WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM The Liquid Drape A sari has always been about style and common sense. Now, women (and men) are reimagining the many ways to wear it AHMEDABAD, DECEMBER 14, 2025 DOwN IN JUNgLELAND BY RANJIT LAL One can spot harriers, Brahminy kites and if you are lucky enough, Amur falcons LATE CITY 14+4 PAGES ₹6.00 D A I L Y F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , C H A N D I G A R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N A G P U R , Collegium far more open than it once was… room to do better: CJI Surya Kant Ananthakrishnan g New Delhi, December 13 SIGNALLING CONTINUITY with reform, new Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant has said the Collegium system of judicial appointments is “certainly far more open and transparent today than it once was” and “there is always room to do better.” “Change is the only constant,andassocietyevolves,institutions must also adapt their mechanisms accordingly. The same applies to the Collegium system, which is certainly far more open and transparent todaythanitoncewas.Thereis, however, always room to do better,” he said. In an interview to The Indian Express, the CJI said that while the Collegium has evolved, “any system or practice, no matter how well-established, will at some stage require improvement”. He pointed to the introduction of ExPrEss interview JUSTICE SURYA KANT CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA in-person interactions with candidates as “a very welcome step”, adding that it allows members to “arrive at a more objective view.” Q&A ON P 9 “My focus on judicial appointments, whether to the High Courts or the Supreme Court, would be to place strong emphasisonmerit,experience, integrity,andthetemperament required to serve as a judge,” said CJI Kant who took oath on November 24. “Going forward, I believe an even stronger emphasis must be placed on the credentials of the candidate — their merit, theirintegrity,andtheirexperience.Theseshouldremaincentral considerations in every appointment,” he said. On transparency, he noted that reasons are now increasingly being recorded for approvals and disapprovals, but cautionedthat“itiscrucialtostrike abalanceandalsomaintainthe integrity of the system”. OntheChiefJustice’sroleas “master of the roster”, he said the phrase is often misunder- stood.WhiletheCJI,astheseniormost judge, has administrative responsibilities, “that does not automatically imply that matters are assigned in a unilateral manner”. Decisions, he said, are taken after discussion and consultation, keeping in mind experience and availability. Drawing from his years as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, where he monitored cases relating to Punjab’s drug crisis, the CJI describedthatphaseas“atruetest ofpatienceand,quitefrankly,a labour of love”. Assigned the matter around 2015,hesaidhelisteditregularly to ensure sustained oversight. »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 l CONgRESS wILL hold a Kolkata, December 13 gUJARAT PoLLs foUght on dEvELoPmEnt PLAnK ACross CoUntry noW: Cm lCHILE HOLDS its presiden- tial run-off. Far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast is set to become the country's most conservative leader since its military dictator Pinochet. PAgE 3 l A TOTAL Of 1.36 CRORE TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm wORLD December 13: The Nation Remembers PM Narendra Modi, LoP Rahul Gandhi, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and others at an event Saturday marking the 24th anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack. PRAVEEN KHANNA U.s. And UKrAinE to disCUss trUCE in bErLin PAgE 12 How Gujarat Police navigated a territorial UDF comeback in Kerala, tangle after Pak fishermen, boat intercepted LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS BJP stuns ruling Left in Thiruvananthapuram Shaju Philip Thiruvananthapuram, December 13 THE RULING CPM-led LDF in Kerala was dealt a stunning blow Saturday ahead of the Assembly polls in the state, losing heavily to the Opposition UDF led by the Congress in elections to local bodies and surrendering the prized Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation after a 45year run to the BJP. The UDF made a strong comeback, winning or leading in four out of six corporations, 54 of 86 municipalities, 79 of At the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday. PARTHA PAUL Tanusree Bose & Sayak Dutta rally over its “vote chori” allegations at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi are likely to address the event. E. ExPlAINED Wake-up call Its poor performance in the local body polls is a wake-up call to the ruling LDF given that Assembly elections are due next year. The Congressled UDF, which has been in Opposition since 2016, and BJP will now step up plans for the state polls. 