Monthly Overview of India News – April 2024

Election violence 

• On April 18 in Arunachal Pradesh, supporters and workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National People’s Party (NPP) entered into a fierce gun battle. At least 20 people were injured in the poll-related violence. The Election Commission ordered repolling in the state scheduled for April 24.
• On April 19, numerous clashes between workers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bengal’s ruling party All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) occurred in Bengal as the first phase of the elections began. Both the TMC and the BJP lodged 80 and 39 complaints, respectively, related to poll violence, voter intimidation, and assaults on poll agents in the first few hours of polling. A voter sustained injuries in his eye in when he was coming out after casting his vote. A BJP supporter said he was attacked by a sickle on the way to a polling booth. There were reports of crude bombs being placed outside the house of a BJP booth president in an attempt to scare him away.
• In Manipur, there were scattered incidents of armed violence on April 19, including clashes among armed groups and attempts to take over polling stations under heavy security. Presiding officers reporting mob violence, gunfire and destroyed Electronic Voting Machines in some booths. At a polling station in Thamanpokpi, Arambai Tenggop, a pro-BJP Meitei militant organisation allegedly threatened that could be no Congress agent on polling booth. People on social media, claimed that the Police are standing quietly watching the booth capturing. Shooting by armed persons broke out at a polling station at Thamanpokpi under Moirang Assembly segment where three people were reportedly injured. In Khurai Thangjam Leikai, angry civilians destroyed EVM and election related articles protesting the manipulative and corrupted duty officials. 

India in the World 

• The Guardian reported on April 4 that the Indian government allegedly assassinated 20 individuals in Pakistan as part of a wider strategy to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil since 2019. On April 12, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar answered that since terrorists do not play by rules, there cannot be any rules in India’s response to them, and defended the government’s actions stating that India was committed to responding to any act of terrorism perpetrated from across the borders. These assassinations likely violate the right to life and right to a fair trial (Articles 6 and 14 ICCPR). 
• On April 10, the Israeli government announced that over 6,000 construction workers from India will arrive in Israel in April and May. The workers from India were being sent to Israel under a government-to-government agreement between the two countries. In November 2023, reports stated that the construction industry in Israel had asked the Indian government to allow companies to recruit 100 000 Indian workers to replace the 90,000 Palestinians whose work permits had been cancelled since Israel’s war on Gaza started in October. 
• The Indian Express reported on April 10 that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sent invitations to more than 25 parties of foreign countries to send their representatives to observe India’s Lok Sabha polls and understand the ruling party’s campaign strategies. The BJP invited the Conservative and Labour parties of the UK, and the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats of Germany. BJP sources said that 13 parties have so far confirmed their visits to India, although no further information has been revealed. 
• On April 11, the Hindustan Times reported that India will send military attaches to Mozambique, the Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Armenia, Philippines, and Poland. Africa is a focus area in a move by India to bolster and rationalise its military diplomacy in key regions across the world. India will also post defence attachés for the first time to Poland, whose importance as a security partner in Europe has increased in recent years, and to Armenia, with which the Indian side recently concluded a big-ticket arms deal. 
• On April 14, the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that he had contacted his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, seeking the release of 17 Indian crew on board a cargo ship seized by Iran. Iran said that it would soon allow representatives of the Indian government to meet the crew of Indians. The Iranian authorities had earlier claimed that the cargo vessel had “violated international maritime law”, but the incident is also an escalation to the ongoing Red Sea crisis, where Houthi rebels in Yemen have been targeting Israeli-linked commercial shipping on the high seas with ballistic missiles and drones.  
• On April 17, a Hindutva (Hindu supremacist) mob chanted anti-Muslim slogans in the UK city of Leicester. The mob chanted “Ayodhya is just a glimpse, Kashi and Mathura mosques remain to be conquered.” Multiple Muslim organisations lodged complaints with Leicestershire police seeking action against the Hindutva mob. The incident raises concerns about the obligation to refrain from religious hatred (Article 20 ICCPR). 
• On April 18, the Ministry of External Affairs announced that Iranian authorities released one of the 17 Indian sailors aboard seized cargo ship, who safely returned home. While no charges have been pressed against the crew members, the ship itself has been impounded, and the ship cannot be unmanned, meaning that some crew will need to stay as long as the seizure continues. 
• On April 18, the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) reported that “the CAA’s [Citizenship Amendment Act] key provisions — allowing immigrants of six religions from three countries a path to citizenship while excluding Muslims — may violate certain Articles of the Indian Constitution”. CRS is an independent research wing of the US Congress that prepares reports on issues of interest to the members of Congress so that they can make informed decisions. The CAA also likely violates Articles 19 and 26 of the ICCPR.  
• On April 22, the United States State Department released its 2023 Human Rights Report, which expressed concern about the “significant” abuses in Manipur, particularly in the wake of ethnic conflict that erupted in May 2023. The report also highlighted other concerning human rights practices, such as the raids conducted by tax authorities on media outlets like the BBC and instances of transnational repression, such as the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.   
• On April 30, the External Affairs Ministry of India said that a report by the Washington Post, which named an Indian official for allegedly plotting to eliminate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, made “unwarranted and unsubstantiated” imputations on a serious matter. The newspaper, citing unnamed sources, had named a RAW officer in connection with the alleged plot to assassinate Pannun. 

