14082025-TTC-01.qxd 8/14/2025 12:41 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 9 NO. 224 | 18 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 IF NO TRUCE, THERE’LL BE CONSEQUENCES, TRUMP WARNS PUTIN WORLD /thetribunechd SC TO HEAR PETITIONS ON RESTORATION OF STATEHOOD TODAY J&K US TARIFF IMPACT WON’T LAST MORE THAN SIX MONTHS: CEA BUSINESS ED GRILLS SURESH RAINA IN ‘ILLEGAL’ ONLINE BETTING APP CASE SPORT thursday | 14 august 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com First-ever EVM recount on SC order flips Hry panchayat result Work ‘delayed’ Centre scraps , ~800-cr PMGSYprojects in Pb Double blow as ~7,000-cr rural fund was withheld earlier Ruchika M Khanna Court calls Panipat village poll record, holds recheck under its watch Satya Prakash RARE INTERVENTION Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 13 In a first-of-its-kind exercise, the Supreme Court summoned electronic voting machines (EVMs) and other records related to the election of the sarpanch of Buana Lakhu gram panchayat in Panipat district of Haryana and conducted a recount of votes within its premises, leading to a reversal of the original result. The recount was carried out by Supreme Court OSD (Registrar) Kaveri in the presence of both parties and their advocates, with the entire process being videographed. In its August 11 order, a Bench led by Justice Surya Kant said, “The Deputy Commissioner-cum-Election Officer, Panipat, is accordingly directed to issue a notification within two days declaring the appellant (Mohit Kumar) as the elected sarpanch of the above-mentioned gram panchayat.” The Bench, which also included Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice N Kotiswar Singh, further ordered, “The appellant (Mohit Kumar) shall ■ Mohit Kumar loses 2022 sarpanch poll to Kuldeep Singh in Panipat’s Buana Lakhu village; challenges result ■ Approaches election tribunal, which orders recount of votes at one booth; Punjab & Haryana HC sets aside order ■ Kumar then moves SC; after videographed recount, Kumar secures 1,051 votes, defeating Kuldeep (1,000 votes) be entitled to assume the said office (of sarpanch) forthwith and perform his duties.” The dispute arose from the November 2, 2022, election, where Kuldeep Singh had initially defeated Mohit Kumar and was declared the winner. Kumar challenged the result by filing an election petition before the Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division)-cumElection Tribunal of Panipat, which on April 22, 2025, ordered a recount of votes from booth No. 69 to be conducted by the Deputy Commissionercum-Election Officer on May 7, 2025. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside this order on July 1, 2025. Kumar then approached the Supreme Court, contesting the high court’s decision. On July 31, the Supreme Court directed the production of EVMs and other records and ordered a recount of votes from all booths, not just one, to be conducted by a registrar of the court. The order stated, “Taking into consideration the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case, the Deputy Commissioner and the District Election Officer, Panipat, are directed to produce all EVMs before the registrar of this court, to be nominated by the Secretary General, at 10 am on August 6. The nominated ‘Dead’ voters come alive registrar shall recount the votes, not only of the disputed booth but of all the booths. The recounting shall be duly videographed. The petitioner as well as the respondent No. 1 or their authorised agents shall remain present.” On August 6, OSD (Registrar) Kaveri recounted the votes from all booths (65 to 70) and submitted a report revealing that out of 3,767 votes cast, Mohit Kumar secured 1,051 votes, while his nearest rival Kuldeep Singh got 1,000 votes. The Supreme Court, accepting the report, stated, “There being prima facie no reason to doubt the report submitted by the OSD (Registrar) of this court, especially when the entire recounting has been duly videographed and its result is signed by the representatives of the parties, we are satisfied that the appellant (Mohit Kumar) deserves to be declared as the elected sarpanch of gram panchayat of Buana Lakhu village.” The court set aside the high court’s verdict but clarified that the parties could still raise any remaining issues before the election tribunal. Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 13 The Centre has scrapped road projects worth over Rs 800 crore allotted to Punjab under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana-III due to “delays” by the state government in floating tenders and starting construction work. The move has dealt a double blow to the cash-strapped Punjab Government as the Centre had already withheld grants of over Rs 7,000 crore under the Rural Development Fund (RDF), which is crucial for repairing infrastructure and roads in rural parts. The Tribune has learnt that under the PMGSY-III, the Adil Akhzer Srinagar, August 13 A soldier was killed in an exchange of fire with terrorists as the Army foiled an “infiltration bid” along the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector on Wednesday, sources said. A senior security official said a “short, intense” exchange of Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 13 The Supreme Court on Wednesday cancelled the bail of Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar in a 2021 murder case of former junior national wrestling champion Sagar Dhankar at Chhatrasal Stadium here. It further ordered him to surrender within a week. From Oct 4, banks to clear cheques within a few hours Jaishankar to visit Russia ahead of PM-Putin meet