tiruchy l Monday l January 19, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Advocates can’t use RTI Act to seek details for clients’ cases: CIC Using the transparency law in this manner fails to advance its core objectives, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has observed Case relates to dispute over a supply deed ‘RTI act can’t be used for personal ends’ The case relates to the termination of a fruit and vegetable supply contract at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Haryana. The supplier’s advocate sought to use the RTI Act to obtain information on behalf of his client. “It appears that the appellant has sought information on behalf of his client per se, which is not permissible,” the CIC said ■ ■ Quoting a Madras High Court order, the CIC underlined that “laudable objectives of RTI Act cannot be used for personal ends” The Madras High Court had cautioned against allowing advocates to use the RTI Act to obtain information on behalf of clients, stating that this “does not advance the objects of the scheme” 17.5 lakh the overall number of RTI applications filed during 2023-24 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 Modi targets Congress, Trinamool in poll-pitch against ‘infiltrators’ Accuses the two parties of endangering national security for the sake of vote-bank politics P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R & S U B H E N D U M A I T I @ Guwahati / Kolkata express read No takers for Salem’s silver anklet units Salem: The Silver Anklet Factory in Salem has remained vacant since its inauguration in March 2025, with manufacturers citing high unit costs and silver prices as the key reasons | P5 Chennai to tag 50 green giants as heritage trees Chennai: Chennai’s oldest living landmarks may soon get official recognition as ‘heritage trees’, as the Green TN Mission has begun documentation of 50 potential heritage trees | P5 Analysis of the voters who were deleted during draft phase of SIR shows ECI not only failed to identify duplicates, but may also have fully erased persons with repetitive entries deleted for wrong reasons | P2 PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday mounted a sharp political attack on the Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC), accusing the two parties of endangering national security by protecting infiltrators for vote-bank politics. After laying the foundation stone for the `6,957 crore Kaziranga Elevated Corridor, and virtually flagging off two Amrit Bharat trains from Kaliabor in election-bound Assam’s Nagaon district, Modi accused the Congress of allowing infiltrators in exchange for votes during its years in power in the north-eastern state. Taking potshots at the Congress for its poor show in the recent Bihar Assembly election and Maharashtra local body polls, Modi said the grand old party has lost the trust of the nation and the BJP has become the first choice of people. “In the recent Bihar elections, even after 20 years, people gave a record number of votes to the BJP, helping it win a record number of seats. Mum- Projects worth `7,787cr launched Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a gathering during the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor, in Nagaon, Assam on Sunday | pti bai, for the first time, gave a record mandate to the BJP. In most cities of Maharashtra, people gave the BJP an opportunity to serve them,” he said. Modi also pointed to the BJP’s electoral breakthrough in Kerala, where the party secured the mayor’s post in Thiruvananthapuram for the first time. According to Modi, the results across states reflected a consistent national trend. “The voters today want good governance and development. That is why they like the BJP he said, , ,” adding that the results show the Congress is being repeatedly rejected by voters. Later in the day addressing a , rally at West Bengal’s Singur, Modi accused the TMC government of sitting idle on the Centre’s request to acquire land for fencing the Bangladesh border. “The Centre has been writing to the TMC government in Ben- PM launched development projects worth `7,787 crore in poll-bound Assam and Bengal. In Assam, he laid the foundation stone for the `6,957 cr Kaziranga Elevated Corridor and virtually flagged off two Amrit Bharat trains. In West Bengal, he launched projects worth over `830 crore and flagged off three Amrit Bharat trains connecting Kolkata with other parts of the country gal for the past 11 years requesting land for border fencing to prevent infiltration in the state. But it sits idle on the issue,” Modi alleged. Sharpening his attack on the TMC, he said the party is “playing with the country’s security” by giving support to infiltrators from Bangladesh. “The state government is giving safety and security to infiltrators and that’s why they vote for TMC,” the PM said. CM MK Stalin witnesses an exchange of MoU between the state government and a publisher from Malaysia at the Chennai International Book Fair on Sunday | P Jawahar CM announces literary awards for 7 languages E x press N e w s S er v i c e @ Chennai Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday announced that the Tamil Nadu government will institute national-level literary awards for outstanding works in select Indian languages. The CM made the announcement at the valedictory ceremony of the Chennai International Book Fair (CIBF), in the presence of writers, publishers and literary delegates from across India and several foreign countries. This was in response to the cancellation of the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2025 following the intervention of the Union Ministry of Culture in December. Announcing the initiative, the CM said the state government would confer annual national-level honours titled the ‘Semmozhi Literary Award’ for outstanding literary works published in select Indian languages. In the first phase, works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Bengali and Marathi will be recognised, with each award carrying a cash prize of `5 lakh. To ensure transparency and uphold literary standards, separate selection committees of eminent writers and award-winning authors will be constituted for each language, he added. Underlining that it remains uncertain whether the Sahitya Akademi Awards announcement would take place at all, Stalin termed the political interference in arts and literary awards as “dangerous”. Writers and representatives of literary organisations had urged the TN government to respond constructively (to the cancellation) and the government also felt such a response was the need of the hour, he said.  P5