SAMBALPUR l Saturday l may 21, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION Navjot Sidhu walks in; Indrani, Azam step out Navjot Sidhu surrendered before a Patiala court on Friday to serve his one-year jail term over a 1988 road rage death case Navjot Singh Sidhu Azam Khan Indrani Mukherjea no amenities in ward where sidhu is lodged veiled azam attack on samajwadi party Sidhu is lodged in Ward 10 of the Patiala Central Jail with around 10 other inmates, sources said. There are no beds, televisions or other amenities in the ward. Elsewhere, Indrani Mukerjea, arrested for allegedly murdering her daughter Sheena Bora, was released from Mumbai’s Byculla prison, two days after the Supreme Court granted her bail | P8 ■ ■ Samajwadi Party’s Azam Khan too was out of jail on Friday, a day after the apex court granted interim bail in a cheating case In what seemed like an attack on the SP leadership, Azam told media that “Those who put poison in the roots of these withered trees (referring to himself) were my own dear ones” 88 Number of cases registered against Azam Khan 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 SC transfers Gyanvapi case to district judge Says better if a senior judicial officer hears it due to complexity and sensitivity of the matter survey report should not be selectively leaked. The Supreme Court on Friday transAhmedi went on to argue that his chalferred the Gyanvapi mosque case to the lenge is to the trial court’s decision to apdistrict judge in Varanasi from that of point the probe commission itself. “It is the civil judge (senior division) in the prohibited by the 1991 Act and the Concity stating it is better if a senior and ex- stitution itself... Status quo that was in , existence for the last 500 years perienced judicial officer hears has been altered. It is being it because of the complexities Bench’s sealed,” he said. and sensitivity of the matter. poser The bench, however, said The court also directed the district judge to prioritise an “Suppose there is there are various nuances that a Parsi temple will come into consideration. application of the mosque comand there is a “The ascertainment of relimittee challenging the maintainability of the suit. It said its cross in the corner gious character of a place as a interim order of May 17 will of the area. Does processual instrument may not the presence of fall foul of Section 3 or 4 of the continue till the maintainability is decided and eight weeks Agyari make the Act. These are matters where cross Agyari or we will not hazard an opinion,” after that. The SC also directed appro- Agyari Christian? the court orally remarked. This hybrid On the question of maintainpriate arrangements for wuzu character is not ability, the bench said: “The (ablution before namaz) on the unknown,” the moment you argue that the apmosque premises if they have not been made already. In the bench orally said pointment of the commissioner is void ab initio because the May 17 order, the SC directed suit is barred by the Act, it is farthat the area where the ‘Shivalinga’ is fetched, because we can’t decide the indicated to have been found should maintainability of suit here right be fully protected while Muslims now. We have to adopt fair procshould get free access to the ess... We have to maintain peace mosque for worship. and balance on the ground.” It The bench accepted the rekept the special leave petition quest of senior advocate Hufeza open and will hear the matter Ahmadi, appearing for the in July . mosque committee, that the E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Gang-rape suspects killed deliberately: Panel What T h r ee scen a r ios next govt Court resuming claiming evidence 1 Telangana High 3 Statebeforemoves SC hearing pending submitted a PILs, but does not take the Sirpurkar Commission report on record. Trial could then go back to the Sessions Court in the main case of gangrape and murder 2 If HC accepts panel’s findings, it could also take into consideration that prima facie a case has been established by the report. It can then commit the case to Sessions Court for trial commission of inquiry is not admissible before a court of law File photo of police at the site where suspects were shot dead, on the outskirts of Hyderabad E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Just as mob lynching is unacceptable, so is any idea of instant justice. At any point of time, rule of law must prevail. Punishment for the crime has to be only by the procedure established by law - Sirpurkar Commission report A Supreme Court-appointed panel that probed the alleged encounter killing of four persons in the gangrape and murder of a young veterinarian in Hyderabad in 2019, tore into the police version of the events, saying it was “concocted”, adding the suspects were “deliberately fired upon with an intent to cause their death”. Pointing out that three of the four suspects were minors, the panel headed by retired Supreme Court judge V S Sirpurkar recommended trial of 10 accused policemen for murder. “It cannot be said that the police party fired in self-defence or in a bid to re-arrest the deceased suspects. The record shows that entire version of the police party beginning from the safe house to the incident at Chatanpally is concocted. It was impossible for the deceased suspects to have snatched the weapons of the police and they could not have operated the fire arms. Therefore, the entire version is unbelievable,” the report said. “...it cannot be believed that the deceased suspects might have died due to the indiscriminate firing from the pistols allegedly snatched by them and it has to be held that all the deceased suspects died due to the injuries caused by the bullets fired by the police party . It cannot also be believed the deceased suspects opened fire towards the police,” the report said. e x p r e ss r e a d Jet set for Sep take off New Delhi: The DG Civil Aviation on Friday granted a revalidated Air Operator Certificate to Jet Airways, allowing the airline to resume commercial flight operations. The airline was grounded three years ago due to financial distress. It is hoping to restart operations by September | P10 Apex court stays contentious Odisha Universities Act E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar IN a significant development, the Supreme Court on Friday issued a stay on the Odisha Universities (Amendment) Act, 2020 for three months. The apex court also asked the State government to submit a report on the issue within three months and set the next date of hearing after two months. The stay was issued by Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice Krishna Murari while hearing a petition filed by Ajit Kumar Mohanty , a retired professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University challenging the , Odisha High Court judgement. A separate petition filed by the UGC against the High Court order was also heard on the day and the apex court gave the same order. The High Court in January, 2022 upheld the validity of the Act by observing that the changes made in the procedure of recruitment of vice-chancellors and teachers for universities are not unconstitutional. It had also maintained that UGC (Minimum qualifications for appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges and other measures for the maintenance of standards in higher education) Regulations, 2018 are not binding on the State universities in Odisha, and that such universities will be governed by the Odisha Universities Act 1989 (as amended in CONTINUED ON: P5 2020).