foreign lawyers can now practise in india The Bar Council of India (BCI) on Wednesday took a decision to permit foreign lawyers and law firms to practise in areas such as foreign law, international legal issues and arbitration matters, saying the legal fraternity here may be left behind if it sleeps over the matter. The decision to notify the Bar Council of India Rules for Registration and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers and Foreign Law Firms in India, 2022 has evoked mixed reactions from eminent lawyers. bengaluru l thursday l march 16, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION 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 Guv can’t precipitate March of 18 Oppn parties to ED office blocked govt fall, observes CJI PR E E T HA N AIR @ New Delhi Questions directing Uddhav Thackeray to take trust vote S h r u t i K a kk a r @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the Maharashtra governor’s role in directing the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to take a trust vote following rebellion by the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena, saying it had precipitated the situation. Orally observing it would be a sad spectacle for democracy, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said, “The only thing is that a resolution of 34 MLAs which said that there was widespread discontent among the party cadres and legislators... Is this sufficient ground to call a trust vote?” The governor, he said, cannot enter a domain that would precipitate the matter. “People will start ditching the ruling party and governors being willing allies would end up toppling the ruling party This will be a sad . spectacle for democracy .” Trust vote, he said, is to establish who is the leader of the House and not who is the leader of a party Referring to allega. tions that the rebel MLAs were facing threats to their life and property the CJI said the proc, ess is to lodge FIRs, not bring down a government. Pointing out that there were no ideological differences between the factions for three years, the CJI said, “They broke bread for three years. They broke bread with the Congress and NCP for three years. What happened overnight after three years of happy marriage?” The bench made the observations after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the then governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, said there were various materials before the governor, including a letter signed by 34 Shiv Sena MLAs and a letter from Independent lawmakers withdrawing support to the Uddhav Thackeray government, which prompted him to order a trust vote. The CJI said the governor could not assume to himself judicial power and come to the conclusion that the 34 MLAs would have to be excluded from consideration because they had incurred a disqualification under the tenth schedule. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Thackeray faction, said: “We’re back to ‘Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram’.” The only thing is that a resolution of 34 MLAs which said that there was widespread discontent among the party cadres and legislators.... Is this sufficient ground to call a trust vote? Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud Ticket inspector ‘misbehaves’ with woman, suspended E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru A senior railway ticket inspector was suspended on Wednesday for allegedly misbehaving with a young woman passenger and verbally abusing her at the busy Krishnarajapuram railw ay s t at i o n o n T u e s d ay evening. The incident took place around 6 pm after Howrah-SMVT Express arrived at KR Puram railway station. It is said that the accused, deputy chief ticket inspector V Santhosh, was drunk at that time. The Railways acted against him after videos of the incident went viral on social media. Vishwanath Sinha, an IT professional, who rushed to the woman’s rescue, said, “I was walking with my wife and two children when I saw the ticket inspector asking the woman passenger something. He pulled the mask she was wearing and touched her face. I sensed something wrong and rushed to her rescue. He looked drunk. Initially nobody bothered to help her , when she was arguing with him. I left my wife and kids behind and rushed to the spot. There were three cops, including a woman, some distance away. But they did not intervene.” Another passenger, Karishma Behera, who shot two videos and tweeted last night, said, “Seeing the ticket inspector abusing and misbehaving with the woman passenger, I rushed to her help. Meanwhile, a few people gathered there and took the ticket inspector to task.” P3 THE face-off between the Opposition and the government escalated on Wednesday after a march organised by 18 Opposition parties demanding a probe into the Adani row was called off after Delhi police blocked the roads. At least 200 MPs from several Opposition parties took part in the march, which started from Parliament House. They were stopped at Vijay Chowk, following which the members called off the march and returned to Parliament. Leader of Opposition in the Ra- express read Bhagat Singh Koshyari Use powers judiciously, says CJI “The governor must be conscious of the fact that his calling for a trust vote may itself be a circumstance which may lead to toppling of a government... A governor may actually precipitate the falling of government. That is very, very serious for democracy... Governors must exercise these powers with the greatest circumspection,” the CJI remarked Besides H3N2, Covid, H1N1 cases rising too Bengaluru: While the H3N2 virus is already dominant in Karnataka, SARS-CoV2 and H1N1 cases are seen to be gradually on the rise. Lately, Covid cases have crossed the 500-mark. Meanwhile, the change in weather has been the main cause for rising ILI/ SARI cases, doctors said. P3 State can hold exams for Classes 5, 8: HC Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday allowed the state government to conduct exams for Classes 5 and 8 students for academic year 2022-23 from March 27. The examinations are proposed to be conducted through the KSEAB. P5 jya Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge, who led the march, said the government is trying to suppress the voice of the Opposition inside and outside Parliament. “They have deployed over 2,000 police personnel and we are only 200 people. We are doing a peaceful protest and not harming anyone. We are only requesting them to allow us to go TMC missing in action The Trinamool Congress was not among the list of signatories of the letter. The Mamata Banerjee-led party did not attend the march either to the ED office and submit our letter to ED. We want an inquiry into the Hindenburg finding and the exposure of LIC and SBI to Adani group. We want to know why the government is helping Adani,” said Kharge. Though the MPs requested the police to allow them to meet the ED director in small groups, the police did not relent. “We were told that the ED director did not want to meet us,” said Pramod Tiwari, Congress deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. Later, Kharge emailed the complaint to the ED director, in which he, along with several opposition MPs, demanded a thorough probe into the report of New York-based Hindenburg Research, which accused Adani group of stock-price manipulation and fraud. Reminding the ED that it cannot turn around and abdicate its jurisdiction, the letter said: “Charges related to accounting fraud, the dubious nature of how the FollowOn Public Offer was manipulated behind the scenes, the shocking similarity with Adani’s previous actions for which they have been investigated by your predecessors, are all available in the public domain.” Maha scheme in K’taka puts Bommai govt in fix N au s h a d B i ja p u r @ Bengaluru The controversial decision of the Maharashtra cabinet to implement Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY), a health scheme, in 865 villages of Karnataka on the border, over which Maharashtra has been staking its claim, has put the Bommai government in a fix. Speaking to reporters in Belagavi on Wednesday Chief Minister Basavaraj , Bommai said that his government has been releasing funds for the welfare of people living in villages on the border. It has also been providing financial help to those visiting religious places such as Pandharpur and Tuljapur in Maharashtra. “I will look into the matter and initiate steps to prevent release of funds by Maharashtra to villages within Karnataka,’’ he added. At its Cabinet meeting on Monday the Ma, harashtra government decided to release Rs 54 crore for the implementation of MJPJAY in 865 villages and towns in Karnataka in the run up to assembly elections. The Maharashtra government has reportedly claimed it is prepared to provide funds for the welfare of Marathispeaking and non-Marathi speaking families living in 865 villages.  P4