Can bar overqualified person from job: SC

Can bar overqualified person from job: SC 

‘Rationale Both Reasonable And Equitable’

AmitAnand.Choudhary@timesofindia.com  04.06.2026

New Delhi : Sometimes over qualification becomes a disqualification. At a time when highly qualified people, including PhD holders, are competing for class IV govt jobs, the Supreme Court has said a person could be disqualified for a job if he holds a qualification beyond the maximum prescribed qualification. Noting that an employer’s need to have the right people at the right place does not always mean those higher qualified, a bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R Mahadevan said there is nothing wrong in govt’s decision putting a cap on the qualification for a post and disqualifying those holding higher degrees. 

“The rationale behind prescribing an upper limit of qualification is both reasonable and equitable, namely, to provide employment opportunities to persons who, owing to circumstances of life, could not pursue higher education. The State, as a model employer, is justified in reserving certain categories of posts for such persons so that they are not compelled to compete with more highly qualified candidates against whom they would ordinarily stand little chance of selection. 

Such a policy has consistently been upheld by the courts. Thus, when the post was specifically intended for candidates possessing lower educational qualifications, permitting a person with higher qualifications to secure such employment would necessarily result in depriving a genuinely eligible and deserving candidate of the opportunity,” the bench said. 

 It passed the order while upholding termination of job of a bank employee on the ground that he was graduate at the time of joining while the job specification stipulated the candidate should possess the qualification of passing 8th standard, but should not have passed 12th standard or acquired qualification. “..though we may have sympathy for the respondent, the conduct attributed to him and the settled position of law leave us with no option but to interfere with the impugned judgment.”

RGUHS won’t call for new nursing college applications this year

RGUHS won’t call for new nursing college applications this year

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 27.05.2026

Bengaluru : Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) has decided not to invite new applications for nursing colleges for academic year 2026-27. However, the university will process the pending 130 applications for new colleges filed for 2025-26.

Last year, the file for 130 nursing colleges was not processed. Of these, around 70 colleges are likely to be eligible. These applications will have to be checked by various bodies like academic council and senate before the final decision. No new applications will be entertained, said RGUHS vicechancellor Bhagavan BC.

“The seat matrix for nursing seats has been sent. The new additions will be sent separately once approved. As there is still time for CET counselling, we should be able to send them in time.” Last year, 671 colleges offered 34,050 seats through Karnataka Examinations Authority. In 2024, 652 colleges gave away 24,642 seats.

Only PCI Can Inspect Pharmacy Colleges: Council Warns States, Universities Against Re-Inspections

Only PCI Can Inspect Pharmacy Colleges: Council Warns States, Universities Against Re-Inspections 

Written By : Susmita Roy

Published On 17 May 2026 11:12 PM | Updated On 17 May 2026 11:12 PM

New Delhi: The Pharmacy Council of India has directed all state governments, universities and examining authorities to refrain from conducting re-inspections or subsequent inspections of pharmacy institutions that have already been inspected and approved by the Council, warning that such actions violate the provisions of the Pharmacy Act, 1948 and may invite strict legal action.

In a circular issued to all State Governments/UTs, Examining Authorities approved by PCI, State Admission Committees and Central Council members, the PCI clarified that under Section 16 of the Pharmacy Act, 1948, the statutory authority to inspect pharmacy institutions rests exclusively with the Council.

The Council stated that it has come to its notice that several universities and state authorities are continuing to conduct inspections of pharmacy institutions even after PCI approval has been granted, despite court rulings stating that such authorities do not possess statutory powers under the Act to undertake these inspections.

Also Read:PCI Mandates Implementation of New B.Pharm Syllabus from 2026-27 Under NEP 2020 

Referring to recent judicial pronouncements, the PCI cited an order dated October 6, 2025, passed by the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court in the case of Gramin Vikas Multipurpose Education Society and Prabhat Institute of Pharmacy vs PCI & Others. The Court held that if a statute prescribes a particular procedure, it must be followed in that manner alone, and observed that the Joint Director had no authority under the Pharmacy Act or PCI norms to inspect a pharmacy college once the No Objection Certificate (NOC) had already been issued.

The Court further observed that if complaints were received by the State Government or Joint Director, they could be forwarded to PCI, which alone could carry out inspections in accordance with the law.

