The Evening Wrap: Will discuss with other judges and consider listing case on Article 370, says CJI

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Monday, April 25, 2022, said he would discuss with other judges and consider listing, after summer vacations, the petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 to strip the Jammu and Kashmir people of their special privileges which led to the bifurcation of the State. “Let me see after the vacations… This is a five-judge Bench case… Let me also ask other judges,” the CJI addressed a group of senior advocates, including P. Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and Shekhar Naphade. Summer holidays begin from May 23 and the court reopens on July 11. Chief Justice Ramana retires on August 26 The senior advocates, in an oral mentioning before the CJI, said the Article 370 case had been pending in the Supreme Court for over two years even as a separate challenge has been filed against the Centre’s decision to appoint a Delimitation Commission to redraw Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. “Let the case be listed immediately after the vacations,” Chidambaram urged. The case had not come up after a five-judge Bench led by Justice (as he was then) Ramana, in an order in March 2020, refused to refer the petitions to a larger Bench. Since then, one of the judges on that Bench, Justice R. Subhash Reddy, has retired. The petitions have challenged a Presidential Order of August 5, 2019 which blunted Article 370. The Article had accorded special rights and privileges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir since 1954 in accordance with the Instrument of Accession. The special status was bestowed on Jammu and Kashmir by incorporating Article 35A in the Constitution. Article 35A was incorporated by an order of President Rajendra Prasad in 1954 on the advice of the Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet. The Parliament was not consulted when the President incorporated Article 35A into the Constitution through a Presidential Order issued under Article 370. Following the abrogation, the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Act of 2019 came into force and bifurcated the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. In a day, Jammu and Kashmir had lost its full Statehood and became a Union Territory of the Central government. The move had been preceded by a state of lockdown in the Valley. The various petitions, including ones by advocate M.L. Sharma and the National Conference (NC) party, have challenged the Centre’s “unilateral” move to impose curfew and unravel the unique federal structure of India by dividing Jammu and Kashmir “without taking consent from the people”. They have questioned the Centre’s sudden move to “unilaterally unravel the unique federal scheme, under cover of President’s Rule, while undermining crucial elements of due process and the rule of law”. A separate petition by detained politician Shah Faesal and Shehla Rashid Shora, among others, have contended that the August 5 Order and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019 were arbitrary. They had also challenged the proclamation of President's Rule in the State in December 2018. The petitions said what happened to Jammu and Kashmir “goes to the heart of Indian federalism”. “National integration is best served by a pluralistic federal model. Under this model, one size need not always fit all,” the petition filed by the NC said. The petitions said the Presidential Order of August 5 substituted the concurrence of the Governor of the State government to change the very character of a federal unit. They said the Presidential Order took cover of a temporary situation, meant to hold the field until the return of the elected government, to accomplish a fundamental, permanent and irreversible alteration of the status of the State of Jammu and Kashmir without the concurrence, consultation or recommendation of the people of that State, acting through their elected representatives. They have argued that the August 5 Order used Article 370 to demolish Article 370. It amounted to the overnight abrogation of the democratic rights and freedoms guaranteed to the people of Jammu and Kashmir upon its accession. The basic purpose of Article 370 was to facilitate the extension of constitutional provisions to the State in an incremental and orderly manner, based upon the needs and requirements, without dismantling the State Constitution. The August 5 Order, by replacing the recommendation of the ‘Constituent Assembly’ with that of the ‘Legislative Assembly’ in order to alter the terms of Article 370, assumed that the legislative assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir had a power that its own Constitution, under Article 147, denied to it. Thus, the August 5 Order was ineffective, the petitions have alleged. The government has countered that the Presidential Order of August 5 has become ‘fait accompli’. The government urged the court to not entertain any “separatist” arguments during the hearing of petitions challenging the August 5 order and the subsequent reorganisation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. Twitter set to accept Elon Musk’s $43-billion offer, says report Twitter Inc is poised to agree a sale to Elon Musk for around $43 billion in cash, the price the chief executive of Tesla Inc has called his “best and final” offer for the social media company, people familiar with the matter said. Twitter may announce the $54.20-per-share deal later on Monday once its board has met to recommend the transaction to Twitter shareholders, the sources said. It is always possible that the deal