Your Daily Wrap: Vet held for ‘provoking’ murder of Amravati chemist, Alt News co-founder denied bail; and more

Activist Teesta Setalvad and former DGP RB Sreekumar were sent in judicial custody by magisterial court of MV Chauhan upon completion of their police remand on Saturday. The Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) had arrested them last month after the Supreme Court upheld the clean chit by the SIT to then Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots. Their judicial custody will continue until bail is granted. No bail application has been moved as of now.

Meanwhile, opposing the bail application of Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair, arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments following a complaint over a 2018 tweet, the prosecution has submitted before a Delhi court that they are investigating donations allegedly received by him from several foreign countries such as Pakistan. Zubair’s lawyers argued that police misled the court as they had earlier released a statement stating that the funds were received by a media company. Read full report here

Chief Justice of India N V Ramana Saturday said that ruling parties believe governmental actions are entitled to judicial endorsement and opposition parties expect it to espouse their cause, but the judiciary is answerable only to the Constitution. He also rued that in the 75th year of Independence, the country has still not learnt to appreciate wholly the roles assigned by the Constitution to each institution. “As we celebrate 75th year of Independence this year and as our Republic turned 72, with some sense of regret, I must add here that we still haven’t learnt to appreciate wholly the roles and responsibilities assigned by the Constitution to each of the institutions. The party in power believes that every governmental action is entitled to judicial endorsement. The parties in opposition expect the judiciary to advance their political positions and causes,” the CJI said.

Moving on, the four accused in the murder of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal Teli were on Saturday produced in a Jaipur court which sent them to 10-day NIA custody. Meanwhile, BJP’s Gulab Chand Kataria, the leader of the opposition in Rajasthan, distanced himself from the controversy over the party’s alleged links with one of the men accused of killing tailor Kanhaiya Lal Teli after photos surfaced of the accused Mohammad Riyaz along with a few Udaipur BJP workers. Kanhaiya Lal Teli, a tailor in Udaipur, was hacked to death by Mohammad Riyaz and Ghouse Mohammad on June 28 for allegedly sharing remarks made by BJP’s Nupur Sharma on the Prophet. On Saturday, while Congress in Delhi cited the photos and alleged that Riyaz was “an active member of the BJP”, the BJP in Rajasthan denied the allegations. Read what Kataria said here.

The history of abortion rights in India is traced back to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 (MTPA). It is often regarded as a landmark moment in India’s social legislation, opening the doors, as many would say, to social reform. The passage of the MTPA as early as the 1970s is frequently pitted against the West wherein abortion rights continue to remain a debated issue. The politics surrounding the Act, however, shows that it was less a product of the women’s movement in India and more of a means to control the expanding population of the country. The Act’s wording and the arguments made in its favour remains heavily criticised by Indian feminists. Adrija Roychowdhury writes on why abortion was legalised in India in 1971

Setting alarm bells ringing, a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal has stated that symptoms of monkeypox patients in the UK differ from those observed in previous outbreaks elsewhere in the world. The researchers looked at 54 patients who attended sexual health clinics in London, UK and were diagnosed with monkeypox during a 12 day period in May this year. The finding suggests that patients in this group had a higher prevalence of skin lesions in the genital and anal area and lower prevalence of tiredness and fever than in cases from previously studied outbreaks of monkeypox.

Political Pulse

The last-minute twist in the Maharashtra political drama Thursday that saw the BJP high command forcing Devendra Fadnavis to join the rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde-led government as Deputy Chief Minister might have shocked Fadnavis and his legion of supporters in the state BJP, but he seems to have already left it behind to move to setting new goals for himself and the state BJP. This was evidenced Friday night, when during a closed-door meeting of the BJP MLAs, Fadnavis, while accepting their congratulatory greetings and bouquets, exhorted them to start gearing up for the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls due in 2024. Shubhangi Khapre reports

At a time a tribal woman is leading the race to become the next President of India, the long-standing demand to recognise “Sarna” as a separate religion of indigenous communities is gaining traction. This is perceived as a counter to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) ideological framework and pushback against its agenda of subsuming Adivasis within the larger Hindu identity. Tribal community leaders and parties, including the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), have been advocating the need for a separate code for the Sarna faith during the next Census. Sourav Roy Barman reports

Express Explained

After finding several carcasses of wild boar, Kerala health officials on Thursday (June 30) confirmed the presence of anthrax in Athirappilly of Thrissur district. Health Minister Veena George confirmed the outbreak and said the government was taking immediate steps to prevent the spread of the disease. Anthrax has usually been found in India’s southern states and is less frequently found in the northern states. Over the past years, it has been reported in Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Orissa and Karnataka. But what is Anthrax? We explain

A letter by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Labour Party leader and Member of Parliament Keir Starmer disclosed he believed British national Jagtar Singh Johal, alias Jaggi Johal, has been “detained arbitrarily” in India. The British PM has also raised the issue of Jaggi Johal with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Jaggi Johal is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which deals with terror-related cases. Who is Jaggi Johal? We explain

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