The Council also referred to a November 26, 2025 judgment of the Karnataka High Court in Karnataka Pharmacy College Management Association vs Union of India and Others, where the Court ruled that the State Government lacked jurisdiction or authority to conduct inspections of pharmacy colleges in the absence of any statutory provision empowering it to do so.

According to the PCI circular, once the initial verification process for issuance of the first-time approval of the Examining Authority and NOC for starting a new pharmacy institution or course is completed, the concerned State Government, state authorities or universities cease to have jurisdiction to conduct re-inspections or subsequent inspections under the Pharmacy Act, 1948.

The Council reiterated that powers relating to inspection, monitoring, approval of courses, intake capacity and verification of pharmacy institutions vest exclusively with PCI under Section 16 of the Act.

PCI further directed that if any complaint, deficiency, irregularity or allegation concerning a pharmacy institution comes to the notice of any state government, university or authority, such details must be forwarded to the Council for appropriate action and further inspection, wherever necessary.

Warning against non-compliance, the Council stated that any violation of the provisions of the Pharmacy Act, 1948 and regulations framed thereunder by any authority, institution or examining body would be viewed seriously and strict action would be initiated in accordance with law.

State unlikely to enforce NMC order on MBBS fees for four­ and­ a­ half­ years

State unlikely to enforce NMC order on MBBS fees for four­ and­ a­ half­ years

 The Hindu (Kochi) A.S. Jay­anth KOZHIKODE 4 May 2026

The recent dir­ect­ive of the National Med­ical Com­mis­sion (NMC) to med­ical col­leges in the coun­try to levy fees from MBBS stu­dents only for four­ and­ a­half years is unlikely to be imple­men­ted in Ker­ala now.

In the order issued on April 7, the NMC had said that col­lect­ing fee from stu­dents for the entire dur­a­tion of the course for five years or five­ and­ a­ half years would not be per­mit­ted. The MBBS course com­prises four­ and­ a­ half years of aca­demic study, fol­lowed by one year of com­puls­ory rotat­ing intern­ship. In gov­ern­ment med­ical col­leges in Ker­ala, the annual fee is over ₹30,000, while in self­f in­an­cing col­leges it is around ₹8 lakh and above for the gen­eral cat­egory and ₹21 lakh and above for the NRI cat­egory.

This fee is determ­ined and revised by a fee reg­u­lat­ory com­mit­tee. It is now headed by retired High Court judge K.K. Dineshan. However, the incum­bent LDF gov­ern­ment is unlikely to take a decision on the dir­ect­ive now, as its ten­ure is set to end soon.

Mr. Dineshan told The Hindu recently that the fee reg­u­lat­ory com­mit­tee was bound by judg­ments of the Supreme Court of India and the Ker­ala High Court, as well as laws passed by the Ker­ala Legis­lat­ive Assembly. 

He said the fee fixed by the com­mit­tee for a batch would remain in force for the entire five year course. He poin­ted out that the High Court had, in 2022, cla­ri­fied that the NMC’s office memor­andum stip­u­lat­ing gov­ern­ment fees for 50% of seats in self­ fin­an­cing med­ical col­leges need not be imple­men­ted in Ker­ala.

Mean­while, the Ker­ala Uni­versity of Health Sci­ences (KUHS) is of the view that the dir­ect­ive should be imple­men­ted in the State.

KUHS Vice­ Chan­cel­lor Mohanan Kun­num­mal told The Hindu that other States such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were already plan­ning to enforce it. “However, we are not in a pos­i­tion to express our views on this because KUHS is not part of the fee reg­u­lat­ory com­mit­tee… There is a con­ten­tion that the entire course fee is divided over five years, so it can con­tinue that way. 

But such an argu­ment has not been explained any­where offi­cially,” he added. ‘The NMC said that col­lect­ing fees for five years or more was not con­sist­ent with the pre­scribed aca­demic struc­ture of the MBBS pro­gramme and could res­ult in charges for peri­ods that do not con­sti­tute aca­demic teach­ing. 

“Any instance of non­com­pli­ance shall be viewed ser­i­ously and appro­pri­ate action ini­ti­ated by the Com­mis­sion, as per the extant stat­utory and reg­u­lat­ory pro­vi­sions,” the order added.

Busted by DVAC, office assistant jumps to death

Busted by DVAC, office assistant jumps to death 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK   16.05.2026

Trichy : An assistant at the block development office in Tiruvarur jumped to death from the third floor of his office building on Thursday evening while being interrogated by Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) officials after his arrest, along with the BDO, for accepting a bribe. 

