Vol. 67 No. 120 | SATURDAY | FEBRUARY 17, 2024 | 33 Pages | `5 & for Pune `6 only Quality at Value www.freepressjournal.in EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Nashik, Konkan, Indore, Bhopal, E-paper SC/ST ALPHABET SOUP HC dismisses plea seeking ST status for Dhangars URVI MAHAJANI / MUMBAI The Bombay High Court dismissed as being ‘without merit’ on Friday a clutch of peti, tions which had sought Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Dhangar (shepherd) community in Maharashtra. The petitioners claimed that the community in the state was listed as ‘Dhangar’ instead CM GETS MARATHA SURVEY REPORT KALPESH MHAMUNKAR MUMBAI T he chairman of the State Backward Classes Commission, Justice Sunil Shukre (retired), submitted a report on the survey conducted between January 23 and February 2, across Maharashtra, to ascertain the social, educational and economic status of Marathas. The report was submitted to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at his official residence, Varsha. CM Shinde has thanked the four lakh government employees for conducting the survey . All divisional and district collectors and municipal commissioners were appointed as nodal officers for the survey . Under the chairmanship of the chief secretary all other , secretaries of the state government made available information related to land acquisition, retention, mobilisation and records, CONTD. ON NATION The petitioners claimed that the community was listed as ‘Dhangar’ community instead of as ‘Dhangad’ community because of a typographical error and that resulted in the exclusion of the community from the ST category of ‘Dhangad’ due to a typographical error and was thus excluded from the ST category . In a day-long dictation of the verdict in the open court, the division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Kamal Khata noted that the petitioners had failed to establish that the ‘Dhangad’ community did not exist in the erstwhile state of Bombay later re-organised as the , state of Maharashtra, at the time of issuance of Presidential Order (PO) on September 6, 1950. Hence, this showed that it was an “empty class” or a “zero member”. CONTD. ON NATION Cong A/C: Topsy-turvy OUR BUREAU / NEW DELHI On the heels of the Supreme Court judgment striking down the electoral bonds scheme, the Congress party made it public on Friday that its accounts had been frozen by the IT Department and the cheques issued by the party were not being honoured. Congress treasurer Ajay Maken described the freezing of bank accounts as freezing of democracy ahead of the parliament elections. He revealed that the bank accounts of the party including the , Youth Congress, were frozen by the IT Department, which is seeking recovery of RS 210 crore. The money Maken said, , did not belong to any corporate entity but was received through donations from party workers. ‘‘….This money has accrued to us from the crowdfunding. We collected around Rs. 25 crores thus, 95 per cent of which is donation of less than Rs.100. It has been done legally through the UPI, it has been done through online funding, no cash has been accepted, and this is the money which is with us." As regards the Youth Congress, Maken said the money has come through its membership drive, unlike over Rs 6500 crores collected through the unconstitutional corporate bonds. CONTD. ON NATION ASHWIN @ 500 UNSTOPPABLE FPJ NEWS SERVICE / MUMBAI From the very start, Ravichandran Ashwin's unstoppable journey culminat, ing in his monumental 500th wicket -– Zak Crawley's dismissal in the Third Test against England in Rajkot -smacked of greatness. Ashwin’s landmark miliestone -- the second-fastest -measured by matches and deliveries, speaks volumes about the extraordinary career he has crafted. While his record-breaking performance in India, ensnaring 347 wickets at an astonishing 21.22, may be attributed to favorable spin conditions at home, it's Ashwin's unmatched expertise, unwavering consistency , insatiable hunger, and relentless pursuit of improvement that are truly his hallmark. These traits have defined his illustrious 12-year career. Since his Test debut in November 2011, CONTD. ON NATION THE ELITE 500 CLUB 87: MURALIDARAN 98: ASHWIN 105: KUMBLE 108: WARNE 110: MCGRATH Kejri’s dare: moves trust motion GAURAV VIVEK BHATNAGAR / NEW DELHI Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday reiterated in the Delhi Assembly that two of his party MLAs had informed him that they were offered Rs 25 crore each by the BJP and also promised that they would be fielded as saffron party candi- dates in the next Assembly elections. Kejriwal, who has called a special one-day session of the House on Saturday to seek a vote of confidence, so that for the next six months no party is able to manipulate his legislators and bring down his government, said his MLAs told him that they were approached by BJP leaders. The Delhi CM said his leg- islators were told by the BJP activists: “We will arrest your chief minister in a few days and that we have already established contact with 21 MLAs and they have agreed to leave the party We are con. tacting more. We will give Rs 25 crore each, you come to our party and later we will give you our ticket to fight the election. And if you need something else, then tell us”. Kejriwal said the two AAP MLAs told him that they rejected the offer. “Then we spoke to each of our MLAs and came to know that not 21 but 7 MLAs were indeed approached by them. They have undertaken many ‘Operation Lotus’ in the past and this was just another attempt. But all our MLAs refused, as per the information available to us.” CONTD. ON NATION