chennai l wednesday l may 21, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION 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 High courts to amend norms in 3 months Fresh norms applicable prospectively 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 three months ■ ■ “The appointment of fresh law graduates has led to difficulties, as noted by multiple high courts. Practical experience in court is essential for ensuring judicial efficiency and competence,” the CJI said SC clarified that the three-year experience requirement will not apply to ongoing judicial recruitment but will only apply prospectively One-year Training must before candidates are permitted to preside over a court 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 No interim order on Waqf without glaring case: SC ceremony at border resumes Law is presumed Constitutional unless otherwise proven, says CJI H arpr e e t Ba j w a @ Chandigarh In a further indication of the Indo-Pak border returning to normalcy the BSF re, sumed 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 . However, 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 to avenge the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. During the suspension of the ceremony the flag-lower, ing 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 local farmers whose lands lie beyond the barbed wire fence, with BSF officers deployed along the border. Following the meeting, Dhaliwal announced that the gates would be opened for farmers shortly, allowing them to access their fields without restrictions. S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi BSF personnel participating in the retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border near Amritsar on Tuesday | PTI Pak gets 2nd Field Marshal in Munir stan.” In 1959, General Ayub Khan had self-promoted himDays after Operation Sindoor self as Field Marshal when he exposed Pakistan military’s was Pakistan’s President. vulnerability, its army chief The four-day clash under MuAsim Munir was promoted as nir’s watch that paused after Field Marshal, the second in India struck at Pakistan’s air the country to occupy the high- bases under Operation Sindoor, est military position. was widely seen as a major mil“The Government of Paki- itary setback for Pakistan. stan has approved the promoIndia had launched Operation of Gen Asim Munir tion Sindoor to take out (Nishan-e-Imtiaz Militerror infrastructure in tary) to the rank of nine locations in PakiField Marshal for enstan and Pakistan-occusuring the security of pied Kashmir in rethe country and defeatsponse to the killing of ing the enemy based on 26 civilians in a terrorthe high strategy and ist attack in J&K’s Pacourageous leadership,” Gen Asim Munir halgam on April 22. Prime Minister ShehFrom being sacked as baz Sharif ’s office said. The de- ISI chief by the then prime cision was taken at a cabinet minister Imran Khan, Munir meeting chaired by Sharif. managed to rise from the ashes For his part, Munir said, after Sharif was elected PM. “This is not a personal achieve- Munir is trying to salvage the ment, but a tribute to the armed army’s reputation as it lost face forces and the people of Paki- following Imran’s arrest. M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi 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 Pak army suffered significant losses 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 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 State govt moves SC against ED raid in Tasmac ‘scam’, hearing likely in 3 days S u chitra K a lyan M o hanty & R S ivak u mar @ New Delhi/ Chennai SRInivasan Former AEC head dies at 95 in ooty Dr M R Srinivasan was a key architect of India’s civil nuclear energy programme and former chief of the Atomic Energy Commission. The Padma Vibhushan awardee is survived by his wife and daughter | P9 express read No power tariff hike for domestic users: Minister Chennai: Citing CM’s advice, Tamil Nadu power minister SS Sivasankar said that electricity tariff for household consumers will not be increased in the state. According to some reports, tariff was expected to be increased by 3.16% for all types of consumers as per TNERC’s orders | P4 90% of TN districts face high heat risk, says report Chennai: Tamil Nadu has emerged as one of India’s most heat-vulnerable states, with nearly 90% districts falling under high or very-high risk categories, as per a report by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water. TN ranks fifth nationally on the Composite Heat Risk Index (HRI) | P2 Amid continuous high-profile raids by the Enforcement Directorate over the alleged `1,000 crore scam in the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac), the Tamil Nadu government has knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court against the order of the Madras High Court that gave a free hand to the agency in the probe. “The matter will be taken up for hearing in two or three days,” a senior Supreme Court registry official told TNIE. Sources, however, remained tight-lipped about the grounds on which the High Court order is being challenged. The state has filed its appeal against the April 23 order of Justices SM Subramaniam and K Rajasekar of the Madras HC, dismissing the petitions filed by the state government and Tasmac against the raids conducted from April 6 to 8 at multiple places, including Tasmac headquarters. The bench termed the allegations and complaints against Tasmac as grave in nature and said they warrant deeper investigation. While rejecting the argument that officials, including women staff, of the liquor marketing corporation were subjected to harassment by the agency by detaining them till late in the night during the searches, the bench said such action could have been taken to prevent leakage of information and prevent destruction of evidence. The court also rapped the state for using women officers and employees as shields to prevent the ED from proceeding with the probe and said the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution is subject to reasonable restrictions. Significantly, the HC said that it cannot issue an omnibus order to the ED to produce a copy of the reasons to believe perpetration of generation of proceeds of crime and money laundering.  