The deceased was identified as R Suresh Kumar, 51, a resident of Thuvakudi in Trichy district. According to sources, Bharathidasan, a resident of Tiruvarur district, went to the office a few days ago seeking a plot approval receipt. The BDO for village panchayat scheme, S Swaminathan, along with his assistant Suresh Kumar, allegedly demanded a bribe of ₹7,000 to issue the receipt. Bharathidasan lodged a complaint with DVAC in Tiruvarur. After conducting a preliminary inquiry, DVAC confirmed the bribe demand and planned a trap. The sleuths gave Bharathidasan ₹7,000 in currency notes laced with a chemical powder to be handed over to the two officials. On Thursday afternoon, as Swaminathan and Suresh Kumar took the money from Bharathidasan, the DVAC team caught them red-handed. During the inquiry, Suresh Kumar excused himself for a break, went to the terrace and jumped off the building. (Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on TN’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 04424640050)

No biryani, wedding turns bloody

No biryani, wedding turns bloody 

Knives Out After Wedding Guests Bicker Over Being Served Pulao 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  Ahamedabad 14.05.2026

Ahmedabad : Food can make or break an event. And, a wedding meant to celebrate a new beginning went spectacularly off the rails after a late-night argument over biryani, or rather a lack thereof, exploded into a violent family clash involving knives and iron ladles. 

The bride, 23, who had travelled from Delhi with her family for the May 12 wedding, ended up spending the night at a police station, accusing the groom and five others of attacking her relatives after guests complained that pulao, and not biryani, was served at dinner. 

According to the bride’s complaint, she and her family were staying near the marriage hall in Kubernagar. The engagement ceremony was held on May 10, followed by the wedding rituals the next evening. Trouble began brewing during a pre-wedding dinner when guests objected to the pulao being served. They also allegedly created a ruckus on it “not being prepared properly”, the complainant stated. 

A heated exchange followed, but relatives allegedly managed to calm things down. A few hours later, however, tempers flared again. The bride alleged that around 1 am, the groom, his brother and several others arrived at the hall where her family members were staying and restarted the argument over the food issue. 

According to the complaint, the groom’s side began “hurling filthy abuses” at the bride’s father. The bride told police, “One of the men attacked my father with a knife, injuring his left hand, while another relative, who intervened, suffered a knife wound on her left palm. We all stepped in to separate them.” As relatives rushed to stop the fight, the marriage venue allegedly turned into a battleground, with pushing, shouting, and scuffles breaking out between members of both families. 

During the chaos, gold ornaments worn by the bride and her aunt reportedly disappeared. The injured relatives were rushed to Civil Hospital for treatment before the bride filed a complaint seeking action against the groom and his relatives. However, the groom’s side has given police a very different version. According to the cross complaint, police were called to settle the verbal dispute that arose during dinner, and both sides “reached an understanding”. “However, around 1.30am, the argument allegedly erupted again after the bride’s brother began abusing members of the groom’s family. 

When relatives attempted to calm him down, the bride’s brother, her father and another man attacked them with kitchen utensils and a sharp weapon. An iron ladle was used to strike the complainant on the head,” stated the complaint. Three people from the groom’s family also suffered injuries and were taken to Civil Hospital, the complaint stated. Police have registered complaints from both sides and launched an investigation into the wedding-night showdown.

Abandoned in forest, two-year-old walks for 20 hours, survives

Abandoned in forest, two-year-old walks for 20 hours, survives

Amarjeet.Singh1@timesofindia.com 04.05.2026

Bhopal : A two-year-old boy, unclothed waist down, walked barefoot alone for nearly 20 hours through a forest full of wild animals after his father allegedly killed his mother and abandoned him in a remote patch of Madhya Pradesh. The stunning survival story ended with cops finding the weak and dehydrated toddler early Sunday in a remote patch along the Vidisha-Raisen border after arresting his father. 

So hungry and thirsty was the baby that he grabbed food and water the cops offered before he was rushed to hospital and stabilised. “It was a miracle that he survived,” said Sonali Gupta, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Begumganj, the pocket where the rescuers found the child, nearly 2km from the spot where he had been abandoned. The horrors started unfolding Saturday noon when the child’s father, a 25-yea rold from a village in Vidisha district’s Haidergarh area, allegedly crushed his wife’s head with a stone, police said. 