Mumbai, August13 The RBI will introduce a new mechanism from October 4 for clearance of cheques within hours of being presented to banks, reducing the current time period of up to two days. Cheques will be scanned, presented and passed in a few hours and on a continuous basis during business hours. The clearing cycle will be reduced from the present T+1 days to a few hours. Cheque Truncation System (CTS) continued on page 8 Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 13 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is scheduled to visit Russia on August 20-21 to hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. This will be the second highprofile visit from India to Russia after that of National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who was in Russia last week. Sources confirmed Jaishankar’s visit to Russia. The visit by Doval and the upcom- To meet Lavrov during August 20-21 tour ing visit by Jaishankar are aimed at setting the stage for the annual leaders’ summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit India later this year to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two sides are expected to give a push to their long-standing ties. continued on page 8 DIRECTS HIM TO SURRENDER IN A WEEK IN 2021 INCIDENT The order came from a Bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra on a petition filed by the victim’s father, Ashok Dhankar, challenging the Delhi High Court’s March 4 order granting bail to the Olympian. The Bench, however, said, “It shall be open for the accused to apply afresh for bail before the appropriate court, with a change in circumstances.” Noting that of the 35 witnesses examined, 28 had turned hostile, the Bench set aside the high court’s order, saying, “This pattern underscores the possibility of interference into the trial by the accused.” “Undoubtedly, the accused is a celebrated wrestler and an continued on page 8 98% Haryana jail staff flunk key dept exam Bhartesh Singh Thakur Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 13 The results of the departmental exams for Haryana jail staff, including superintendents, deputy superintendents, assistant superintendents and sub-assistant superintendents, paint a dismal picture, with a majority failing across key subjects. The exams were held in March. The worst perform- MAY LEAD TO DELAY IN PROMOTION, PAY HIKE ■ In Financial Rules paper, 40 of 41 staffers (98%) fail with just one deputy superintendent barely scraping through ■ Despite Hindi being primary language, 16 of 32 staffers fail Hindi test, exposing lack of basic knowledge ■ Failure to clear departmental exams may lead to delayed pro- motions and increments or even non-confirmation of service ance was in the Financial Rules paper, where 40 out of the 41 (98 per cent) candidates failed. According to the Home (Jail) Department notification dated August 7, 23 of the 41 candidates (over 55 per cent) failed the Punjab Jail Manual (excluding appen- Jaipur: A pickup van crashed into a parked truck in Rajasthan’s Dausa district on Wednesday, killing 11 UP residents, including seven children, and injuring eight others, the police said. The victims were returning to their village in UP’s Etah after visiting Khatu Shyam and Salasar Balaji temples. — PTI Temple desecrated in US city Indiana A damaged link road at Gura village in Mohali district. PRADEEP TEWARI Centre had initially sanctioned projects to upgrade 64 roads (measuring 628.48 km) and build 38 bridges (length exceeding 15 metres each). Punjab was to ensure the work on these projects, continued on page 8 New Delhi: The signboard of a Hindu temple was defaced in the US city of Indiana, an incident described by the Indian consulate as “reprehensible”. The “hateful act” took place at the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Greenwood city, the temple’s official public affairs account said in an X post. — TNS Army foils infiltration bid in Uri, soldier killed Top court cancels Olympian Sushil’s bail in murder case Congress leader Rahul Gandhi interacts with people allegedly declared dead in the Election Commission’s Bihar draft voter list, in New Delhi. The SC has said the electoral rolls can’t remain ‘static’. PTI BACK PAGE 7 kids among 11 from UP die in Raj mishap dices) paper, with only four clearing in the “pass higher standard” bracket and the remaining in the “pass lower standard” category. The Jail Manual paper saw a 50 per cent failure rate. Of the 26 staff members who appeared in the exam, 13 failed. Among those who cleared, only two came in the “higher standard” bracket. The Criminal Law paper recorded a continued on page 8 Today’s issue is of 18 pages, including four-page Jalandhar Tribune. c m y b fire took place in the sector and one soldier who sustained bullet injuries later succumbed. The slain soldier has been identified as Ankit Kumar, a resident of Bihar. The sources said alert personnel foiled an infiltration bid in the sector and the terrorists were pushed back. The terrorists were suspected to have been assisted by Pak- istan’s Border Action Team (BAT), the sources said. However, the Army has not confirmed whether BAT was involved in the infiltration bid on Wednesday. Soon after the incident, a massive search operation was launched in the area. Though no statement was issued about the incident, Srinagar-based Chinar Corps paid tributes to the deceased soldier. “Chinar Corps honours the supreme sacrifice of braveheart Havildar Ankit Kumar, who laid down his life while undertaking operational duty along the Line of Control in Uri, Baramulla,” the Army posted on X. “Chinar warriors salute his immense continued on page 8