collapses at the last minute, the sources added. Musk, the world’s richest person according to a tally by Forbes, is negotiating to buy Twitter in a personal capacity and Tesla is not involved in the deal. Twitter has not been able to secure so far a ‘go-shop’ provision under its agreement with Musk that would allow it to solicit other bids once the deal is signed, the sources said. Still, Twitter would be allowed to accept an offer from another party by paying Musk a break-up fee, the sources added. The sources requested anonymity because the matter is confidential. Twitter and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Twitter shares were up 4.5% in pre-market trading in New York on Monday at $51.15. Musk has said Twitter needs to be taken private to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech. The deal would come just four days after Musk unveiled a financing package to back the acquisition. This led Twitter’s board to take the deal more seriously and many shareholders to ask the company not to let the opportunity for a deal to slip away, Reuters reported on Sunday. The sale would represent an admission by Twitter that its new chief executive Parag Agrawal, who took the helm in November, is not making enough traction in making the company more profitable, despite being on track to meet ambitious financial goals the company set for 2023. Twitter’s shares were trading higher than Musk’s offer price as recently as November. Musk’s negotiating tactics -- making one offer and sticking with it -- resembles how another billionaire, Warren Buffett, negotiates acquisitions. Musk did not provide any financing details when he first disclosed his offer for Twitter, making the market skeptical about its prospects. Tamil Nadu Assembly adopts Bills to empower govt. to appoint Vice-Chancellors The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Monday adopted two Bills that seek to empower the government to appoint the Vice-Chancellors (VCs) to 13 State universities under the aegis of the Higher Education Department by amending the respective Acts. The AIADMK and the BJP opposed the Bill and the latter also staged a walkout. At present, the Governor, who is also the Chancellor of the State universities, makes the appointment of VCs from a panel of three names recommended by a selection committee. Incidentally, the House adopted the Bills on the same day Governor R.N. Ravi inaugurated a two-day conference of VCs of State, Central and private universities of Tamil Nadu at Udhagamandalam. The Bills introduced in the House by Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy cited the Gujarat University Act, 1949, Telangana Universities Act, 1991, which have empowered the respective State government to appoint the VCs and also cited the Karnataka State Universities Act, 2000, according to which the VCs shall be appointed by the Chancellor with the concurrence of the State government. During his speech when the Bills were moved in the House, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said though it had been the tradition that the Governor would consult the government, there had been a change in the recent past. “During the past four years, there has been a trend in which the Governor, without consulting the State government, is functioning as if he has the exclusive right over appointing VCs,” Stalin contended. The fact that the State government could not appoint VCs for universities under its control affected its administration, he said. “As the State government is not able to appoint the VCs for universities under its control this has led to various confusion. It is against the ideals of democracy,” the Chief Minister said. Citing the recommendations of the Punchchi Commission over the appointment of VCs, Stalin went on to quote from them: “There would be a clash of functions and powers.” A total of 19 States, including Tamil Nadu, had accepted the recommendations of the Punchchi Commission, he said. Soon after the DMK government under him came to power and when the Union Home Ministry sought its opinion on the recommendations of the Punchchi Commission, Stalin said his government had accepted them. “Even Gujarat, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi hails, the State government appoints a VC from a panel of three names recommended by the Selection Committee. Likewise, in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana too, the VCs are appointed from a panel of three names recommended by the Selection Committee only with the concurrence of the State government,” Stalin pointed out. AIADMK legislator K.P. Anbalagan and BJP MLA Nainar Nagenthran opposed the Bills even during the introductory stage. After a voice vote, Speaker M. Appavu said the Bills had been adopted by the House. The 13 State universities for which Bills sought to empower the State government to appoint VCs are: University of Madras, Madurai Kamaraj University, Anna University, Bharathiar University, Bharathidasan University, Mother Teresa Women’s University, Alagappa University, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Periyar University, Tamil Nadu Open University, Thiruvalluvar University, Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University and Annamalai University. 