06102026-TT-01.qxd 10/5/2026 11:21 PM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 146 NO. 276 | 14 PAGES | ~6.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HIMACHAL PRADESH NEPAL WRAPS UP FLOOD SEARCH, SHIFTS FOCUS TO REHAB >> WORLD /thetribunechd L-G OPENS TECH LABS AT 100 ANGANWADI CENTRES >> J&K INDIGO TO HIKE FUEL SURCHARGE FROM TODAY >> BUSINESS INDIA TRYING TO SECURE SHIPPING IN BLACK SEA, SAYS EAM >> BACK PAGE tuesday | 6 october 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com SC puts EC, Centre on notice over CEC’s HCordersCBIprobeintograft chargesagainsttopPbofficials working, will annul unilateral decisions Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service But refuses to restrain Gyanesh| Says can’t pass any such order without hearing out respondents Satya Prakash WHAT COURT SAID Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 5 The Supreme Court on Monday said it would examine all decisions of the Election Commission (EC) and annul those found not to be in accordance with the law. It issued notice to the EC and the Centre on PILs alleging that the poll panel led by CEC Gyanesh Kumar took 14 decisions between October 2025 and August 2026 without the approval of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. A Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana also asked Gyanesh, Sandhu, Joshi, EC Director General (IT) Seema Khanna and Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg to file their replies to the PILs. Petitioners Rakesh Kumar Singh and advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi have challenged the decisions, guidelines and software changes allegedly made by CEC Gyanesh without the concurrence of Sandhu and Joshi. However, despite repeated HCrapsPunjabin DA case, summons Chief Secretary CHANDIGARH: Rapping the state for playing “hide and seek” with the court in the dearness allowance (DA) matter, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday questioned the government’s claim that defects in its appeal before the Supreme Court had been cured. The Bench directed the HC Registry to obtain a status report from the top court regarding the appeal’s status before directing the Chief Secretary to remain present before it on Tuesday. INSIDE Centre notifies appointment of 3 new SC judges NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is all set to get three new judges after the Centre on Monday notified the appointment of the Chief Justices of the Gujarat, Delhi and Telangana High Courts as judges of the top court. Those elevated to the Supreme Court are Gujarat HC Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal, Delhi HC Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Telangana HC Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh. INSIDE SC notice to Centre on relocation of 135-year-oldlibrary DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to spell out its move to relocate the 135-year-old Central Secretariat Library (CSL) in Delhi, which houses over 8.5 lakh books, amid reports that no space has been allocated for it in the new Central Vista Plan. Issuing a notice to the Centre, a Bench asked it to file an affidavit giving full details of the space to be allotted for the CSL along with the actual layout plan. BACK PAGE NEW ■ News reports may be fully or CEC GYANESH KUMAR partially correct. We’d like to have their (EC’s) response... ■ If we find that the law was not followed, you know what can happen... ■ If records show some decision was not unanimous, we will injunct it... KHARGE’S 3 DEMANDS RAHUL LYING, SAYS BJP Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge listed three demands — resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, annulment of SIR and return to ballot paper for polls. “The Chief Justice of India did not say that Form 6 was illegal. Rahul Gandhi is lying that the top court said so,” said BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra. requests from senior counsel Vikas Singh, representing petitioner Rakesh Kumar Singh, to pass an interim order restraining Gyanesh from functioning as the CEC, the Bench refused to pass any such order at this juncture without hearing out the Election Commission only on the basis of news reports. “News reports may be fully or partially correct. We would like to have their (EC’s) response…We will seek a response from respondents 5-8 (Sandhu, Joshi and two other poll panel officials) also. They will respond to us. There’s a law they are expected to follow. If we find that the law was not followed, you know what can happen…,” the Bench told Vikas Singh, who insisted on an interim order to restrain Kumar. “Let’s first have authenticated information on that. We can always annul any decision,” it said even as Vikas Singh contended that the top court would never annul an election that has already happened. continued on page 8 Act on charges against judge in Lakhimpur case, Allahabad CJ told Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 5 The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice to act expeditiously on allegations against the presiding officer of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case that he transferred several cases to himself and acquitted the accused. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant also asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to appoint a new public prosecutor at the earliest to conduct the trial and listed the matter for hearing after two weeks. Taking cognisance of the allegations levelled by advocate Prashant Bhushan on behalf of the victims that the conduct of the presiding judge was objectionable, the Bench had on September 22 asked the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice to furnish a report in a sealed cover after looking into the matter and taking remedial action. On Monday, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi told the Bench on behalf of the High Court registry that an administrative committee had to be set up to look into the allegations against the judge. “The Chief Justice of the High Court should take an appropriate action as per para three of our order dated September 22, 2026,” the Bench said. Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing accused Ashish Mishra, who had moved the top court for bail, said Bhushan had problems with everybody associated with the case, be it the trial judge, the public prosecutor or the accused. The judge had examined 86 witnesses out of the total of over 130 in the main case, Dave said. Earlier, Bhushan had alleged that the presiding officer issued a non-bailable warrant against his client after he failed to appear to depose before the court on account of illness. “The conduct of the presiding officer will shock the conscience of the court. The presiding officer withdrew to himself NDPS, SC/ST cases and granted the accused bail or acquitted them. Under the law, he cannot withdraw to himself,” Bhushan submitted. Even the public prosecutor had been changed midway and the new one only had four months of experience. On August 6, the Bench had continued on page 8 Didn’t approve modified Form 6 for SIR: CJI Bench Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 5 The Supreme Court on Monday clarified that it didn’t approve any modified version of Form 6 used for inclusion of names in electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). “Any modified Form 6 has not been approved by us. Let’s be clear. When the record is produced, we would like to see who has modified it,” a Bench led by CJI Surya Kant said while hearing a petition seeking to restrain Gyanesh Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner. The clarification came after senior counsel Menaka Guruswamy, representing petitioner Shailendra Mani Tripathi, raised concerns over the changes made to Form 6. Tripathi has sought quashing of the 14 decisions allegedly taken by the CEC unilaterally. The Election Commission had last week claimed that the new declaration annexed to the online Form 6 for the ongoing SIR process in some states had been approved by the Supreme Court. The modified Form 6 required persons seeking to register as new voters to state if they or their parents were mapped in the previous SIR. Such a statement was not sought in the earlier Form 6 used in the SIR in other states. The declaration also says that false statements can attract punishment under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, including imprisonment of up to one year, a fine or both. The changes to the new Form 6 declaration had allegedly been objected to by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on the grounds that the same cannot be carried out without the Centre amending the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. continued on page 8 SWISS OUTREACH MANAS RANJAN BHUI Chandigarh, October 5 The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday ordered a CBI probe into allegations of corruption involving senior officers of the Punjab Government, holding that material shared by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) with the Punjab Police prima facie disclosed “cognisable offences in high public office and required investigation”. “The material shared by the ED prima facie indicated the involvement of highranking public officials in acts of corruption and at least required the registration of an FIR so that a proper investigation can be carried out. This is not the response of the Punjab Police,” a Bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor asserted. The order came on a public interest litigation filed by advocate Nikhil Saraf, who had sought an independent probe into the matter raised by the ED with the Punjab Police in its letters to the DGP . The petitioner alleged involvement of senior officers of the state of Punjab in various scams, including “cash for transfers, getting favourable Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 5 The ruling BJP sprang a surprise on Monday by fielding eight newcomers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh and dropping all outgoing members, including Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and BL Verma. The Rajya Sabha term of Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Puri (74), the only Sikh face in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Council of Ministers, ends on November 25. Verma is a Minister of State for Consumer Affairs. Puri’s omission has put his Information (shared by ❝ED with the police) led to the a journey with all travel and no reaching. HC Bench policies, tenders and other serious irregularities”, claiming that no investigation was carried out by the Punjab Police despite the ED sharing information in this regard. The High Court said it was not impressed by the manner in which the Punjab Police had acted. “Therefore, we deem it appropriate to entrust the probe to the CBI, which will register an FIR and proceed with the investigation forthwith”. The Bench called for a report on the investigation’s outcome within two months. “The State of Punjab as well as the Punjab Police will render all assistance to the CBI in carrying out a fair investigation,” it said. The High Court said there could hardly be any doubt that the information shared by the ED with the Punjab Police regarding the alleged involvement of senior officers in continued on page 8 Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 5 The Punjab Government has decided to challenge in the Supreme Court the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order directing the CBI to probe the allegations of cash for transfers, favourable policies, tenders and other illegal activities. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the AAP regime would cite before the top court the previous state government’s withdrawal of general consent to the CBI to investigate cases in Punjab. In November 2020, the then Congress government withdrew the general consent granted to the CBI for carrying out investigations in the state. While some legal experts maintain that courts can direct the CBI to investigate a case even after a state withdraws general consent, Cheema told The Tribune that the government was formulating its legal strategy. “The CBI has no jurisdiction to act in Punjab,” he said. The case pertains to allegations of a bribery network through continued on page 8 future in the Union Cabinet under a cloud, although he can continue as a minister for six months after ceasing to be an MP and could be re-elected to Parliament from another state during that period. As a senior Sikh leader, Puri remains important in the context of the Punjab Assembly elections due in February 2027, and could continue in the Union Cabinet until the polls if Prime Minister Narendra Modi decides so. As for the Rajya Sabha poll from UP none of the outgo, ing MPs of the BJP have been renominated. Prominent names that had figured in the UP BJP panel of potential nominees such as nation- al general secretary Smriti Irani and poet Kumar Vishwas were also missing. Among the outgoing BJP MPs dropped are Puri, Verma, Brijlal, former BJP general secretary Arun Singh, Geeta Shakya, son of former PM Chandrashekhar Neeraj Shekhar and Seema Dwivedi. Among newcomers in today’s list are grassroots leaders of the BJP from OBC, Scheduled Caste and upper caste segments and different regions of the state. The selections have been made keeping the 2027 UP Assembly polls in mind and to counter Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s PDA continued on page 8 Instil fear in minds of goons, don’t hesitate to act tough: SC to Delhi Police on rape cases Tribune News Service New Delhi, October 5 Mincing no words, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Delhi Police to instil fear in the minds of goons intending to commit crimes against women and not to hesitate in taking strict action against those threatening their safety. “What is important is to pre- vent a crime, not what you do after a crime is committed,” said a Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran, which had on September 28 taken suo motu cognisance of recent cases of rape in Delhi-NCR. “In a country like India merely putting things on paper is not enough. You need to get into action. There will be people who will raise a hue and cry about Article 21 (Right to life and liberty) but you have to do your duty,” the Bench told the Delhi Police. “If you have to be a little more strict, a little more harsh, do not hesitate. You need to create fright, fear in the mind of a man who is prone to commit such offences. Unless you continued on page 8 Bathinda village battles farm fires with free straw baling, lifting Archit Watts Tribune News Service Residents and panchayat members at Balloh village in Bathinda. ALL TRAVEL, NO REACHING Pb to move SC, cites withdrawal of probe consent by last govt BJP fields 8 new faces for UP RS poll, drops veterans Puri, Verma Aditi Tandon & Manikant Mishra PM Narendra Modi with Swiss Confederation’s President Guy Parmelin in New Delhi on Monday. The two sides inked a migration and mobility pact, and agreed to deepen nuclear energy and defence cooperation. BACK PAGE Says ED material reveals cognisable offences Bathinda, October 5 Balloh village in Bathinda district has become the first in the state to offer farmers a free baler service for collecting paddy straw from their fields. According to the village panchayat and a local welfare organisation, the initiative is aimed at discouraging stubble burning during the ongoing harvesting season. c m y b Three balers have been arranged by the Taranjot Welfare Society, while another one has been provided by village sarpanch Amarjit Kaur. The machines will collect and bale paddy straw from fields. Farmers will not be charged for it, helping them manage crop residue without resorting to burning. Gurmeet Singh Mann, patron of the Taranjot Welfare Society, and sarpanch Amarjit Kaur said the initiative was aimed at making stubble management easier for farmers and ensuring that they did not have to bear any additional cost for clearing their fields. “One baler will provide a benefit of Rs 400-500 per acre to a farmer,” said the sarpanch. Villagers said the organisation had been working for several years to create awareness among farmers against stubble continued on page 8 Peter Hegemann Georg Nagel Karl Deisseroth 3 scientists get medicine Nobel for brain research Stockholm, October 5 American Karl Deisseroth and Germans Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for developing optogenetics, a technique that uses light to control individual nerve cells in the brain. The Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute said Deisseroth (54), Hegemann (71) and Nagel (73) had been selected for their “discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics”. “This method (optogenetics) makes it possible to switch on, or off, the activity of individual nerve cells in a living brain,” said Thomas Perlmann, Secretary-General of the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute. “This method is now being used in laboratories around the world to reveal the brain’s mysteries,” he said. Anna Wedell, a professor in genetics and a member of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, said a new era in neuroscience had opened but it was only the beginning. “For the first time we can actually start to understand how the brain processes information and how different continued on page 8