BHUBANESWAR l friday l november 21, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE CITY EDITION Kashmir Times office raided for ‘spreading secessionist ideals’ J&K’s State Investigation Agency raided the office of ‘Kashmir Times’ for allegedly “spreading terrorist and secessionist ideology” 14 cases of ak-series weapons found: SIA A spokesperson said a revolver, 14 empty cases of AK-series weapons, three live AK rounds, four fired bullets, four grenade levers and three pistol rounds were recovered from the office of the media house in Jammu. Anuradha Bhasin, executive editor of Kashmir Times told a news magazine she was ‘surprised, not shocked’ as the print edition shut shop in 2021-22 ■ 15 DAYS BLAST CASE: LENS ON iNDIAN MUJAHIDEEN AIDE ■ Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Thursday sent Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganaie , Dr Adeel Ahmed Rather, Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay and Dr Shaheen Saeed in the car blast case to 10 days of NIA custody | P7 Delhi Police has uncovered a fresh lead pointing to fugitive Indian Mujahideen operative Mirza Shadab Baig, an ex-student of Al-Falah CUSTODY FOR FOUR PRIME ACCUSED IN BLAST CASE WAS SOUGHT BY NIA 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 Junior Kushwaha surprise pick in Nitish’s 10th as CM 1 Going against a two-judge bench’s order, SC says no timelines for Governor or President to act on bills passed by legislature R A M A S H A N K A R @ Patna Janata Dal (United) supremo Nitish Kumar on Thursday took his oath as Bihar chief minister for a record 10th time at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, and several Union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states. Nitish was administered the oath by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, along with 26 ministers — 14 from the BJP, eight from the JD(U), two from Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), and one each from Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM). Senior BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha are among the ministers. The portfolios of the ministers have not been allotted yet. Caste equation was kept in mind while selecting the ministers. Thirteen of them belong to the OBC/EBC categories and five from the Dalit community . Eight represent upper castes, including four Rajputs. JD(U)’s Zaman Khan, who had served as a minister in the previous government, is the lone Muslim face. Three women—Lesi Singh, Rama Nishad and Shreyasi Singh—have been included. The new cabinet has 12 new faces. Rashtriya Lok Morcha founder Upendra Kushwaha’s son Deepak Prakash, who did not contest the Assembly elections, is a surprise pick. The maximum number of ministers permissible for the state cabinet, including the chief minister, is 36. On Thursday, 27 ministers, including the CM, took oath. The remaining nine seats will be filled during the Cabinet expansion later. @ Bhubaneswar Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi along with deputy chief ministers KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida attended the swearing-in ceremony of Nitish Kumar-led NDA government at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. Majhi congratulated Nitish on being sworn in for the 10th time as chief minister of Bihar. His distinguished record of public service continues to inspire not only the people of CM Mohan Majhi, dy CMs KV Singh Deo & Pravati Parida with Rajasthan CM Bhajanlal Sharma & dy CM Diya Kumari Bihar but the entire nation, Majhi said. He also conveyed his greetings to the newly-appointed 3 Actions of President/ Governor on a bill cannot be taken to court. Judiciary gets into the picture only after a bill becomes law 4 Limited scope for judicial intervention if Governor does not act on a bill within a reasonable time 5 Governor has three options on bills assent, reserve it for President’s consideration, or withhold assent and return it to the legislature with comments 6 Governor can reserve bill for consideration of the President even in a second instance, when the bill is represented to him for assent by the assembly in whatever form for assent to bill by governor, Prez, opines 5-judge SC bench unanimously S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves a ‘gamcha’ after Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar chief minister in Patna, on Thursday | pti Congratulations to Shri Samrat Chaudhary Ji and Shri Vijay Sinha Ji on becoming Deputy Chief Ministers of Bihar. Both leaders have worked extensively at the grassroots in serving people Hope the new government will live up to the expectations and aspirations of the people of Bihar and bring a positive and qualitative difference in their lives Prime Minister Narendra Modi RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav deputy chief ministers and members