MADURAI l friday l may 08, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE CITY EDITION SC appoints ex-CJI to act as mediator in kapur vs kapur Chandrachud will act as a mediator in the dispute between late industrialist Sunjay Kapur’s mother Rani Kapur and wife Priya Kapur over a trust keep family dispute private, says court what the lawsuit in the sc is all about Asking the parties to participate in the mediation proceedings with an open mind, the apex court said they may not make any statements in the public and also not go on social media about the dispute. “It is a family dispute. Let it be confined among the family only. It should not be a source of entertainment,” a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan said ■ ■ On April 27, the Supreme Court sought a response from Priya Kapur and others on a lawsuit by Sanjay Kapur’s mother seeking directions to declare the family trust “null and void” The bench issued notice to Priya Kapur on Rani’s plea alleging that the trust was a product of “fabricated and fraudulent” documents June 12 of 2025 was when sunjay kapur passed away during a polo match 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 Vijay hasn’t established support of majority: Guv Vijay calls on Arlekar again, submits new letter staking claim as single largest party TVK chief Vijay returning from the Lok Bhavan on Thursday | Express House dissolved, Didi’s refusal to quit infructuous T M u r u g a n a n d h a m & P r a b h a k a r Ta m i l a r a s u @ Chennai S u b h e n d u m a i t i @ Kolkata Hours after TVK president Vijay, accompanied by senior leaders of the party, called on Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Arlekar on Thursday seeking an invitation to form a government, the Lok Bhavan in Chennai said the TVK is yet to establish that it has majority support (118 MLAs-elect) to do so. “The governor invited TVK president C Joseph Vijay to the Lok Bhavan. During the meeting, he explained that the requisite majority support in the TN Legislative Assembly, essential for forming the government, has not been established,” an official release from the Lok Bhavan said. Sources said the decision not to invite the TVK to form the government was taken after the governor sought legal opinion from Additional Solicitor General of India A R L Sundaresan. The issue stems from the TVK’s error in initially staking claim to form the governAlliance ment as a part of an alliance, along with the needs proof Congress, rather than as the single largest parof majority ty in the House. The TVK has 108 seats in the 234-strong Assembly, with Congress having The TVK has 108 seats in five. As the TVK, in its letter to the governor, the 234-strong had referred to itself as part of an alliance, it Assembly, with was required to demonstrate the support of Congress having 118 MLAs-elect and the governor’s office five. As the TVK, sought clarity on which other parties were in its letter, had prepared to back the TVK. Sources added that during the 30-minute referred to itself as part of an alliance, meeting on Thursday, the TVK president subit was required mitted a fresh letter to the governor staking to demonstrate his claim to form the government as leader of the support of 118 the single largest party . MLAs-elect and During their meeting, on Wednesday too, the the governor’s governor had sought from the TVK chief proof office sought of majority support. He also explained to Vijay proof of majority why the proof is necessary citing past instanc, es where courts have censured governors for failing to ascertain whether the party claiming stake enjoys a majority sources said. , They added that when Vijay said he was ready to face a floor test in the state Assembly, Arlekar referred to past orders. Having been asked to show proof of majority, TVK party functionaries have reached out to the DMK’s allies of CPI, CPM, VCK and IUML, each of which have two seats. Vijay personally phoned each of the party leaders and sought their support on Wednesday, aside from sending them a formal request in writing.  P7 GOVERNOR R N Ravi on Thursday issued an order dissolving the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, whose term expired the same day, after outgoing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to resign following her Assembly elections Trinamool Congress party’s drubbing in the state assembly elections, results of which were declared on May 4. “In exercise of the power conferred on me by sub-clause (b) of Clause (2) of Article 174 of the Constitution of India, I hereby dissolve the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal with effect from the 7th of May 2026,” the order read. All about The current assembly was Art 174(2b) constituted in May 2021 after used in WB the Trinamool Congress, under the leadership of Mamata Under Article 174 (2b) of the Banerjee, returned to power Constitution, the for the third consecutive term governor of a in the state. state may dissolve The dissolution brought the the Legislative constitutional stand-off that Assembly. This had gripped the state since power is a crucial Monday to a meek end. aspect of the In another development, Governor’s West Bengal police on Thursresponsibility, and day recovered one of the two comes into play motorbikes used in the murder when the govt’s of Suvendu Adhikari’s persontenure ends or it al assistant Chandranath Rath no longer holds near a tea shop in Madhyammajority gram in North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday Police are examining CCTV . footage. No arrest has been made so far in connection with the murder. Union home minister Amit Shah is reaching Kolkata on