16 more YouTube news channels blocked The Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has got blocked 16 YouTube news channels, including six from Pakistan, on charges of spreading false and unverified information to create panic, incite communal disharmony and disturb public order in the country. The action has been taken using emergency powers under the IT Rules. These channels had a cumulative viewership of over 68 crore. A Facebook account has also been blocked. “It was observed that these channels were used to spread fake news over social media on matters related to national security, India’s foreign relations, communal harmony in the country, and public order. None of the digital news publishers had furnished information to the Ministry as required under Rule 18 of the IT Rules, 2021,” the Ministry said. As alleged, the content published by some of the India-based YouTube channels referred to a community as terrorists, and incited hatred among the members of various religious communities. “Such content was found to have the potential to create communal disharmony, and disturb public order,” it stated, adding that multiple India-based YouTube channels published unverified news and videos that had the potential of creating panic among various sections of society. The Ministry said, “Examples include false claims related to announcement of a pan-India lockdown due to COVID-19, thereby threatening the migrant workers, and fabricated claims alleging threats to certain religious communities, etc. Such content was observed to be detrimental to public order in the country.” The Pakistan-based channels, in a coordinated manner, posted fake news about India on subjects such as the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir, and India’s foreign relations in the light of the situation in Ukraine. “The content of these channels was observed to be completely false and sensitive from the perspective of national security, sovereignty and integrity of India, and India’s friendly relations with foreign States,” the Ministry said. On April 23, the Ministry advised the private TV news channels against making false claims and using scandalous headlines. It had blocked 78 YouTube news channels, including 18 from India, on various charges. Among them were 22 channels with a total viewership of about 262 crore, which were banned earlier this month. In Brief The Supreme Court on Monday held that anganwadi workers and helpers taking care of the nutrition needs of around 158 million children who were considered the “future resource of the country”, were entitled to gratuity, a basic social security measure. A Bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and A.K. Oka rued how these workers and helpers, who performed a bouquet of vital services at the grassroots level and were often the bridge between the government and beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act and the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), were made to fight so hard and for so long for the recognition of their right to be paid gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow [logo] The Evening Wrap 25 APRIL 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Pleas challenging abrogation of Article 370 in J&K: CJI says he will discuss with other judges and consider listing case [Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Monday, April 25, 2022,]( said he would discuss with other judges and consider listing, after summer vacations, the petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 to strip the Jammu and Kashmir people of their special privileges which led to the bifurcation of the State. “Let me see after the vacations… This is a five-judge Bench case… Let me also ask other judges,” the CJI addressed a group of senior advocates, including P. Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and Shekhar Naphade. Summer holidays begin from May 23 and the court reopens on July 11. Chief Justice Ramana retires on August 26 The senior advocates, in an oral mentioning before the CJI, said the Article 370 case had been pending in the Supreme Court for over two years even as a separate challenge has been filed against the Centre’s decision to appoint a Delimitation Commission to redraw Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. [ A view of Supreme Court of India in New Delhi. File] “Let the case be listed immediately after the vacations,” Chidambaram urged. The case had not come up after a five-judge Bench led by Justice (as he was then) Ramana, in an order in March 2020, refused to refer the petitions to a larger Bench. Since then, one of the judges on that Bench, Justice R. Subhash Reddy, has retired. The petitions have challenged a Presidential Order of August 5, 2019 which blunted Article 370. The Article had accorded special rights and privileges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir since 1954 in accordance with the Instrument of Accession. The special status was bestowed on Jammu and Kashmir by incorporating Article 35A in the Constitution. Article 35A was incorporated by an order of President Rajendra Prasad in 1954 on the advice of the Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet. The Parliament was not consulted when the President incorporated Article 35A into the Constitution through a Presidential Order issued under Article 370. Following the abrogation, the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Act of 2019 came into force and bifurcated the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. In a day, Jammu and Kashmir had lost its full Statehood and became a Union Territory of the Central government. The move had been preceded by a state of lockdown in the Valley. The various petitions, including ones by advocate M.L. Sharma and the National Conference (NC) party, have challenged the Centre’s “unilateral” move to impose curfew and unravel the unique federal structure of India by dividing Jammu and Kashmir “without taking consent from the people”. They have questioned the Centre’s sudden move to “unilaterally unravel the unique