Withdraw cash from ATM in a running train The Central Railway has installed an automated teller machine (ATM) onboard the MumbaiManmad Panchavati Express on an experimental basis, officials said. According to the railway officials, the ATM has been put up in a cubicle at the rear end of the coach, a space earlier used as a makeshift pantry. The ATM performed well during trial | PTI chennai l thursday l april 17, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 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 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 insid, ers flagging a potential violation of the UGC Act. The order, dated April 11, reads: “Dr Vineet Joshi, Secretary Department of Higher Educa, tion, 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 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 There. fore, 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 Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot reserved the bill on 4% quota to Muslims in govt contract for the President’s assent | P7 3-judge bench led by the CJI gives the govt additional day to present its case 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 gov, ernment 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 to de-notify properties declared as waqf long ago, the CJI said history cannot be rewritten through 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,” CJI Khanna said. e x p r e ss r e a d CJI Khanna suggests Gavai as successor New Delhi: The Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna on Wednesday sent a proposal to the Union law ministry recommending Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai as his successor. Khanna is set to retire on May 13. Gavai is presently the second-most Justice B R Gavai 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. Gavai was part of several key judgments, including on Article 370 and demonetisation The bench 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. There was brief tension when Mehta appeared to question the neutrality of the all-Hindu 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. EPS refutes Shah, rules out AIADMK, BJP coalition govt T M u r u g a n a n d h a m @ Chennai Bench’s Key posers 1 How can waqf-by-user properties, existing for many centuries, be asked to register? 2 Will majority of the members of the Central Waqf Council and the State Waqf Boards be Muslims? Breaking his silence on Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks regarding AIADMK and BJP sharing power in the NDA coalition government in Tamil Nadu after the 2026 Assembly elections, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday asserted that Shah had not said anything to that effect. Senior BJP leader Amit Shah, while announcing the finalisation of the party’s alliance with the AIADMK at a press meet held in Chennai on April 11, had said, “We will form a coalition government together and will contest the elections under the leadership of Edappadi K Palaniswami.” Reacting sharply to a question on the alliance from a re- porter outside the secretariat on Wednesday EPS said the un, ion home minister’s statement was misinterpreted by the media for sensationalism. “What Shah said was AIADMK-BJP coalition (pause) will form the government. This does not mean that a coalition will helm the government,” Palaniswami contended in what many saw as a play of semantics. “He said that at the national level, the alliance will be headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and in TN, it will be headed by me. Can’t you understand this,” EPS asked the reporters. “He (Shah) didn’t say that it would be a coalition government. You are trying to play tricks by misinterpreting it. Please stop it,” Palaniswami told reporters.  P7