Civil society, human rights defenders and journalists 

• On April 14, Jean Dreze, renowned economist, said that suppression of the opposition in India makes the Lok Sabha elections as good as rigged. Dreze was referring to the release of Bank of India data, showing that the Bharatiya Janata Party had received a vast majority of party donations. Dreze added that opposition leaders have been facing relentless scrutiny and harassment by central agencies for years under the BJP government. 

• On 17 April, CIVICUS published a monitoring report showing that the Indian government used an array of restrictive laws and policies to silence dissent by targeting critics including civil society groups, human rights defenders and independent media, during Modi’s second term in power. The report highlights how the government has increasingly cracked down on civil society organisations by cancelling their registrations, raiding them and investigating them. It also mentions the government’s jailing of human rights defenders critical of the government in politically motivated cases under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a draconian anti-terror law. CIVICUS’ findings pose serious concerns about the freedom from arbitrary detention, and freedom of speech (Articles 9 and 19 ICCPR). 
• On April 18, Ramadas Prini Sivanadan, a PhD scholar at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai and a prominent left student leader in the campus was arbitrarily suspended for two years by the administration for participating in protests and questioning the ruling Hindu nationalist regime. This suspension raises questions about the freedom of speech (Article 19 ICCPR). 
• On April 23, Australian ABC’s lead India correspondent Avani Dias revealed in a tweet “Last week, I had to leave India abruptly. The Modi government told me my visa extension would be denied, saying my reporting ‘crossed a line’.” She is referring to an episode she featured in in March on Sikh separatism. India’s visa revocation likely violates the right to free speech (Article 19 ICCPR).  