federal scheme, under cover of President’s Rule, while undermining crucial elements of due process and the rule of law”. A separate petition by detained politician Shah Faesal and Shehla Rashid Shora, among others, have contended that the August 5 Order and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019 were arbitrary. They had also challenged the proclamation of President's Rule in the State in December 2018. The petitions said what happened to Jammu and Kashmir “goes to the heart of Indian federalism”. “National integration is best served by a pluralistic federal model. Under this model, one size need not always fit all,” the petition filed by the NC said. The petitions said the Presidential Order of August 5 substituted the concurrence of the Governor of the State government to change the very character of a federal unit. They said the Presidential Order took cover of a temporary situation, meant to hold the field until the return of the elected government, to accomplish a fundamental, permanent and irreversible alteration of the status of the State of Jammu and Kashmir without the concurrence, consultation or recommendation of the people of that State, acting through their elected representatives. They have argued that the August 5 Order used Article 370 to demolish Article 370. It amounted to the overnight abrogation of the democratic rights and freedoms guaranteed to the people of Jammu and Kashmir upon its accession. The basic purpose of Article 370 was to facilitate the extension of constitutional provisions to the State in an incremental and orderly manner, based upon the needs and requirements, without dismantling the State Constitution. The August 5 Order, by replacing the recommendation of the ‘Constituent Assembly’ with that of the ‘Legislative Assembly’ in order to alter the terms of Article 370, assumed that the legislative assembly of the State of Jammu and Kashmir had a power that its own Constitution, under Article 147, denied to it. Thus, the August 5 Order was ineffective, the petitions have alleged. The government has countered that the Presidential Order of August 5 has become ‘fait accompli’. The government urged the court to not entertain any “separatist” arguments during the hearing of petitions challenging the August 5 order and the subsequent reorganisation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. Twitter set to accept Elon Musk’s $43-billion offer, says report [Twitter Inc is poised to agree a sale to Elon Musk for around $43 billion in cash]( the price the chief executive of Tesla Inc has called his “best and final” offer for the social media company, people familiar with the matter said. Twitter may announce the $54.20-per-share deal later on Monday once its board has met to recommend the transaction to Twitter shareholders, the sources said. It is always possible that the deal collapses at the last minute, the sources added. Musk, the world’s richest person according to a tally by Forbes, is negotiating to buy Twitter in a personal capacity and Tesla is not involved in the deal. Twitter has not been able to secure so far a ‘go-shop’ provision under its agreement with Musk that would allow it to solicit other bids once the deal is signed, the sources said. Still, Twitter would be allowed to accept an offer from another party by paying Musk a break-up fee, the sources added. [ Photo used for representation purpose only. File ] The sources requested anonymity because the matter is confidential. Twitter and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Twitter shares were up 4.5% in pre-market trading in New York on Monday at $51.15. Musk has said Twitter needs to be taken private to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech. The deal would come just four days after Musk unveiled a financing package to back the acquisition. This led Twitter’s board to take the deal more seriously and many shareholders to ask the company not to let the opportunity for a deal to slip away, Reuters reported on Sunday. The sale would represent an admission by Twitter that its new chief executive Parag Agrawal, who took the helm in November, is not making enough traction in making the company more profitable, despite being on track to meet ambitious financial goals the company set for 2023. Twitter’s shares were trading higher than Musk’s offer price as recently as November. Musk’s negotiating tactics -- making one offer and sticking with it -- resembles how another billionaire, Warren Buffett, negotiates acquisitions. Musk did not provide any financing details when he first disclosed his offer for Twitter, making the market skeptical about its prospects. Tamil Nadu Assembly adopts Bills to empower govt. to appoint Vice-Chancellors The [Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Monday adopted two Bills that seek to empower the government]( to appoint the Vice-Chancellors (VCs) to 13 State universities under the aegis of the Higher Education Department by amending the respective Acts. The AIADMK and the BJP opposed the Bill and the latter also staged a walkout. At present, the Governor, who is also the Chancellor of the State universities, makes the appointment of VCs from a panel of three names recommended by a selection committee. Incidentally, the House adopted the Bills on the same day Governor R.N. Ravi inaugurated a two-day conference of VCs of State, Central and private universities of Tamil Nadu at Udhagamandalam. The Bills introduced in the House by Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy cited the Gujarat University Act, 1949, Telangana Universities Act, 1991, which have empowered the respective State government to appoint the VCs