KALABURAGI l friday l october 30, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l CITY EDITION cji: Opposition from bar halted hiring retired judges for hcs ‘no cji can risk annoying the bar’ CJI Surya Kant on Thursday said efforts to battle pendency of cases by appointing former judges to high courts were blocked by Bar associations supreme court’s january 2025 exception ”Chief Justice Bobde, Justice Kaul and my bench, we virtually revived the practice of appointing ad hoc judges from among retired judges. We thought we would bring this practice into vogue. But opposition from Bar associations prevented the initiative from taking off... they started passing resolutions... no Chief Justice can risk annoying the Bar,” the CJI said ■ ■ Considering a huge backlog of criminal cases, the Supreme Court on January 30 last year had allowed high courts to appoint ad hoc judges, not exceeding 10 per cent of the court’s total strength Article 224A establishes a constitutional mechanism that allows retired high court judges to be temporarily reappointed as HC judges 18 lakh criminal cases are stuck in litigation in high courts 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 effective nov 1 Milk to get costlier by `8 per litre Participants at the luncheon reception hosted by MEA Secy (West) Sibi George | MEA Pak envoy joins SCO’s luncheon before Nov meet E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru lisational Dialogue Forum in New Delhi from November 20 Pakistan’s Chargé d’Affaires to 22, with Prime Minister to India, Saad Ahmad Warra- Narendra Modi expected to inich, attended a luncheon recep- augurate the event. tion hosted by the Secretary Pakistan has yet to confirm (West) in the External Affairs its representation at the forum. Ministry Sibi George, for resi- Pakistan’s Minister for National , dent envoys of Shanghai Coop- Heritage and Culture, Aueration Organisation (SCO) rungzeb Khan Khichi, is among member states and those invited. If Khichi partner countries, as Purana Qila attends, it would mark India prepares to host the first visit by a Pakivenue the grouping’s first stani minister since The forum is Civilisational Dialogue then foreign minister expected to Forum next month. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari bring together MEA spokesperson attended the SCO forRandhir Jaiswal said representatives eign ministers’ meeting discussions focused on from more than in Goa in May 2023. strengthening cooper- 25 countries at The luncheon comes ation within the SCO Purana Qila, the amid continued diplo16th-century framework, particumatic strains between fort in Delhi larly cultural and civiNew Delhi and Islamalisational exchanges, bad. However, both and preparations for the up- countries remain engaged coming forum scheduled for through multilateral platforms November 20. such as the SCO. “The interaction underIn September last, India sent scored India’s commitment to its SCO National Coordinator, strengthening longstanding Alok Dimri, to Islamabad for a civilisational connections and meeting ahead of Pakistan’s people-to-people ties with the presidency of the grouping and SCO region,” Jaiswal said. its planned SCO leaders’ sumIndia will host the SCO Civi- mit in August 2027. J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi report sought Inspection finds expired vaxes at BIMS E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Belagavi Expired vaccines, including those for anti-rabies, worth lakhs of rupees were found in a pharmacy of the Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS) during a surprise inspection by Upa Lokayukta Justice B Veerappa on Thursday . Expressing concern over the stockpile of expired vaccines, he directed officials to submit a comprehensive report explaining why the vaccines had remained in storage beyond their expiry dates and initiate action against those found responsible for negligence. He stressed the need for regular monitoring of expiry dates of medicines and vaccines and adequate safeguards to ensure that expired stocks were not distributed or used, given the risks to public health. Justice Veerappa also inspected several departments at the government hospital, including the outpatient registration counters, inpatient wards, intensive care unit, maternity department, drug distribution centres and the blood bank. P2 The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday approved a Rs 8 per litre hike in milk procurement prices. Of that, Rs 7 will go directly to dairy farmers and Rs 1 to milk unions to meet operational expenses, including packaging and transportation. With this, the Karnataka Milk Federation’s Nandini milk prices will increase by Rs 8 per litre. The revised rates will come into effect on November 1. “Karnataka’s milk price will be around Rs 54 per litre (from Rs 46 per litre). Even after the revision, it will remain lower than prices in several other states and competing brands,” Bengaluru Development and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said after the cabinet meeting. Cooperation Minister Laxman Savadi, who was present at the press briefing along with Gowda, said prices of other KMF dairy products such as curd MILK