KOZHIKODE l friday l august 21, 2026 l `10.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION in tit-for-tat, india pulls down structures outside pak mission Indian authorities carried out the demolition as the structures were beyond the Pakistani high commission’s approved boundary limit illegal barricades outside compound action comes amid deep freeze in ties Authorities used a JCB machine to remove the structures and barricades erected along the lane outside the compound, including queuemanagement installations near the visa section. The move came after Pakistan removed parking poles outside the Indian mission in Islamabad this week. Visuals showed that the demolition left a trail of rubble ■ ■ The visa section remained visible amid the debris, with service windows marked “Window 1”, “Pakistani Passport Only” and “Window-5 / Collection of Visa Applications The action by Pakistani authorities and subsequent demolition of the unauthorised structures by India came amid a deep freeze in relations May 2025 is when india’s op Sindoor hit terror infra in Pakistan 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 Former SC judge Subhash Reddy Shah moots Brahmaputra, to head panel on police excesses Godavari, Cauvery linking s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi A five-member high-powered committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice R Subhash Reddy will examine allegations of police excesses against student protesters in Delhi recently and violence against police personnel. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said its order on August 18, uploaded on Thursday, that the committee would also comprise former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, former Delhi High Court Judge Shalinder Kaur, former CBI director Rishi K Shukla and retired Meghalaya DGP L R Bishnoi. The bench passed the or- der on a batch of petitions filed by lawyer Shailendra Mani Tripathi and others challenging police excesses on Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protesters and students at Jantar Mantar on July 20. The court recommended that the panel prioritise examination of alleged police excesses as well as violence on the part of protesters and allegations of harassment and molestation of women agitators. The panel may also examine issues pertaining to the grant of interim compensation to those injured on either side, the court added. The court added that the panel’s work will not be a one-time exercise, but a continuous assessment of issues R Subhash Reddy, Former SC judge Police action during the July 20 Delhi protest march | Express flagged by by the petitioners. “This HPEC has been constituted bearing in mind a wide variety of considerations, including the individual expertise and experience of each of its members, as well as the diversity of the Committee, among other factors. We are confident that the committee will be able to undertake a comprehensive assessment of all such issues as merit due contemplation,” the bench said. No bar to inquiries The bench said the constitution of the committee shall not debar police authorities from taking disciplinary action against any of their officers found to be in contravention of rules governing their conduct. UGC equity regulations under review, says govt SC suggests deferring three-language policy from Class 6 by a year SUCHITRA KALYA N MOHA N TY e x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @ New Delhi Caste-based discrimination @ New Delhi THE Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it was ‘reconsidering’ the 2026 University Grants Commission (UGC)’s equity regulations, which were formulated to prevent caste-based discrimination on campuses. On January 29, the apex court had directed that the regulations be kept in abeyance, after prima facie observing that they were vague and could be misused. When the matter came up on Thursday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the SC that the Union government was actively reconsidering the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations 2026, which were formulated to address caste-based discrimination in colle ges and universities. Mehta requested the bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana to defer the formulation of questions to be determined until the Ladakh set to get J&K High Court bench E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ New Delhi THE Union territory of Ladakh will soon have a high court bench, home minister Amit Shah said on Thursday . Announcing the Union Cabinet’s decision through a post on X, Shah said the bench of Jammu and Kashmir High Court will improve access to justice in the remote Union Territory . He added that the new bench would significantly enhance access to legal services for people living in the geographically challenging region by reducing the time and distance involved in seeking judicial relief. “The government is fully committed to the all-round development of Ladakh and to ensuring constitutional safeguards,” Shah said. The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court is currently a common high court for the two Union Territories. Hearing after 4 weeks The bench did not consider any arguments on Thursday, and adjourned the hearing by four weeks, by which time the UGC should file a comprehensive affidavit. The petitioners may file rejoinder, if any, within two weeks thereafter process is over. Taking into record Mehta’s submissions, the court asked the UGC to file a counter affidavit within four weeks. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for the mothers of Rohit Vemula and Payal Tadvi, who died by suicide allegedly due to caste discrimination, sought a timeline for the Centre’s decision. The UGC regulation had triggered protests among students from non-reserved categories, who demanded its rollback. They opposed Regulation 3(1) (c), which restricted castebased discrimination as something “only on the basis of caste or tribe” against members of SCs, STs, and OBCs. THE Supreme Court on Thursday said there is nothing wrong in introducing CBSE’s three-language policy under the National Education Poli, cy (NEP) 2020, but the only concern was about the manner in which the refor m was being initiated. The court was hearing a batch of pleas challenging CBSE’s policy mandating studying three languages, including two native Indian languages, for Class 9 students from July 1. