21042026-TTB-01.qxd 4/21/2026 12:03 AM Page 1 c m y b 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 146 NO. 109 | 18 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  DELHI FRENCH PROSECUTORS SUMMON ELON MUSK IN X PROBE WORLD /thetribunechd VALLEY TRANSPORTERS PROTEST SMART CITY BUS EXPANSION J&K TWO RCOM OFFICIALS ARRESTED IN BANK ‘FRAUD’ CASE BUSINESS INDIA, UK DISCUSS MEANS TO DEEPEN DEFENCE PARTNERSHIP BACK PAGE tuesday | 21 april 2026 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com MUKESH AGGARWAL Vance ‘on way’ to Pak for talks, but Iran unsure it’ll participate Top court rejects UmarKhalid’splea seeking review of bail denial order Tehran toughens stance over Hormuz| Two-week truce ends tomorrow NURTURING TIES Tribune News Service Ujwal Jalali Tribune News Service PM Narendra Modi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung plant a sapling at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Monday. Both sides unveiled economic roadmap, setting $50 bn trade target by 2030. ‘Bias needs proof’: Justice Sharma rejects Kejriwal’s recusal petition Shekhar Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 20 Refusing to step aside from hearing the Delhi excise policy case, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on Monday dismissed all recusal applications moved by AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and other accused, holding that the pleas alleging apprehension of bias were driven by perception, not proof. She said this was not merely about deciding a legal dispute but about confronting a direct challenge to judicial independence itself. At the centre of the controversy, she remarked, was an unusual situation: instead of the court judging a litigant, the litigant had sought to place the judge and the institution in the dock. Justice Sharma made it clear that stepping aside would have been the easier option. She said her first instinct was to withdraw without hearing the applications after her impartiality and dignity were questioned. Justice Sharma said yet she chose to proceed with the hearing to ensure fairness and transparency. The court underlined that judicial impartiality was presumed and must be rebutted with concrete material. “Apprehension alone cannot replace evidence,” the judge indicated, pointing to contradictions in the applicants’ submissions, on one hand asserting faith in her integrity, and on the other seeking her removal. She cautioned that recusal could not be reduced to a tool in the hands of litigants. If accepted on such grounds, it would open the floodgates for forum shopping and weaken the justice delivery system. She rejected reliance on statements attributed to Home Minister Amit Shah, observing that courts could not be influenced by political commentary. Public statements by politicians, she noted, could not determine whether a judge hears a case. New Delhi, April 20 The second round of the USIran peace talks scheduled in Islamabad appeared uncertain as Tehran signalled reluctance to participate following the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by Washington even as the US claimed its delegation had already left for Pakistan. According to a US media report, US Vice-President JD Vance and a high-level American delegation are already en route to Pakistan for the next round of negotiations with Iran. The New York Post reported that the delegation, including special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner, is expected to arrive in Islamabad “within hours”. “We’re supposed to have the talks… I would assume at this point nobody’s playing games,” US President Donald Trump told the publication in a brief interview, downplaying concerns that negotiations could collapse. He also indicated willingness to meet senior Iranian leaders if a breakthrough was achieved. At the same time, Reuters news agency, citing continued on page 10 Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 20 The Supreme Court on Monday expressed anguish over repeated filing of applications in the West Bengal special intensive revision (SIR) case even as it agreed to seek a report from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court on allegations that appellate tribunals weren’t functioning. “Unfortunately, every day you people one after the other are (filing applications),” a Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said. The comments came after senior advocate Devadatt Kamat alleged during an urgent mentioning that appellate tribunals set up to adjudicate on appeals against exclusions of voters from electoral rolls during the exercise were not functioning despite the top court’s orders. Appellate tribunals were not allowing lawyers to represent parties and were not accepting physical applications, said Kamat, referring to newspaper reports. “There is a practical difficulty… appellate tribunals are not functioning. Lawyers are not being allowed. They only take Internet and computerbased applications. Citizens from thousands of kilometres are not allowed representation. This court’s orders are not being followed,” Kamat submitted. “We will get a report from the Chief Justice (of the Calcutta High Court) today itself,” the CJI told Kamat. Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 20 Almost a year after the terror attack at Pahalgam, it turns out that technology played a major role in helping the Army’s special forces to locate and then kill the three terrorists hiding in a forest in the upper reaches of South Kashmir. Technology played a decisive role, said sources describing the action taken after the April 22 attack that killed 26 tourists. A three-month-long Operation Mahadev ended on July 28 last year when the three terrorists were killed. Drones, UAVs, electro-optical sensors and other advanced surveillance tools were extensively employed to track movement in the dense Arjun Sharma Jammu, April 20 Twenty-one persons were killed while 42 others were injured when the private bus they were travelling in rolled down a hillside in the Ramnagar area of Jammu and Kash- forested zones, said the sources. Continuous validation was done using these tools to ensure terrorists remained under pressure. Within hours of the attack on April 22, Army troops reached the site and began piecing together the sequence of events. Eyewitness accounts, including that