03012023-TTC-01.qxd 1/3/2023 12:27 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 143 NO. 3 | 12 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 BEIJING WILLING TO IMPROVE TIES WITH NEW DELHI: GANG WORLD /thetribunechd ZOMATO CO-FOUNDER, CTO GUNJAN PATIDAR RESIGNS BUSINESS EX-MINISTER ASHU’S PA HELD IN TENDER SCAM CASE PUNJAB SHAH SEEKS REPORT AS DELHI WOMAN DRAGGED BY CAR BACK PAGE tuesday | 3 january 2023 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com 4:1 verdict, SC upholds 2016 note ban Says can’t be called illegal merely because some citizens suffered Dissentingnote: ❝ NOT MUCH SCOPE FOR Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 2 More than six years after the Centre demonetised the currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination, the Supreme Court on Monday upheld the decision to be valid and legal, saying merely because some citizens suffered hardships was not a ground to hold it bad in law. By a majority of 4:1, a fivejudge Constitution Bench led by Justice S Abdul Nazeer declared that the November 8, 2016, decision didn’t suffer from any illegality and courts couldn’t sit in judgment over such matters of economic policy. “It is more than settled that the court gives a large leeway to the executive and the legislature in matters of economic policy,” said the majority judgment by Justice Nazeer, Justice BR Gavai, Justice AS Bopanna and Justice V Ramasubramanian. However, the fifth judge on the Bench, Justice BV Nagarathna, delivered a dissenting verdict as she found fault with the process of demonetisation. “It is not the function of this court or of any other court to sit in judgment over continued on page 9 edit: Note ban was valid REVIEW: MAJORITY VIEW Scope for judicial review in matters of economic policy is narrow and there has to be great restraint. Note ban decision had a reasonable nexus with its objectives, such as eradicating black money, terror funding, etc... it is not relevant if objectives were achieved or not. People queue up outside a bank to exchange banned notes. FILE VITIATED, UNLAWFUL, PARL CAN’T BE LEFT ALOOF It can’t be said there was no conscious, effective and DeMo was vitiated... notification issued was unlawful… purposeful consultation Parliament can’t be left aloof in a matter of such importance (between govt and RBI). and its views on the subject of demonetisation were Justices SA Nazeer, BR Gavai, AS Bopanna critical and of utmost importance. Justice BV Nagarathna and V Ramasubramanian BJP terms it vindication, Cong ‘slap on wrist’ Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 2 Supreme Court’s majority judgment upholding the constitutional validity of the government’s November 8, 2016, demonetisation decision sparked off a political slugfest, with the ruling BJP claiming vindication of stand and Opposition Congress harping on the dissenting WILL RAHUL GANDHI SAY SORRY NOW? - Ravi Shankar Prasad WRONG TO CONCLUDE THE SC HAS UPHELD MOVE - Congress judgment. Moments after Congress veteran P Chidambaram flagged the minority judgment as “a welcome slap on the wrist of the government,” senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad “condemned” former Finance Minister’s remarks as “scandalous and selective” while hailing the SC judgment as “historic and in national interest”. The BJP said the note ban had dealt the biggest blow to terrorism and asked if former Congress president Rahul Gandhi would apologise for his anti-demonetisation continued on page 9 ‘Noapplication of mind by RBI’ NewDelhi, January2 Justice BV Nagarathna, who was part of the five-judge Constitution Bench that rejected pleas challenging demonetisation by a 4:1 majority verdict, delivered a dissenting note as she found fault with the process. There was no independent application of mind by the RBI in recommending the cancellation of entire Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes as proposed by the Central Government, she said, adding that “Parliament was a miniature of the country.... Parliament which is the centre of democracy cannot be left aloof in a matter of such critical importance.” She noted that Parliament, which is the fulcrum in our democratic system of governance, must be taken into confidence because it was the representative of the people of the country. While declaring the action of demonetisation as “an exercise of power contrary to law and therefore unlawful”, Justice Nagarathna said, “The status quo ante cannot be restored at this point of time.” — TNS Sack minister or face stir: Khap’s 5-day ultimatum Recession to hit 1/3rd of world this year: IMF Ravinder Saini Washington, January 2 A third of the global economy will be in recession this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief has said, and warned that 2023 would be “tougher” than last year as the US, EU and China would see their economies slow down. Kristalina Georgieva’s assertions came at a time when the ongoing conflict in Ukraine shows no signs of abating after more than 10 months, with spiralling inflation, higher interest rates and the surge in Covid infections in China. “We expect one-third of the world economy to be in recession. Even in countries that are not in recession, it would feel like a recession for continued on page 9 Tribune News Service Jhajjar, January 2 The Dhankar Khap-12 (caste council of dozen villages) in the district has come out in favour of the woman junior athletics coach who has levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Haryana minister Sandeep Singh. The khap served an ultimatum today on the state government, asking it to sack the minister from the Cabinet by Saturday or face a statewide agitation to ensure “justice” for the coach, who belongs to one of the 12 villages in the district. The khap condemned the government for not taking stern action against the minister even two days after an FIR was lodged against him by the Chandigarh Police. After being booked for sexual harassment on Saturday, Sandeep Singh gave up his sports portfolio on Sunday, but continued to remain in the Cabinet and be in-charge of the printing and stationery ministry. The ultimatum was issued by the Dhankar Khap12 at a panchayat in Dawla village of Jhajjar district. The panchayat, led by its chief continued on page 9 EAM S Jaishankar with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in Vienna. ANI Ukraine conflict matter of deep concern: EAM New Delhi, January 2 Voicing “very deep” concern over