and ghee will also increase proportionately. The final selling price will be decided by the respective milk unions, taking into account factors such as fat and solids-not-fat (SNF) content. KMF officials said a rate chart will be released on Friday . Defending the cabinet decision, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said there has been a demand to raise milk prices for the last couple of years, and it has been done to prevent losses to farmers. “The government is helping farmers. Farmers are important to us,” he told reporters. Shivakumar said there was a demand to increase the price by Rs 12 to Rs 15. “People pay Rs 30-35 for a litre of water. Compared to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the price of milk in our state is lower. Since the price was low here, milk was also being routed to Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. That needed to be prevented,” he said.  P6 ‘Sting video’ targeting former CM lacks sting, says CCB police E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru The Central Crime Branch (CCB) investigating the ‘sting operation’ case on Thursday stated that the video appears to contain fabricated allegations of sexual abuse, with statements recorded and evidence collected so far failing to substantiate the incident depicted in the recording. The CCB police, who are probing the case based on the complaint filed by former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, also said that the arrest of a freelance social media content creator, Ritesh Pandey, in the National Capital Region (NCR) on October 24 may have associa- tions with politically influential individuals based in New Delhi. “The nature, extent, and relevance of these alleged associations are being investigated,” the CCB said. Pandey was arrested for allegedly procuring the mobile phone used to circulate the video on social media. In a press release issued on Thursday, the police said that all individuals appearing in the video had been questioned. The statements recorded and evidence collected so far, prima facie, indicate that the allegations made or implied against the individuals mentioned in the recording are false and concocted.  P7 Certain individuals had been identified for further examination and notices had been issued to them — Police officer New leads The probe has uncovered leads suggesting that the video’s circulation may have been part of an attempt to discredit persons holding positions of responsibility E x p r e s s Re a d ISRO to launch 3rd navigation satellite on Friday night No UP govt jobs for taking part in ‘regime change’ protests Bengaluru: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch its third navigation satellite (NVS-03) using the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)-- F18 late on Friday night. This will be the 20th flight of GSLV-F-18 and will place the NVS-03 into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) | P10 Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government has barred those protesting for a change in the “established system” from getting state government jobs. The new norms, part of revised guidelines, were issued on Wednesday. The directives, which led to criticism from opposition parties, apply across all government departments | P10 With ex-Speaker at helm, INDIA bloc to ‘impeach’ Gyanesh today P r ee t h a N a i r @New Delhi THE INDIA bloc will hold a threehour “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s official residence on Friday, with former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar presiding over the proceedings. Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, will move the motion to impeach Kumar, while LoP in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, will conclude the discussion before the ‘motion’ is passed by voting, sources said. The contours of the proceedings were finalised at a meet of INDIA bloc leaders at Kharge’s residence here on Thursday . At least 30 speakers, including representatives of 21 political par- Congress’ Jairam Ramesh, KC Venugopal, Meira Kumar, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, TMC’s Derek O’Brien, JMM’s Mahua Maji at the meet ties, are expected to participate in Friday’s proceedings. Sources said an invitation has been extended to the BJD, but the party is yet to confirm its participation. Civil society representatives and persons affected by the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls will share their ac- counts. The symbolic impeachment comes ahead of the Opposition’s November 1 rally here against alleged “vote theft” and the SIR. CPM MP John Brittas told TNIE the bloc decided on a “public impeachment” rather than a mock exercise, as it would give expression to people’s concerns over the poll process. “If the Prime Minister is keen to attend our programme, he is most welcome,” he added. Brittas said the programme would follow a structured discussion, with Meira Kumar as the presiding officer. Asked who would occupy the ‘treasury’ benches, Brittas said none wanted to as it could be interpreted as support for the CEC. TMC’s Derek O’Brien and SP’s Harendra Malik were among the leaders at Thursday’s meet.