A political row broke out after Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi in Parliament quoted an excerpt from the unpublished memoir of former Army chief MM Naravane. The excerpt was about the political decision-making during the 2020 border tensions between India and China.

Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah objected to Gandhi’s remarks, saying that the book had not been published and accused the Congress leader of misleading the Lok Sabha.

In his memoir, Naravane wrote that he had in August 2020 sought orders from the political leadership to respond to Chinese tanks moving towards Rechin La in eastern Ladakh. He said he was told by Defence Minister Singh that the military was to do whatever it deems appropriate.

This implied that the Indian response was to be “purely a military decision” and that “the onus was now totally on [him]”, the former Army chief wrote. The incident Naravane referred to had taken place amid the border tensions between India and China in eastern Ladakh.

During the ruckus on Monday, Speaker Om Birla ruled that no book or newspaper clipping could be quoted on a matter unrelated to the proceedings and adjourned the House for the day.

Gandhi told reporters that a country’s leader “is supposed to give direction” and not “run away from decisions” by leaving them to others. Read on.

The Union government claimed before the Supreme Court that activist Sonam Wangchuk wanted Ladakh to have a violent agitation similar to the ones that took place in Bangladesh and Nepal. The submissions were made as the bench heard a plea by Wangchuk’s wife challenging the activist’s detention under the National Security Act.

The government said that Wangchuk had referred to the Centre as “them”, alleging that it showed secessionist tendencies. “This ‘us’ and ‘them’ is enough for NSA detention,” the government argued. “There is no us and them. We are all Indians.”

The solicitor general added: “He wants Ladakh to become Nepal or Bangladesh? This is what clearly he wants to say. We all know what happened in Bangladesh. He is targeting the impressionable youth.” Read on.

The Supreme Court directed the Union government to constitute a tribunal to adjudicate the dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu about the sharing of water from the Pennaiyar river. The bench ordered the tribunal to be set up within a month and Tamil Nadu’s complaint be placed before it.

Tamil Nadu had approached the Supreme Court in 2018 challenging Karnataka constructing check dams and diversion structures on the river. The state argued that Karnataka cannot use the river water in a manner detrimental to Tamil Nadu’s interests.

The state contended that the water of an inter-state river was a national asset and that an 1892 agreement was valid and binding on both sides.

The court was informed that the negotiations between the states had failed and adjudication by a tribunal cannot be avoided. Read on.

A court in Bangladesh sentenced deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years imprisonment in two corruption cases relating to alleged irregularities in the allocation of land in a government housing project.

The cases had been filed by the anti-corruption commission for the alleged irregularities linked to the allocation of two 10-katha plots under the Rajuk New Town Project near Dhaka. The prosecution claimed that the persons accused in the matter had manipulated the allocation process.

The verdict came ahead of the general elections on February 12, the first since she was ousted. Read more.

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