Arvind Kejriwal and AAP case 

• On April 10, Delhi social welfare minister Raaj Kumar Anand resigned from his post and from the Aam Aadmi Party citing the charges of corruption against the party. He said “I resigned from the post of minister and from the party as I can’t connect my name with this corruption.” 
• On April 10, the Delhi Directorate of Vigilance terminated the services of Bibhav Kumar, private secretary to jailed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The termination order against Bibhav Kumar, declaring his appointment illegal and invalid, came two days after he was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate. 
• On April 10, the Enforcement Directorate moved a Delhi court seeking an arrest warrant against Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan in connection with alleged irregularities in appointments to the Delhi Waqf Board. 
• On April 11, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha in the Delhi liquor policy case. The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that Kavitha, among others, conspired with senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his former deputy Manish Sisodia, to secure favours in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped liquor excise policy of the national capital. 
• On April 16, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, all of whom are behind bars, have been named by the party as star campaigners for the Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat. Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann are also among the list of 40-star campaigners, whose names have been submitted by the party to the Election Commission. 
• On April 18, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Aam Admi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan in connection with a money laundering case linked to the Delhi Waqf Board. The arrest comes hours after Khan appeared before the ED for questioning in connection with the case. Following the arrest, a video message by Khan, published on his social media, alleged that the agency wanted him to testify against jailed Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and refusing it will lead to his arrest. 
• On April 19, AAP leader Atishi brought attention to the fact that Chief Minister Arvind was being stopped from taking medicine in judicial custody. This happened a day after the Enforcement Directorate claimed in court that the leader is eating foods high in sugar, including mangoes and sweets, every day, despite having type 2 diabetes, in order to raise his blood sugar level. “This is not a gangster or a terrorist, but a person who has been elected thrice by the people of Delhi as the Chief Minister,” Ms. Atishi replied. This raises concerns about the right to health (Article 12 ICESCR).  
• Raj Niwas on April 20 released a medical status report submitted by the Director General of Prisons to Lieutenant-Governor V.K Saxena, which states that according to the doctors who examined him, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s blood sugar levels were “not alarming” and “administration of insulin is not required as of now”. 
• The Delhi High Court on April 22 dismissed a plea seeking the release of Aam Admi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on “extraordinary interim bail” till the completion of his term as Delhi Chief Minister. 
• On April 30, a Delhi court dismissed the bail pleas of former Deputy Chief Minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia in the corruption and money laundering cases lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Special judge for CBI and ED, Kaveri Baweja, denied the pleas, saying the stage was not right to grant the bail. This is the second time that the trial court has rejected Mr. Sisodia’s bail plea. Sisodia has been in jail since February 2023.  
• The Supreme Court on April 30 underscored that life and liberty are exceedingly important while hearing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case stemming from the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. The court also asked the central agency to address arguments on the “timing” of the APP leader’s arrest right before the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The Bench will hear the matter next on May 3. 
• On April 30, the police arrested two political functionaries from the AAP and the Congress party in Gujarat for allegedly posting a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s April 23 speech in Telangana regarding reservation. Shah has urged people to report fake videos as to take strict action against culprits. Since April 28, the police in Delhi, Assam, Maharashtra and Gujarat have filed four separate cases in connection with the video. Most persons named in the First Information Reports (FIRs) are opposition party workers who shared the post on social media platforms X and Facebook, raising concern about biased and politically motivated arrests.  

Hate Crimes and Hate Speech against Minorities 

• On April 16, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Bijoy Malakar allegedly threatened voters in Assam’s Karimganj district to support the Hindutva party or face demolition by bulldozers. The opposition Congress party filed a complaint with the Badarpur police station against the Ratabari MLA for the speech. The speech likely violates the right to free speech, freedom from incitement to hostility (Articles 19 and 20 ICCPR) and the right to housing (Article 11 ICESCR) 
• On April 21, in an Islamophobic speech in Rajasthan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Muslim minorities in India as “infiltrators” and “those who have more children.” Modi said that the opposition Congress party, if voted to power, could distribute the nation’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children,” misquoting a statement by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that he would prioritise thethe minorities’ access to the country’s resources. This marks Modi’s first public hate speech, and raises serious concerns regarding the obligation to refrain from advocating for religious hatred (Article 20 ICCPR). The Congress Party responded by asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to show one paragraph in its manifesto where it talked about redistributing wealth to the Muslim community. On April 22, the Election Commission (EC) declined to comment on remarks made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a poll rally in Rajasthan. 
• On April 22, over 17,400 citizens wrote to the Election Commission (EC) seeking action against PM Narendra Modi for his hate speech on the previous day. Congress, the Communist Party of India, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), filed complaints to the EC regarding Modi’s hate speech being a violation the EC Model Code of Conduct. On April 25, the EC issued notices to political parties, seeking responses to alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by their candidates instead of contacting the concerned candidates themselves.  
• On April 29, the Delhi High Court dismissed a plea seeking to disqualify Prime Minister Narendra Modi from participating in any elections for six years. The petitioner had sought PM Modi’s disqualification, accusing him of violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). Jondhale, the lawyer who instigated the petition, alleged that PM Modi not only sought votes in the name of Hindu and Sikh deities and their places of worship but also made comments against “opposite political parties as favouring Muslims”. The Court ruled that the Election Commission of India is responsible for determining violations of the MCC.  

