• Mohammed Zubair, Alt News co-founder, walked out of Tihar Jail on Wednesday evening after the Supreme Court granted interim bail in all the six cases registered against him by the Uttar Pradesh Police for hurting religious sentiments through tweets.
• A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud “There is no reason for deprivation of liberty of the petitioner…to be released on interim bail in each FIR [UP FIRs[…power of arrest should be used sparingly…”
• Why custody? The SC said there is “no justification” to keep Zubair in continued custody and subject him to diverse proceedings when the gravamen of allegations arises from the tweets which form part of an investigation by Delhi Police, in which case he has already been granted bail.
• Protection: On Monday, the SC directed that no “precipitative steps” be taken against the fact-checker in the five cases he is facing in Uttar Pradesh, calling the FIRs a “vicious cycle” of police action.
• Zubair can tweet: “We can’t say that he won’t tweet again. It is like telling a lawyer that you should not argue. How can we tell a journalist that he will not write? If there are any tweets against the law, he will be answerable.”
• SIT disbanded: The court disbanded the UP police’s SIT investigating the cases against Zubair.
• Over to Delhi Police: The court clubbed all FIRs, transferring the cases against Zubair to the Special Cell of the Delhi Police.
• The case: Zubair was booked by the Delhi Police over a 2018-tweet carrying an image from the 1983-movie Kissi Se Na Kehna, showing a hotel’s name changing from Honeymoon Hotel to Hanuman Hotel. He wrote: “Before 2014: Honeymoon Hotel. After 2014: Hanuman Hotel.”

• No immediate relief: The Supreme Court asked the Thackerays and the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena to compile their issues in one affidavit each for the next hearing, likely on August 1, when the court will decide whether the case needs to be referred to a larger bench.
• Showdown in court: The Thackerays argued that if the MLAs would be taken away every time, “what happens to the will of the people then who elected the MLAs? How can people be allowed to defect?”
• The Shinde camp said, “Are we in such a hopeless situation that a man [Uddhav Thackeray] who cannot even find 20 MLAs to support him has to be brought back to power by the courts?” Salve said the Shinde camp’s MLAs have a right to democracy within the party.
• Shinde hunting Uddhav? Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde wrote to the Election Commission that the Uddhav-appointed national executive of the Sena stood dissolved, and that a new body had been formed by a majority of Sena leaders.
• BJP blamed: Uddhav alleged that the central government agencies were used to drive MLAs and MPs to rebel against him. He said the Sena is not being split by its MLAs or MPs but the BJP is “trying to finish the party” — after 12 of its 19 Lok Sabha MPs shifted to the Shinde camp, declaring Rahul Shewale as their leader in the house.
• Legal tangle: The subject matter in the six petitions in the SC — five by the Thackeray camp — relate to the disqualification proceedings, the election of Speaker, recognition of the whip and floor test among other issues.
• A patch-up possible? Shewale said the Shinde faction still considers Uddhav their leader. Shinde said he has not become “Paksha Pramukh” (party chief). More here

Months after 13 civilians were “mistakenly” killed during an anti-insurgency operation in Nagaland’s Mon district, the Supreme Court has stayed proceedings against a 30-member team of the Indian Army’s 21 Para (Special Forces) unit based on a state police’s FIR.

The petition

• A petition was filed by the wife of an Army Major and other family members of the SF team claiming that the operation was carried out on the basis of intelligence inputs from various sources including the Nagaland police about movement of militants suspected to be involved in the killing of an Assam Rifles officer in Manipur in November last year.

Immunity

• The top court took into account senior advocate Vikas Singh’s argument that AFSPA operates in the concerned area which protects soldiers involved in anti-insurgency operations from getting prosecuted by state police without prior sanction from the Union government.
• Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati confirmed that the Centre has not yet given sanction for prosecution of the Army combatants involved in the incident.

What SC said

• “In view of the admitted position that mandatory previous sanction as required under Section 6 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, has not been obtained, we are constrained to pass an interim order staying further proceedings pursuant to FIR”.

In an encounter lasting four hours, Punjab Police on Wednesday gunned down two gangsters suspected to be involved in the killing of Punjabi singer and Congress leader Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, also known as Sidhu Moosewala.

Who were they?

• The duo, identified as Manpreet Mannu and Jagrup Rupa, were gunned down after they opened fire when the police, who had cornered them while they were taking refuge in an abandoned building. The encounter took place in Bhakna village in Amritsar district, situated close to the Attari border.
• According to police reports, Manpreet was the one who had fired the first shot at Moosewala, who was gunned down on May 29 by six shooters at Jawaharke in Mansa district.

Encounter details

• The police also recovered an AK-47 and a .30 calibre pistol from the slain gangsters, who also inflicted injuries on three policemen. According to the locals, the police had made an announcement from a local public address system asking people to stay indoors and had also asked the gangsters to surrender, who instead, opened fire, prompting a retaliatory response from the police.

