THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l saturday l may 23, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION NCERT book row: SC Modifies ORDER blacklisting 3 ACADEMIC experts The March 11 order had directed the Centre and states to disassociate from the academicians over a controversial chapter on corruption in judiciary Michel Danino Suparna Diwakar Alok Prasanna Deletes Adverse remarks in March 11 order A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi deleted the adverse remarks against Professor Michel Danino, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar that the academicians had deliberately misrepresented facts. It recalled its direction to blacklist the authors, saying the authorities can take an independent decision ■ Centre Observation not on individuals: Court ■ The bench passed the order while hearing an application filed by the academicians, who explained that no individual had the sole say in the drafting of the content and it was a collective process The court said its observations were on the contents and not on the individuals, adding that the contents were “wholly undesirable” Will not associate with the 3 experts, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told sc 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 L2.87 lakh crore Umar Khalid case referred to larger SC bench RBI ‘gift’ amid economic stress S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Bumper payout to help govt surmount the financial distress due to West Asia conflict B E N N K O C H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai The balance sheet of the bank expanded by 20.61% to K91,97,121.08 crore (K91.97 lakh crore) as on March 31, 2026 Reserve Bank of India 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 2026-27 57,128 99,122 30,307 87,416 2,10,874 2,68,590 2,86,588 Surplus transfer (Lcrore) THE Reserve Bank of India on Friday announced a bumper payout of `2.87 lakh crore to the Central government for the year ended March 2026 (FY26). The surplus for FY26, which will be transferred in FY27, is nearly 7% higher than `2.68 lakh crore for FY25 and will help the government tide over the revenue constraints due to geopolitical tensions. The latest transfer was possible due to a 21% expansion in the central bank’s balance sheet, driven by large open market operations and dollar sales during the year. “Taking into consideration the current macroeconomic factors, financial performance of the Bank and maintenance of appropriate risk buffers, the Central Board decided to transfer `1,09,379.64 crore towards the contingent risk buffer (CRB) for FY26 as against `44,861.70 crore in the previous year, and maintain the CRB at 6.5% of the balance sheet. Accordingly , it decided to transfer `2,86,588.46 crore as surplus to the government for the accounting year 2025-26,” RBI said in a statement after its board meeting chaired by Gover nor Sanjay Malhotra. This is third year in a row that RBI has transferred over `2 lakh crore to the Central government. It transferred `2.1 lakh crore in FY25. The central bank said its gross income rose 26.42% year-on-year, while expenditure before risk provisions increased 27.6%. Net income before risk provisions and transfer to statutory funds stood at `3.96 lakh crore in FY26 against `3.13 lakh crore in FY25. RBI’s balance sheet expanded 20.61% year-on-year to `91.97 lakh crore. Under the revised Economic Capital Framework adopted in 2019, RBI can maintain the CRB between 4.5% and 7.5% of the balance sheet. The central bank retained the CRB at 6.5% for the second consecutive year. Acquitted, yet unwanted; Bineesh takes swipe at CPM E x p ress N e w s S er v ice @T’Puram Nearly three years after his acquittal in a drug case, Bineesh Kodiyeri — son of late CPM stalwart Kodiyeri Balakrishnan — is awaiting the party’s green signal to return. Despite repeated pleas to renew his membership, the CPM leadership has kept him at arm’s length. Amid reports of state secretary M V Govindan’s reluctance to take him back, Bineesh on Friday dropped a cryptic social media post — “I am also a Cockroach” — an apparent swipe at those sidelining him in the backdrop of the “Cockroach Janata Party” row. The CPM froze Bineesh’s membership in 2020 after his arrest in a drug peddling case. Though acquitted in 2023, his path back into the party remains blocked. At the time of his arrest, Bineesh was attached to the branch linked to CPM’s Thiruvananthapuram district committee office. Following his acquittal, he approached the committee seeking reinstatement. Sources say he submitted the request four times, but the party is yet to act. “It is for the district committee to decide. At a recent DC meeting attended by Govindan, a member raised the request. Even then, no decision was taken,” a leader said.  ● More on P4 16 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express Joining issue with a coordinate bench that criticised the denial of bail to Delhi riots accused Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, arrested under the harsh Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a bench of justices Aravind Kumar and P B Varale referred the matter to a larger bench to resolve the perceived conflict in the higher judiciary . A three-judge bench had in the Union of India v KA Najeeb case, held that long incarceration can be a ground to grant bail in cases under the UAPA. Citing this verdict, a bench of Justices Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had said, “Judicial discipline and certainty demands that Benches of smaller strength are mindful of the decisions rendered by larger Benches and are bound ‘Law grew through reasoned differences’ “A coordinate bench cannot make strong observations and effectively unsettle the ratio of an earlier bench while sitting in equal strength. The law has often grown through reasoned differences,” the court said, adding a coordinate bench may, however, express doubt The Delhi High Court on Friday pulled up the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for blaming celebrated grappler Vinesh Phogat, who “suffered a heartbreak in the Olympics”, instead of fixing the responsibility on sports managers. It also said that Phogat, seeking return from a maternity break, should not be “denounced for becoming a mother”. A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia described her as “a wres- S han A S @T’Puram Living in uncertainty Thankamma Ayyappan and Lakshmi Thevan, residents of Pariyathukavu colony in Malayidamthuruthu in Ernakulam, participating in the protest against the eviction drive ordered by the Perumbavoor munsiff court, on Friday. The issues stem from a 58-year-old land dispute. The Supreme Court had issued the order to evict the occupants on the disputed 2.65 acres of land four years ago | A Sanesh tler of international repute” and reprimanded the federation for its decision to declare Phogat “ineligible” to participate in domestic events. It said it would pass an order on whether she can join the upcoming Asian Games selection trials. The bench was appalled by WFI’s showcause notice to Phogat, which blamed her for causing “national embarrassment” by being disqualified from the Paris Olympics for being over- weight ahead of her gold medal match. “Was it a national shame? She was in the finals. How did people of the country look at the event? Would you describe it as a national shame? Is that how you are serving the cause of wrestling? What was the mood of the country at that time,” the bench said. It also questioned why the 2024 Olympic episode was brought up in the notice issued to her earlier this month. 1 On the run for 10 days, Samarth Singh, lawyerhusband of model-actor Twisha Sharma, main accused in her dowry death case, sought to surrender before a Jabalpur court on Friday 2 The Jabalpur police took his custody and handed him over to their Bhopal counterpart HC allows second autopsy of Twisha, as sought by her family proper constitutional approach to be adopted, where the prolonged incarceration and delay in conclusion of the trial are pressed as the grounds for bail, notwithstanding the statutory constraint contained in Section 43D(5) of UAPA. The bench was considering arguments made by the Delhi Police in the petitions filed by two other accused Tasleem Ahmed and Khalid Saifi seeking bail. It granted them interim bail for six months. 1st-time drug offenders may get ‘reform’ pass; strict conditions apply The munsiff court directed cops to complete the eviction by Saturday. On Friday night, Minister Roji M John held talks with the affected families and said there will not be any such drive WFI flayed for blaming Phogat over Olympic upset U D AYA N K I S H O R E @ New Delhi to follow the same.” In its rebuttal, the Aravind Kumar-led bench observed that Najeeb was not a mathematical command to mechanically grant bail if there was a delay in trial. It pointed out that bail was granted to five accused on January 5 and denied to Khalid and Imam following an individualised assessment of their roles. The order dictated in the open court said the issue concerns the Twisha’s MP govt requests High husband held 3 Court to cancel given to amid high drama Twisha’s anticipatory bail ex-judge mother-in-law Giribala Singh; court issues notice Twisha’s father Navnidhi Sharma, too, moves HC seeking cancellation of Giribala’s anticipatory bail Giribala tried to tamper with evidence and obstruct police investigations, govt tells court. Says she leaked select small clips of CCTV footage on social media to tamper with evidence | Full coverage: P8 express read Ratan Kelkar appointed CM’s secy T’Puram: Senior IAS officer Ratan U Kelkar has been appointed as the chief minister’s secretary. A 2003 batch Kerala cadre official, he’s being appointed to the crucial post while serving as chief electoral officer, Kerala. The order appointing him as secretary to CM V D Satheean will be issued on Saturday | P4 Thiruvanchoor elected speaker T’Puram: Veteran Congress leader and eight-time