152 block panchayats, and 504 out of 941 gram panchayats. »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 Brendan Dabhi Ahmedabad, December 13 ON DECEMBER 10, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) apprehendedaPakistanifishingboat and 11 persons aboard it, including two minors. After initialconfusiononwhetherthey had been caught in Indian territorial waters or Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the detained fishermen were first handed over to the Porbandar Police on December 12, and on December 13, were sent to Kutch district where an investigation will take place. They will be detained at the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) in Bhuj, Kutch. But why the confusion? Why were the fishermen de- ThePakistanifishingboat,and11personsonboard,wasapprehended bytheCoastGuardonWednesday. RELATED REPORT,PAGE 5 tained by the ICG, handed over to the police in one district, lodged in another while the investigation is to be conducted elsewhere? The miscalculation was of the distance at sea from shore, which in turn complicatedtheissueofjurisdictionof the investigation on land. Around noon on December V A D O D A R A Messi tour Day One: Chaos as fans ransack stadium in Kolkata; organiser arrested Soccer superstar escorted out in 20 minutes Happening today rural electors will vote for the zila parishad and block samiti elections in Punjab. The rural polls are significant as they come just over a year before the Assembly polls in 2027. P U N E , CM MAMATA BANERJEE ANNOUNCES PROBE, APOLOgISES TO MESSI, fANS ‘CJI AS MASTER Of THE ROSTER… ROLE IS HEAVILY MISUNDERSTOOD’ ‘Trolling must be ignored... justice will suffer if we shift focus from duty to what’s being said on social media’ P A T N A , 10, the ICG posted on X, “In a swift operation, the Indian Coast Guard apprehended a Pakistani fishing boat with 11 crew inside the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).” On December 12, ICG vesselsreachedlandatPorbandar and handed over the detained persons to the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Porbandar Police. An SOG officersaidonSaturday,“TheICG has apprehended a Pakistani boat fishing near Jakhau in Indian waters, which contained a total of 11 accused, including two juveniles. A Zero FIR has been registered against all of them today at Navibandar PoliceStation,Porbandar,andthe same has been forwarded to »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 CHAOS AND pandemonium broke out at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday as thousands of football fans, angry and disappointed they could hardly catch a glimpse of Argentinian soccer superstar Lionel Messi at the stadium, tore down banners, hurled water bottles and chairs, and ransacked the ground. Messi is in India as part of his three-day ‘GOAT Tour’ across Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi from December 13 to 15. Fans had paid for tickets ranging from Rs 3,800 to Rs 11,800, with many queueing up outside the venue since early morning. He arrived at the stadium at about 11.30 am and walked around the ground, but was surrounded by a barricade of security as well as VIPs, and others. Since fans in the stadium could not get to see him, they became restless, started shouting “We want Messi… we want Messi”, finally breached the barricades and stepped inside the ground. Despite repeated requests, the field was not cleared and the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner, who was waving at the fans, ultimately had to be escorted out at around 11.53 am. WhileformerIndiancricket team captain Sourav Ganguly was at the stadium and met Messi and shook hands, actor Shahrukh Khan arrived, but didn’t go inside the stadium. WestBengalChiefMinisterMamata Banerjee too was near the stadium. With things turning ugly at thevenue,Banerjeeapologised toMessi,expressedshockatthe mismanagement, and announced the setting up an inquiry committee to be chaired by a retired judge. “I am deeply disturbed and shocked by the mismanagement witnessed today at Salt Lake Stadium. I was on my way to the stadium to attend the event along with thousands of sports lovers and fans who had gathered to catch aglimpseoftheirfavouritefootballer, Lionel Messi. I sincerely apologise to Lionel Messi, as well as to all sports lovers and his fans, for the unfortunate incident,” she said on social media platform X. The Kolkata police soon arrested event organiser Satadra »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 ‘Waste of time & money’: How VIPs hijacked event, leaving fans fuming Sayak Dutta, Ravik Bhattacharya & Atri Mitra Kolkata, December 13 FOR LIFELONG Lionel Messi fan Sabyasachi Ghosh (25), the triptoSaltLakeStadiumonSaturday morning was to be a pilgrimage, a chance to pay homage to the global football deity. By noon, he would stand stunned, his eyes searching for the5’7”Argentinewhoseposter adornedhisroom’swall.