The Evening Wrap: CWC to meet on Sunday to approve schedule for election of Congress president

The Congress Working Committee will meet on Sunday to approve the schedule for the election of the next party president. Besides giving approval to the poll schedule, the members of the CWC, the party's highest decision-making body, could also express confidence in the leadership provided by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, according to party sources. With Sonia Gandhi abroad for medical checkup and Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accompanying her, they will join the CWC meeting virtually. Ahead of the CWC meeting, to be held virtually at 3:30 p.m. with Sonia Gandhi presiding over it, sources said the process of the election of the president will be delayed by a few weeks, not more than that, and the party should have a full-time president in October. The election of the Congress president is likely to be delayed by a few weeks with the party focused on the Kanyakumari to Kashmir 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' starting September 7 and some State units not completing formalities. This comes in the backdrop of party veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad's resignation on Friday, ending his five-decade association with the party. In his resignation letter, Mr. Azad criticised Rahul Gandhi for "demolishing its entire consultative mechanism". The Congress, dealing with the fallout of a series of high profile exits, including that of Kapil Sibal and Ashwani Kumar, attempted to deflect the latest blow by alleging that Azad's DNA has been "Modi-fied" and linking his resignation to the end of his Rajya Sabha tenure. Several Congress leaders, including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, have publicly exhorted Rahul Gandhi to return as the party chief. However, uncertainty and suspense continue on the issue as he is persisting with his stance that he will not be the AICC president, according to party insiders. Jharkhand political crisis | JMM-led UPA MLAs leave Ranchi to a guest house in Khunti With the political crisis deepening in Jharkhand over suspense on impending Governor’s notice for disqualification of Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the office-of-profit case, the ruling United Progressive Alliance MLAs led by Soren bussed to move out from Ranchi to Dumargadi guest house of Latratu dam in Khunti district. The MLAs and Soren enjoyed a boat ride in the dam and were seen camping at the guest house till late evening. They later returned to Ranchi in three luxury buses. The Congress MLAs had to attend the Legislature Party meeting late at night for which the State party in-charge Avinash Pandey had reached Ranchi. The MLAs reached CM Hemant Soren’s official residence on Saturday afternoon with large suitcases and bags, where they held their third marathon meeting there before leaving. Though the number of MLAs travelling in buses was not confirmed, it was said as many as 43 were there in the group. The figure to form the government in 81-member State Assembly in 41. The State BJP leaders, however, refrained from commenting on the latest developments but some of them, requesting anonymity, said “There must be something cooking up in the ruling UPA camp otherwise what was the need of taking them in buses to some other place, out of Ranchi, the State capital?”. Meanwhile, Governor Ramesh Bais is likely to send the disqualification notice of Soren in the profit-of-office charge to the Election Commission soon, according to sources. In the 81-member State Assembly, Soren led-JMM has 30 MLAs, Congress 18 and Rashtriya Janata Dal, Communist party of India (Marxist-Leninist) and Nationalist Congress have one each. The Opposition BJP has 26 MLAs with support of two All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and two other legislators. CJI Lalit’s tenure may see reform race with time Justice Uday Umesh Lalit took oath as the 49th Chief Justice of India on Saturday. He has a tenure of a little over two months, before his retirement on November 8, which would be a race against time. Though September is a full working month, the court works for only 14 days in October. However, if the new CJI wills it and other judges co-operate, cases can be heard through the Dussehra and Diwali vacations. Chief Justice Khehar (as he was then) heard the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) case through the summer vacations of the court in 2015. The past few days have seen the new CJI provide glimpses into his plans. For one, he has listed 25 Constitution Bench cases for hearing from August 29, his first working day as the top judge. He has also assured that at least one Constitution Bench would be functioning throughout the year. The cases include the challenge to the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 that provided for reservations for economically weaker sections (Janhit Abhiyan versus Union of India), WhatsApp's privacy policy issue (Vivek Narayan Sharma versus Union of India), plea related to Jallikattu (Animal Welfare Board of India vs Union of India), etc. The last time a Constitution Bench had assembled was between March and May 2021 in the Maratha reservation case. Chief Justice Ramana's tenure did not see a single Constitution Bench being formed. The top judge has also assured transparency in the listing of cases so that lawyers are not kept in the dark about the fate of their cases. He has promised lawyers that they would be given every opportunity to directly the Bench concerned to seek early hearing in cases seeking urgent relief, for example bail pleas, etc. The CJI has begun to address the alarming pendency of over 71,000 cases in the apex court by creating more Benches. He would have 15 Benches of two-judge combinations functioning from Tuesday to Thursday every week. However, it is to be seen whether he would use his short tenure to make any judicial appointments to the top court. A relatively short tenure of six months as Chief Justice did not stop Justice R.M. Lodha from successfully initiating the appointment of two senior advocates directly to the Supreme Court Bench, one of them being Justice Lalit himself. But Chief Justice Lalit may also leave it to Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, who would be his successor as per the seniority norm and has a tenure of 24.5 months, to make the appointments. There are currently 30 judges in the Supreme Court, four less than the total sanctioned strength of 34. Modi government strengthened probe agencies, says Amit Shah Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Narendra Modi government took all