Their son was with them at the time. After the killing, the man took the child on his motorcycle and rode about 2km into adjoining Raisen district’s Begumganj belt. He dumped the child near a stream behind a temple in the dense forest. The area, the police said, is known for the movement of wild animals, making survival a challenge even for adults.

HC bins RGUHS move to exclude senate members from panel

HC bins RGUHS move to exclude senate members from panel 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  03.05.2026

Bengaluru : The high court quashed a 2024 resolution of a syndicate meeting of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) excluding senate members from the local inspection committee on continuation of affiliation of colleges. 

J Nandeesh and other RGUHS senate members had challenged the resolution, contending the syndicate did not obtain the assent of the senate which has power to make, amend or repeal statutes under the RGUHS Act. Justice ES Indiresh pointed out that for amending or repealing the statute, the syndicate has to submit its proposal to the senate which has the power to give assent. Thereafter, such a resolution along with the recommendation of the senate should be placed before govt for assent. 

Even for continuation of affiliation, local inspection committee members have to verify the entire records pertaining to various requirements and even if there is any lacuna in compliance of mandatory provisions, it is the duty of the committee to withdraw the affiliation of the college concerned. In view of the matter, excluding the members of the senate would affect the foundation for decision making process, the judge said.

750 MP engg seats remained unfilled last yr, 66 colleges closed down

750 MP engg seats remained unfilled last yr, 66 colleges closed down 

Bhopal : 30.04.2026

In what points to a sorry state of affairs and a potential existential crisis for engineering education in Madhya Pradesh, as many as 750 seats remained unclaimed across the state in the last year alone while 66 engineering institutions closed down over the last ten years, official numbers with the technical education dept have revealed, reports Ramendra Singh . 

Marked by plummeting placements and waning interest in traditional engineering branches, colleges are being forced to surrender seats or shut down entirely, pointing to a shift toward employability over volume. As per the dept, 138 colleges offer 74,722 seats, a sharp decline from 200 colleges and 95,000 seats in 2015-16

UGC allows autonomous colleges to seek deemed university status

UGC allows autonomous colleges to seek deemed university status 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  27.04.2028

The UGC has permitted autonomous and constituent colleges of state universities to apply for deemed-to-be university status. The newly introduced provisions also allow these colleges to operate as off-campus centres for existing deemed universities. 

These structural changes were formalised through a Gazette notification issued recently, titled University Grants Commission [Institutions Deemed to be Universities] Amendment Regulations, 2026. The amendments modify the previous UGC regulations established in 2023. 

Currently, there are 146 deemed-to-be universities operating under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, enjoying the academic privileges of full-fledged universities to strengthen their specialised fields of study. While the path to deemed status has been opened, the transition hinges on strict clearance from state authorities. Institutions must secure a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from their respective state governments to move forward.

Man waits 5 hours, catches runaway wife at polling booth

Man waits 5 hours, catches runaway wife at polling booth 

24.04.2026

Jalpaiguri : A tense domestic drama unfolded at booth no. 25/238 in Phansidewa’s Tarabari, under the MatigaraNaxalbari assembly segment in Siliguri subdivision, on Thursday — when a man staked out a polling station for hours to intercept his wife, who had eloped with another man two years ago, reports Pinak Priya Bhattacharya . 

He had reasoned, correctly, that she would have to show up to vote. And so he waited. Early in the morning, eyewitnesses at Tarabari Primary School noticed a man standing outside, speaking to no one, giving nothing away. It was a humid, overcast day and the sweat was visible on him, but he didn’t move. Hours passed. He stayed. 

At 2pm, a woman arrived at the booth with her voter’s slip and EPIC card. The man moved instantly — lunging at her, trying to snatch her voter’s card, pulling her hair and wrapping his arms around her from behind. The two struggled until CAPF personnel rushed in, freed the woman and restrained the man, who kept shouting and cursing. 

It emerged that the woman was his wife. She had eloped with her partner two years ago. He had calculated that the SIR process — which had prompted widespread anxiety about voter deletions — would compel her to appear at her booth. Once restrained, the man demanded that CAPF not allow his wife to vote until his name was removed from her EPIC card as her husband. 

The security personnel declined. After twenty minutes, they ensured she cast her vote and then escorted her out of the area. The man left the polling station in a fury, throwing curses at the security personnel and the officials. The officials, for their part, could not keep straight faces. “I have been doing election duty for 26 years and this is a first-of-itskind experience for me,” said one polling official.

