tirunelveli l tuesday l october 28, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION CJI Gavai recommends Justice Surya Kant as successor Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, who is retiring on November 23, has recommended Justice Surya Kant as successor justice kant to have 14-month tenure Was part of article 370 verdict Justice Surya Kant, the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court after Justice Gavai, will become the 53rd CJI. He will have a tenure of 14 months before retiring on February 9, 2027. The retirement age for Supreme Court judges is 65 years. Kant was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2019 and has been part of several landmark verdicts ■ ■ He was on the bench that upheld the Central government’s decision to abrogate the special status of Jammu and Kashmir Kant headed the bench that asked the Election Commission to disclose the details of 65 lakh names excluded from the draft electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar Nov 24 when Justice kant is due to take charge as the chief justice of India 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 SIR of electoral rolls in 9 states, 3 UTs from Nov 4 Poll-bound oppn-ruled states TN, Kerala, Bengal under its ambit M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi plainspeak West doesn’t practise what it preaches: Jaishankar J AYA NTH J A C O B @ New Delhi EXTERNAL Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday took a swipe at the Western nations, accusing them of selectively applying global principles and distorting the international energy market through restrictive practices. Speaking at the East Asia Summit in Malaysia, Jaishankar said the world is going through “complicated times” marked by shifting global alignments, competition over technology, resources and supply chains. “Energy trade is increasingly constricted, with resulting market distortions. Principles are applied s e l e c t ive l y and what is preached is Foreign minister not necessarS Jaishankar ily practiced,” he said, in remarks seen as directed at Western-led sanctions regimes and certain protectionist policies. The comments came hours after he met US Secretary of Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the summit. His public remarks underscored New Delhi’s willingness to call out perceived Western hypocrisy while asserting an independent foreign policy stance. Jaishankar argued that the global order must evolve to reflect a more multipolar reality “Multipolarity is not . just here to stay but to grow,” he said. On terrorism, he said: “The world must display zero tolerance; there is no room for ambivalence.” The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine states and three Union Territories in two phases — door-to-door enumeration forms distribution and collection — from November 4 to December 4. The final voters’ list would be published on February 7. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said the draft rolls would be published on December 9; claims and objections can be filed from December 9 to January 8; and hearing and verifications from December 9 to January 31. The nine states are Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and the UTs are Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Puducherry Tamil Nadu, . Pondy Kerala and West Bengal , will go to the polls in 2026. As for Assam, where polls are due in 2026, the revision of rolls will be announced separately, as a separate provision of the Citizenship Act was applicable to the state. “Under the Citizenship Act, Required indicative documents for the revision of draft electoral roll Any identity cards, pension payment order issued to regular employee/pensioner of any Central government/State govt/PSU on november 2 DMK & allies call all-party meet over SIR E x p r e ss N e w s S e rvic e @ Chennai Birth certificate issued by competent authority Matriculation/ Education certificate issued by recognised Boards/Univs Forest Rights Certificate Any identity cards/ certificate/ documents issued by Indian govt/ banks/local authorities/PSU Passport Permanent resident certificate issued by State authority OBC/ST/SC or any caste certificate National Register of Citizens (wherever it exists) Family register prepared by state/ local authorities Any land/ house allotment certificate by govt Aadhaar as an option proof of identity, but not as a proof of date of birth or citizenship there are separate provisions for citizenship in Assam. Under the supervision of the Supreme Court, the exercise of checking citizenship is about to be completed. The June 24 SIR order was for the entire country. Under such circumstances, this would not have applied to Assam,” Kumar said. He ruled out any confrontation with the Bengal govern- ment, where the ruling TMC has expressed reservations about the SIR. As for Kerala’s local bodies elections, due in November-December, Kumar said, “The notification for the same was yet to be issued. The state governments are bound by Constitution to provide personnel for the preparation of electoral rolls and conduct of polls.” Preparing the ground for a strong pushback against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Tamil Nadu, DMK chief and Chief Minister MK Stalin and his alliance partners invited leaders across the political spectrum to attend an all-party meeting in Chennai on November 2 to discuss the modalities to stop the exercise. “The BJP government is instigating the Election Commission of India to carry out this anti-democratic activity,” they said in a joint statement. The appeal came after a meeting of the Secular Progressive Alliance M K Stalin. leaders held at Anna Tamil Nadu CM Arivalayam, following the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) announcement on Monday . In the statement, the leaders charged the BJP-led union government of relentlessly destroying democratic values and misusing independent institutions at will. They said the functioning of the ECI was not only controversial but also doubtful. “We witnessed that the SIR in Bihar was actually a plot to remove genuine voters from the list. The ECI did not even follow the Supreme Court’s directions,” they said.  