Your Daily Wrap: Centre to ‘reconsider’ sedition law provisions; Sri Lankan PM’s resignation; and more

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea filed by the CPI(M) against a demolition drive in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, asking the party to approach the high court. Strongly objecting to a political party filing a petition, the court said if there is any violation of law, it will definitely step in “but not at the behest of political parties like this.”

The Enforcement Directorate has denied allegations that Xiaomi executives were coerced into giving statements implicating the Chinese smartphone manufacturer during its forex violations probe against the company. The statement came in response to a Reuters news report that quoted the Chinese newspaper Global Times as criticising the ED’s actions.

In big international news, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped down from his post on Monday. The move came hours after his supporters attacked anti-government protesters outside embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office, injuring at least 78 people and prompting authorities to impose a nationwide curfew.

In the Victory Day speech on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin evoked the memory of Soviet heroism in World War Two to urge his army towards victory in Ukraine. Putin condemned what he called external threats to weaken and split Russia, and repeated familiar arguments he had used to justify its invasion – that NATO was creating threats right next to its borders.

The concept of free speech has evolved since its first version in ancient Athens and Rome to be fiercely contested over the many centuries even though it has made its way into the constitutions of US and India. The debate around free speech seems glaring in the face of new age technology. Its roots, however, go deep into antiquity. In this Express Research piece, read why free speech remains stuck in debate.

Political Pulse

For the past seven years, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has accused the BJP-run Centre of using security agencies to target political opponents and the Delhi Police. But last week, amid the high drama over the arrest of BJP Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga that led to a slugfest between the AAP and the BJP, it seemed that the tables had turned. Sources in the AAP admit the Bagga episode has cast the AAP in a mould that it had worked hard to emerge out of.

A week after Trinamool Congress chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said at a meeting of the party’s national working committee in Kolkata that she would not tolerate any violence during the panchayat elections, party functionaries said she would tour districts to meet panchayat and booth-level workers and drive home the message. Party insiders say the CM is concerned about a similar fallout of recent violence on the 2024 Lok Sabha election results.

Express Explained

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has opposed a petition by Delhi Police seeking directions from the High Court that would allow investigators to match a suspect’s picture and chance prints (latent fingerprints) from the crime scene with the Aadhaar database to help identify the accused in a case of murder. The UIDAI has, however, said it is not technologically feasible to accede to the request of the police. What is the case at hand and why, according to UIDAI, Aadhaar data can’t be used in police investigations? We explain.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) detained gangster Chhota Shakeel’s aide Salim Qureshi alias Salim Fruit for questioning after carrying out searches at over 20 premises connected with fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. Who is Salim Fruit and what are the other cases against him? Read here.