Poor academics no bar to jobs for high-rankers: HC

Poor academics no bar to jobs for high-rankers: HC 

18.04.2026

Cuttack : The Orissa high court observed that high ranking candidates in a recruitment exam cannot be disqualified on the basis of their poor academic records. The HC ruling came on Thursday while it was hearing a batch of 242 petitions challenging the Odisha Subordinate Staff Selection Commission’s (OSSSC) Oct 10, 2025 order, that denied candidates a place in the merit list for recruitment to the posts of livestock inspector, forester and forest guard, reports Lalmohan Patnaik . OSSSC had rejected the petitioners’ claim for appointment on grounds that they had adopted unfair means during the written exam. HC noted that the commission had not received report of illegality or irregularity in the conduct of the written exam from any of the 94 centres. Justice Biraja Prasanna Satapathy directed OSSSC to recommend the 242 petitioners for appointment within three weeks. The state govt was to ensure timely appointments.

Judge breaks nib of pen after signing Sathankulam verdict

Judge breaks nib of pen after signing Sathankulam verdict 

TIMES OF INDIA  CHENNAI EDITION 07.04.2026

The convicts include the then inspector S Sridhar, sub-inspectors K Balakrishnan, P Raghu Ganesh, head constables S Murugan and A Samadurai, and four constables—M Muthuraja, S Chelladurai, X Thomas Francis and S Vailmuthu. 

A total fine of over ₹1 crore has been imposed on them. The 10th suspect, the then special sub-inspector Paldurai, who too had been arrested, died of Covid in Aug 2020. 

After signing judgment on Monday, judge Muthukumaran broke the nib of his pen. 

Jeyaraj and Beniks were taken to the Sathankulam police in Tuticorin district in south Tamil Nadu late in the evening of June 19, 2020, on charges of having kept their shop open beyond the deadline during the Covid-19 lockdown. They were brutally assaulted by the policemen at night and were lodged in Kovilpatti sub-jail the next day. 

Beniks died of injuries at the Kovilpatti govt hospital on June 22, 2020, while his father Jeyaraj died on June 23, 2020. Their deaths sent shock waves and triggered public outcry across the state, and Justice P N Prakash of Madras high court took note of the killings and ordered the transfer of probe to the CBI. 

Recalling the HC intervention, judge Muthukumaran said, “ If not for the HC, truth regarding the incident would have been buried along with mortal remains of the duo.” “It was an act of vengeance by the police. Jeyaraj was tortured since there was an altercation with the police and Beniks was tortured since he questioned the illegal detention of his father. 

The act was committed by the policemen with the deliberate intent to instill fear among the public as two traders had lost their lives,” the judge said. “Where there is power, there should be responsibility. The incident was an attack on human rights,” the judge observed and added that custodial death is a social evil. 

The judge observed that this is not the first case of custodial death and it is also not going to be the last case either. “Such incidents are occurring everywhere,” the judge said, referring to the George Floyd incident reported in the US and the recent incident where B Ajith Kumar, a temple security guard, died due to custodial torture in Thiruppuvanam in Sivaganga. 

“Those who should protect the public have misused their power. This was a case of fencing eating the crops,” he said. Earlier, the state govt asserted that custodial deaths could not be tolerated and the Centre stated that maximum punishment should be awarded to the convicts. 

All nine Sathankulam case convicts get death sentence 

Judge: This Is To Prevent More Such Incidents 

Madurai : All nine police personnel arrested in connection with the custodial deaths of P Jeyaraj and his son J Beniks who were tortured in Sathankulam police station in 2020, were sentenced to death on Monday. Mere life sentences would not be sufficient, as the policemen would have no fear and would, instead, get emboldened, said the first additional district and sessions court in Madurai, G Muthukumaran on Monday. 

“It would send a false message to society. The punishment imposed on the police personnel in this case should be stringent one in order to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future. All the nine convicted police personnel in the case were equally involved in the attack on the father-son duo which resulted in their death,” the judge said. “The justice we got today is justice for all common people,” Jeyaraj’s daughter, J Persis, told reporters. “No family should face the trauma we underwent. We believe judgment in this case will prevent such incidents of custodial deaths in the future.”