Friday in his role as observer of the BJP legislature party’f first meeting to elect its leader. The swearing-in ceremony of the new chief minister is slated for Saturday at the sprawling Brigade Parade Ground. DMK ‘open’ to prop up AIADMK to ensure stable government in TN P r a b h a k a r Ta m i l a r a s u & K u m a r e s a n S @ Chennai Nitish’s Son nishant gets ministry berth JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant and 31 others took oath as ministers in the first BJP-led government in Bihar on Thursday | P10 Amid reports that the DMK, with its 59 seats, may extend support to arch-rival AIADMK (47 seats) to form a government in Tamil Nadu, the party adopted a resolution on Thursday empowering its president M K Stalin to take “any decision” during a meeting of leaders and MLAselect. This suggests that the door to such an alliance is still open despite public denials. According to leaders who participated in the meeting at Anna Arivalayam, Stalin said he would take a decision keeping party’s interests in mind even as party deputy general secretary Kanimozhi was conspicuously absent. Sources close to her said she refrained from attending the meeting as she was unhappy with the discussions of a DMK-AIADMK alliance taking place within the party  P7 . 2nd-rung heads push for move While Stalin is learnt to be against such a move, a section of second-rung leaders is pushing for it, with an ex-DMK minister from North holding backchannel talks with the AIADMK India presses Bangladesh on repatriation J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India on Thursday stepped up pressure on Bangladesh to expedite the nationality verification of suspected illegal migrants, saying nearly over 2,862 cases were pending with Dhaka, some for more than five years. The External Affairs Ministry said the delay was hampering the repatriation process and stressed that cooperation from Bangladesh was essential for the return of illegal immigrants under existing bilateral arrangements. The remarks assume significance as they come days after elections in Bengal Expedite it “Our policy is that all illegal foreign nationals staying in India must be repatriated as per our laws, procedure and established bilateral arrangements. We expect Dhaka to expedite nationality verification,” Jaiswal added. and Assam, where illegal migration from Bangladesh remains a sensitive issue. The MEA statement followed comments by Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman earlier this week warning that Dhaka would respond if India “forcibly pushed” any individuals across the border without due process. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the comments from Dhaka had to be viewed in the larger context of pending repatriation requests. “These comments must be seen in the context of the core issue of repatriation of illegal Bangladeshis from India. This requires cooperation from Bangladesh,” Jaiswal said. He said India had repeatedly sought nationality verification but a large number of cases remained unresolved. Over 2,862 cases of nationality verification are pending with Bangladesh, some for over 5 years. This requires cooperation from Dhaka Randhir Jaiswal 47 out of 63 MLAs back KC in Kerala CM race K S SREE J I T H @ T’Puram AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal seems to be emerging the front runner in the race for the post of Kerala chief minister as 47 newly elected Congress MLAs, including KPCC president Sunny Joseph, proposed his name during the one-onone meetings with the central observers on Thursday . The MLA-elects who favoured Venugopal as chief minister include Sandeep Varier, Sajeev Joseph, Usha Vijayan, and T O Mohan. I C Balakrishnan, a supporter of former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, proposed both Venugopal and Chennithala for the top post. Sources said eight MLAs supported Chennithala, while six indicated preference for V D Satheesan, the incumbent Leader of Opposition who is projected as the popular choice for the top post Both the Chennithala and Satheesan camps claimed to have the support of 23 and 35 MLAs, respectively . The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday passed a unanimous resolution authorising party president Mallikarjun Kharge to nominate the next CM. The meeting was attended by central observers Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik, along with AICC general secretary in-charge of Kerala, Deepa Dasmunsi. E x p r e s s Re a d Light rain expected in TN over coming week AICC observer Mukul Wasnik carrying documents related to MLAs’ support for CM post | B P Deepu Chennithala and Satheesan met the central observers while Venugopal skipped the meeting. Besides the 63 MLAs, Maken and Wasnik held one-on-one meetings with Congress MPs and senior leaders to know their preference for the post. It is learnt that the Congress high command will announce the name by Saturday or Sunday . Sources indicated the new chief minister would take oath within two days of the announcement. Chennai: Widespread rain activity continued in the state on Thursday, with several interior and southern districts recording heavy rainfall. The meteorological department has forecast light to moderate rain with thunderstorms and a gradual drop in temperatures across TN, Puducherry and Karaikal over next week | P7 DGCA review meet on power banks in flights New Delhi: DGCA is reviewing global practices on carrying and using power banks on flights, amid growing concerns over lithium battery-related fire incidents. The development comes after an Indigo flight with 198 people caught fire after landing in Chandigarh on May 5 | P9