during his tenure. The SP also re-scheduled its rath yatra to November 17 and changed the route to Lucknow from Ghazipur. Modi will inaugurate the expressway at Karwal Kheri in Sultanpur where he will also witness an air show by the IAF on the 3.2-km long airstrip constructed on the expressway to enable landing and take-off of fighter planes in cases of emergency. The project was built at a cost of ₹22,497 crores, said the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA). It starts from village Chaudsarai in Lucknow and ends at village Hydaria on National Highway 31, 18 km east of UP-Bihar border. It would pass through Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur districts. Yadav accused the BJP of trying to steal credit for the project. He also said the BJP government had not only removed the word ‘Samajwadi’ from the original name of the project but also ‘compromised’ on the quality to cut costs and launched an incomplete highway, putting commuters at risk. Riders would have to face back pain, he said. In contrast, “If you are drinking tea in a car on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, you will not spill it even at the speed of 100 kmph,” Yadav said. The UPEIDA in a statement said the SP Government had also opened the Agra-Lucknow Expressway in 2016 when it was incomplete and that the BJP Government had to finish several portions of it after 2017. With the farmers protest raging in western U.P., the stakes are high for the BJP in Purvanchal where it hopes to showcase the expressway as a beacon of development. In November 2016, the then SP Government opened the 302-km Agra-Lucknow Expressway with a spectacular show of simulated take-offs and landings —‘touch-and-go’ manoeuvre — by six fighter planes of the IAF. It was touted as the hallmark of Yadav’s pitch to project his infrastructural works. However, in the 2017 election, in the 10 districts touched by the expressway, the BJP had won 48 seats while the SP could manage only 10. The BSP and the Congress got one each. Sidhu asks Punjab government to make public fiscal situation every month Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday alleged that the State was reeling under acute debt and asked the government to make public the fiscal situation every month. Pointing out that his focus was beyond the 2022 Assembly elections, he asserted that Punjab was the most indebted State in the country and party workers were looking towards a solution. “Today Punjab is the most indebted State in India. Debt accounts for 50% of State GDP. Half of our expenditure is funded by expensive debt. Let’s not derail from real issues to which every Punjabi & party worker demands solution, because there's #PunjabBeyond2022,” he tweeted. “Financial Accountability and Transparency are pillars of Punjab Model. Accountability demands revealing sources of funds at every scheme announcement, whether from income or from more debt. Transparency demands making public state’s fiscal health every month,” he stated. Borrowing was not the way to go forward for Punjab. Taxes should not go to settle debt but go back to people in the form of development. “Borrowing is not the way forward! Taxes should not go to settle debt but go back to the people in the form of development. Solution oriented model is to stop theft of State’s resources, fill up public exchequer and create a Welfare State through income generation,” he added. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,44,50,655 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,63,793. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 15 NOVEMBER 2021 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( U.P. agrees to SC proposal to have ex-judge monitor Lakhimpur Kheri probe The [Uttar Pradesh government on Monday agreed to the Supreme Court’s suggestion]( to appoint a retired judge to monitor the investigation into the Lakhimpur Kheri murders and violence. The cases concern a convoy, allegedly belonging to Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra, ploughing into a group of farmers and civilians protesting the controversial agricultural laws and the ensuing violence at Lakhimpur Kheri district. Minister’s son Ashish Mishra is a prime accused in the case concerning the farmers’ deaths. “We leave it to Your Lordships... You may appoint whoever you want,” senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for U.P., submitted before a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana. The Bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, after a briefly conferring among themselves, said it needed a day to zero in on the judge. “We are considering former Punjab and Haryana HC Judge Rakesh Kumar Jain or others. We have to consult them,” the court said. Salve stated that the government had left it to the wisdom of the court. However, he made a suggestion. He made a point that the court’s choice of a retired judge should not rest on whether he or she was from the State or outside. “You mean it can be from any State...” the court sought to clarify from him. Salve explained that the focus should be on the person, the judge, whether or not from or outside the State. “It should be just that Your Lordships are appointing a person...” he offered. The Bench indicated that it may consider either a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge willing to take up the assignment. The court further asked the government to provide it with a list of names of IPS officers of U.P. cadre, but who were not native to the State to