OBC quota based on birth, not marriage or migration: HC

OBC quota based on birth, not marriage or migration: HC 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 02.04.2026

Bhopal : Madhya Pradesh high court has said that OBC reservation benefits cannot be claimed in the state on the basis of a caste certificate issued elsewhere, and that such benefits are determined by birth, not by marriage or change of residence. 

Dismissing a petition, the court upheld the cancellation of a candidate’s candidature during verification.The court also ruled that a woman cannot claim reservation benefits on the basis of her husband’s caste after marriage. The case pertains to Archana Dangi, a native of Jalaun in Uttar Pradesh, who had cleared the Higher Secondary Teacher Eligibility Test, 2018. Her candidature was cancelled during document verification as her OBC certificate had been issued in Uttar Pradesh. She argued that the Dangi caste is listed under the OBC category in both Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. 

She also submitted that after marriage she became a resident of Madhya Pradesh and should be eligible for reservation benefits in the state. Opposing the plea, the state govt told the court that caste is determined by birth and not by marriage or change of residence. It also said that a caste certificate issued in another state is not valid for claiming reservation in Madhya Pradesh. 

The court further noted that while a woman may socially be part of her husband’s caste after marriage, reservation benefits are based on social and educational backwardness linked to birth, not marital status

HC: Daughter-in-law is not legally bound to maintain parents-in-law

 

HC: Daughter-in-law is not legally bound to maintain parents-in-law

Mar 29, 2026, 22:10 IST

Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has ruled that a daughter-in-law is not legally bound to maintain her parents-in-law under Section 125 of CrPC (now Section 144 of BNSS), stating that moral obligations do not translate to legal ones without statutory backing.

The court observed that the right to claim maintenance is a statutory right and is confined only to the categories of persons expressly mentioned therein. Parents-in-law do not fall within the ambit of this provision, Justice Madan Pal Singh said in his recent order.Dismissing a criminal revision petition filed by an elderly couple — Rakesh Kumar and his wife against their daughter-in-law, he observed, "The legislature, in its wisdom, has not included parents-in-law within the ambit of the said provision. 

In other words, it is not the scheme of the legislature to fasten liability of maintenance upon a daughter-in-law towards her parents-in-law under this provision."An elderly couple had challenged an Aug 2025 order passed by the principal judge, family court, Agra, which rejected their application seeking maintenance under Section 144 of BNSS. The parents submitted that they were old, illiterate, indigent and wholly dependent on their deceased son during his lifetime.They contended that their daughter-in-law, who is employed as a constable in the Uttar Pradesh police, has sufficient independent income and has also received all service benefits of their deceased son. 

They also contended that the daughter-in-law's moral obligation to maintain her aged parents-in-law should be treated as a legal obligation.The court, however, rejected this contention, noting that there was nothing on record to indicate that the daughter-in-law's police employment was secured on compassionate grounds.The court also clarified that submissions regarding succession to the deceased son's property do not fall for consideration in these maintenance proceedings.

DM arrives late, sparks min’s fury, reprimand

DM arrives late, sparks min’s fury, reprimand

 Neha.Lalchandani@timesofindia.com 

28.03.2026

Lucknow : Made to wait for 45 minutes by the district magistrate at a govt event in his own assembly constituency, Kannauj Sadar, on Thursday, social welfare minister (independent charge) Asim Arun , who was invited as chief guest, first walked out of the programme and later wrote to the district magistrate demanding that he and his team should be more punctual in future.. 

The matter did not end there as the minister started a campaign on Friday evening, asking people to cite incidents where their time was wasted by someone. He named the campaign as ‘Viksit Bharat aur late latifi ek saath nahi chal sakte’. The minister added that it was necessary to emulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for punctuality and discipline. 

Earlier, the minister took the initiative to monitor calls being made by public representatives to officers, after complaints that often their calls were not being attended to for days. Asim told TOI that both the campaigns were aimed at making the bureaucracy answerable. 

 Holding high posts does not give moral right to waste time of others, says Asim In his letter to district magistrate Ashutosh Mohan Agnihotri, after which the DM tendered a ‘letter of regret’, the minister said that at an event organised at Roma Smarak on Thursday, he was invited as chief guest for the event that was to begin at 5.30pm. 

In his letter to the DM, Arun wrote: “The chief organiser was SDM Vaishali who reached 15 minutes after me. The ADM arrived even after her. I waited for around 45 minutes for the programme to start. During this time, they kept announcing from the stage that the event will begin after your arrival. You will agree that the situation became intolerable for me. Nobody knew when you would come so I had no option but to leave.” 