of Nitish cabinet. “The overwhelming mandate given by the people of Bihar to the BJP and NDA in the 2025 elections reflects their trust in principled, people-centric governance. I express my sincere appreciation to all party workers, leaders and voters,” Majhi said. “The recent election outcomes in Bihar along with the decisive victory in the Nuapada bypoll in my state Odisha reaffirms public confidence in the BJP, NDA, and the leader- ship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting the all i a n c e ’s c o m m i t m e n t t o inclusive and sustainable growth,” the chief minister noted. The CM also shared some moments with his Rajasthan counterpart Bhajanlal Sharma, and deputy chief ministers Prem Chand Bairwa and Diya Kumari. “It was a great opportunity to chat, exchange ideas on governance and development and strengthen the spirit of collaboration between our states,” Continued on P5 he said.  A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court was unanimous in its opinion on Thursday that no timeline can be imposed by courts for a Governor or the President to grant assent to any legislation, but added that they cannot sit on the proposed bills indefinitely . The ‘opinion of the court’ came on a Presidential reference in May following the verdict of two-judge bench in the Tamil Nadu Governor case, which laid down timelines for the President and the Governor to act on bills. The court also smoked out the concept of deemed assent embedded in a two-judge bench verdict by using its plenary power under Article 142. “Articles 200 and 201 of the Constitution are framed to allow elasticity. The imposition of a timeline is strictly contrary to the Constitution. The concept of deemed assent presupposes that constitutional authority would place a substitute role for the Governor, it is antithetical to the separation of powers. We have no hesitation in concluding that deemed assent is virtually a takeover of functions of a constitutional authority. The concept of deemed assent is against the spirit of the Constitution and the doctrine of separation of powers,” said the bench. Led by Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, the Constitution bench included justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, P S Narasimha and A S Chandurkar. They said if there is a prolonged or unexplained delay by the Governor, which frustrates the legislative process, the court can exercise a limited power of judicial review to direct the Governor to decide in a time-bound manner, without observing anything on the merits of the bill. “We can issue a limited direction to the Governor to act without observing anything on merit.” Can reserve bill even in second instance The bench said the Governor can reserve a bill for consideration of the President even in a second instance, when the bill is resent to him for assent by the assembly whether in amended form or not The court went on to opine that the discharge of functions by the Governor or President is not justiciable, adding that judicial review can be invoked only when a bill becomes law. Knocking off another prescription of the two-judge bench, the court said the President need not seek judicial review when a bill is reserved by the Governor under Article 200. “If in extraneous consideration, the President wants to seek, it can,” the bench said. It also accepted the Union government’s submission that the Governor need not act as per the aid and advice of Cabinet in assenting to bills. Dwelling on the options before a Governor in dealing with a proposed legislation, the bench said Article 200 gives him three choices: to assent, reserve the bill for the consideration of President; or withhold assent and return it to the legislature with comments. The Governor is not merely a rubber stamp between a bill becoming an Act, the bench observed. There is value in his consideration and picking one of the three options. The court cannot supplant the wisdom of the Governor and enter a merits-review of the decision so P7 taken, the bench said. US okays Javelin, Excalibur weapon sale to India Crime campus SCB security guard abducted, assaulted by driver & aides M AYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Cuttack In yet another incident exposing the criminal behaviour of the outsourced staff at the SCB medical college and hospital, a security guard was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint and assaulted by three men, one of whom works as a driver in the hospital, reportedly over past enmity . The incident occurred in the wee hours of Thursday. The critically injured security guard Chitta Ranjan Baral is currently undergoing treatment at the casualty ward of SCBMCH. The accused driver Sangram Singh and his aides are still at large, police said. Sources said both Baral and Singh were engaged in the hospital on outsourcing basis. While