TUESDAY 28 JULY, 2026 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard ISRAEL ELECTION NETANYAHU HAS A NEW CHALLENGER As Israel heads into a fiercely contested election on October 27, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot has emerged as the principal challenger to the PM PAGE 9 The IndiGo aircraft after landing safely at Rajkot airport | PTI IndiGo flight makes emergency landing A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  J8.00  A Dubai-Mumbai IndiGo flight carrying 194 passengers and crew members made an emergency landing at the Rajkot International Airport in Gujarat on Monday after smoke was detected in the cargo hold area, airport authorities said. All passengers were evacuated safely | P8 PAGES 12 Public Exams (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill introduced; Speaker allocates six hours for discussion Day’s developments 1 Bihar govt to withdraw all cases lodged against protesters over NEET paper leak, release those jailed, as per a late night notification 2 A Bihar police constable has been suspended for opening fire on protesters with an AK-47 in Siwan during Bihar Bandh on July 25 over the paper leak issue 3 SC defers consideration of conducting NEET-UG in online mode, stating it will see what the new task force suggests 4 Amid charges of the Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery exam paper leak, the Gujarat Ayurved University said it has ordered an inquiry 5 The first hearing by a fast-track court in Delhi in a NEET-UG question paper leak case had to be adjourned to Aug 3 after no one appeared on behalf of the CBI Police focus on Oppn OKs paper leak bill debate today 989 protesters Agitation cannot justify caning or after face scans Opposition MPs stage a protest in the Lok Sabha during the introduction of Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill 2026, in New Delhi on Monday | PTI P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi THE Lok Sabha is likely to function normally on Tuesday after a week-long stalemate with the Opposition agreeing to participate in the debate on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill 2026. The Bill, introduced by Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh on Monday amid loud protests and sloganeering, initially failed to break the impasse as Opposition parties continued to demand a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the police action against student protestors at Jantar Mantar and other parts of the country The legislation proposes stricter . punishment of up to 10 years in jail and `50 lakh fine for the guilty . With repeated disruptions stalling proceedings, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla intervened and adjourned the House, urging both sides to resolve their differences. He gave the government and Opposition a three-hour window to negotiate so that discussion on the Bill could begin at 5 pm. According to sources, during the back channel talks, the government We did not want conveyed that it was prepared for a to be seen as six-hour discussion if the Opposition opposing cooperated. The Opposition, in turn, examination sensed that insisting on a boycott reforms. We are could allow the government to push conscious of the the Bill through without any debate. fact that the youth are watching Senior Congress leaders subsequently met the Speaker and inA senior Oppn leader formed him that the Opposition was ready to participate in the discussion on Tuesday . “We have decided to join the debate while raising the issue of police brutality against students protesting at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere,” a senior Opposition leader said. As the House reassembled at 5 pm, opposition members continued sloganeering amid calls by the chair to discuss the Bill as the matter pertained to the future of crores of youth. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said several members, including those from the opposition, were prepared to participate in the debate but the Congress and “some of its friends” were causing disruptions and not allowing a debate. police excesses, says SC chief justice S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Monday said the right to peaceful protest was constitutionally guaranteed and cannot be denied merely because there is agitation, while also questioning police excesses on protesters on Jantar Mantar and calling for a uniform national protocol on handling demonstrations. The top court’s three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said it will hear all pleas filed against police excesses at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday . “Any allegations of police excess must be independently examined. The right to peaceful, lawful protest is absolutely guaranteed under Constitu- Just because there is agitation does not mean there can be ‘lathi charge’... discipline is needed which is essential to democratic process CJI Surya Kant tion. So long as it is peaceful agitation, merely because there is agitation, there can’t be (excess)... Merely because agitation is there, it doesn’t mean lathi-charge. Discipline is integral to democratic process,” CJI Kant orally remarked. He also clarified that the life CJP’S DIRE WARNING of every individual, including police personnel, is equally important. The bench made the observations on hearing a batch of petitions, mentioned by lawyers for hearing, concerning police action during recent student protests. Justice Bagchi stressed that injuries to individuals, whether students or policemen, are of equal concern. The petitioners sought appropriate directions and orders from the court for an independent probe into the police action. Filed by Shailendra Mani Tripathi through advocate-on-record Chand Qureshi, the plea has made the Centre, the Delhi government, police commissioner and all states and UTs as respondents. It seeks enforcement of fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19 and 21. CJP on Monday warned it would be forced to resume its agitation