be considered for inclusion in the task force. It noted that some of the members of the present task force were of sub-inspector level or drawn from the Lakhimpur Kheri police station itself. Salve interjected that a senior police officer had been recently appointed to the task force. But the court said the task force needed to be upgraded. It asked the government to provide the list by November 16. It posted the case next for November 17. The suggestion from the court to have a retired judge at the helm came after it expressed its waning confidence about the fate of the investigation at the hands of the State police. It observed that such a step may be necessary to “infuse fairness and impartiality” in the probe. In an earlier hearing, the CJI stated, “The investigation is not going the way we expected... We are here to see that a proper investigation takes place. There is a need to appoint a retired High Court judge to monitor it (investigation) without bias”. The court had refused to entertain suggestions from lawyers to order the CBI to take over from the police. “The CBI is not the solution to everything,” it said. [underlineimg] Delhi air pollution: SC asks Centre to hold emergency meeting The [Supreme Court on Monday said the “cat is out of the bag” to prove that urban factors]( such as construction activities, industry, vehicular exhaust and road dust were actually the major causes of pollution in the Capital and not farmers’ stubble burning. A special Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana gleaned the fact from the affidavits filed by the Centre and the Delhi Government. The Centre, for one, stated that farm fires in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh contributed only 10% of the pollution. [A flock of pigeons seen on a smoggy day in the national capital as the Air Quality Index remains in severe category in New Delhi on November 15, 2021.]  In the previous hearing, the court had questioned the narrow focus of the Centre and the Delhi Government on farmers. “You say 76% of the pollution is caused by industry, dust, vehicles and construction and not due to stubble burning... So the cat is out of the bag... So, you are now trying to target pollution that is insignificant?” Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, on the Bench, asked both Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and senior advocate Rahul Mehra, appearing for the Centre and Delhi, respectively. “Are you agreeing in principle that farm fires are not the major cause? So all that hue and cry had no scientific or actual basis?” Justice Surya Kant queried. Chief Justice Ramana noted that the court had been insisting that stubble burning was not the major cause. “Pollution is caused by city-related issues... You first take care of them and then we will come to stubble burning,” he observed, nudging the Centre, Delhi and States towards a firm commitment to act against pollution. The court was shocked to realise that Delhi had only 69 mechanised road sweepers to cover the entire streets of the Capital. Mehra was quick to assure “commitment at the top”. He said the municipal corporations in Delhi were autonomous bodies and suggested the court should ask the Mayors to file “specific” affidavits. “This is like the story told by grandma... Everyone is passing the buck,” Chief Justice Ramana scoffed. Justice Kant lashed out at the Delhi Government for coming up with “lame excuses”. He said if this went on, the court would be constrained to order an audit inquiry into the money the government spent on “popularity slogans” seen across the Capital. Justice Chandrachud asked, “How will you augment the number of machines in the next 24 hours”. Justice Kant stated, “Municipal corporations say they don’t even have the money to pay their staff”. Mehra, after conferring with officials, said “MCD can say how many they require, the government will release the funds. We are committed... We will do on a war footling”. “Tall words...” the CJI reacted at one point. The Delhi counsel persisted that the government had been doing everything the Union of India had asked to quell pollution. Mehra said, “Everything that needs to be done further, will be done in 24 to 48 hours”. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, for the petitioners, said the Centre had made a “wrong statement in court today on stubble burning as their high-powered meeting last night has recorded that stubble burning even now is responsible for 35-40% of Delhi air pollution”. He said construction needed to be regulated rather than banned. The court scheduled the next hearing for November 17. [underlineimg] Congress demands ‘white paper’ from BJP, AAP on steps taken to tackle pollution in Delhi The [Congress demanded a “white paper” from both the Centre and the Delhi Government]( on November 15 on the steps taken by them to tackle pollution in the national capital and said they should be held accountable for playing with the health of people. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill accused both the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of indulging in a blame game and wasting the taxpayers’ money on “hollow” advertisements. “AAP’s Delhi government and BJP’s central government should issue a white paper on what steps they have taken to tackle the black pollution except hollow advertisements and playing blame game politics and wasting the taxpayers’ money,” he said. Shergill said the Supreme Court’s observations have exposed the “spineless and careless approach” of the AAP and the BJP towards tackling pollution. The truth is that Delhiites are paying a heavy price for the BJP’s and the AAP’s politics, and their obsession with self publicity, he noted, soon after the apex court came down heavily on the two governments over the rising air pollution in the national capital. “It is high time political accountability was fixed and the people of Delhi should hold both the BJP and the AAP accountable for playing with their health and jeopardising it,” the Congress leader said. People have been suffering due to the severe air pollution in the national capital over the last few days with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of over 500. [underlineimg] Three months ahead of Uttar Pradesh elections, PM Modi to open Purvanchal Expressway on November 16 With three months left for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections, [Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday inaugurate the 341-km six-lane Purvanchal Expressway]( that would connect the State capital to the eastern regions of the State. Since the leading Opposition Samajwadi Party has built a formidable caste alliance against the ruling BJP in the region and claimed credit for the project, the new expressway has come under the political spotlight, much like the Agra-Lucknow Expressway built under Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Politics over the expressway intensified after the Ghazipur administration denied permission to the SP to hold a roadshow to Azamgarh, citing that no traffic would be allowed on the expressway on November 16 due to Modi’s launch of the highway on the same day. [Prime Minister Narendra Modi. File]  In response, Yadav on Monday at a press conference said his party would shower petals at different places on the highway and mark a ‘symbolic’ launch of the highway the foundation stone of which, he said, was laid during his tenure. The SP also re-scheduled its rath yatra to November 17 and changed the route to Lucknow from Ghazipur. Modi will inaugurate the expressway at Karwal Kheri in Sultanpur where he will also witness an air show by the IAF on the 3.2-km long airstrip constructed on the expressway to enable landing and take-off of fighter planes in cases of emergency. The project was built at a cost of ₹22,497 crores, said the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA). It starts from village Chaudsarai in Lucknow and ends at village Hydaria on National Highway 31, 18 km east of UP-Bihar border. It would pass through Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur districts. Yadav accused the BJP of trying to steal credit for the project. He also said the BJP government had not only removed the word ‘Samajwadi’ from the original name of the project but also ‘compromised’ on the quality to cut costs and launched an incomplete highway, putting commuters at risk. Riders would have to face back pain, he said. In contrast, “If you are drinking tea in a car on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, you will not spill it even at the speed of 100 kmph,” Yadav said. The UPEIDA in a statement said the SP Government had also opened the Agra-Lucknow Expressway in 2016 when it was incomplete and that the BJP Government had to finish several portions of it after 2017. With the farmers protest raging in western U.P., the stakes are high for the BJP in Purvanchal where it hopes to showcase the expressway as a beacon of development. In November 2016, the then SP Government opened the 302-km Agra-Lucknow Expressway with a spectacular show of simulated take-offs and landings —‘touch-and-go’ manoeuvre — by six fighter planes of the IAF. It was touted as the hallmark of Yadav’s pitch to project his infrastructural works. However, in the 2017 election, in the 10 districts touched by the expressway, the BJP had won 48 seats while the SP could manage only 10. The BSP and the Congress got one each. [underlineimg] Sidhu asks Punjab government to make public fiscal situation every month Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday alleged that the State was reeling under acute debt and asked the government to make public the fiscal situation every month. Pointing out that his focus was beyond the 2022 Assembly elections, he asserted that Punjab was the most indebted State in the country and party workers were looking towards a solution. “Today Punjab is the most indebted State in India. Debt accounts for 50% of State GDP. Half of our expenditure is funded by expensive debt. Let’s not derail from real issues to which every Punjabi & party worker demands solution, because there's #PunjabBeyond2022,” he tweeted. “Financial Accountability and Transparency are pillars of Punjab Model. Accountability demands revealing sources of funds at every scheme announcement, whether from income or from more debt. Transparency demands making public state’s fiscal health every month,” he stated. Borrowing was not the way to go forward for Punjab. Taxes should not go to settle debt but go back to people in the form of development. “Borrowing is not the way forward! Taxes should not go to settle debt but go back to the people in the form of development. Solution oriented model is to stop theft of State’s resources, fill up public exchequer and create a Welfare State through income generation,” he added. [underlineimg] Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,44,50,655 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,63,793. 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