Top news of the day: Kejriwal’s judicial custody extended in CBI case even as Supreme Court grants him bail in ED case; June 25 to be observed as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ to mark Emergency, and more

Top news updates from The Hindu on July 12, 2024

The Supreme Court has granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi Excise policy, but asked him to take a call on whether he should now step down from office in light of the allegations arraigned against him. A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta underscored that Mr. Kejriwal occupies an office of influence as well as constitutional importance. The court cannot direct an elected leader to step down from the office of a “functional” Chief Minister, Justice Khanna said. It would be better if Mr. Kejriwal himself made a decision, Justice Khanna noted.

A court in New Delhi has extended till July 25 the judicial custody of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the corruption case linked to the alleged excise policy scam being probed by the CBI. Mr. Kejriwal was produced through video conferencing before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja.

The Government has decided to observe the 25th of June every year as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’. Home Minister Amit Shah said, “This day will commemorate the massive contributions of all those who endured the inhuman pains of the 1975 Emergency.” A gazette notification issued by the Union Home Ministry notes that Emergency was declared on June 25, 1975, following which there was “gross abuse of power by the government of the day and people of India were subjected to excesses and atrocities”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that observing June 25 as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ will serve as a reminder of what happened when the “Constitution was trampled over”. The Congress termed the government move as yet another “headline grabbing exercise in hypocrisy” by PM Modi.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that an appeal will be filed against the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s (CWRC) directive to the State to release 1 tmcft of Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu daily till the end of this month. After a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who is also the Water Resources Minister, Ministers from the Cauvery basin area, and officials, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that an all-party meeting would be held on July 14 to decide on the State’s next course of action.

The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition seeking the constitution of an expert committee to inquire into the Hathras stampede which has seen more than 121 deaths. A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud asked petitioner-lawyer Vishal Tiwari why he had not approached the Allahabad High Court and come directly to the apex court.

The Nagarampalem police of Guntur district has registered a case against former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, IPS officers P.V. Sunil Kumar and P. Seetharamanjaneyulu and others, for allegedly torturing then Narsapuram Parliament Member K. Raghurama Krishnam Raju in 2021.

“India’s population is projected to peak in the early 2060s at about 1.7 billion and then decline by 12%, but India will remain the world’s most populous country throughout the century,” the United Nations has said. The World Population Prospects 2024 report, released on July 11, said the world’s population is expected to continue growing over the coming 50-60 years, reaching a peak of around 10.3 billion people in the mid-2080s, up from 8.2 billion in 2024. After peaking, the global population is projected to start declining gradually, falling to 10.2 billion people by the end of the century.