if the government does not give written assurance of withdrawal of criminal cases against protesters by Tuesday CJP flagged several reports of Instagram accounts linked to student volunteers and protesters being taken down on orders of police CJP spokesperson Saurav Das accused police of continuing coercive action despite the deal. “Hundreds of students arrested in Bihar and Bengal,” he said Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal announced legal support for those facing police action and said he would pay `1 crore for a legal aid platform P8 Spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said he hopes Centre will honour the agreement and FIRs will be withdrawn against all protesters E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi The CJP had called off its 36-day agitation at Jantar Mantar on Saturday after the government accepted its key demands THE Delhi Police claims to have analysed around 100 facial recognition system-enabled CCTV recordings and social media videos from the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest at Jantar Mantar and the march towards Parliament to examine the criminal histories of people they could identify It claims to have identified 2,873 individu. als who were present during the protest, of whom 989 have prior criminal records involving serious offences. Sources said the findings are based on cross-matching the footage with the Delhi Police’s existing criminal database. Delhi Police also deployed AI-enabled smart glasses equipped with facial recognition, video analytics and thermal imaging capabilities to help personnel identify suspects. The exercise relied on existing criminal d at ab a s e s a n d d o s s i e r records maintained by different district police units and other agencies. According to sources, the 989 individuals allegedly have criminal records involving offences such as murder, attempt to murder, dacoity robbery rape, crimes against , , women, violations of the Arms Act, kidnapping, snatching and offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The analysis found that 101 identified individuals have previously been booked in murder cases, while 62 face charges of attempt to murder. Another 284 have criminal records related to dacoity and robbery The records also . show that 61 individuals have been named in rape cases, six are accused under the POCSO Act, and 25 have been booked for offences against women, including outraging modesty Additionally 229 have cases under the Arms Act, . , 135 have been booked for snatching, 19 for kidnapping and 67 under the NDPS Act. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 HC seeks replies from Sonia, Rahul in ED case EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE Delhi High Court on Monday directed Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others to respond within three weeks to the pleas of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) challenging a trial court order refusing to take co gnisance of its chargesheet against them in the National Herald money laundering case. Justice Manoj Jain posted the matter for hearing on September 10 after counsel for the Gandhis and other re- Case rests on complaint filed by BJP leader Apart from the Gandhis, the ED had named Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, Young Indian, Dotex Merchandise and Sunil Bhandari as accused as well in the case. The ED launched the probe on the basis of a private complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy before a metropolitan magistrate. spondents sought time to file their replies. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, argued that the trial court had gone “terribly wrong in this case”. He said the respondents had not filed their replies despite being given two months by the high court. “This is only a question of law. Time to file reply was given two months ago. I can’t object to filing a reply This is a pure question . of law,” Mehta said. Recording the submission, Justice Jain said, “List on September 10 for arguments. Let reply if not already filed, , be filed in three weeks.” The high court had issued notice to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others on the ED’s plea on December 22. A Delhi court on December 16 refused to take cognisance of the ED’s prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The court held that the complaint was not maintainable as the money laundering case was not based on an FIR registered by an investigating agency. The court, however, noted that Delhi Police has registered an FIR in relation to the matter. KARUR VICTIMS’ KIN CAN’T GET JOBS, SAYS HC The Madras High Court has struck down a Tamil Nadu govt order that promised jobs to victims’ family members | P5 EXPRESS READ MCD responsible for Saket crash LIFTERS CONTINUE TO SHINE India’s lifters continued to make merry at 2026 CWG as Gyaneshwari Yadav bagged silver in 53kg while Bindyarani Devi (in pic) won bronze in 58kg on Monday. On Sunday, Mirabai Chanu had clinched gold in 48kg while Rishikanta Singh (60kg) & M Raja (65) won a silver medal each | PTI | P11 Petrol bomb at Punjab BJP office IMD forecasts flash floods A magisterial probe has found the MCD to be “primarily responsible” for the Saket building collapse, which had killed six people, and also charged it with fabricating records to “mislead” the inquiry. The report was submitted to the chief secretary recently, claimed a news agency report. P4 A petrol bomb was thrown at the BJP office in Punjab’s Sangrur in the early hours of Monday, the attack left burn marks on the building’s outer wall, though no injuries were reported. It drew a sharp reactions from the party, which alleged the AAP government was unable to rein in criminals. After nearly three weeks of lull, a strong monsoon weather system has developed over northern, central and eastern India. It is expected to trigger heavy rainfall across large parts of the country over the next five days. IMD has warned the Himalayan region could face floods and landslides. P7