Launching the campaign, Arun said that it was not the issue of insult to any minister and asked that had he not been the chief guest, would the seriousness of this delay be less. He said that people holding high posts did not have a moral right to waste the time of others. “If India wants to become Viksit Bharat, then it is necessary to shed half-heartedness and negligence from our working style. We will have to add punctuality in our DNA. We will have to adhere to time like citizens of Germany, Japan and Switzerland,” he said. 

He asked people to respond with what steps were needed to ensure punctuality at personal and administrative levels in India, as is seen in developed countries. Later, in a letter apologizing to the minister Kannauj DM Ashutosh Mohan Agnihotri blamed a “delay in communication” for the incident. The 2016 batch officer said in his letter that the event had been organized by the District Tourism and Culture Council, Kannauj and the programme was to begin at 5.30 pm. However, the DM added, “the district tourism officer informed him that the show required use of LED lights and at 5.30 pm, a lot of sunlight was anticipated on the open stage. Participants were also delayed and the district tourism officer requested your representative to ask you to delay your arrival till 6.30 pm”. The unpleasant situation arose due to a delay in the communication, he added.

She has Aadhaar, PAN and voter ID, yet passport is out of reach

TIMES OF INDIA 

She has Aadhaar, PAN and voter ID, yet passport is out of reach

Saeed Khan

Mar 13, 2026, 7:12 IST 

Ahmedabad: Rajkot's Dolly Vadalia is battling a curious Catch-22 situation as she struggles to secure an Indian passport for the last 3 years to join her husband in Canada. She has multiple valid identity proofs of being an Indian—Aadhaar, PAN card, voter ID, driving licence—and she even files income tax returns, but an Indian passport still eludes her.

For the passport, she needs proof of Indian citizenship. For citizenship, she needs a foreign passport. She has neither of the 2 and cannot seem to get 1 without the other. Finally, the 26-year-old knocked on the doors of the Gujarat high court for intervention. 

According to the case details, Vadalia was born in Mozambique in 2000 to parents who were Indian citizens. Due to a flood situation, her parents fled Mozambique and returned to India with her. She was only 18 days old then. The Vadalias returned to India on an emergency certificate issued by the Mozambique govt. Vadalia was brought up in India and studied here. She has valid identity proofs and files income tax returns. 

 In 2023, Vadalia married an NRI who is on a work permit in Calgary, Canada. Keen to join him abroad, she applied for a passport in 2023. She was denied the passport because she was not born in India and her birth was not registered with the Indian consulate in Mozambique for Indian citizenship under Section 4 of the Citizenship Act. She undertook the process with the Mozambique High Commission in New Delhi and the Indian consulate in Mozambique to get documents as sought by the passport authority. Dolly Vadalia applied again after her first application closed. She initiated the process to get her birth certificate attested by the Indian consulate in Mozambique, as advised by the Regional Passport Office. However, when she got it done, she was informed on May 9, 2025, that the attested birth certificate would not be enough for a passport, and she would require either a birth registration certificate issued by the Indian Consulate in Mozambique, or a certificate of registration of Indian citizenship, or a certificate of naturalisation of Indian citizenship. 

She approached the Rajkot collectorate for a citizenship certificate with all the documents she got. On May 13, 2025, the collector officer asked her to furnish her foreign passport, which she never possessed. Not finding any solution to this peculiar problem, Vadalia approached the Gujarat High Court, contending that she is not in a position to succeed in her application to obtain a certificate of registration of Indian citizenship or a certificate of naturalisation of Indian citizenship, as she does not hold a foreign passport.

 She sought the HC's intervention so that she could go to Canada and join her husband. After hearing the case, Justice Aniruddha Mayee directed the govt lawyer "to take appropriate steps and file an affidavit-in-reply, if any, in respect of the communication dated May 5, 2025, before the next date of hearing", scheduled on Friday.

Man gets 7-yr jail for holding two govt jobs Continued To Draw Pay From Health, Edu Depts

Man gets 7-yr jail for holding two govt jobs Continued To Draw Pay From Health, Edu Depts 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 11.03.2022

Lucknow : A local court in Barabanki sentenced a man to seven years’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 for fraudulently securing and continuing two govt jobs simultaneously in the health and education departments using the same educational certificate. 