Religious Freedoms and Minority Rights 

• 79 percent of the respondents to the Pre-Poll Study 2024 by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies and Lokniti said that they believed that “India belongs to all religions equally, not just Hindus”. The survey was conducted between March 28 and April 8 across 19 states and found that the majority of its 10,019 respondents supported religious pluralism. Only 11% of the respondents said that they believed that “India belongs only to Hindus”. 
• On April 8, the Allahabad High Court observed that credible proof is required to show that an individual changing their religion has taken the decision voluntarily and a verbal or written declaration that a religious conversion has taken place is not enough to legitimise it. Kumar made the observations while hearing a petition by a man to dismiss the case filed against him after he married a woman who belonged to a different religion. The petitioner had converted to his wife’s religion. Hindutva groups and police often make allegations of religious conversions to arrest people of Christian and Muslim faith on grounds of “forced conversions”. 
• On April 19, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dismissed allegations of “love jihad” in connection with the murder of a Congress councillor’s daughter, Neha Hiremath, who was stabbed to death by her former classmate, 23-year-old Fayaz, on the campus of KLE Technological University on April 18. “Love jihad” is a Hindu supremacist conspiracy theory describing an alleged phenomenon where Muslim men lure Hindu women into marrying them and converting to Islam. The victim’s father, Niranjan Hiremath alleged that the murder may have been a case of “love jihad.” Niranjan Hiremath is councillor from the Hubballi Dharwad Municipal Corporation representing the Congress. 
• On April 22, Muslim organisations held a strike to condemn the murder of 23-year-old college student Neha Hiremath, daughter of Congress Councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Niranjan Hiremath. An old classmate of Neha, named Fayaz allegedly stabbed her to death on the campus of BVB College on April 18. 

Internet and Technology 

• On April 2, a new investigation by the rights groups Global Witness and Access Now showed that Google-owned YouTube approved dozens of ads promoting voter suppression and incitement to violence ahead of the upcoming election in India. YouTube approved 100% of the adds submitted for research purposes by the two rights groups, which all included election-related content prohibited by YouTube rules. This experiment shows that YouTube may be failing to prevent the spread of paid-for disinformation in one of the most significant global elections of the year. 
• On April 3, Meta released its monthly report, revealing that it removed more than 28 million posts across Facebook and Instagram that go against the platform’s policies in February. 
• On April 10, 38 Indian diaspora groups and allies raised the alarm bells about a lack of action by social media corporations in protecting India’s elections. In a joint letter, the diaspora groups called on social media corporations with user markets in India to urgently enforce an election silence period and ban any political advertisements in the 48 hours before the elections, in accordance with Indian law, and listed 9 other demands. 
• On April 11, technology company Apple warned some users in India and 91 other countries that their iPhones may have been targeted by “mercenary spyware”, including the controversial Pegasus software. In October, Apple had already warned several Indian opposition leaders and at least four journalists that their iPhones may have been targeted by “state-sponsored attackers”. 
• On April 13, the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam wrote to the Election Commission of India alleging that the Intelligence Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police has hacked the phones of its leaders. The All-India party claimed that “highly placed sources in the police” informed them that its leaders’ phones were being monitored in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls. 
• On April 13, YouTube placed monetisation curbs on videos by at least two creators – Mehgnad and independent journalist Sohit Mishra – about the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail. YouTube said the decision was based on its guidelines that say videos containing demonstrably false information are not eligible for ad revenue.  
• On April 18, fact checkers from BOOMLive identified at least 8 chatbots in the Chat GPT Plus Store focused on elections in India that go against OpenAI’s policy. Election Pundit is one of the several AI chatbots available on the GPT store, which is themed on Indian elections and could be used by both the ruling party and the opposition to create campaigning content. Another chatbot named ElectionGPT, generates campaigns directed at ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by the opposition. The GPT store also had a chatbot exclusively targeting Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, which goes by the name of Fraud Kejri, which OpenAI quickly took down.  
• On April 19, fact checkers from BOOMLive found that the Government’s Pegasus investigation committee website in India has deleted depositions made to it and has started posting spam content.  

