‘CBI can't be caged parrot’: What Supreme Court said while giving Arvind Kejriwal bail

New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday afternoon filed a formal complaint with the Election Commission regarding a delay in publishing the leads and results of the Haryana poll. In a brief letter the opposition party said that between 9 and 11 am there was "an unexplained slowdown in updating of results".

"As you can imagine this allows bad faith actors to spin out narratives that undermine the process. You can see examples of it already playing out on social media. Our fear is also that such narratives can then be used by these mala fide actors to influence processes where counting is still underway, i.e., in most of the counting centres," the Congress told the Election Commission.

"We request you to issue immediate directions to your officials to update the website with true and accurate figures, so that false news and malicious narratives can be countered immediately."

Minutes earlier the Congress' Jairam Ramesh said, "... we hope the Election Commission will answer our questions. The results of 10-11 rounds are out... but only four to five rounds are updated on the site." He also flagged those "trying to build pressure by sharing outdated and misleading trends..."

The Congress had raced into an early lead in Haryana as postal votes were counted, only for the BJP to stage a thrilling comeback late morning as ballots were opened. The ruling party then raced into a lead of its own, which it has held since; at noon the BJP held 48 seats - two over the majority mark.

Early celebrations at the Congress' Delhi HQ ground to a halt as the party - which is set to win the first Jammu and Kashmir election in a decade - contemplated a third straight defeat in Haryana.

The party's senior leader in the state - Kumari Selja, who is also in the Congress' chief ministerial race - told NDTV the Election Commission will "have to answer" the question posed.

 "Why is the counting going slowly? It was fine during the Lok Sabha election... so why is the counting going slowly now? It is the responsibility of the EC to tell the world why counting has slowed," she said.

Mr Ramesh, however, insisted the party remains confident.

"There is no need to be disheartened..." he told ANI, "Mind games are being played. There is no need to be disheartened. We are going to get the mandate. Congress will form the government."

The BJP's Sudhanshu Trivedi responded swiftly, declaring the complaining meant the Congress had "accepted defeat". "If Congress has started pointing fingers at Election Commission then we should understand they have accepted defeat..." he told reporters, "Per current trends I feel we are moving to an important win and Congress has started taking precautionary measures for future defeat."

The Congress had made similar complaints in June, when votes were being counted for the general election. Then Mr Ramesh implied the poll panel may have received "orders" to slow down counting.

In that case he had flagged apparent delays in publishing results for seats in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which account for over 120 seats between them and in which the ruling BJP (and its ally, the Janata Dal United) was facing a tough challenge from the Congress-led INDIA bloc and its allies. 

A Palestinian prisoners’ rights group says Israeli forces have abducted a total of 108 journalists during violent raids across the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip ever since the regime’s onslaught on the besieged coastal territory started more than a year ago.

The Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, which is also known as Addameer, said in a statement on Monday that at least 58 journalists remain in Israeli custody, including six female journalists and 22 journalists from Gaza whose identities have been confirmed.

Addameer added that at least 16 of the journalists are being held under administrative detention.

An overwhelming majority of Palestinian prisoners are arrested under a quasi-judicial process known as administrative detention, under which Palestinians are initially jailed for six months. Their detentions can then be repeatedly extended for an indefinite period without charge or trial.

Neither the administrative detainees, who include women and children, nor their lawyers are allowed to see the “secret evidence” that Israeli forces say form the basis for their arrests.

Addameer noted that more than 9,000 orders of administrative detention have been issued since October 7 last year, ranging between new orders and renewals, including orders against children and women.

The report comes as another Palestinian journalist was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, bringing the total death toll of journalists killed since October 7 last year to 175.

The government media office in the Gaza Strip in a statement identified the victim as Hassan Hamad, without giving details about the circumstances of his death.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation,” it said.

The media office also called on the international community and international organizations to “deter the occupation and prosecute it in international courts for its ongoing crimes.”

Journalists operating in the Palestinian territory are faced with increased dangers as they report on the conflict amidst Israeli ground assaults and airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages, and power outages.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 last year, after Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory operation into the occupied territories.

So far, the Israeli war on Gaza has killed at least 41,909 Palestinians, most of them women, children, and adolescents, and injured 97,303 others.

In a relief to Sadhguru, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the police action against Isha Foundation and transferred the matter from the Madras High Court to the top court, PTI reported.

Sadhguru's Isha Foundation today moved the Supreme Court against a Madras High Court order to submit details of all criminal cases against it, ANI reported.

Isha Foundation sought a stay on Madras High Court order, told Supreme Court that 500 policemen raided it, probing every corner, PTI reported.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Isha Foundation sought an urgent hearing today.

A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud said that you can't let Police or Army enter a place like this, the agency reported.

One of the women appeared online and said she was staying at the Isha Yoga Centre willingly. The woman told the Supreme Court that both of the sisters are at the Ashram out of their own will and this harassment from their father's side has been continuing for the last eight years.

The top court said it would interact with the two women online in their chambers right away.

Tamil Nadu Police on Tuesday launched an inquiry against Isha Foundation run by yoga guru Jaggi Vasudev over several allegations, a day after the Madras High Court sought a status report on all criminal cases registered against the organisation.

A multi-departmental team led by K Karthikeyan, Coimbatore Rural District Superintendent of Police, and consisting of officials from the Social Welfare Department and the District Child Protection Committee launched the inquiry at the sprawling premises of Isha Foundation in Thondamuthur.

 “We have launched an inquiry based on the court order,” a senior police official told DH from Coimbatore. The police team sought details of cases registered against the foundation in the past and inquired with several inmates about their condition in the ashram.

The inquiry came a day after the court ordered the police to conduct an enquiry and file a report on a habeas corpus petition filed by retired professor S Kamaraj, who alleged that his two daughters were being held captive at the ashram.

When contacted, a spokesperson for Isha Foundation admitted that a team led by the district SP was conducting an inquiry at the premises and that there were no searches. “They are enquiring with residents and volunteers, understanding the lifestyle, understanding how they come in and stay etc,” the spokesperson said.

The foundation also said the two women have clearly stated that they are staying in Isha Yoga Centre out of their own volition. “Now that the matter is seized by the court, we hope truth will prevail and there is an end to all the unnecessary controversies created,” the foundation said.