efforts to strengthen probe agencies such as the National Investigation Agency and anti-terror laws in line with its policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism. The National Investigation Agency will have branches in all the States by May 2024, he further said. The Home Minister was speaking at the inauguration of the office building of the NIA's Raipur branch in Atal Nagar area of Nava Raipur. “The Modi government has adopted zero tolerance policy against Left Wing Extremism, terrorism and other related crimes including fake currency and narcotics, and therefore we left no stone unturned to strengthen the NIA,” he said. The BJP-led Union government also strengthened anti-terror laws, shared terrorism-related inputs with state governments irrespective of the party ruling in a state, strengthened anti-terror investigation agencies and increased conviction rate in such crimes, Shah added. Commission probing Jayalalithaa death submits report The Justice (retired) A. Arumughaswamy Commission, inquiring into the circumstances leading to the hospitalisation and death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, submitted its report to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin. The commission was constituted in 2017 and was given 14 extensions. Justice Arumughaswamy met Mr. Stalin at the Secretariat and submitted a 600-page report after inquiring over 150 witnesses. The report is in English and Tamil. The AIIMS medical panel constituted to assist the Commission with the medical reports earlier submitted its report giving Apollo Hospitals a clean chit in the treatment provided to Jayalalithaa, and concurred with its final diagnosis. Talking to reporters after submitting the final report, Arumughaswamy said he did not intend to force Sasikala to depose before the Commission. He added that it would be too elaborate if he went into the issue of why he had not forced her to depose before the commission. He said even if the commission decided to make her depose her before the commission, it could have been possible only after the deposition of all other witnesses. Asked whether the Commission had found any mystery in the death, he said the report would say about it. “It was for the government to decide whether to release or not. I cannot say anything,” he said. He also expressed satisfaction over the cooperation extended by Apollo Hospitals. In Brief The Pakistan government has decided to call in the Army to help in the rescue and relief operations after many parts of the country have been ravaged by the worst floods in more than a decade. As many as 33 million people have been affected, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said. So far 982 people have been killed, with 45 deaths in the last 24 hours, the National Disaster Management Authority said. “Another 1,456 persons were hurt, with 113 injuries reported in the last 24 hours,” it added. The troops have been called in under Article 245 of the Constitution which empowers the government to summon the Army in aid of the civilian administration to deal with an emergency. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow [logo] The Evening Wrap 27 AUGUST 2022 [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]( CWC to meet on Sunday to approve schedule for election of Congress president The [Congress Working Committee will meet on Sunday]( to approve the schedule for the election of the next party president. Besides giving approval to the poll schedule, the members of the CWC, the party's highest decision-making body, could also express confidence in the leadership provided by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, according to party sources. With Sonia Gandhi abroad for medical checkup and Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accompanying her, they will join the CWC meeting virtually. Ahead of the CWC meeting, to be held virtually at 3:30 p.m. with Sonia Gandhi presiding over it, sources said the process of the election of the president will be delayed by a few weeks, not more than that, and the party should have a full-time president in October. The election of the Congress president is likely to be delayed by a few weeks with the party focused on the Kanyakumari to Kashmir 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' starting September 7 and some State units not completing formalities. This comes in the backdrop of party veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad's resignation on Friday, ending his five-decade association with the party. In his resignation letter, Mr. Azad criticised Rahul Gandhi for "demolishing its entire consultative mechanism". The Congress, dealing with the fallout of a series of high profile exits, including that of Kapil Sibal and Ashwani Kumar, attempted to deflect the latest blow by alleging that Azad's DNA has been "Modi-fied" and linking his resignation to the end of his Rajya Sabha tenure. Several Congress leaders, including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, have publicly exhorted Rahul Gandhi to return as the party chief. However, uncertainty and suspense continue on the issue as he is persisting with his stance that he will not be the AICC president, according to party insiders. Jharkhand political crisis | JMM-led UPA MLAs leave Ranchi to a guest house in Khunti With the political crisis deepening in Jharkhand over suspense on impending Governor’s notice for disqualification of Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the office-of-profit case, the ruling United Progressive Alliance MLAs led by Soren [bussed to move out from Ranchi to Dumargadi guest house of Latratu dam in Khunti district](. [Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Rajesh Thakur and UPA MLAs ride a boat at a resort in Khunti district on August 27, 2022.] The MLAs and Soren enjoyed a boat ride in the dam and were seen camping at the guest house till late evening. They later returned to Ranchi in three luxury buses. The Congress MLAs had to attend the Legislature Party meeting late at night for which the State party in-charge Avinash Pandey had reached Ranchi. The MLAs reached CM Hemant Soren’s official residence on Saturday afternoon with large suitcases and bags, where they held their third marathon meeting there before leaving. Though the number of MLAs travelling in buses was not confirmed, it was said as many as 43 were there in the group. The figure to form the government in 81-member State Assembly in 41. The State BJP leaders, however, refrained from commenting on the latest developments but some of them, requesting anonymity, said “There must be something cooking up in the ruling UPA camp otherwise what was the need of taking them in buses to some other place, out of Ranchi, the State capital?”