P7 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 petitioners, 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, ‘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” Sibal said that 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 argued. “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. Suspected explosion sparks sc hearing Ashoka Univ rockfall at TN stone quarry; asst prof sent 5 workers crushed to death to judicial E x pr e ss N e w s S e rvic e @ Sivaganga Five workers were crushed to death and one more was critically injured after a suspected controlled explosion triggered a rockslide at a stone quarry at Mallakottai near Singampunari in Sivaganga on Tuesday . The victims were working at a depth of 400 feet when tragedy struck them. According to SS Kottai police, the deceased were identified as M Muruganandham (49) of Odaipatti, M Arumugam (53) of E Malampatti, M Andisamy (50) of E Malampatti, C Ganeshan (49) of Kulicheevalpatti, and B Harshith (28) of Odisha. The sixth worker, M Maichael (47) of Ettaiyapuram, who was rescued with critical injuries, is undergoing treatment at a pri- vate hospital in Madurai. Investigation is still on to ascertain the reason for the rockslide. It is still not clear whether loosening of soil due to recent rain, existing crack in the rocks, or a blast triggered the rockfall, said Sivaganga Superintendent of Police P Ashish Rawat. Several more labourers were working at the site at the time of the accident at Meha Blue Metal Quarry owned by Megavarman. Immediately after the rockslide, fire and rescue services personnel rushed to spot. While the bodies of Muruganandham, Arumugam, Andisamy and Ganeshan were pulled out from under the debris, Maichael was rescued alive and is undergoing treatment. Harshith’s body is still stuck under the rocks. P7 Five workers died at a stone quarry at Mallakottai in Sivaganga on Tuesday | express ‘ i l l ega l’ r e so rt Cambodians on tiger-saving trip caught in jumbos’ crosshairs S V K R I S H N A C H A I TA N YA @ Chennai Blame it on the eleventh-hour change in the plan! A 15-member delegation from Cambodia, that came all the way to study the state’s tiger-conservation efforts, ended up staying in a partially-sealed ‘illegal’ resort inside the notified Sigur Elephant Corridor at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris. Giving company to the members of the delegation at Monarch Safari Park at Bokkapuram in Masinagudi, owned by a veteran Bollywood actor, are senior officials of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII). And, they have been staying at the resort, a part of which is facing the threat of demolition, since Friday The facil. ity is one among the 28 illegal resorts in the area that is facing demolition. A senior NTCA official told TNIE the bilateral programme was originally scheduled at Panna National Mandar Pardikar 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. However, Kapil Sibal and senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for some petitioners, objected to it, saying “there cannot be any piecemeal hearing”. The arguments were inconclusive on Tuesday and would continue on Wednesday, when the Centre will present its defence of the Waqf Act. Park in Madhya Pradesh. “We were forced to shift it to South India due to military escalation between India and Pakistan. We chose Mudumalai because of its close similarity to the Cambodian forest landscape. Due to the last-minute changes, finding a decent accommodation for 20odd people was a challenge. After arriving here, I cross-checked with WII if the resort falls inside the elephant corridor. We were told that the part of the resort in which we are staying is not on the corridor,” he said. A WII official told TNIE the delegation’s visit was confirmed only on May 14. “We did not have enough time to find alternative decent accommodation,” he said. In May 2024, the then forest minister M Mathiventhan had stirred up a similar controversy, after he stayed in another partially-sealed resort against which orders were passed by the Supreme Court-appointed Segur Plateau Elephant Corridor Inquiry Committee. P7 custody H A R P R EE T B A JW A an d I frah M u fti @ Chandigarh / New Delhi A district court in Haryana’s Sonipat on Tuesday sent Ashoka University assistant professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad to judicial custody and posted the matter to May 27. Mahmudabad was arrested on Sunday after Haryana Police registered two FIRs against him on charges of “endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of the country” through his social media posts on Operation Sindoor. Sonipat police produced him in court on Tuesday after the two-day remand ended. They sought another seven days remand but the court decided to send Mahmudabad to judicial custody . The development comes when the Supreme Court is seized of the matter. A bench Prof Ali Khan o f j u s t i c e s Mahmudabad Surya Kant and N Kotiswar is likely to take up the case on Wednesday the top , court’s cause list showed. The professor’s arrest triggered widespread outrage from academics as well as political parties. The students and faculty of Ashoka University termed the arrest a violation of academic freedom. The faculty association described Mahmudabad as a highly responsible citizen and the students demanded his immediate release. Addressing a joint press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday representatives of various , teachers’ bodies condemned the ‘unlawful arrest’. The Haryana police, which arrested the professor, had registered two cases against him based on complaints filed by BJP Youth Morcha leader Yogesh Jatheri and Renu Bhatia, chairperson of Haryana State Commission for Women.