Baral was recruited through Nirakar Security and Consultancy Service Pvt Ltd, Singh came through G Manju Service Pvt Ltd and worked as a driver of a battery-operated vehicle. Hospital sources said the duo was involved in a dispute, which could have led Singh to assault Baral. As per the police complaint lodged by Baral, he was on duty when Singh came to him at around 1.20 am and asked him to join for a cup Continued on P5 of tea.  2 No deemed assent to bills on the ground that the Governor/ President failed to act within prescribed timelines No timeline Majhi, dy CMs join Bihar govt’s swearing-in ceremony E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Another judgment shot down sacred radiance A devotee lights diyas in front of Ram Mandir on Janpath to celebrate Dev Deepavali, in Bhubaneswar on Thursday evening | DEBADATTA MALLICK India’s procurement of two types of weapons from the US — Javelin ATG missiles and Excalibur precision guided munitions — worth $92.8 million moved a step closer as the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) formally notified Congress on its sale. While Javelin is a new acquisition, the Indian Ar my is already using Excaliburs. “The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to India of the Javelin Missile System and related equipment. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the Javelin is an infrared-guided man-portable anti-tank missile system designed to destroy tanks and other armoured targets. Excalibur precision guided munition can be fired from artillery guns – Officials required certification notifying Congress,” the notification read. Its estimated total cost is $45.7 million. Another approval notification on the sale of Excalibur projectiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $47.1 million was issued. India sought 216 M982A1 Excalibur tactical pro- jectiles, it said. In 2023, 600 Excalibur precision guided munition rounds were acquired by the Army. These can be fired from all the 155 mm artillery guns, which includes the M-777, Bofors, K-9 Vajra and Dhanush. Javelin is an infrared-guided man-portable anti-tank missile system designed to destroy tanks and other armoured targets from a shoulder-fired position. It locks onto its target before launch and had “fire-and-forget” capability While it takes around . a minute to reload and reacquire targets, it can be used in direct attack mode to destroy a target. It can also bring down low-flying aircraft like a helicopter and drones. The 1.2 metre-long Javelin ATG missile weighs around 22.1 kg, is packed with a tandemcharge, high-explosive antitank warhead and has a maximum range of 2.5 km. The proposed sales will help strengthen the US-Indian strategic relationship and enhance security in the region, the notifications said. H i g h - p r o f ile v i s it o r Don Jr visits Agra, to attend star-studded wedding in Udaipur N A M I TA B A J PA I & Raje s h A s nan i @ Lucknow / Jaipur Donald Trump Jr, son of US President Donald Trump, on Thursday visited the Taj Mahal in Agra. A group of 126 special guests from nearly 40 countries accompanied him during the tour of the 17th-century marvel. In view of the high-profile visit, the authorities had tightened security and spruced up the arrangements. According to sources, around 200 police personnel were deployed across key locations in the city and the security detail included officers of ACP and ADC rank. This is Trump Jr’s second visit to India. In February 2018, he had toured New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata. From Agra, Trump Jr will travel to Udaipur in Rajasthan to attend a high-profile wedding. Sources said he will reach Udaipur on Friday evening and will stay there till Monday . Sources said Trump Jr will be staying at The Leela Palace. The multi-day celebrations, from November 21 to 24, are for the wedding of Netra Mantena, daughter of US-based billionaire Rama Raju Mantena, and Vamsi Gadiraju. The main ceremony is on November 23 at the iconic Jag Mandir Palace, set on an island in Lake Pichola. The guest list includes Hollywood stars Jennifer Lopez and Special security measures have been activated across Udaipur in anticipation of the VIP arrivals. Routes between the airport and Lake Pichola will remain under heightened surveillance —Yogesh Goyal, SP Donald Trump Jr at the Taj Mahal on Thursday. He spent an hour at the monument Justin Bieber, who are expected to perform at the event. Internationally acclaimed South African DJ and song writer Black Coffee are also set to perform at the gala wedding. From Bollywood, Hrithik Roshan, Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Kriti Sanon, Jacqueline Fernandez, Vaani Kapoor, Janhvi Kapoor, and Karan Johar are expected. Event management firm Wizcraft, known for organising the IIFA Awards in Jaipur earlier this year, is overseeing the wedding arrangements.