Political Parties and Election Monitoring 

• On April 1, the Election Commission of India censured Bharatiya Janata Party MP Dilip Ghosh and Congress member Supriya Shrinate for their remarks about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and actor Kangana Ranaut, who is the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Mandi. The poll body said that their remarks amounted to personal attacks and violated the Model Code of Conduct, a set of guidelines that political parties and governments must follow while campaigning.  
• On April 11, a group of 87 former civil servants wrote an open letter to the Election Commission, highlighting the poll panel’s lack of assertiveness “in dealing with actions that impact the conduct of free and fair elections” despite the enormous powers vested in it by the Constitution to do so. The former civil servants, who are part of the Constitutional Conduct Group, expressed concern about the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case and the “disturbing pattern of harassment and witch hunting of Opposition parties and Opposition politicians” ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. 

• On April 11, data from Google’s Ads Transparency Center revealed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spent over Rs 39 crore (USD 4.6 million) on 81,874 political advertisements on Google since January 1.  This accounts for 32.8% of the total funds spent on political advertisements on Google in India this year.  
• The Election Commission of India on April 16 barred Congress leader Randeep Surjewala from campaigning for 48 hours over his alleged derogatory remarks against BJP MP Hema Malini. This is the first campaign ban imposed by the poll body in this Lok Sabha election cycle. The ECI on April 9 issued a show-cause notice to Mr. Surjewala for his alleged “undignified, uncivilised and vulgar” remarks against Ms. Hema Malini. 
• On April 17, an election flying squad team seized ₹81,000 (USD 900) in unauthorised cash and a voter list from a local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary. The money was taken from R. Jothimani, who is currently the president of the BJP at Alandurai. Authorities suspect that the cash was being transported to be distributed to voters as it was found with a voter list.  
• The Supreme Court of India on April 18 directed the Election Commission to verify the allegation that during a mock poll in Kerala, extra votes were recorded in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). On the same day, both the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) gave complaints to the District Collector that at least four electronic voting machines (EVM) erroneously registered extra votes in favour of the BJP during the mock test in Kerala’s Kasargod constituency. Opposition leaders have cast doubts over EVM’s transparency during the election campaign. The Election Commission of India (ECI) assured the Supreme Court that it is impossible to tamper with electronic voting machines “at any stage”. Replying to a query on whether tampering of EVMs was possible after polling, the ECI said polling officers press the ‘close’ button at the end of polling. “Thereafter, the EVMs do not accept any votes,” a 14-page affidavit said.  
• On April 19, six districts of Eastern Nagaland saw close to no votes. The Eastern Naga People’s Organization had called on people in the state to abstain from voting in the elections and a total shutdown to press for their demand for autonomy. 
• On April 19, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was campaigning at Hariharpara in Murshidabad district, accused the central forces of political bias. “I am not against central forces but this is the first time that the BJP is using central forces as their cadres,” Ms. Banerjee said. She raised questions on why only central forces were used in Cooch Behar and the State police were not deployed. 
• On April 21, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in the national capital, the Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hosted a mega conclave of Hindu priests, saints and seers to celebrate the Hindu new year and construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, at the IGI stadium.  
• On April 30, the Janata Dal (Secular) (JDS) party, an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), announced that MP Prajwal Revanna has been suspended from the party temporarily until allegations against him over sexual abuse are probed. The leak of nearly 3,000 videos, allegedly shot by the 33-year-old Prajwal, apparently showing him sexually abusing multiple women, ignited a sex scandal for the MP, his party, and the BJP, at a time when the BJP is counting on the JDS to deliver its coalition a majority of Karnataka’s 28 parliamentary seats.
   