and also cited the Karnataka State Universities Act, 2000, according to which the VCs shall be appointed by the Chancellor with the concurrence of the State government. During his speech when the Bills were moved in the House, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said though it had been the tradition that the Governor would consult the government, there had been a change in the recent past. “During the past four years, there has been a trend in which the Governor, without consulting the State government, is functioning as if he has the exclusive right over appointing VCs,” Stalin contended. The fact that the State government could not appoint VCs for universities under its control affected its administration, he said. “As the State government is not able to appoint the VCs for universities under its control this has led to various confusion. It is against the ideals of democracy,” the Chief Minister said. Citing the recommendations of the Punchchi Commission over the appointment of VCs, Stalin went on to quote from them: “There would be a clash of functions and powers.” A total of 19 States, including Tamil Nadu, had accepted the recommendations of the Punchchi Commission, he said. Soon after the DMK government under him came to power and when the Union Home Ministry sought its opinion on the recommendations of the Punchchi Commission, Stalin said his government had accepted them. “Even Gujarat, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi hails, the State government appoints a VC from a panel of three names recommended by the Selection Committee. Likewise, in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana too, the VCs are appointed from a panel of three names recommended by the Selection Committee only with the concurrence of the State government,” Stalin pointed out. AIADMK legislator K.P. Anbalagan and BJP MLA Nainar Nagenthran opposed the Bills even during the introductory stage. After a voice vote, Speaker M. Appavu said the Bills had been adopted by the House. The 13 State universities for which Bills sought to empower the State government to appoint VCs are: University of Madras, Madurai Kamaraj University, Anna University, Bharathiar University, Bharathidasan University, Mother Teresa Women’s University, Alagappa University, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Periyar University, Tamil Nadu Open University, Thiruvalluvar University, Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University and Annamalai University. 16 more YouTube news channels blocked The [Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has got blocked 16 YouTube news channels]( including six from Pakistan, on charges of spreading false and unverified information to create panic, incite communal disharmony and disturb public order in the country. The action has been taken using emergency powers under the IT Rules. These channels had a cumulative viewership of over 68 crore. A Facebook account has also been blocked. “It was observed that these channels were used to spread fake news over social media on matters related to national security, India’s foreign relations, communal harmony in the country, and public order. None of the digital news publishers had furnished information to the Ministry as required under Rule 18 of the IT Rules, 2021,” the Ministry said. As alleged, the content published by some of the India-based YouTube channels referred to a community as terrorists, and incited hatred among the members of various religious communities. “Such content was found to have the potential to create communal disharmony, and disturb public order,” it stated, adding that multiple India-based YouTube channels published unverified news and videos that had the potential of creating panic among various sections of society. The Ministry said, “Examples include false claims related to announcement of a pan-India lockdown due to COVID-19, thereby threatening the migrant workers, and fabricated claims alleging threats to certain religious communities, etc. Such content was observed to be detrimental to public order in the country.” The Pakistan-based channels, in a coordinated manner, posted fake news about India on subjects such as the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir, and India’s foreign relations in the light of the situation in Ukraine. “The content of these channels was observed to be completely false and sensitive from the perspective of national security, sovereignty and integrity of India, and India’s friendly relations with foreign States,” the Ministry said. On April 23, the Ministry advised the private TV news channels against making false claims and using scandalous headlines. It had blocked 78 YouTube news channels, including 18 from India, on various charges. Among them were 22 channels with a total viewership of about 262 crore, which were banned earlier this month. In Brief The Supreme Court on Monday held that anganwadi workers and helpers taking care of the nutrition needs of around 158 million children who were considered the “future resource of the country”, were entitled to gratuity, a basic social security measure. A Bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and A.K. Oka rued how these workers and helpers, who performed a bouquet of vital services at the grassroots level and were often the bridge between the government and beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act and the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), were made to fight so hard and for so long for the recognition of their right to be paid gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. 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