A bail trend in dowry death cases raises questions

In today's edition: India-US tariff restructure, Maharashtra's Conversion Bill, Sanju Samson's full circle, and more
As attacks continue to escalate across West Asia, the United Arab Emirates has again closed its airspace following incoming missile and drone threats from Iran.

The civil aviation authority said the temporary closure comes as Etihad and Emirates had just resumed a few flights.

Flight operations to Dubai were affected in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram after reports of disruptions at the destination airport on Monday, following a fire in a fuel tank near Dubai International Airport.

Meanwhile, at least 400 people were killed in a Pakistani airstrike on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul late on Monday, Afghanistan’s Taliban government claimed.

According to deputy government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat, about 250 more people were injured in the airstrike, which hit the hospital around 9 pm local time and destroyed large portions of the 2,000-bed facility.

On that note, let’s get to the rest of today’s edition.

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As the Express Investigation series continues, today we look into the Allahabad High Court judge who recently requested the Chief Justice not to assign him the bail roster after one of his bail orders was described as “most shocking and disappointing” by the Supreme Court, and who has overwhelmingly granted bail in dowry death cases heard by his Bench.

An analysis by The Indian Express of the 510 publicly available regular bail orders in dowry death cases passed by the single-judge Bench headed by him between October and December 2025 shows that Justice Pankaj Bhatia granted bail in 508 or 99.61% of the total cases.

The data suggests an overwhelming tendency to grant bail in such cases, raising concerns after the Supreme Court’s rebuke.

The Supreme Court had set aside one of his bail orders in a dowry death case, saying courts must exercise greater caution in such serious offences.

In our opinion column today, Yogendra Yadav argues that the Opposition’s move to impeach Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, though unlikely to succeed due to lack of numbers, is significant because it highlights concerns about the functioning and perceived neutrality of the Election Commission.

The column points to allegations of political partisanship, including the CEC’s public remarks and confrontations with Opposition leaders, as well as controversies surrounding the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

Yadav writes that even if the motion remains symbolic, it serves as an important democratic signal raising questions about the credibility and independence of the institution.

Tariff reset: The India-US framework trade agreement will now only be signed after the United States finalises a new tariff architecture that ensures India retains a comparative advantage in the US market.

This comes after the US Supreme Court ruling that struck down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which earlier formed the basis of several US trade arrangements.

While some countries that already signed legal agreements based on earlier tariffs may need to recalibrate, India has only announced a framework agreement and has not yet signed it.

Negotiations also involve Section 301 investigations, non-tariff barriers, and Section 232 tariffs affecting certain imports.

NIA arrests: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested seven foreign nationals, six from Ukraine and one from the United States, on charges of conspiring to carry out terrorist activities against India.

The arrests were made in a coordinated operation last week under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

According to the agency, the accused had entered India on valid visas but travelled to Mizoram without the mandatory Restricted Area Permit and later crossed into Myanmar, where they allegedly met ethnic armed groups hostile to India.

The NIA has alleged that the group was involved in illegally importing large consignments of drones from Europe to Myanmar via India for use by these groups, which were also supporting proscribed Indian insurgent groups by supplying weapons and training.

🎧 For more on Bengal SIR, NavIC in trouble again, and SCB hospital fire, tune in to today’s ‘ 3 Things ’ podcast episode.

Gujarat UCC push: The Gujarat government’s five-member expert committee, set up in February 2025 to assess the need for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), is expected to submit its report today along with a draft law, according to sources.

The draft law contains clauses similar to the UCC Act in Uttarakhand and is likely to be tabled during the ongoing Budget Session of the state Assembly, which began on February 16.

If passed, Gujarat will become the second state after Uttarakhand to adopt a common civil code, whose underlying theme is gender equality, government sources said.

Conversion law: The Maharashtra Assembly passed the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill, 2026, aimed at preventing religious conversions through coercion, inducement, fraud or deception.

While Sena (UBT) backed the Bill, the Congress, NCP (SP), Samajwadi Party and CPI (M) opposed it, calling it unconstitutional and demanding that it be sent to a joint select committee for further scrutiny.

Defending the Bill, Fadnavis said it was not directed against any religion and noted that similar laws already exist in several states, adding that the measure seeks to address disputes around religious conversions, including those linked to interfaith marriages that can sometimes lead to law and order issues.

That’s all for today, folks!

Until tomorrow,