thrissur 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 SC allows Centre to reassess, settle AGR dues of Vi Poll-bound oppn-ruled states TN, Kerala, Bengal under its ambit E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ New Delhi M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi Season nears Sabarimala virtual queue bookings yet to open J a is o n Wi l s o n @ P’thitta With barely 20 days remaining for the start of the Sabarimala Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) is yet to open the mandatory virtual queue bookings. The delay has caused concerns among thousands of devotees, especially those from outside Kerala, as the schedule of their journey to the hill shrine remains uncertain. The Mandala pilgrimage begins on the first day of the Malayalam month of Vrischikam (November 17), with the ceremonial opening of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple at 5pm on November 16. Virtual queue booking is mandatory for darshan at Sabarimala. However, with the booking portal yet to open, devotees — particularly from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra — are unable to make travel arrangements or reserve train tickets. Many are now waiting anxiously for an announcement from the devaswom board regarding the schedule for online booking. Raising concerns, Mohan Rao, Telangana general secretary of Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sangham, said: “We come from Hyderabad and remote parts of Telangana, observing the 41-day ‘vratham’ ahead of pilgrimage. The virtual queue is crucial for us to plan our travel. When we schedule our journey, we need clarity on the queue timings to book trains ● More on P4 accordingly  .” 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, 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 align- 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 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.” stray dogs case SC summons Almost all chief secretaries S U C H I T R A K ALYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi security for cafe Monica Wright and Ashleigh Gardner were given a police escortgiven a police to a cafe in Monica Wright and Australia cricketer Ashleigh Gardner were on their way escort on Mumbai. Wright shared the pic Wright shared the picSecurityInsta beefed up in Mumbai their way to a cafe in Mumbai. on her Insta handle. on her was handle. Security was too Mumbai ‘stalking the molestation’ incident in Indore | P11 beefed up inafter the too after and ‘stalking and molestation’ incident in Indore. Shyras in icu Shreyas in icu after injury after injury India vice-captain had a fall India vice-captain had a fall while while diving to take a catch diving to take a catch in the third ODI. in a spleen laceration | P11 He sufferedthe third ODI. He suffered a spleen laceration West doesn’t practise what it preaches, says Jaishankar J AYA N T H J ACO B @ New Delhi Required indicative documents 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 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 `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. ments, competition over technology and supply chains. “Energy trade is increasingly constricted, with resulting market distortions. Principles are applied selectively and what is preached is not necessarily 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. 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 UTs be made parties in the matter. ‘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 Pinarayi fails to placate CPI on PM-SHRI issue K S S R E E J I T H @T’Puram Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s attempt to pacify key LDF ally CPI, disgruntled over the state government signing the PM-SHRI MoU with the Union government, failed on Monday with the latter remaining firm on its demand that the state should withdraw from the agreement. Besides CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam, the party’s four ministers attended the hour-long meeting at Alappuzha guest house. CPM state secretary M V Govindan was also present. During the meeting, the CM made it clear that the state won’t be able to back out of the project. Only the Union government has the authority to cancel the MoU, he said. However, both CPM and CPI intensified their efforts to reach a consensus and prevent the situation from getting out of control. The CPM sought the intervention of its national leadership. Party general secretary M A Baby held discussion with his CPI counterpart D Raja in Delhi. The CPM has also decided to convene a meeting of the LDF state committee shortly to discuss the issue. Meanwhile, the CPI has called a meeting of its state council on November 4. Pinarayi assured the CPI leaders during the meeting that the National Educational Policy (NEP) would not be implemented in the state. However, Binoy contended that since the state has only signed an Mou, it can withdraw from the programme. He alleged that the whole programme is designed to showcase the NEP . Binoy is learnt to have told the CM that since the CPI and the CPM along with other Left parties jointly decided to resist implementation of NEP CPI cannot sup, ● More on P4 port PM-SHRI programme.  CM Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam during the Punnapra Vayalar uprising week observance at Vayalar on Monday P11 f o r a n o b l e c a us e Mahals & temple unite, raise `46L in 12 hrs for kidney patient L a kshmi Athir a @Malappuram When a life hung in the balance, mahal committees and a temple in Malappuram proved that compassion knows no division. In a remarkable show of unity, the Pullara-Melmuri mahal committees and the Pullanur Sri Durga Bhagavathy Temple Committee joined hands to raise nearly half a crore rupees in just 12 hours for a kidney patient’s treatment, turning an ordinary Sunday into a celebration of humanity and togetherness. With the support of political, religious and social organisations, a total of `46,36,957 was collected in cash in a single day for Sharafuddin, 44, a father of five who is battling kidney failure. Few organisations also promised donations to achieve the target of `50 lakh. The initiative began with a symbolic gesture: Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal made the first contribution. From there, the c o m p a s s i o n s p re a d swiftly, and by nightf all, the collected amount neared the `50-lakh mark with donations ranging from a few coins saved by children to generous contributions of lakhs of rupees. “When people decided to open their hearts, it didn’t mat- ter which faith they followed,” said Muhammed Manshoor, chairman of the Sharafuddin Chikilsa Sahaya Samithi. “It was humanity in its purest form,” he said. Inaugurated by Malappuram MLA P Ubaidullah at 10am, the mass fundraiser transformed the Pullara auditorium into a vibrant centre of solidarity For . 12 hours, families, students, shopkeepers and community leaders poured in, each eager to contribute whatever they could. For Sharafuddin, who worked as a driver in Qatar for many years, this outpouring of support came as a lifeline. Years of struggling with diabetes had severely damaged his kidneys and the doctors had advised an immediate transplant, which along with post-surgery care, would cost around `50 lakh. “The family had spent everything it had,” said Manshoor, adding, “That’s when the mahal committee decided to ● More on P4 step in.”