• One Uttar Pradesh minister has resigned from the Yogi Adityanath government and another reached out to top BJP leadership against the CM. Both complained about the way they were treated by the CM.
• Dinesh Khatik, the UP jal shakti minister (MoS rank), sent his resignation letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying he was “sidelined [in the government] because he is a Dalit”. Usually, when a minister resigns, the resignation letter is sent to the CM, who forwards it to the governor. Reports suggest that the BJP leadership is trying to talk Khatik out of resignation.
• PWD Minister Jitin Prasada held meetings with the BJP leadership in Delhi after senior officers of his department — including his OSD — were suspended over alleged irregularities and charges of corruption in transfer and posting. Prasada was reportedly summoned by CM Yogi over the alleged corruption on his watch.
• The CM office ordered an investigation against Prasada’s officers by a special team earlier this month in the alleged bribe-for-transfer matter. The probe panel indicted Prasada’s OSD Anil Kumar Pandey in the case.
• Khatik is unhappy over transfers in his department and FIR against his supporters in Hastinapur, where he reportedly moved to his personal residence, vacating his official residence and giving up the government vehicle.
• Resignation of Khatik drew a sharp barb from opposition leader Akhilesh Yadav, who alleged that the Dalit leader was insulted in the BJP government and tweeted saying “bulldozer sometimes goes into a reverse gear”.

About 100 protesters gathered outside the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo soon after Sri Lankan lawmakers elected Ranil Wickremesinghe as the country’s new leader on Wednesday, a move that could reignite turmoil in the island nation reeling from economic collapse.

An ‘unpopular’ leader

• Most Sri Lankans see Wickremesinghe, a six-time prime minister, as part of the problematic political establishment. While the response of the protesters was broadly muted on Wednesday, some vowed to turn their focus to dislodging the new president.
• Wickremesinghe — who was also Rajapaksa’s finance minister and became acting president after he fled following a popular uprising — will finish the presidential term ending in 2024. He can now appoint a new prime minister.
• Sri Lankans have accused Wickremesinghe of protecting Rajapaksa, and during demonstrations last week, crowds set his personal residence on fire and occupied his office.

A stern warning

• The President-elect vowed to take tough action against anyone resorting to what he called the undemocratic means that led to his predecessor’s ouster.
• Wickremesinghe who will take oath of office on Thursday called for support from all parties to overcome the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.

India denies role

• In a tweet, the Indian High Commission in Colombo has categorically denied media reports that New Delhi was making efforts at the political level to influence leaders in Sri Lanka regarding the Presidential polls.
• It also said that India will continue to be supportive of the Sri Lankan people’s quest for stability and economic recovery, through democratic means and values, established democratic institutions and constitutional framework. More details here

A total of 554.3 sq km of forest area in the country has been diverted for non-forestry purposes in the past three years, government data presented in the Lok Sabha showed.

• Mining & roads: Mining accounted for the diversion of the maximum, 112.78 sq km, of forest land, followed by road construction and irrigation facilities which ate up 100.07 sq km and 97.27 sq km respectively.
• Defence & hydel projects: The Centre approved the diversion of 69.47 sq km of forest land for defence projects, 53.44 sq km for hydel projects, 47.40 sq km for laying of transmission lines and 18.99 sq km for railways in the last three years.
• Green cover: Despite this, the total forest cover of the country has increased by 12,294 sq km in the past seven years. It increased by 1,540 sq km between 2019 and 2021, the latest India State of Forest Report says.
• Covering losses: Compensatory afforestation is carried out in lieu of forest land diversion, according to the guidelines issued under the Forest Conservation Act 1980.

Observing that “the matter requires consideration, until the next date of listing” — which has been fixed as November 25 — the Delhi High Court (HC) on Wednesday stayed the order by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) prohibiting the levy of service charge by hotels and restaurants.

What the court ordered

• The HC directed the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) that the “levy of service charge in addition and the obligation of customers to pay the same is duly and prominently displayed on the menu or other place where it may be deemed to be expedient.”
• It also reiterated that food and beverage establishments, whether standalone or attached with hotels, will not levy service charge on takeaway orders.

Matter of choice?

• Noting that it was the Diwan Chaman Lall Committee which had recommended introduction of a service charge in the hotel industry, way back in 1958, as a means of added remuneration to the servers, the HC, making an oral observation, told the CCPA that “if you don’t want to pay don’t enter the restaurant. It is essentially a matter of choice.”

What the restaurants want

• Countering the CCPA’s labelling of the service charge as an unfair trade practice, the NRAI submitted in its petition that levying a service charge was “a matter of contract” between the customer and the management of the food and beverage (F&B) establishment and as such, “no authority can interfere with binding nature of a valid contract.”
• It also cited examples of other countries where service charge is levied, saying that it is also levied in countries “like UK, Singapore, Japan and USA with varying percentages between 8% and 12.5%.”