01032025-TTC-01.qxd 4/1/2025 12:35 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 145 NO. 89 | 14 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 KHAMENEI HITS BACK AFTER US BOMBING THREATS WORLD /thetribunechd WAS PUT UNDER HOUSE ARREST, CLAIMS MIRWAIZ J&K FRANCE FINES APPLE $162 MN FOR ABUSING DOMINANCE BUSINESS FTA TALKS MAY FIGURE AS FM VISITS LONDON NEXT WEEK BACK PAGE tuesday | 1 april 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Modi to lead nation beyond ’29: BJP junks PM’s retirement talk Mughal culture to plan successor when father’s alive: Fadnavis on Raut claim Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service EXITING POLITICS AT 75 New Delhi, March 31 The ruling BJP on Monday firmly dismissed speculation about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s retirement in 2025 saying it was inappropriate to discuss succession when the patriarch of the family was alive. Moments after Shiv Sena UBT’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut claimed PM Modi went to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters on Sunday to announce his retirement plan, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Modi would again be the PM in 2029. Raut claimed Modi’s successor would be decided by the RSS and that was the reason he went to the Sangh headquarters for a closeddoor meeting. The Shiv Sena UBT leader also said the PM’s heir would hail from Maharashtra. Fadnavis offered a quick retort saying in Indian culture, it was inappropriate to talk about succession plans when the “father is alive”. “This kind of discussion happens in Mughal culture. Time to discuss this has not ■ After BJP’s 2014 LS win, vet- erans Atal Behari Vajpayee (90 at the time), LK Advani (87) and Murli Manohar Joshi (80) are dropped from parliamentary board and brought into Margdarshak Mandal ■ In 2019 LS polls, Advani (92), Joshi (85) & Sumitra Mahajan (76) opt out of LS race ■ In July 2016 Cabinet rejig, Modi drops Najma Heptullah, who had turned 76 in April ■ In 2017, MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan drops veteran Babulal Gaur (87) and Sartaj Singh (77) from Cabinet EXCEPTIONS Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. PTI ❝ RSS TO DECIDE MODI’S SUCCESSOR It appears Modi’s heir will be decided by RSS which is why he was called (to HQ)…. The Sangh will decide Modi’s heir and that leader may be from Maharashtra. Sanjay Raut, SHIV SENA-UBT come,” the Maharashtra CM said. He added Modi would continue to lead the country beyond 2029, the year of the 19th Lok Sabha elections. Senior RSS leader Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi, who heads the Hedgewar Smarak Samiti that Rohtak varsity sacks 2 staffers arrested in MBBS exam scam Ravinder Saini Tribune News Service Rohtak, March 31 Pt BD Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, has terminated the services two regular employees — Roshan Lal, a computer operator, and Rohit, an assistant — for their involvement in an MBBS exam scam. The dismissals were confirmed by UHSR Vice Chancellor Prof HK Aggarwal. The scandal involved the illicit smuggling of answer sheets from the university during annual and supplementary MBBS examinations. Students allegedly reattempted answers following which university staff secretly resubmitted the sheets to help them secure passing marks through fraudulent means. Following an expose by The Tribune in January, both employees were suspended. By February, the UHSR escalated its response by filing an FIR against 41 individuals, including 24 MBBS students from a private college and 17 UHSR employees. Roshan Lal and Rohit were among those named in the FIR and were subsequently arrested. SC to hear plea on Worship Act today NEW DELHI:The Supreme Court will take up on Tuesday a petition challenging the validity of a provision of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, that mandates maintaining the religious character of a place as it existed on August 15, 1947. Enacted during the Narasimha Rao government amid the Ram Mandir agitation, this Act freezes the religious character of a place of worship, except that of the Ram Janmabhoomi. INSIDE looks after the memorial to RSS founder KB Hedgewar and second RSS chief MS Golwalkar, also denied knowledge of any plan for Modi’s retirement or succession. “I have no information about any such thing. I feel PM’s arrival and the gesture of ■ UP BJP stalwart Kalraj Mishra (75), the oldest minister then, was retained ahead of 2017 UP polls ■ In 2021, BJP fields Metroman E Sreedharan (88) from Palakkad in Kerala Assembly polls laying the foundation stone for the Madhav Netralaya Centre building elevated the institute’s stature. His visit as a swayamsevak (RSS volunteer) to Reshimbagh on the continued on page 9 edit: rss-bjp bonhomie Incorrect: India rejects NYT report on HAL’s Russia link FILE Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 31 A report in The New York Times linking