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana sought CBSE’s view on whether the third language should begin in Class 6 or from Classes 3-4, and asked the board to lay out a roadmap. “There is no doubt that sooner or later, it has to be introduced. There is nothing wrong with that. But how it is to be streamlined ...you may find a solution to those,” the bench told Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, for Centre, and fixed next hearing after two weeks. “If you have chosen Class 6 as the starting point, you may consider giving a reprieve to Class 6 students of this year. You can introduce it from next year,” it said. “Another thing which needs to be looked into is where do you draw the line. Whether it is Class 6, Class 4 or Class 3... we don’t want children to come under any pressure.” The bench said learning any language is something invaluable. “Let us not have any impression of inferiority complex with respect to regional languages...should respect all these languages.” SIM used by Veena taken in DYFI leader’s name, finds ED E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi A day after tracing a hawala trail in the CMRL-Exalogic case, the Enforcement Directorate has found that the SIM card used by Veena T, daughter of former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, for internetbased calls was obtained in the name of a DYFI leader in Kozhikode. The ED traced the person through a digital device seized from Veena that contained a photograph of a SIM card registered in another person’s name and used in a Wi-Fi router, sources said. The agency has sought legal opinion on invoking the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), as hawala transactions are suspected in the case. The ED is likely to question Veena again and intensify its probe into the SIM card, the sources said . It will also seek the assistance of cyber experts Satheesan makes a pitch for new Mullaperiyar dam E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ Chennai from a national laboratory as part of the investigation. Sources said that with records showing that `85 lakh was transferred to Dubai, the ED is examining the purpose of the remittance and the route through which the money was transferred. If a violation of FEMA provisions is established, Veena could face further legal action, they added. Following raids at various locations in Kozhikode, the ED had said it found evidence of money transfers through hawala channels. The seizures indicate that Veena was handling amounts beyond her known sources of income, with her handwritten accounts recording sums over and above the payments received from CMRL. The agency collected evidence from all those named in the accounts, as well as from the person who provided the SIM card. The ED said the investigation is progressing. Agency to intensify probe According to sources, the ED is likely to question Veena again and intensify its probe into the SIM card. It has sought legal opinion on invoking the Foreign Exchange Management Act as hawala transactions are suspected in the case Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday made a grand pitch for linking major rivers, including the Brahmaputra in the Northeast, with the Cauvery and Godavari in Peninsular India, saying such an initiative could ensure that India faces no water shortage for the next 100 years. Chairing the 31st meeting of the Southern Zonal Council here, Shah said protecting the interests of individual states was not wrong, but questioned the rationale of states remaining deprived of water for years while surplus water elsewhere flowed into the sea. He said river-linking could help overcome such situations and also facilitate the creation of multiple waterways, reducing fuel consumption, benefiting the environment and providing a cost-effective system of transportation. Stating the southern states have been the main pillars of India’s pro g ress, Shah said, “Whether it is agriculture, industry, healthy citizens or the environment, The South has many excellent traditions in the fields of innovation and revenue generation. India should learn from the South in these two areas Amit Shah Dropout rate Shah also stressed the need to tackle school dropouts, malnutrition and stunting, saying the national school dropout rate of 9.5% should be brought below 3% through incremental effort by all states E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram/Chennai Chief Minister V D Satheesan and Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty greet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay in Chennai on Thursday water is the soul of this region in all these four areas.” As for inter-state water disputes in the North, he said five of the eight issues had persisted since the pre-British era. An agreement was reached five months ago, resolving all issues from Kashmir to UP. Shah called for the early resolution of pending water-related issues in the South through joint meetings of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Home Affairs, Inter-State Council and the concerned states. Chief ministers V D Satheesan, C Joseph Vijay, N Chandrababu Naidu and D K Shivak u m a r, L t G ove r n o r s K Kailashnathan, Admiral (Retd.) D K Joshi and Telangana deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka attended. Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Thursday raised the contentious Mullaperiyar dam issue at the 31st Southern Zonal Council meeting in Chennai, stressing the need for a new dam. Satheesan said Kerala was willing to ensure that Tamil Nadu received its full share of water from a new Mullaperiyar dam. He said Tamil Nadu could decide the design, location, and construction of the proposed structure, while Kerala would bear the entire cost. Kerala raising the issue at a forum held in Tamil Nadu assumes significance given the long-running dispute between the two states over the 130-yearold dam. Satheesan’s proposal came at a crucial time when an expert committee constituted by the National Dam Safety Authority is set to start structural evaluation of the dam on Sep● More on P4 tember 1.