Fresh law graduates can’t appear in judicial services exam, rules SC The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that only those with a minimum of three years of experience as lawyer can enter judicial service. The judgment was pronounced by a bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and justices A G Masih and K Vinod Chandran. The bench said that such amendments to the rules must be carried out by High Courts within three months, and that these amendments must then be approved by the state governments within a further period of 3 months bengaluru l wednesday l may 21, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 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 BSF Retreat Govt blinks as TMC nominates Abhishek A day after TMC’s Yusuf Pathan, named by the Centre in one of the global outreach delegations, opted out, the party replaced him with Abhishek Banerjee after Union minister Kiren Rijiju called TMC chief Mamata Banerjee | P9 ceremony at border resumes Law is presumed Constitutional unless otherwise proven, says CJI Pak army suffered significant losses H ar p r e e t B a j w a @ Chandigarh In a further indication of the Indo-Pak border returning to normalcy the BSF resumed its , retreat ceremony at all three joint check posts of the Punjab frontier — Attar in Amritsar, Hussainiwala in Ferozepur and Sadqi in Fazilka. Tuesday’s ceremony was exclusively for media personnel and a select gathering; it will be open to public from Wednesday . BSF troops will not shake hands with Pakistan Rangers and the gates will not be opened during the flag lowering process, as announced earlier in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, said sources. The BSF had halted the retreat ceremony on May 8 following Operation Sindoor. During the suspension of the ceremony, the flag-lowering continued without public attendance. The resumption of the event is expected to rejuvenate the local economy that relies on tourism. Punjab minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal had on Monday visited the Shahpur border outpost near Ajnala and discussed the concerns of farmers whose lands lie beyond the barbed wire fence, with BSF officers deployed. Dhaliwal announced that the gates would be opened for farmers shortly, allowing them to access their fields without restrictions. No interim order on Waqf without glaring case: SC BSF personnel participating in the retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border near Amritsar on Tuesday | PTI Pak gets 2nd Field Marshal in Munir M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi Days after Operation Sindoor exposed Pakistan military’s vulnerability, its army chief Asim Munir was promoted as Field Marshal, the second in the country to occupy the highest military position. “The Government of Pakistan has approved the promotion of Gen Asim Munir (Nishan-e-Imtiaz Military) to the rank of Field Marshal for ensuring the security of the country and defeating the enemy based on the high strategy and courageous leadership,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ’s office said. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Sharif. For his part, Munir said, “This is not a personal achievement, but a tribute to the armed forces and the people of Paki- stan.” In 1959, General Ayub Khan had self-promoted himself as Field Marshal when he was Pakistan’s President. The four-day clash under Munir’s watch that paused after India struck at Pakistan’s air bases under Operation Sindoor, was widely seen as a major military setback for Pakistan. India had launched Operation Sindoor to take out terror infrastructure in nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the killing of 26 civilians in a terrorist attack in J&K’s Pahalgam on April 22. From being sacked as ISI chief by the then prime minister Imran Khan, Munir managed to rise from the ashes after Sharif was elected PM. Munir is trying to salvage the army’s reputation as it lost face following Imran’s arrest. S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y Poonch Brigade Commander Brigadier Mudit Mahajan on Tuesday said the Pakistani army suffered significant losses during Operation Sindoor not only in terms of numbers but also in morale and credibility THE Supreme Court on Tuesday said the petitioners challenging the Waqf law would need a very strong and ‘glaring’ case for interim relief. Citing the “presumption of constitutionality in favour of law”, a bench of Chief Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih orally observed that for a stay of the statute, a strong case has to be shown. “There is a presumption of constitutionality in favour of every statute. For interim relief, you have to make out a very strong and glaring case. Otherwise, presumption of constitutionality will be there,” CJI Gavai said while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for one of the peti- French Senate team expresses solidarity A delegation from the French Senate on Tuesday extended strong support to India in its ongoing fight against terrorism and expressed solidarity in the aftermath of the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir @ New Delhi ‘Creeping acquisition of waqf properties’ Senior advocate Kapil Sibal said the law provides for “creeping acquisition” of waqf properties, adding that by altering the composition of central and state waqf boards to include nonMuslims, it also attempts to dilute community control tioners, told the bench that they have a strong prima facie case and asserted that “irreparable injury will be caused if the provisions are activated”. Pleading for interim orders, Sibal said the Waqf Act was designed in such a way as to capture waqf properties without due process. “Private properties are being taken away only because of dispute. The officer above collector is appointed to see the dispute, and meanwhile the property is taken away he ,” said. Terming the legislation unconstitutional, Sibal said waqf is an endowment to God. “This dedication cannot be transferred to anybody Once a . waqf, always a waqf,” he said. “They capture the waqf, expropriate the waqf. Then there is also a violation of Article 26 and 27. Then comes the CEO of the board, who shall be appointed by the state and also shall be non-Muslim,” Sibal said. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, urged the court to confine the hearing to the three issues earmarked by the court earlier— waqf by user, nomination of non-Muslims to Waqf Council and state Waqf Boards, and identification of government land as waqf. Mehta said the written submissions of the petitioners cover several other issues. Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi objected to it, saying “there cannot be any piecemeal hearing”. The arguments would continue on Wednesday . express read ‘Pahalgam happened due to security failure’ Ashoka Univ asst prof sent to judicial custody Nuclear scientist MR Srinivasan no more Astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar passes away Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that 26 people were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack as Modi-led Union govt did not provide security there. He also played down the recent skirmishes between India and Pakistan by calling it “chut-put” | P4 CHANDIGARH: A court sent Ashoka University Asst Prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad to judicial custody and posted the matter to May 27. He was arrested after police filed 2 FIRs against him on charges of ‘endangering sovereignty, unity & integrity of country’ with social media posts on Op Sindoor | P10 chennai: Dr MR Srinivasan, a key architect of India’s civil nuclear energy programme and former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, passed away in Udhagamandalam on Tuesday. He was 95 | P9 MUMBAI: Noted astrophysicist Jayant Vishnu Narlikar, 87, globally acclaimed for the Hoyle– Narlikar theory of gravity passed away in Pune on Tuesday. He died in his sleep early morning, said his family | P9