a company that is part of a British aerospace major to public sector Indian defence company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and claiming that the latter has ties with a Russian arms agency is “factually incorrect” and “misleading”, official sources said on Monday. The newspaper report suggested that military hardware supplied by the British firm to the Indian company may have found its way to the Russian agency, Rosoboronexport. The report has “tried to frame issues and distort facts to suit a political narrative”, the sources said, adding that the media outlet “overlooked” basic due diligence. “The Indian entity mentioned in the report has scrupulously followed all its international obligations on strategic trade controls and end-user commitments,” said the sources. “India’s robust legal and regulatory framework on strategic trade continues to guide overseas commercial ventures by its companies,” they said. “We expect reputed media ‘SUPPLIED’ UK FIRM GEAR TO MOSCOW AGENCY ■ The newspaper report sug- gested that military hardware supplied by the British firm to the Indian company may have found its way to Russian agency Rosoboronexport ■ Citing “documents”, it claimed that one of the biggest corpo- rate donors to the populist Reform UK party had sold almost $2 million worth of transmitters, cockpit equipment, antennas and other sensitive technology to a major supplier of Moscow’s blacklisted state weapons agency outlets to undertake basic due diligence while publishing such reports, which obviously was overlooked in the instant case,” the sources said. The New York Times report, citing “documents”, claimed that one of the biggest corporate donors to the populist Reform UK party had sold almost $2 million worth of transmitters, cockpit equipment, antennas and other sensitive technology to a major supplier of Moscow’s blacklisted state weapons agency. During 2023-24, the company, part of the British firm HR Smith Group, shipped the equipment to an Indian firm that is the biggest trading partner of the Russian arms agency, the report claimed. The records do not prove that HR Smith’s products ended up in Russia. However, they show that, in some instances, the Indian company received equipment from HR Smith and, within days, sent parts to Russia with the same identifying product codes,” the report said. The HR Smith Group said its sales were lawful and the equipment was destined for an Indian search-and-rescue network. The parts “support lifesaving operations” and are “not designed for military use”, it quoted a company lawyer as saying. THE DEVOUT JAMMU: A police team came under fire from terrorists in a combing operation in Kathua district on Monday night, sources said. The operation was underway in the Panjtirthi area of the Ramkote belt. A night cordon has been laid to ensure that the three terrorists trapped in the forest do not escape, the sources said. INSIDE AFSPA extended in 3 districts of Assam GUWAHATI: The Assam Government has extended the application of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) in three districts for six more months following a review of the law and order situation. It withdrew the law from Dibrugarh district as the situation “improved” there. INSIDE ~27-cr drugs seized; five arrested in Delhi NEW DELHI: A joint team of the Narcotics Control Bureau and Delhi Police busted a major narco-network in Delhi-NCR and seized a large cache of narcotics worth Rs 27.4 crore and arrested five persons. Sources said the seizure included high-quality crystal meth, Afghan heroin and the MDMA. — PTI Now, 5th SIT to hold investigation against Majithia in drugs case Aman Sood Tribune News Service STUDENTS ALLOWED TO SMUGGLE ANSWER SHEETS ■ University employees helped students smuggle answer sheets, allowing them to rewrite answers ■ An FIR was filed against 41 accused, including 24 students and 17 staff members ■ The sacked employees reportedly confessed to tampering with answer sheets. “The police investigation is ongoing, with students from two private colleges across the state implicated so far. The university’s internal inquiry also uncovered discrepancies between marks on answer sheets and those recorded in award lists, suggesting possible tampering,” sources revealed. The dismissal orders, issued by the Vice Chancellor on Monday, cited the employees’ confessions during police interrogation as grounds for termination, stating they were “unfit to remain in service”. According to the order, Roshan Lal admitted to altering, replacing and manipulating continued on page 9 Gunfight in Kathua during search op Devotees offer prayers outside Hazratbal shrine, which saw the largest congregation in the Valley, on Eid-ul-Fitr in Srinagar on Monday. ANI U’khand renames 17 places with Mughal link Tribune News Service new delhi, March 31 Amid the ongoing controversy over Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb in Maharashtra, the BJP-led Uttarakhand