P5 stray dogs case SC summons Almost all chief secys S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M OH A NTY @ New Delhi security for cafe Monica Wright and Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner were given a police escort on their way to a cafe in Mumbai. Wright shared the pic on her Insta handle. Security was beefed up in Mumbai too after the ‘stalking and molestation’ incident in Indore. ShREYAS in icu after injury India vice-captain had a fall while diving to take a catch in the third ODI. He suffered a spleen laceration P13 The Supreme Court on Monday directed the chief secretaries of almost all states and Union Territories to appear before it on November 3 to explain why no compliance affidavits have been filed yet in the stray dogs case. “Your officers don’t read newspapers? They don’t read social media? They want a formal notice to be issued to them?” three-judge bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria said. It said all chief secretaries, except those of Telangana and West Bengal, should be present before it on November 3, otherwise “we will hold the court in auditorium”. The court had, on August 22, reversed an earlier order directing authorities to move all stray dogs to shelters and said they can be released to the same area from where they were captured after proper sterilisation and immunisation, except those infected with rabies or exhibiting aggressive behaviour. It barred the feeding of the dogs in public places. The August 22 order expanded the scope of the stray dogs case beyond the Delhi NCR and directed that all states and Union Territories be made parties in the matter, and instructed them to file compliance affidavits. ‘Incidents keep on happening’ The bench remarked that “continuous incidents” of stray dog attacks are happening, which is hurting India’s image. “Your country is being shown as down in foreign countries,” the bench said SC allows Centre to reassess, settle AGR dues of Vi E x p r e ss N e w s S e rvic e @ New Delhi IN a major relief for Vodafone Idea (Vi), the Supreme Court on Monday allowed the government to reassess the demand for adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues raised against the telecom operator. AGR is the income figure used to calculate the licence fees and spectrum charges that telcos must pay . While passing the order, a bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran observed that the decision on any relief to the telco is a policy matter and the court need not interfere. The matter pertains to a plea by Vi against the Department of Telecommunications’ demand for an additional `9,450 crore towards AGR. Vi, the country’s third-largest telco, also sought a waiver of interest and penalties. Welcoming the order, Vi said: “We look forward to working closely with the Department of Telecommunications to resolve this matter in the interests of our nearly 200 million subscribers.” During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, informed the court that the government now holds 49% equity in Vodafone Idea. He said the Centre was willing to examine the issues to ensure consumer interests are safeguarded. At present, Vi owes the government around `76,000 crore in AGR dues with annual payments of `18,000 crore until 2031. It also owes `1.19 lakh crore in deferred spectrum payment to the government. e x p r e ss r e a d State on rain alert as Montha gains pace Chennai: Cyclone Montha continued to gain pace over Bay of Bengal, but most of TN districts were rain-free on Monday. RMC has issued orange alert for Tiruvallur district for Tuesday, and yellow alert for Chennai & six districts | P5 Vijay apologises to kin of stampede victims Chennai: TVK chief Vijay on Monday apologised to the kins of the victims of the Karur stampede that left 41 dead, at a closed door meet in a private resort near Chennai | P4 Madras HC asks state govt to frame draft SOP for political campaigns within 10 days Quality issue: Contractor told to partly demolish flats affordable homes for poor R S I V A K U M A R @ Chennai The Madras High Court on Monday directed the Tamil Nadu government to frame a draft standard operating procedure (SOP) within 10 days to regulate roadshows and public meetings of political parties to prevent incidents like the Karur stampede of September 27 in which 41 people died at the rally addressed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief actor Vijay . The first bench comprising Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan issued the direction while hearing a batch of petitions related to the tragedy The court . also said that it would issue an interim SOP on its own if the state fails to come up with the SOP within the stipulated time. The bench further clarified that its order should not be treated as an impediment for considering applications filed by parties seeking permission to hold public meetings, except those proposed on national and state highways. The judges said that the permissions for political events should be granted a few days before the scheduled date.  P5 N I RUPA M A V I SWA N ATHAN @ Chennai A possible disaster may have been averted as a contractor of the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB), who is building 702 residential units at Andimaniyam Thottam, has torn down the constructed portions in all the four blocks after the board flagged quality issues. The TNUHDB found that the pre-fabricated concrete technology used, being executed at a cost of `118 crore, was not as per quality standards. The board’s goal is to make TN a slum-free state by providing affordable housing to urban poor. While it is unclear how much money has been spent so far, sources said at least 20%25% of the work had been completed before the anomalies were spotted. A TNUHDB official said, “If The bare-bones structure of the remaining building at Andimania Thottam in Chennai | Ashwin prasath the construction is allowed to go, it could have had grave consequences for the residents.” In December 2021, a portion of the tenement in Tiruvottiyur collapsed due to age. Of the four blocks, the quality of blocks C&D were initially found to be poor, prompting scrutiny of the other two blocks. TNUHDB officials later asked the contractor to change the construction methodology in blocks A&B. P5