27032025-TTC-01.qxd 3/27/2025 12:43 AM Page 1 13 ‘MY FAULT’: WALTZ ON YEMEN WAR PLAN LEAK WORLD /thetribunechd CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 9 NO. 84 | 16 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 thursday | 27 march 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com State’s debt projected to swell to ~4.17L cr, with majority of funds locked in salaries, subsidies and interest payments TRUMP ALL PRAISE FOR INDIA’S VOTING SYSTEM BACK PAGE No funds for ~1K monthly grant to women, a key poll promise; Health insurance cover of ~10 lakh extended to all 65L families No new tax; boost to anti-drug war, health FISCAL INDICATORS SC stays Allahabad HC’s ‘grabbing breasts not rape bid’ verdict Satya Prakash Tribune News Service REVENUE RECEIPTS REVENUE EXPENDITURE REVENUE DEFICIT OUTSTANDING DEBT REPAYMENT OF DEBT INTEREST ON LOANS PUBLIC DEBT RECEIPTS POWER SUBSIDY Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 26 No new taxes were imposed as Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday presented a Rs 2.36 lakh crore Budget for 2025-26 that prioritised combating the drug menace, improving policing and strengthening the health and education infrastructure. Notably absent was the fulfilment of AAP’s key electoral promise of Rs 1,000 monthly allowance for women, although the government maintained its free bus travel scheme for women with an allocation of Rs 450 crore, the same as the current fiscal despite actual costs exceeding Rs 750 crore. Though Cheema empha- Breach of privilege noticeagainstKamra MUMBAI: A breach of privilege notice was moved against stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra in the Maharashtra Legislative Council on Wednesday by BJP legislator Pravin Darekar over his parody song targeting Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. — PTI HCbinscaseagainst Tribune journalists CHANDIGARH: Over four years after Tribune journalists were summoned in a defamation case by a Mansa court, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday quashed the criminal complaint. INSIDE BIGGEST BUDGET, WILL RESTORE STATE’S GLORY At 2.36L cr, this is the biggest Budget of Punjab till date. It is our constant effort to make the state ‘Rangla Punjab’. Bhagwant Mann, CM ❝ Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Cheema ahead of the Budget presentation in Chandigarh on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR sised fiscal consolidation, claiming that both revenue deficit and fiscal deficit “are well under control”, the Bud- get documents show that the state’s total debt is projected to swell to Rs 4.17 lakh crore by March next year. The total revenue deficit in 2025-26 will be Rs 23,957.28 crore or 2.51 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), an increase of 9 per cent. Cheema called the debt a “burden inherited from the previous Congress and 2 weeks after ED, CBI raids C’garh ex-CM’s residence in betting case Ujwal Jalali & Ubeer Naqushbandi Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 26 The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday conducted raids at 60 locations across four states, including the premises linked to former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, in connection with the Mahadev app betting case. The CBI’s action comes just two weeks after the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at the residence of Baghel, who is also the Congress incharge for Punjab. According to the Security personnel guard the residence of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel during a CBI raid in Bhilai. PTI probe agency, the searches were conducted in Chhattisgarh, Bhopal, Kolkata and Delhi, including premises court’s control. It observed, “Such apprehension is without any basis since the appellant will only temporarily be handed over to the Parliament security, that too for the limited purpose.” The probe agency argument of Rashid being a “flight risk” within the precincts of Parliament also stood rejected by continued on page 8 Tribune News Service chandigarh, March 26 The Punjab Government on Wednesday appointed ADGP Surinder Pal Singh Parmar as the Chief Director, Vigilance Bureau, replacing ADGP G Nageswara Rao, who was posted there just a month ago. Rao had replaced DGP Varinder Kumar, who Bhartesh Singh Thakur Chandigarh, March 26 The Haryana Government today admitted in the Vidhan Sabha that schools are short of at least 11,475 rooms, including 6,848 classrooms, while the vacancy rate among post graduate teachers (PGTs) stands at 22.6 per cent. Replying to a Calling Attention Notice moved by Congress MLA Ashok Arora on the “pitiable” condition of government schools, Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda said Short of 6,848 classrooms, 22.6% PGT teachers as per a review of infrastructure conducted on May 10, 2023, it was assessed that 8,240 classrooms, 5,630 other rooms and 321 boundary walls were required. To bridge the gap, the Education Department sanctioned Rs 473.44 crore in STATE IN FISCAL MESS, LAW & ORDER POOR Punjab’s fiscal condition is bad. AAP’s poll promise of ~1,100 aid for women unfulfilled… even law and order situation is poor. ❝ Partap Singh Bajwa, LOP DETAILED COVERAGE INSIDE linked to politicians, senior bureaucrats, police officers, key functionaries of continued on page 8 headed the VB for almost three years before he was unceremoniously shunted out. Parmar is known as an experienced investigator. He has handled several sensitive investigations, including sacrilege cases. He is currently heading the special investigation team (SIT) probe into the Patiala Colonel attack incident. Haryana govt schools grapple with poor infra Tribune News Service 2025-26 1,11,740.32 1,35,697.60 23,975.28 4,17,136.10 18,198.89 24,995.49 49,900 20,500 ALL FIGURES IN ~CRORE Rashidgetsinterimbail Parmar replaces Rao as to attend Parl session Punjab Vigilance chief New Delhi, March 26 The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to Jammu and Kashmir MP Engineer Rashid for attending the Parliament session from March 26 to April 4 while “in custody”. The court rejected the apprehension of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that he would be beyond the 2024-25 1,03,720.15 1,32,405.13 28,684.98 3,82,934.98 12,866.56 23,953.72 46,616.48 20,200 2023-24 and an additional Rs 306.84 crore in 2024-25. He informed the Assembly that 1,392 classrooms, 1,003 other rooms and 172 boundary walls were scheduled to be completed between April 2023 and January this year. Even if it is assumed that these projects have been completed, 6,848 classrooms and 4,627 other rooms are still required. Dhanda admitted that work on 1,144 classrooms, 624 other rooms, and 192 boundary walls was in progress and was continued on page 8 Today’s issue is of 16 pages, including four-page Jalandhar Tribune. c m y b Akali-BJP governments, which he is trying to repay”. continued on page 8 Edit: AAP’s Budget vision New Delhi, March 26 Terming it “totally insensitive” and “inhuman”, the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Allahabad High Court’s controversial verdict that said mere “grabbing of a girl’s breasts” and “pulling her pyjama string” did not amount to the offence of attempt to rape. “It was totally insensitive on the part of the learned judge to make such observations,” a Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih said. “We are at pains to state that some of the observations made in the impugned order depict a total lack of sensitivity on part of the author of the judgment. The perusal of the judgment would reveal that it was not as if the judgment was dictated on the spur of the moment in the court. The matter was reserved on November 13, 2024, and after almost more than four months, the judgment was pronounced. It’s thus clear that the judge has authored the verdict after application of mind,” the Bench said. “In normal circumstances, we are slow in granting a stay at this stage. But since observations are totally unknown to canons of law and depict a totally insensitive and inhuman approach, we are inclined to stay the observations,” it said. The top court, which took suo motu cognisance of the matter on Tuesday on the basis of a letter addressed to the CJI by an NGO — ‘We the Women of India’, also directed that the order be communicated to the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court for taking “steps as deemed fit and proper”. Issuing a notice to the Centre, state of Uttar Pradesh and the accused, the Bench posted the matter for hearing continued on page 8