the Ukraine conflict, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said India is on the side of peace and New Delhi’s effort has been to bring Moscow and Kyiv to return to dialogue and diplomacy as differences cannot be settled through violence. “This conflict is really a matter of very, very deep concern… PM Modi declared in September (that) we actually genuinely believe that this is no longer an era of war. You cannot settle differences and issues through violence,” Jaishankar said, adding PM Modi had been in contact with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, pressing them to return to dialogue and diplomacy. Jaishankar, who arrived here from Cyprus on the sec- SAYS UN NEEDS OVERHAUL; G20 PRESIDENCY ‘BIG DEAL’ MOBILITY PACT Terming the mobility agreement as strategically important, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said, “We had exploding numbers of Indians coming illegally via Serbia. In 2021, we had 600 asylum applications from Indian citizens. And, suddenly these reached 18,000 last year.” ond leg of his two-nation tour, made the remarks while delivering a joint press statement after talks with Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg. “We are also increasingly anxious about the knock-on effects of the conflict in continued on page 9 JOBS SHRINK 8.3% India’s unemployment rate in December 37.4% 28.5% 20.8% 19.1% 18% Highest in Haryana Rajasthan Delhi Bihar Jharkhand SOURCE: CMIE THE CHINA FACTOR couple of ❝ Nextwill be tough for months China and its impact on region and global growth will be negative. Kristalina Georgieva, IMF CHIEF IN BRIEF Sharjah-bound flight grounded after bird-hit COIMBATORE: The take-off of a Sharjah-bound Air Arabia flight, carrying 164 passengers, from the international airport here was aborted after the aircraft was hit by two eagles on Monday, sources said. PTI Live shell found near Punjab CM’s residence CHANDIGARH: A bomb disposal squad was rushed to the spot after a live shell was found near CM Bhagwant Mann’s residence here. The shell was found in a forest area on the Kansal-Nayagaon road. TNS Second leopard shot within week in Ropar forests Sukhu in Delhi to finalise names of Forest Dept to hold probe, intensify patrolling |Hunting permits to be scrutinised Speaker, deputy Ropar, January 2 victim of poaching or there some other arms licence Even as the police are yet to identify the culprits involved in the shooting of a leopard cub in the Nangal forests on December 27, another leopard carcass was found 30 km away in the Nurpur Bedi forest area of Ropar district last evening. Five bullet splinters were recovered from the carcass of a five-year-old male wild cat during the postmortem conducted today, Ropar Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) A leopard found dead in Ropar. Kulraj Singh said. Forest Department officials said the leopard could have been a could be the involvement of people who have the permission to hunt wild boar and blue bull (which are declared vermin in Ropar district) only in their fields. According to the DFO, a farmer can obtain a permit to kill wild boar and blue bull entering his fields to protect his crop in Ropar district. If a farmer does not possess the arms licence, he can apply for permission to nominate holder to enter his fields and hunt down the vermin. After hunting down the vermin, the farmer is supposed to inform the authorities about it and it is left to his discretion to consume the meat or bury the carcass. The DFO said poachers of big cats usually take away the skin, claws and teeth of the animal due to the huge demand for these items in continued on page 9 Shimla: Ahead of Himachal Pradesh Assembly session scheduled in Dharamsala from January 4-6, CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu flew to New Delhi on Monday probably to finalise names for the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, both of whom will be elected on January 5. Rumours are rife no senior MLA is willing to take the constitutional posts and only want ministerial berths. INSIDE Grieving family members of one of the victims in the Upper Dhangri village of Rajouri. PTI Rajouri again, 2 minors dead in blast, locals call it security lapse 4-yr-old among killed |L-G meets protesters Our Correspondent Jammu, January 2 In what could be termed as failure of the security establishment, two minor siblings were killed and nine others injured on Monday morning in an IED blast that took place at the same site in Upper Dhangri village of J&K’s Rajouri district where four persons were gunned down by terrorists on Sunday evening. Panic gripped the village as a large number of security personnel and mediapersons had gathered at the spot when the blast occurred at the house of one of the four deceased, Deepak Kumar. Four-year-old Vihan and his 16-year-old sister Sumiksha were killed in the blast. Their two other siblings, Angel (8) and Sanvi (7), were among the nine injured. Additional Director General of Police Mukesh Singh, who was in the village when the IED exploded, said continued on page 9 edit: terror attacks in J&K Lives saved as VDC member fired at ultras Arjun Sharma J&K L-G Manoj Sinha in Upper Dhangri village. PTI NIA TEAM IN VILLAGE ■ A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team from Jammu will ascertain which terror outfit had engineered the attack ■ NIA officials visit the site of a terror attack even before the probe is handed over to the agency for first-hand details THOSE DEAD: Vihan (4) & Sumiksha (16) INJURED: Kaniya Sharma (14) | Kamlesh Devi (48) | Sejal Sharma (18) | Sharda Devi (38) | Angel Sharma (8) | Sanvi Sharma (7) | Vansh Bhargav (15) | Santosh Sharma (45) | Samiksha (14) Jammu, January 2 The Rajouri terror attack on Sunday evening could have turned into a massacre had a Village Defence Committee (VDC) member not retaliated when the two terrorists fired indiscriminately at the residents at Upper Dhangri village. Armed with AK-series rifles, the terrorists killed four persons and injured several others. The villagers say it appeared the terrorists wanted to revive the memories of the 1990s when several massacres of the Hindu community members had taken place in J&K. Upper Dhangri sarpanch Dheeraj Sharma told The Tribune that after the terrorist attack, the VDC member rushed out of his house and fired two bullets from his .303 rifle that took time to reload. “Seeing armed retaliation, the terrorists fled. continued on page 9