of an Army officer present at the location, confirmed the involvement of three Pakistani terrorists. A blend of human intelligence and technical inputs was done based on survivorbased identification that led the confirmation of the perpetrators as Sulaiman Shah, Hamza Afgani and Jibran Bhai — all of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terror outfit continued on page 10 Hired for lakhs, singers belt out poll tunes for AAP govt Ruchika M Khanna, Neeraj Bagga & Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann and AAP leader Manish Sisodia with singer Ranjit Bawa during a government event held recently at Batala. Chandigarh/Amritsar/ Jalandhar, April 20 Punjabi singers are fast becoming the wind beneath the state’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s wings. From Ranjit Bawa to Kanwar Grewal and Kulwinder Billa to Gulrej Akhtar — Punjabi artistes’ increasing presence at the state government’s public functions, to ready the (political) pitch before their “bai” (elder brother) Bhagwant Doval engages Saudi leadership amid concerns over firing at Indian vessels New Delhi, April 20 India has stepped up highlevel diplomatic outreach in the Gulf, with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval visiting Riyadh amid escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and growing concerns over maritime security. The Ministry of External Affairs said during his April 19 visit, Doval held talks with Saudi Energy Minister Prince DEFENCE MINISTER HEADS TO GERMANY Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will head to Germany on Tuesday on a three-day visit to finalise a bilateral defence industrial roadmap. Abdulaziz bin Salman, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and National Security Adviser Musaed Al-Aiban, focusing on bilateral ties and the evolving regional situation. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said India was “deeply disturbed” by the firing at Indian-flagged vessels and had taken up the matter with Iranian authorities. He underscored the need to uphold maritime security and ensure unimpeded passage through waterways. — TNS New Delhi, April 20 The Supreme Court has dismissed accused Umar Khalid’s petition seeking review of its January 5 order denying him bail in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case. “Having gone through the review petition and also the documents enclosed, we do not find any good ground and reason to review the judgment dated January 5, 2026. Accordingly, the review petition is dismissed,” a Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and NV Anjaria said in its April 16 order made public on Monday. Senior counsel Kapil Sibal had on April 13 mentioned Khalid’s review petition before the Bench requesting it to take up the matter in an open court. “We will look into the papers and if required, we will call it (for an open court hearing),” the Bench had told Sibal. However, the Bench also rejected his prayer for an oral open court hearing of the review petition. Review petitions are generally heard “in chamber” by a procedure called “hearing by circulation” where advocates are not allowed to argue. But in exceptional cases, the court allows open court hearing, if convinced about its need. 21 killed, 42 hurt as overloaded bus rolls down hill in Udhampur SC to seek HC report on Tech edge helped hunt ‘idle’ SIRtribunals in WB downPahalgamculprits Satya Prakash The Iranian-flagged cargo ship that was intercepted by the US Navy in the north Arabian Sea. REUTERS Satya Prakash Singh Mann reaches the venue, is creating quite a buzz. Last week, singer Ranjit Bawa performed at a statelevel function addressed by CM Mann at Dana Mandi, Attari. Official sources in the Amritsar administration said he charged close to Rs 20 lakh for the Attari show. A day prior to the Attari function, he regaled the gathering at another rally held at Batala on April 16. He is not the only one being roped in by the AAP government to entertain crowds at its continued on page 10 Today’s issue is of 18 pages, including four-page Delhi Tribune. c m y b mir’s Udhampur district on Monday, officials said. The accident occurred around 10 am near Kaghote village as the driver of the bus was unable to negotiate a sharp curve and one of its tyres burst, the officials said. The 42-seater bus, which Hry judge, 3 builders cleared in graft case CHANDIGARH: The CBI Special Court, Haryana, on Monday discharged Judge Sudhir Parmar, his nephew Ajay Parmar, and three builders — M3M owner Roop Bansal, IREO’s Vice Chairman Lalit Goyal, and Vatika Ltd’s owner Anil Bhalla — for lack of evidence in a corruption case. The State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau had filed the chargesheet in the case. INSIDE CJI: Digital arrest of educated worrying NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Monday said it was shocking that welleducated people were getting duped in cases of digital arrests. The CJI flagged the recent case of an old woman who was duped of her entire retirement benefits in one of such cases. The SC earlier said banks must play a proactive and preventive role. BACK PAGE 26 bag perfect 100 NTAscoreinJEE-Main NEW DELHI: Twenty-six candidates bagged a perfect 100 NTA score in the engineering entrance exam JEE-Main, the National Testing Agency (NTA) said on Monday. Among them, five each are from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, four from Rajasthan, three from Delhi and two each from Maharashtra and Haryana. One candidate is from Chandigarh. All 26 candidates are male. BACK PAGE had left from Ramnagar for Udhampur at 9 am, was learnt to be carrying 63 passengers. The bus rolled down around 100 feet and crushed an auto-rickshaw plying on the road below, injuring all 15 persons it was carrying. Several passengers reported- ly jumped out of the bus’ windows to save their lives. The vehicle mostly comprised college students and office-goers. A few survivors claimed the bus was running 15 minutes late due to which the driver was allegedly over-speeding. An Army convoy on its way from Udhampur to Ramnagar led the rescue operation. The bus was reduced to a mangled heap of iron, with its top portion almost completely torn off. PM Narendra Modi and CM Omar Abdullah separately announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of those killed.