THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l thursday l april 17, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE city EDITION soon, you could withdraw cash on trains using onboard atm The Central Railway has installed an automated teller machine (ATM) onboard the Panchavati Express on an experimental basis, officials said Machine inside cubicle at rear of Ac coach The ATM, provided by the Bank of Maharashtra, has been put up in a cubicle at the rear end of the air-conditioned chair car coach coach, a space earlier used as a makeshift pantry. Passengers can withdraw cash even when the train is moving. To ensure their safety, a shutter door has been provided. The train runs between Mumbai and Mammad in Nashik ■ April 10 Trial on panchavati Express went well ■ ■ The ATM performed well during the trial, except for short durations when the train passed through areas with no network coverage While the machine is set up in the air-conditioned chair car coach, it can be accessed by passengers travelling in all coaches of the train An official indicated ATMs could soon be installed in other trains when the railways conducted the first trial run of the atm 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 Interim SC order curbing parts of Waqf Act likely 3-judge bench led by the CJI gives the govt additional day to present its case S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi family solidarity Priyanka Gandhi Vadra with husband Robert Vadra ahead of his appearance before the ED for the second straight day for questioning over a land deal | PTI | P7 Hedgewar portraits at Kollam temple fest trigger controversy with the Kerala High Court also expressing strong disapThe display of RSS founder proval. Earlier this month, the K B Hedgewar’s portraits dur- alleged singing of the RSS ‘gaing the Kollam Pooram held in nageetham’ during a festival connection with the Sree Krish- concert at the Manjippuzha naswamy Temple festival at the Sree Bhagavathy Bhadrakali A s h r a m a m g r o u n d s h a s temple in Kottukkal had also sparked a controversy prompt- sparked a controversy , . ing the Travancore In the latest case, D e v a swo m B o a r d the Kollam East police (TDB) to seek a report have registered a case from the assistant under the Travancoredevaswom commisCochin Hindu ReliThe committee has no idea whose gious Institutions Act, sioner, Kollam. portrait will be Hedgewar’s images 1950. displayed during were shown alongside The Youth Congress the festival. We those of social reformhad earlier lodged a come to know only ers like Sree Narayana complaint with the when the images Guru and B R AmbedTDB and the city poare revealed kar during the tradilice commissioner, during the event tional Kudamattam questioning whether Suresh S, president, event organised by the due consent had been Sree Krishnaswamy Puthiyakavu temple. obtained for the disTemple advisory This is the third play The Pooram took . committee such incident of picplace on governmenttures or songs with poowned land sanctioned litical undertones being dis- by the district collector. played or performed during a As part of the festivities, eltemple festival in the state the ephants were paraded and the past two months. Kudamattam — a traditional On March 10, the rendering ceremonial display — was perof revolutionary songs during formed. Hedgewar’s image the festival at Kadakkal Devi was included as part of this ● More on P4 temple had triggered a row, ritual.  E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kollam express read Quota for Muslim contractors: Bill sent to Prez Bengaluru: Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has reserved the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Amendment Bill, which provides 4% reservation to Muslim contractors in government tenders, for the assent of the President, the Raj Bhavan said on Wednesday | P5 BJP cheating Munambam residents: Pinarayi T’Puram: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju’s revelation on the Munambam issue has exposed BJP’s false narratives, CM Pinarayi Vijayan has said. “The minister said people of Munambam will not get justice through Waqf Act alone. The BJP is cheating people of Munambam,” he said | P4 16 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express The Supreme Court on Wednesday stopped short of passing interim orders restricting certain sections of the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Act from coming into play giv, ing the government a day more to present its case in detail. A three-judge bench led by the Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna said it will pass interim orders on Thursday on various aspects, including the contentious “waqf by user” issue. The court said normally it does not pass interim orders, but would make an exception in the present case. “Properties declared by courts as waqfs should not be de-notified, whether they are by waqf-by-user or deed waqf,” the bench said. The petitioners claimed that the Act tramples several fundamental rights, including the right to equality and the right to pursue religious practices and others. The bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta how ‘waqf by user’ can be disallowed as many will not have the requisite documents to get them registered. ‘Waqf by user’ refers to those properties that are deemed as waqf based solely on prolonged use for religious purposes. Referring to the provision under the new Act to de-notify properties declared as waqf long ago, the CJI pointed out that the government cannot rewrite the history through changes brought in by the amendments to the waqf law. “When a public trust is declared to be a waqf 100 or 200 years ago, suddenly you say it is being taken over by the Waqf Board and declared otherwise,” the CJI said. The bench, also comprising justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan, said it will also pass orders on a proviso of the Act, which states that a waqf property will not be treated as waqf when an inquiry by a Collector on whether it is a government land