Executive 

• On April 10, the Calcutta High Court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe all allegations levelled by residents of strife-torn Sandeshkhali in West Bengal since February, and said it will monitor the process. The CBI asserted that it “shall have the power to require any person, organisation, government authority, police authorities, quasi governmental authorities, NGOs, public spirited persons and others who may be genuinely interested in the matter to furnish information on such point or matters, as in its opinion may be useful for, or relevant to the subject matter”. The order sparked a political controversy in the state, with some political leaders believing the order to be a biased order by the court in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party. 
• On April 11, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said in a social media post that it had retrieved the body of a “terrorist” from the site of a gunfight that broke out. The police also recovered incriminating material, including arms and ammunition, was recovered from the site gunfight.  
• On April 12, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) appealed against a single-judge bench order not to summon former minister and communist party leader Thomas Isaac, until the end of the Lok Sabha elections. The central ED agency had initiated an investigation into whether the Foreign Exchange Management Act was violated in issuing the masala bonds in 2019, when Issac was the Kerala finance minister. Isaac, on the other hand, contended that the Enforcement Directorate investigation just ahead of the election would hamper his poll prospects, and that the agency issued the summons without a prima facie case. 
• On April 12, the National Investigation Agency arrested two men accused in the bomb blast that took place at Rameswaram cafe in Bengaluru on March 1. The two men, Adbul Matheen Taha and Mussavir Hussain Shazib, were accused of recruiting youths for the Islamic State terror group.   
• On April 16, a joint operation by the Border Security Force (BSF) and Chhattisgarh police carried out the deadliest anti-Maoist operation in Chhattisgarh since 2017, which killed 29 Maoist fighters. The police said that fighting between the security forces and the Maoists had gone on for 4 hours. According to reports, the deceased include at least 15 women, which the police alleged to be cadres who live in the village and are supposed to be informers of Maoists. However, in the past, there has been evidence that tribal women have been targeted by security forces. Over the years, corporate privatisation of Chhattisgarh’s natural resources and land has led to the displacement of Adivasi community, and security operations in the state have often disproportionately affected the community and framing dissidents in the area as Maoists has become common practice. In another encounter with security forces on April 2, Adivasis in the region reported security forces killed some innocents. These operations raises questions about the state’s safeguarding of the right to life (Article 6 ICCPR). 
• On April 16, the Enforcement Directorate arrested former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and others in connection with the money laundering investigation. The federal agency also undertook some searches in Ranchi against a person named Antu Tirkey, who is allegedly linked to the case. The arrested person identified as Afshar Ali was lodged in jail under judicial custody in another money laundering case and the agency has taken his custody in the latest case after seeking a designated court’s permission. 
• On April 21, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge alleged at a joint Opposition rally that former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had been arrested for refusing to leave the INDIA bloc. Kharge warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi that if he tried to “terrorise” tribals, he himself would be destroyed. 

Judiciary 

• On April 1, the Supreme Court refused to stay the Varanasi district court’s order allowing Hindus to offer prayers in the sealed basement of the Gyanvapi mosque complex. On January 31, the Varanasi court allowed Hindus to offer prayers in the basement of the complex after an Archaeological Survey of India report claimed that a Hindu temple that existed at the site was destroyed in the 17th century. 
• On April 6, the Supreme Court said that people had a fundamental right to be free from adverse impacts of climate change, and that this right flowed naturally from the right to life and the right to equality guaranteed in the Indian Constitution.  
• On April 8, the Supreme Court raised a serious alarm over the misuse of social media platforms, denouncing the spread of factually incorrect and unfounded statements regarding pending cases. The Supreme Court initiated a contempt action against Assam legislator Karim Uddin Barbhuiya for his misleading Facebook post regarding a case reserved for judgment, where the top court expressed dismay at the growing trend of social media misuse, which under the guise of freedom of expression, tarnishes the integrity of the Court and sowed misinformation among the masses. 
• On April 9, the Calcutta High Court ordered a court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged incidents of sexual assault and land grabbing by suspended Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh. At the previous hearing on April 4, advocate Priyanka Tibrewal, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and one of the petitioners in the case, demanded that the investigation be transferred to a court-monitored commission authorised to receive complaints from the residents of Sandeshkhali and compile them for the court. Sheikh was arrested by the police on February 29 in connection with a case about an assault on Enforcement Directorate officials, and remains in the Enforcement Directorate’s custody. 
• On April 10, the Supreme Court allowed a prayer meeting organised by the Christian community to take place after the district administration in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore revoked permission for the event. Hindu supremacist groups had filed a complaint on April 5 opposing the Christian prayer meeting, alleged that the prayer meeting was being organised with an intention to mislead the Hindu community and encourage them to convert to Christianity. 
• On April 19, a special court in Mumbai granted bail to Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor in the ₹466.51 crore (EUR 52 million) bank fraud case, paving the way for him to walk out of jail after four years. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Kapoor in March 2020 in a money laundering case, and he has been booked in eight cases related to fraud at the bank. The banker has now secured bail in all the cases. 
• On April 19, the Supreme Court sought a reply from the Union government and the Assam State government on a petition challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, which aims to grant citizenship to ‘non-Muslim’ migrants who came from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan before December 31, 2014. 

