Maharashtra Police reiterates rights activists plotted to overthrow government
Mumbai, Aug 31 : Justifying the arrest of five rights activists, Maharashtra's Additional Director-General of Police Parambir Singh on Friday said police have clear evidence to show their links with Maoist organisations and a larger conspiracy to overthrow the central government.
Addressing a special media briefing here, ADG Singh (law and order), exhibited certain emails, letters and other communication allegedly changing hands among the activists, whose arrests three days ago from different parts of India triggered nationwide condemnation.
"There was a bigger conspiracy plotted by the Maoist organisations to overthrow the 'lawfully established Indian government' using arms procured from countries like China and Russia and the arrested accused played a crucial role in this plan," Singh said.
On August 28, Pune Police had carried out the arrests of lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj, civil liberties activists Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Fereira and Telugu poet P. Varavara Rao from different parts of India, as part of investigations into the January 1 Koregaon-Bhima caste riots.
Singh revealed that the five activists were in contact with separatist and extremist groups from Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur, wanted to emulate stone-pelting protests akin to Kashmir in other parts of India including urban areas and conducting meetings abroad with other groups in a bid to organise funds.
Citing that conclusive evidence was collected which establishes their links with Maoists before making the arrests, he mentioned a letter speaking of a "Rajiv Gandhi-type incident" to end the Modi Raj, and need for Rs 8 crore to procure a rocket launcher and 400,000 rounds, among other things.
On August 29, Pune's Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shirish Sardeshpande had said that the banned CPI (Maoist) was engaged in raising funds to incite civil unrest against the administration.
"They have shown intolerance to the present political system, and decided to target organisations and their officials and even the highest political functionaries," Sardesphande said in the first official comments on the August 28 swoop.
The arrests were made on a complaint lodged with Vishramgarh Police in Pune on January 8 on the December 31 Elgar Parishad, organised by the Kabir Kala Manch where allegedly inciting speeches were delivered.
The following day (January 1), Koregaon-Bhima witnessed huge protests and caste riots in which one person was killed, followed by a Maharashtra shutdown on January 3, called by the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh.
Singh said that despite the 'propaganda' to discredit the police probe, the investigators have a very strong case and all the arrests were videographed.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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