is under process. It will also address the issue of religious composition of the members of the Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council. The judges asked the law of ficer whether Muslims would be allowed to be part of Hindu religious trusts. “Are you saying that from now on, you will allow Muslims to be part of the Hindu endowment boards?” the court asked. The court said that under the Act, only eight out of 22 members of the Waqf Council would be Muslims. But Mehta said not more than two non-Muslim members, apart from ex-officio ones, would be included in the Waqf Council. He offered to state it in an affidavit. There was brief tension when Mehta appeared to question the neutrality of the allHindu judicial bench. “When we sit here, we shed our personal identities. For us, all parties are equal before the law. That comparison is entirely misplaced,” the bench said. CJI Khanna suggests Gavai as his successor S u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on Wednesday sent a proposal to the Union law ministry recommending Justice B R Gavai as his successor. Khanna is set to retire on May 13. Gavai is presently the second-most senior judge of the court. He will become the 52nd CJI and will hold the post for six months before he retires on November 23. Justice Gavai joined the Bar in 1985. He was elevated as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court in November 2003. He became a permanent judge in November 2005. He joined the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019 and has been part of several Justice B R Gavai important verdicts. In December 2023, a fivejudge Constitution bench including Gavai unanimously upheld the Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. He was also part of the Constitution bench, which annulled the electoral bonds scheme for political funding. Gavai will be the second Dalit judge to become the CJI after Justice K G Balakrishnan was elevated to the post in 2007. inviting ‘change-makers’ Sanitation workers’ trust plans poll entry Ann a J o s e @Kochi Pulling a surprise ahead of the local body elections scheduled later this year, the Kochi Corporation Sanitation Wo rke r s C h a r i t abl e Trust has announced that it will field its own candidates in some of the civic body’s 74 divisions and back independent candidates in others. The move is aimed at ensuring that the voices of the com- mon people are heard in the corporation council, said office-bearers of the trust, which has been active in the corporation for the past nine years, working for the welfare of around 2,000 sanitation workers. They said they aim to support candidates with strong local backing and a genuine desire to help their communities. “Our candidates may not necessarily be sanitation work- ers or members of the trust. We welcome anyone who wants to bring about a change and is committed to the welfare of the community,” said Raju Mannulipadom, the president of the trust. “If a candidate is qualified and has strong community support, we will lend them our backing,” he said. Francis Paiva, a social activist and a member of the trust, said their goal is not to dominate local governance but to assist the community  ● More on P4 . Current composition At present, LDF is in power in 34 of the 74 divisions of Kochi corporation. The UDF controls 31, while the BJP is in power in five. Independent candidates represent the remaining four divisions. Exception in the present case, says CJI “Ordinarily, courts do not interfere at the admission stage when a law is passed. But this case may warrant an exception. If a property declared as waqf by user is denotified, it can have grave ramifications,” Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna said Violence in protests very disturbing CJI Sanjiv Khanna expressed serious concern over widespread violence during protests against the Act in West Bengal. “One thing is very disturbing is the violence that is taking place. If the matter is pending here it should not happen,” the CJI said Bench’s Key posers How can waqf-by-user properties, existing for many centuries, be asked to register? Will majority of the members of the Central Waqf Council and the State Waqf Boards be Muslims? How can the Act override the court’s judgments which declare properties to be waqf? Interim arrangement Choice of Acting head out of sync with the UGC ACt S h e k h a r S i n g h @ New Delhi A recent decision by the Union Ministry of Education to appoint the Secretary of Higher Education, Dr Vineet Joshi, as the acting Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), has stirred controversy with legal experts and insiders flagging a , potential violation of the UGC Act. The order, dated April 11, reads: “Dr Vineet Joshi, Secretary Department of Higher Education, Min, istry of Education is hereby entrusted the additional charge of the post of Chairman, UGC till the appointment of a regular Chairman, UGC or till he ceases to be Member, UGC or until further orders, whichever is the earliest.” However, the order isn’t aligned with provisions in Chapter II of the UGC Act. Section 5(2) of the UGC Act Dr Vineet Joshi says upfront, “The Chairman shall be chosen from among persons who are not officers of the Central Government or of any State Government.” Besides, as per Section 6 (3) of the same chapter, the UGC vice-chairman shall officiate as chairman in the event of a casual vacancy . However, informed sources in the government said, “It is purely an interim arrangement, which didn’t arise out of a casual vacancy Therefore, the . question of any other UGC official or vice-chairman taking charge doesn’t arise. The process of appointment of UGC chairman will follow in due Continued on: P7 course.”  245% Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell says Trump’s tariffs put the central bank in a situation it hasn’t seen in decades US tariffs will weaken credit conditions and raise defaults risks, says Moody’s | P9 Tariffs possible on China, up from 145% due to its retaliatory actions, a White House fact sheet issued on Tuesday said