Government on Monday renamed 17 locations across four districts, removing all Mughal-era references. At least 10 places which have Move reflects public sentiment, Indian culture: Dhami undergone a name change are located in Haridwar district, four in Dehradun, two in Nainital and one in Udham Singh Nagar. Aurangzebpur in Haridwar has been renamed Shivaji Nagar, Ghaziwali as Arya Nagar, Khanpur as Shri Krishnapur and Khanpur Kursali as Ambedkar Nagar. Likewise, Miyawala in Dehradun will now be called Ramjiwala, Chandpur Khurd as Prithviraj Nagar, Nawabi Road in Nainital has a new name Atal Road and Panchukki Marg has been renamed Guru Golwalkar Marg after the second Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief. “The names of various places are being changed in accordance with public sentiment and Indian culture and heritage. They are being named after great men who contributed to the Indian culture continued on page 9 Patiala, March 31 Under fire over tardy investigation into the drugs case against former Akali minister Bikram Singh Majithia, the Punjab Police today yet again replaced the head of the special investigation team (SIT) and two other members. This is now the fifth SIT that will carry out the probe against Majithia. As per the orders, a copy of which is with The Tribune, the office of the Director, Bureau of Investigation, has ordered that “on administrative grounds, the SIT constituted to investigate case FIR No. 2/2021 cited in the subject above is hereby reconstituted comprising the following officers”. Varun Sharma, AIG (Provisioning), who was a member of the outgoing SIT, today replaced DIG HS Bhullar as the SIT chairperson. SSP Tarn Taran, , Abhimanyu Rana and SP NRI, , Patiala, Gurbans Singh Bains are the other two members, read the orders, dated March 31. Interestingly, all earlier SITs were headed by the rank of DIG and above and it is the first time that it is AIG-rank officer Varun Sharma appointed head WAS BOOKED IN 2021 ■ Majithia booked under the NDPS Act, 1985, on Dec 20, 2021 ■ Then Charanjit Singh Chan- ni-led Congress government had set up a three-member team, led by AIG Balraj Singh, to conduct the probe ■ FIR was registered at the state crime police station in Mohali on the basis of a 2018 report of the anti-drug special task force ■ In May 2023, IG, Patiala, Mukhvinder Singh Chhina made head of the SIT in place of Rahul S, DIG ■ In Jan 2024, Harcharan Singh Bhullar made the SIT head after Chhina’s retirement being headed by an AIGrank officer. Majithia was booked during the Congress continued on page 9 New tender in works, Oberoi to run Delhi businessman, nine others seek share in Wildflower Hall for 3 more months former Faridkot ruler’s ~25,000-crore property Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, March 31 The Oberoi Group will continue to manage the luxury Wildflower Hall hotel for the next three months under a new arrangement with the Himachal Pradesh Government, even as the original deadline for handing over the property expired on Monday. The High Court had set HC deadline to hand over property to HP Govt ends March 31, 2025, as the deadline for the property’s return to the state government, marking the end of a twodecade legal battle that ruled in Himachal’s favour. However, the court has been informed that both parties have agreed to extend the Oberoi Group’s operation for another three months. The decision stems from the state government’s lack of expertise in managing a high-end hotel of this stature — one of the top properties being run by the Oberoi Group. Reliable sources indicate that the government aims at preventing revenue continued on page 9 Ramkrishan Upadhyay Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 31 A businessman from Delhi, Sardar Gurpreet Singh, and nine others have approached the Chandigarh District Courts seeking their share in properties worth over Rs 25,000 crore of a former ruler of Faridkot, Harinder Singh Brar. Claiming to be the “legal beneficiaries” of Rajkumari c m y b File plea in UT court on basis of his daughter’s will Maheep Inder Kaur, one of the three daughters of Brar, they have filed an execution petition before the court. The claimants said Brar had three daughters — Amrit Kaur, Deepinder Kaur and Maheep Inder Kaur — and a son. They said after Brar’s death, the following “class one heirs were alive and available to inherit his property in an equal share of 25 per cent per person”. They were Maharani Mohinder Kaur (mother) and daughters Amrit Kaur, Deepinder Kaur and Maheep Inder Kaur. They said Maheep Inder Kaur died on July 26, 2001, leaving the last will, dated December 11, 1995. They said they had filed an execution plea for 25 per cent share in the properties by virtue of her will and other supporting documents. Besides the will, the claimants have also submitted an irrevocable assignment deed and affidavit, dated December 11, 1995, and a registered power of attorney continued on page 9