. Meanwhile, Governor Ramesh Bais is likely to send the disqualification notice of Soren in the profit-of-office charge to the Election Commission soon, according to sources. In the 81-member State Assembly, Soren led-JMM has 30 MLAs, Congress 18 and Rashtriya Janata Dal, Communist party of India (Marxist-Leninist) and Nationalist Congress have one each. The Opposition BJP has 26 MLAs with support of two All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and two other legislators. CJI Lalit’s tenure may see reform race with time Justice Uday Umesh Lalit took oath as the 49th Chief Justice of India on Saturday. He [has a tenure of a little over two month]( before his retirement on November 8, which would be a race against time. [President Droupadi Murmu administers oath to Justice Uday Umesh Lalit as the Chief Justice of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 27, 2022. ] Though September is a full working month, the court works for only 14 days in October. However, if the new CJI wills it and other judges co-operate, cases can be heard through the Dussehra and Diwali vacations. Chief Justice Khehar (as he was then) heard the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) case through the summer vacations of the court in 2015. The past few days have seen the new CJI provide glimpses into his plans. For one, he has listed 25 Constitution Bench cases for hearing from August 29, his first working day as the top judge. He has also assured that at least one Constitution Bench would be functioning throughout the year. The cases include the challenge to the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 that provided for reservations for economically weaker sections (Janhit Abhiyan versus Union of India), WhatsApp's privacy policy issue (Vivek Narayan Sharma versus Union of India), plea related to Jallikattu (Animal Welfare Board of India vs Union of India), etc. The last time a Constitution Bench had assembled was between March and May 2021 in the Maratha reservation case. Chief Justice Ramana's tenure did not see a single Constitution Bench being formed. The top judge has also assured transparency in the listing of cases so that lawyers are not kept in the dark about the fate of their cases. He has promised lawyers that they would be given every opportunity to directly the Bench concerned to seek early hearing in cases seeking urgent relief, for example bail pleas, etc. The CJI has begun to address the alarming pendency of over 71,000 cases in the apex court by creating more Benches. He would have 15 Benches of two-judge combinations functioning from Tuesday to Thursday every week. However, it is to be seen whether he would use his short tenure to make any judicial appointments to the top court. A relatively short tenure of six months as Chief Justice did not stop Justice R.M. Lodha from successfully initiating the appointment of two senior advocates directly to the Supreme Court Bench, one of them being Justice Lalit himself. But Chief Justice Lalit may also leave it to Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, who would be his successor as per the seniority norm and has a tenure of 24.5 months, to make the appointments. There are currently 30 judges in the Supreme Court, four less than the total sanctioned strength of 34. Modi government strengthened probe agencies, says Amit Shah Union Home Minister [Amit Shah said the Narendra Modi government took all efforts to strengthen probe agencies]( such as the National Investigation Agency and anti-terror laws in line with its policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism. The National Investigation Agency will have branches in all the States by May 2024, he further said. The Home Minister was speaking at the inauguration of the office building of the NIA's Raipur branch in Atal Nagar area of Nava Raipur. “The Modi government has adopted zero tolerance policy against Left Wing Extremism, terrorism and other related crimes including fake currency and narcotics, and therefore we left no stone unturned to strengthen the NIA,” he said. The BJP-led Union government also strengthened anti-terror laws, shared terrorism-related inputs with state governments irrespective of the party ruling in a state, strengthened anti-terror investigation agencies and increased conviction rate in such crimes, Shah added. Commission probing Jayalalithaa death submits report The [Justice (retired) A. Arumughaswamy Commission, inquiring into the circumstances leading to the hospitalisation and death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, submitted its report]( to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin. The commission was constituted in 2017 and was given 14 extensions. Justice Arumughaswamy met Mr. Stalin at the Secretariat and submitted a 600-page report after inquiring over 150 witnesses. The report is in English and Tamil. The AIIMS medical panel constituted to assist the Commission with the medical reports earlier submitted its report giving Apollo Hospitals a clean chit in the treatment provided to Jayalalithaa, and concurred with its final diagnosis. Talking to reporters after submitting the final report, Arumughaswamy said he did not intend to force Sasikala to depose before the Commission. He added that it would be too elaborate if he went into the issue of why he had not forced her to depose before the commission. He said even if the commission decided to make her depose her before the commission, it could have been possible only after the deposition of all other witnesses. Asked whether the Commission had found any mystery in the death, he said the report would say about it. “It was for the government to decide whether to release or not. I cannot say anything,” he said. He also expressed satisfaction over the cooperation extended by Apollo Hospitals. In Brief The Pakistan government has decided to call in the Army to help in the rescue and relief operations after [many parts of the country have been ravaged by the worst floods in more than a decade](. As many as 33 million people have been affected, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said. So far 982 people have been killed, with 45 deaths in the last 24 hours, the National Disaster Management Authority said. “Another 1,456 persons were hurt, with 113 injuries reported in the last 24 hours,” it added. The troops have been called in under Article 245 of the Constitution which empowers the government to summon the Army in aid of the civilian administration to deal with an emergency. 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