FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 20 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | MUMBAI | BHUBANESWAR | LUCKNOW SILIGURI | Friday, 03 April 2026 SPORTS WORLD Shah attends Suvendu’s nomination, to oversee party preparations in Bengal Iran fires at Israel and Gulf neighbours as Trump talks of winding down West Asia war Page 3 Page 9 LOCAL | PERSPECTIVE War without mandate places world in peril Page 11 IPL 2026: CSK seek turnaround in Chennai against in-form PBKS Page 20 Malda incident ‘calculated & motivated,’ says apex court, pulls up Bengal govt PARMOD KUMAR New Delhi, 2 April T erming West Bengal as the “most polarised state”, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to deploy Central forces for the protection of judicial officers engaged in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, after seven judicial officers including three women judges engaged in the special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the state were gheraoed for several hours in Malda district on Wednesday evening by people protesting against the deletion of their names from the electoral rolls. Pulling up the Bengal government and the district authorities, including the district magistrate and the superintendent of police for not responding to the situation promptly, the top court termed the incident at Malda as “calculated and motivated”. Taking suo motu cognisance of the incident and holding an urgent hearing, a Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi said that the incident was a “brazen attempt not only to browbeat the judicial officers” but also “a challenge to the authority of the apex court”. The court termed it an abdication of duty by the West Bengal government and its officers. The court noted that the gherao of the office of Block Development Officer (BDO), where the judicial officers were working, started around 3:30 p.m. and continued till midnight. It also noted that despite repeated calls from the Calcutta High Court, no action was taken till late evening. It noted that the senior district officials failed to respond promptly to the situation, and even after the rescue of the judicial officers, there were reports of attacks on their vehicles. CM Mamata blames Cong for judges’ confinement: Siliguri: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday blamed a section of Congress leaders for a recent incident in which seven judges involved in adjudication of voter names as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process were allegedly confined till late at night, describing it as a “planned provocation” aimed at maligning Bengal. Campaigning for Trinamul Congress candidate Chandana Sarkar at Baishnabnagar in Malda, Miss Banerjee said the episode had caused serious embarrassment to the state and damaged its image. “I am deeply hurt. Because of this one incident, Bengal has been insulted,” she said. Even as she criticised the incident, the Chief Minister acknowledged public resentment over the exclusion of names from electoral rolls, terming such anger “natural.” She, however, urged restraint and appealed to people to seek legal remedies instead of resorting to agitation. “The Supreme Court has made it clear that names can be restored through proper application. Do not attack judges or take the law into your own hands,” she said, advising those affected to approach tribunals for redress. Miss Banerjee sought to underline her government’s role in addressing the issue, claiming that nearly 2.2 million names had been restored following her movement and subsequent legal intervention. “I was on the streets for five days and then moved the Supreme Court. That is why these names have been restored,” she said. Turning to the Congress, the Trinamul Congress chairperson alleged that its leaders remained inactive throughout the year and “resorted to provocation only during elections.” She accused the party of indulging in vote division and attempting to influence voters through money power. “They divide votes and even try to buy them,” she said, while questioning whether the Congress would stand by those allegedly involved in the judges’ incident if central agencies initiated action. • Related reports: Pgs 3,4 Centre announces full customs duty exemption on critical petrochemical products amid West Asia conflict STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 2 April The Union government on Thursday announced a full customs duty exemption on a wide range of critical petrochemical products till 30 June 2026 as a temporary measure to support domestic industry amid supply disruptions linked to the West Asia conflict. "This measure has been taken as a temporary and targeted relief in order to ensure continued availability of critical petrochemical inputs for domestic industry, reduce cost pressures on downstream sectors, and safeguard supply Foreign Secy representing India in UK-led Hormuz talks STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 2 April Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is representing India at the summit convened by the United Kingdom Thursday to look at political and diplomatic measures to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), confirmed on Thursday. “The UK side has invited several countries, including India, for talks on the Strait of Hormuz. From our side, Foreign Secretary is attending the meeting this evening,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. Around 35 countries were invited to the virtual meeting by the United Kingdom. The talks were billed as the opening efforts towards building a coalition to ensure security in the Strait of Hormuz, once the current conflict ends. Mr Jaiswal stated that six Indian ships carrying products including LPG, LNG and other products have been able to safely cross the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia. INDUSTRIES SUCH AS PLASTICS, PACKAGING, TEXTILES, PHARMACEUTICALS, CHEMICALS AND AUTOMOTIVE COMPONENTS ARE EXPECTED TO BENEFIT FROM LOWER INPUT COSTS. BASIC CHEMICALS LIKE ANHYDROUS AMMONIA, TOLUENE, STYRENE, METHANOL, ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL, ACETIC ACID, PHENOL AND MONOETHYLENE GLYCOL (MEG) ARE INCLUDED. stability in the country," said the Ministry of Finance in a statement. The exemption is expected to benefit a wide range of sectors dependent on petrochemical feedstock and intermediates, including plastics, packaging, textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, automotive components and other manufacturing segments. This will also provide relief to consumers of final products, the ministry added. Industries such as plastics, packaging, textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and automotive components are expected to benefit from lower input costs. Basic chemicals like anhydrous ammonia, toluene, styrene, methanol, isopropyl alcohol, acetic acid, phenol and monoethylene glycol (MEG) are included. The measure also covers monomers and intermediates such as vinyl chloride monomer, vinyl acetate monomer, purified terephthalic acid (PTA), ethylenediamine, toluene di-isocyanate and linear alkylbenzenes. The list also included polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) chips, polycarbonates and epoxy resins. Advanced materials such as acrylonitrile-butadienestyrene (ABS), polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) are also covered. No discussion on Iran attack during PM Modi’s Israel visit: New Delhi: The government on Thursday stated in the Rajya Sabha that no discussions took place during PM Narendra Modi’s State visit to Israel in February regarding the subsequent military attack on Iran. In a written reply to an unstarred question by MP Abdul Wahab, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said PM Modi visited Israel on 25–26 February at the invitation of his Israeli counter-part, where both sides held comprehensive discussions covering the full spectrum of bilateral ties and several agreements and Memoranda of Understanding were signed. There was no discussion on the military strike on Iran a day after the PM’s visit.