Business and Economy 

• On April 19, the Consumer Affairs Ministry said it has asked the food safety regulator FSSAI to investigate the composition of Nestle’s Cerelac baby cereals sold in India. This comes after a report released recently by a Swiss NGO, the Public Eye and International Baby Food Action Network, revealed that Nestle’s baby food products sold in India, as well as in African and Latin American countries, have higher sugar content, in comparison to the same products sold in European markets. amid a global report that claimed the company was adding higher sugar content in the product. 
• On April 20, Tesla CEO Elon Musk postponed his planned trip to India, citing “very heavy” obligations at Tesla. On April 11, Musk had announced a visit to India in a post on X (formerly Twitter). This came after it was reported that the billionaire will visit India this month and could make an announcement related to investment plans in the country which could be related to opening a new factory. Earlier, Elon Musk described providing Tesla electric vehicles in India as a ‘natural progression. 

Armed Conflict in Manipur 

• On April 13, Meitei militants allegedly killed two Kuki-Zo “village volunteers”, a term used to speak of armed civilians guarding villages in Manipur, in a collusion with members of central security forces. Videos of their corpses being mutilated after the firing were shared widely on social media. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum condoned the killings, and alledged that “a combined team of Arambai Tenggol and UNLF [United National Liberation Front] militants [have] been attacking tribal areas since [April 12] and openly posting about their activity on social media”. The event raises serious concerns about the state’s ability to protect the right to life (Article 6 ICCPR).  
• On April 15, the Supreme Court rejected a petition seeking special arrangements for over 18,000 voters, who fled Manipur due to the conflict. The Supreme Court disposed of a petition filed by voters from Manipur, who fled to cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Shillong and a few other places, saying it was too late for them to issue a directive to the Election Commission to make special arrangements for such voters. 
• On April 15, Al Jazeera reported that officials from Assam Rifles, the federal government’s paramilitary force with a long and controversial history in the state, had conducted an assessment on accountability in the ongoing Manipur conflict, which was reviewed by The Reporters’ Collective (TRC). TRC shared a presentation of the assessment to Al Jazeera, which found that the state government, headed by Chief Minister N Biren Singh, a member of Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and his “political authoritarianism and ambition” was to blame. 
• On April 19, the Election Commission of India declared the polling conducted at 11 booths across five Assembly segments in Inner Manipur on April 19 as void as violence broke out. After the main opposition Congress party had demanded a rerun at 47 Manipur polling stations, alleging that booths were captured and elections were rigged, repolling occurred on April 22, which was conducted peacefully as the state deployed huge amounts of security personnel.   
• On April 19, the youth and civil organisations in Manipur called for the boycott of elections in protest of the government’s response post the violence on 2 May 2023. “This is the way we signify our anger with the government for letting Manipur burn for a year,” Sam, a resident of Churachandpur in Manipur said. The Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU) from the Kangpokpi District, which also saw the recent killings of two Kuki volunteers have said the whole community is abstaining from casting votes.  
• On April 24, an improvised explosive device (IED) blast blew up part of a vital bridge on one of Manipur’s two national highways connecting the state with the rest of India. The blast, which has still not been attributed, took place a day after the armed volunteers guarding the respective villages of the Kuki and Meitei communities engaged in a fight in the Imphal West district. The blast has cut off all traffic on the state’s most important access point to the rest of India, stranding nearly 200 vehicles, including trucks carrying essential commodities to Manipur’s capital Imphal.  
• On April 30, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) made its chargesheet from October 2023 on sexual violence in Manipur. The chargesheet pertains to the case of gang rape, sexual assault, and parading of two Kuki-Zo women by a mob of the Meitei community in May 2023. 

Edit on 02/05: An earlier version reported that the BJP won 10 seats unopposed in Arunachal Pradesh. This refers to earlier elections for the legislative assembly. The results for the Lok Sabha polls have not been announced yet. The reference was therefore removed for clarity.

Compiled by The London Story.