Advocates can’t use RTI Act to seek details for clients’ cases: CIC Using the transparency law in this manner fails to advance its core objectives, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has observed KOCHI l monday l January 19, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE city EDITION Quoting a Madras High Court order, the CIC underlined that “laudable objectives of RTI Act cannot be used for personal ends” The Madras HC had cautioned against the practice, stating this “does not advance the objects of the scheme” Case relates to dispute over a supply deed The case relates to the termination of a fruit and vegetable supply contract in Haryana. The supplier’s advocate sought to use the RTI Act to obtain information on behalf of his client. CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI PM: Cong & TMC endangering nat’l security Accuses the parties of protecting infiltrators P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R & S U B H E N D U M A I T I @ Guwahati / Kolkata Kannur champions 1,028 points secured by Kannur to lift the Gold Cup in the 64th Kerala School Kalolsavam Hosts Thrissur were a close second with 1,023 points Kozhikode finished third with 1,017 points Over the five days, 13,149 participants from 1,041 schools across the state took part in 249 competitions Participants and teachers from Kannur with the coveted Gold Cup at the conclusion of the 64th Kerala School Kalolsavam in Thrissur on Sunday. Actor Mohanlal, General Education Minister V Sivankutty and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan are also seen | T P Sooraj | P2 NSS, SNDP supremos lash out at Satheesan, stress need for unity A B H I L A S H C H A N D R A N @Kottayam E X P RESS READ Pinarayi to lead next assembly polls: Baby T’Puram: Pinarayi Vijayan will lead LDF in the assembly polls, CPM general secretary M A Baby has said. He did not clarify whether the CM would contest. He also said a call on the next CM will be taken after talks should LDF win | P4 EU pushback against Trump’s tariff war European nations slammed US President Donald Trump and said they “stand united” against his vow to hit them with tariffs unless Greenland is ceded to the US. “Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations,” they said in a joint statement | P9 In a setback for the UDF, especially Congress, ahead of the assembly elections, heads of two influential Hindu community organisations — the Nair Service Society (NSS) and Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam — lashed out at Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan on the same day . The statements by NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair and SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan on Sunday are being seen as a Vellappally Natesan G Sukumaran Nair blow to the UDF, which, buoyed by the success in December’s local body polls, is gearing up for the assembly election under Satheesan’s leadership. The leaders also alluded to the necessity of Nair-Ezhava unity in Kerala, a move interpreted as an indirect response to a possible minority consolidation in the elections. Nair alleged that the Congress had let Satheesan ‘loose’. “Does Congress have a president? Why does Satheesan respond to every issue? He is commenting on everything by making the president look like a pawn,” he said. Vellappally said Satheesan had been calling him a communalist while himself aligning with Jamaat-e-Islami and Mus● More on P4 lim League.  PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday mounted a sharp political attack on the Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC), accusing the two parties of endangering national security by protecting infiltrators for vote-bank politics. After laying the foundation stone for the `6,957 crore Kaziranga Elevated Corridor, and virtually flagging off two Amrit Bharat trains from Kaliabor in election-bound Assam’s Nagaon district, Modi accused the Congress of allowing infiltrators in exchange for votes during its years in power in the north-eastern state. Taking potshots at the Congress for its poor show in the Bihar Assembly election and Maharashtra local body polls, Modi said the grand old party has lost the trust of the nation and the BJP has become the first choice of people. “In Bihar, even after 20 years, people gave a record number of votes to the BJP helping it win , a record number of seats. Mumbai, for the first time, gave a record mandate to the BJP. In most cities of Maharashtra, people gave the BJP an oppor- Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a gathering during the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor, in Nagaon, Assam on Sunday | pti tunity to serve them,” he said. Modi also pointed to the BJP’s electoral breakthrough in Kerala, where the party secured the mayor’s post in Thiruvananthapuram for the first time. Later in the day at a , rally in West Bengal’s Singur, Modi accused the TMC government of sitting idle on the Centre’s request to acquire land for fencing the Bangladesh border. “The Centre has been writing to the TMC government in Bengal for the past 11 years requesting land for border fencing to prevent infiltration in the state. But it sits idle,” Modi alleged. He also said the party is “playing with the country’s security” by giving support to infiltrators from Bangladesh. Trump invites Modi to join ‘Board of Peace’ J ayanth J ac o b @ New Delhi US President Donald Trump has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join a proposed “Board of Peace” for Gaza, in a significant outreach as Washington seeks to shape the post-war governance and reconstruction of the besieged enclave. The letter was sent on January 16. “It is my Great Honor to invite you, as Prime Minister of the Republic of India, to join me in a critically Historic and Magnificent effort to solidify Peace in the Middle East and, at the same time, to embark on a bold new approach to resolving Global Conflict!” the letter from the US president said. Pakistan’s Foreign Office had earlier said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also been invited to be part of the initiative. Several global leaders have been invited to be part of the board, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the leaders of France, Germany, Australia and Canada. More details about the proposed body surfaced after letters sent by Trump to Argentine President Javier Milei and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña were posted by the two leaders on social media. Intelligence agencies warn of Lashkar recruitment drive in PoK M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has launched a renewed and intensified recruitment campaign with an aim to establish training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Indian intelligence agencies have learned. The recruitment campaign is being spearheaded by senior LeT commander Nasr Javed. Sources said Javed has visited several strategic locations in PoK over the past few months to mobilise local youth. Over the past two weeks, he was in Mirpur, Kotli and Poonch districts of PoK, where he addressed more than four open rallies organised by the PoK unit of Lashkar-e-Taiba and held over 10 closed-door meetings with local operatives and sympathisers. The primary objective of these engagements, intelligence sources said, is to recruit young men for the new LeT training camps expected to come up soon in PoK. Javed is considered a key figure within LeT. As per the sources, Javed has been tasked with raising a new unit in PoK, with a specific mandate to prepare recruits for Three soldiers injured in J&K encounter Three soldiers were injured in a gunfight with terrorists in a remote forested area in J&K’s Kishtwar district on Sunday, officials said counter-insurgency and crossborder operations. The intelligence sources said in November last year, Javed, along with LeT operative Abdul Rauf, held more than 50 rallies and secret meetings across Pakistan’s Sindh province. “Security agencies assess that these coordinated visits across provinces point to an effort to build a broader pool of recruits and rev ive L e T ’s o p e r at i o n a l strength nationwide,” a source said. Meanwhile, intelligence inputs suggest that efforts to reactivate Markaz-e-Taiba, the LeT’s headquarters, are gaining pace. Buildings damaged during Operation Sindoor are being repaired with photographs and videos of construction activity circulating on social media, sources said.