“Waste of time, waste of money,” was »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 Lionel Messi signs a young fan’s T-shirt in Kolkata. PARTHA PAUL morE rEPorts, P AgE 13 l FARMERS FEAR THE PLANT IN HANUMANGARH DISTRICT WOULD POLLUTE GROUNDWATER In Rajasthan, anger against ethanol unit boils over, farmers from other states join in Parul Kulshrestha Tibbi (Hanumangarh), December 13 A VIOLENT clash, hundreds namedinFIR,40arrestsandan echo in Lok Sabha — Tibbi, a town in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district, this week became ground zero for a protest that brought farmers from several north Indian states together against the construction of an ethanol plant. Their fear: the plant would pollute groundwaterandhinderfarminginone ofRajasthan’smostfertileareas. The past week saw a clash between police and protesters after the latter demolished a Protesters in Tibbi town of Hanumangarh district. PARUL KULSHRESTHA boundary wall of the underconstruction plant with tractors. The clash took place following a mahapanchayat by the protesting farmers. The clash was intense — protesters vandalised and set ablaze several vehicles, while police fired teargas shells and used lathi charge to bring them under control. A Congress MLA,AbhimanyuPoonia,who was at the site to support the agitating farmers, was injured. The plant’s management filed a complaint, following which an FIR was registered against 273 people. The Tibbi Circle Officer also filed a suomotu FIR against 108 people. As many as 40 people have been arrested, including two Congress MLAs, former MLAs and farmer leaders. One of the farmer leaders, Jagjit Singh Jaggi, said another mahapanchayat would be held on December 17 under the banner of the All-India Kisan Sabha and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, where leaders such as Rakesh Tikait are expected, along with protesters from Punjab,HaryanaandUttarPradesh. On Friday night, however, the protest was “suspended” after the farmers and the administration reached a “consensus” on key issues. The mahapanchayat, though, will proceed as planned, farmers said. Theproposed40-megawatt grain-based ethanol plant is being constructed by Dune Ethanol Private Limited, a Chandigarh-headquartered company that was incorporated in 2020. While the com- pany says it will support the Centre’s ethanol-blended petrol (EBP) programme, locals, especially farmers, apprehend itwillleadtopollution,particularly affecting groundwater. Company officials were unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts, but governmentofficialsassuredtheplant would not cause pollution. “The factory was constructed after taking an NOC (no objection certificate) from the pollution control department and the state groundwater department. This is a ‘zero liquid discharge’ factory, where the wastewater, including all the industrial effluent, will be treated, recovered, and reused within the plant. This will leave no discharge to surface water or soil. When the rules are clearly stated and when the company has agreed toit,thisissueisbeingraisedfor political gain,” said an official who did not wish to be identified. Political slugfest Rajasthan ministers Sumit Godara and Jogaram Patel allege the protest was being orchestratedbythegovernment’s political opponents. “This has been made a political issue by Congress leaders. This is not a farmers’ protest, but something orchestratedbytheOpposition,which wants to create tension in the area. The government is ready for dialogue and will consider all legitimate demands, but people should not take the law intotheirhands,”saidJogaram Patel. Agriculture Minister Kirodi Lal Meena said on Thursday thatthelandforthefactorywas allotted after an MoU was signed during the previous Congressgovernment’stenure, but the same party’s MLAs are now “leading the farmers in an attack on the plant”. Meanwhile, MPs Hanuman »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 Ahmedabad