MLA Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan was elected speaker of the 16th Kerala Legislative Assembly on Friday. Of the 139 votes polled, Radhakrishnan, fielded by the UDF, bagged 101 votes. LDF’s A C Moideen got 35 votes | P4 The bench wondered why it should not be presumed that the WFI changed the selection criteria for her. It denounced the WFI’s selection policy as “absolutely retrograde”. “She became a mother in July 2025. We are in May Why . can’t it be presumed that you changed it (selection criteria) for her... Whatever may be the feud or dispute, why should the cause of sports suffer? Motherhood is celebrated in the country should it come to the detri, ment of a person,” the court said. Assessing that indiscriminate prosecution of first-time offenders in drug-related cases is doing more harm than good, the Kerala Police are seriously considering adopting a novel approach, one that focuses on reform rather than reprimand. The police are contemplating helping first-time offenders, who are caught with small quantity of drugs, get legal immunity from prosecution under Section 64A of the NDPS Act, provided they voluntarily seek medical help for de-addiction. The move also follows the police’s evaluation that the war against drugs heavily hinges on curbing demand. Highly placed sources said district police chiefs have been given permission to explore scopes to legally rehabilitate first-time drug offenders without letting them drift towards a criminal life. The matter is expected to come up for discussion during a meeting of top police officers convened by Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Saturday . Sources said the proposal is part of the police’s efforts to tackle the demand for drugs. “Law enforcement agencies have been trying to reduce drug supply by conducting raids and arresting peddlers. However, that isn’t enough. Demand has to be brought down, too. The proposal on providing immunity for eligible first-time drug offenders is meant to achieve that,” a police officer said on the condition of anonymity . The proposed leniency applies to those found possessing drugs for personal consump- Law point As per Section 64A of NDPS Act, if an individual is classified as an addict and voluntarily chooses to undergo medical treatment at a government-recognised de-addiction facility, they are granted total immunity from prosecution. The concession is only for those caught with drugs in small-quantity (which attract bailable charges). Small quantity threshold MDMA: Up to 0.5g Heroin/Brown sugar: Up to 5g Ganja: Up to 1kg Ganja oil/Hashish oil/Charas: Up to 100g LSD: Up to 2mg Cocaine: Up to 2g Amphetamine: Up to 2g Methamphetamine: Up to 2g police in 2025 36, 314NDPS cases registered by registered by excise in 12,568 NDPS cases 2025 tion, not those involved in the peddling of commercial quantities. As per NDPS Act, ganja up to 1 kg and MDMA up to 0.5g are considered “small quantity” and the accused are entitled to bail. Those convicted face rigorous imprisonment up to a year, a fine of `10,000, or both. It’s the trial court that decides whether to provide immunity to the accused. However, if the proposal is accepted, the prosecution can take a lenient stand in favour of accused ● More on P4 deemed eligible.  IAF grapples with spares supply crunch for Jaguar’s ejection seat J a v aria R ana @ New Delhi The Indian Air Force, the world’s last operator of the Jaguar strike aircraft, is facing a fresh sustainment challenge after Martin-Baker informed it that more than 250 categories Mk9 seats of critical spares for the fleet’s ejection seats can no longer be Manufacturer Martin-Baker says it can supplied. no longer supply over 250 categories of Sources in said the Mk 9 ejecspares for the Jaguar’s ejection seats tion seats fitted across the Jaguar fleet, including trainer variants, are facing growing and performance specifications obsolescence as the original of the original components,” a equipment manuf acturer source said. (OEM) is unable to meet a subMk 9’s seat lacks automatic stantial portion of the IAF’s ejection capability and requires spares requirement. the pilot to manualpress “Repairs are being ly initiate escape by clusive pulling the ejection undertaken in-house using available rehandle. That poses sources but addressing the issue challenges. Bird strikes, engine is critical if the ejection seats failures at low altitude or pilot are to remain viable in the long incapacitation can leave little run. Any substitute parts must margin for a successful escape. meet the exact design, material The IAF is simultaneously The seat lacks automatic ejection capability pursuing foreign sourcing options and working with domestic industry on a long-term indigenous solution. “The industry has been tasked with developing an advanced ejection seat that can ensure safe pilot ejection at all speeds and altitudes. We are looking at a seat that can be integrated across multiple fighter platforms with little or no modification,” the source added. The IAF has around 120 Jaguars.