Delivering the verdict on Tuesday, Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Sudha Singh held convict Jaiprakash Singh guilty under the charges of IPC sections 420 (cheating), 467 read with Section 471 (forgery of valuable security and using forged documents as genuine), and Section 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating). 

The court noted that Jaiprakash Singh deliberately concealed facts and continued to draw salaries from two govt departments for years. The court also observed that the state govt is free to recover the salary and allowances received by the accused from both posts, as he illegally benefited from public funds. 

According to prosecution officials, Jaiprakash, a resident of Narauli village in the Satrikh police station area, was initially appointed as an NMA (non-medical assistant) at the primary health centre (PHC), Sangipur in Pratapgarh district on Dec 26, 1979. Later, using the same educational marksheet and certificates, he secured another govt job as an assistant teacher under the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) in Barabanki on June 19, 1993. 

Despite holding the post in the health department, Jaiprakash allegedly continued working as teacher in Barabanki while simultaneously drawing salary from both the departments. The case revealed that he remained associated with the primary school at Narauli in Harkh block of Barabanki for nearly 16 years, even while his records in the health department showed him as an employee at the Sangipur PHC in Pratapgarh. Times of India ePaper lucknow - Read Today’s Eng

K’taka HC upholds mom’s right to give child her surname

K’taka HC upholds mom’s right to give child her surname

 Vasantha.Kumar@timesofindia.com  27.02.2026

Bengaluru : Karnataka HC has ruled that inclusion of the mother’s family name in the birth certificate of a child does not dilute or extinguish the substantive legal rights of any person, including that of the biological father. Granting relief to a nineyear-old girl and her mother, Justice Suraj Govindaraj said, “The biological and legal relationship between the child and the father, including the child’s rights of inheritance, succession, and maintenance, remains unaltered. The change sought by the mother was merely one of nome-nclature reflecting the real family environment in which the child is being raised.” 

The case arose from a livein relationship between two Nepalese nationals in Bengaluru. Their daughter was born in Feb 2017, and a birth certificate was issued in March 2017. The child’s father later ended the relationship and returned to Nepal. When the mother approached local authorities at Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to delete the father’s name and substitute it with her own, the request was rejected citing Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. She then moved the HC. After examining the statutory provisions, the court held that the registrar had the authority to carry out corrections and the refusal amounted to a failure to exercise statutory power. 

Invoking its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution, the HC directed the issuance of a fresh birth certificate within four weeks. Stressing the “best interest of the child”, the judge noted that children abandoned by a parent were particularly vulnerable.

HC overturns order for third valuation of answer scripts

HC overturns order for third valuation of answer scripts 

MBBS STUDENTS 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 23.02.2026

Bengaluru : The high court set aside a single bench order that required a third valuation of answer scripts of certain MBBS students, providing relief to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS). A division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha held that the ordinance or notification governing the central assessment programme (CAP) for theory paper assessment of all undergraduate health science courses of the university benefits students. CAP provides for two valuations and considers the higher marks awarded between the two. On July 30,2025, a single bench issued two directions. Firstly, the RGUHS syndicate and academic council were directed to reconsider the matter afresh, specifically with regard to providing essential key answers or model answers for descriptive questions, in order to prevent anomalies or ambiguities during initial evaluations.

 Secondly, RGUHS was told to forward the answer scripts of petitioners to an additional evaluator for fresh assessment, in light of the significant discrepancy between the marks awarded by the evaluators.

 RGUHS challenged the order. The division bench noted that National Medical Commission (NMC) seemed to have altered its stand and that subjective answers could not be evaluated on the basis of key phrases or terms used in the answers. RGUHS argued that answers to medical science questions were evaluated based on students’ understanding and knowledge. “In our view, it would not be appropriate for this court to examine how answers to questions in a particular subject are required to be evaluated. 

The university is at liberty to take an appropriate decision uninfluenced by the observations made in the impugned order,” the bench said. “We are unable to accept that referring the answer scripts to a third valuer would, in any manner, mitigate this element of subjectivity in the evaluation of answer scripts,” the division bench  observed.

 “If the third evaluator awards higher marks – that is, higher than the marks awarded by the two evaluators – the question would arise as to which of the marks is required to be accepted. There is no provision to declare the results on the basis of the highest marks awarded by three evaluators,” it observed while allowing the appeals filed by RGUHS.