Railway launches ATM onboard trains The Central Railway has installed an automated teller machine (ATM) onboard the Panchavati Express on an experimental basis, officials said. 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. Passengers can withdraw cash even when the train is moving. To ensure their safety, a shutter door has been provided. BHUBANESWAR  THURSDAY  APRIL 17, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 12  JEYPORE 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 Interim SC order curbing parts of Waqf Act likely S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Wednesday stopped short of passing interim orders restricting certain sections of the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Act from coming into play, giving 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 amended law tramples several fundamental rights, including the right to equality and the right to pursue religious practices and others. The bench wanted to know on 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 officer 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 all-Hindu 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. 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? Staines murder: Dara Singh aide Hembram secures release from jail for good conduct A S I S H M E H TA / D E B A S H I S M I S H R A @ Bhubaneswar/Keonjhar MAHENDRA Hembram, an aide of Dara Singh and co-convict in the brutal killing of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons in 1999, has secured early release from prison. Hembram was sentenced to life imprisonment but granted premature release following a decision by the State Sentence Review Board on ground of good conduct. He walked out of the Keonjhar jail on Wednesday after being accorded a farewell by jail officials. The State Sentence Review Board had sent the recommendation for his early release to the Odisha government in November last year, following which the Home department reviewed the case. The Home department had then forwarded the recommendation to the Law department which granted remission to Hembram on Tuesday . “The government decided to pre- maturely release Hembram basing on the Supreme Court’s direction and the state’s jail manual. While a life sentence means imprisonment for life, it is possible for a convict to be released after serving 14 years, but only through the process of remission by states/Union Territories. A total of 30 convicts, including Hembram, who were serving life imprisonment in different cases were granted remission a day before,” director general of prisons Arun Ray CONTINUED ON P5 said. S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Choice of acting head out of sync with the UGC Act 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 Justice B R Gavai 2003. He became a permanent judge in November 2005. He joined the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019 and has been part of several important verdicts. In December 2023, a five-judge 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. 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, Ministry 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 CJI recommends Justice Gavai as his successor S H E K H A R S I N G H @ New Delhi aligned with provisions in Chapter II of the UGC Act. Section 5(2) of the UGC Act says upfront, “The Chairman shall be chosen from among persons who are not officers of the Central Gover nment or of any State Government.” Besides, as per Section 6 (3) of the same chapter, the UGC vicechairman 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 course.” CONTINUED ON: P7