Prez, guvs don’t have unbridled powers: SC

Prez, guvs don’t have unbridled powers: SC 

‘Can’t Exercise Absolute Veto On State Bills’ 

AmitAnand.Choudhary@timesofindia.com 13.04.2025

New Delhi : Observing that bills if kept pending after their passage by state legislature militate against the very sustenance of a representative democracy based on direct elections, Supreme Court has ruled that neither the President nor governors have “unbridled powers” and neither of them has the power to exercise ‘absolute veto’ on any bill passed by the assembly. 

It said the constitutional functionaries have to take decisions in a timebound manner and fixed it at three months for the President. Clearing the constitutional ambiguity over the role of the constitutional head of the country and those of states when bills are sent for their assent, a bench of Justices J BPardiwala and R Mahadevan said the authorities have to pass a reasoned order and cannot sit indefinitely on bills. 

It said delay on their part as well as decisions taken by them are judicially reviewable and can be challenged in court. Settling a timeline for governors, it said a decision has to be taken within a month if assent is granted or within three months if a bill is referred to the President or to assembly for reconsideration. 

SC also accepted Centre’s 2016 office memorandum fixing a timeline of three months for the President to take a decision, and made it a part of its order. “... the scheme under which the constitutional heads of both the country and a state respectively are required to operate, does not contemplate the idea of an ‘absolute veto’, thereby meaning that there can be no withholding of assent with out furnishing reasons. This is owing to the fact that the simpliciter withholding of assent both by President and governor would be impermissible within the fundamental principles of a constitutional democracy,” SC said. 

Elaborating on Article 200 (pertaining to governors) and Article 201 (regarding President) of the  Constitution, it said both the functionaries are bound to give reasons in writing for withholding assent and the state govt must not be prevented from incorporating the changes or amendments to the bill. Though a governor is bound to give assent in case the assembly sends the bill again after reconsideration, the bench said it was not applicable to the President. 

It said the President giving reasons in support of decision is of paramount importance, and the court can make a presumption that the President and by extension, the central govt, may not have acted in a bona fide manner if the decision is not a reasoned one. The bench said, “...governor does not hold the power to exercise ‘absolute veto’ on any bill, we see no reason why the same standard would also not apply to the President under Article 201 as well.”

Paywall: UPI outage hits users across the country

Paywall: UPI outage hits users across the country 

13.04.2025

Mumbai : India experienced the flip side of going cashless when Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the platform that accounts for more than four-fifths of all digital transactions in the country, suffered a major outage Saturday, leaving users struggling to make payments across malls, parking lots and shops.

Users across India reported failed payments. Some got debit alerts despite failed transactions. National Payments Corporation of India, which operates UPI, reported “intermittent technical issues leading to partial transaction declines” which “stabilised by late afternoon”.

TNN › Increased failures, P 16 WhatsApp also down for some time 

Meta-owned messaging app WhatsApp faced issues in India on Saturday evening, with users reporting issues in sending messages for close to half an hour. 

Payment providers started facing increased failures just before 10am Outage Affects People At Hospitals NPCI authorities said they regretted the outage and were “working to resolve the issue”. The impact was pan-India, with complaints from people in Bengal, Delhi, Maharashtra, UP, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Assam and the southern states. 

A woman in the national capital said the outage inconvenienced people at a specialty hospital as it led to a long queue at the payments desk. 

In Lucknow, Ahad Arshad, operator of the popular food chain Red Dragon, said around 50 customers were unable to pay their bills. “We had to note down their contact numbers for payment later. It was chaotic for about 25 minutes but eventually all dues were cleared,” he said.

Payment providers said they started facing increased failures just before 10am. There was no shutdown of services but a sharp rise in failed transactions. Success rates improved later in the afternoon. 

NPCI did not give any details of the cause of the failures nor about the up in failure rate. Sources said that it was not a capacity issue as NPCI was used to higher volumes. The corporation was doing a “root cause analysis” and did not disclose the reasons behind the disruption. 

An Ahmedabad-based petrol pump owner, requesting anonymity, said they switched to precautionary payment methods during the disruption. “We took UPI payments before filling fuel or requested customers to use other options.” 

In UP, from restaurants to retailers, users across the state reported that popular third-party payment platforms like Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm were unresponsive between 11.20am and 11.45am. The disruption was the fourth in 30 days — an unusual frequency for a platform that has a highly reliable track record. 

Since its launch in 2016, UPI has scaled rapidly without major hiccups. Its ease of use — allowing peer-to-peer transfers at no cost — has made it ubiquitous, from roadside vendors to high-value transactions of up to Rs 1 lakh. Many consumers, now accustomed to its dependability, no longer carry cash. That trust was tested on Saturday. For small merchants, the outage meant missed sales. Larger retailers, meanwhile, saw customers switch to more expensive card-based payments, raising transaction costs. 

The impact ranged from a few rupees in rickshaw fares to larger purchases at petrol stations and shops. Earlier, disruptions on March 26 were also attributed to a technical issue. Banks said the outages on March 31 and April 2 were largely due to heavy traffic at the close of the financial year. The last time UPI faced a systemic vulnerability was in 2020 when Yes Bank, then a key service provider for apps such as PhonePe, was placed under a moratorium by the RBI. The fallout led NPCI to propose market share cap s to mitigate single-point-of-failure risks. Despite these efforts, Google Pay and PhonePe continue to dominate the UPI ecosystem.

Though transactions feel instantaneous to users, the process involves nearly 10 rapid-fire digital handshakes among third-party app s, their banks, customers and recipient banks, and recipient payment processors and their banks

NEWS TODAY 13.4.2025

 

TN notifies 10 Acts without Guv’s sign

TN notifies 10 Acts without Guv’s sign 

Tamil Nadu 

DC Correspondent 13 April 2025 1:30 AM 

The Supreme Court bench led by Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan also said the Bills should be considered as having received the assent on the date they were resubmitted on November 18, 2023. Supreme Court.(DC File Photo)

Chennai:For the first time in the country’s legislative history, the Tamil Nadu government on Saturday notified 10 Acts without receiving assent from the Governor or the President following the recent Supreme Court verdict which held that the Bills, which were passed a second time by the state Assembly and then referred to the President by the Governor, were deemed to have been given the assent. 

The Acts were officially notified through the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary dated April 11, 2025, since the Supreme Court ruled on April 8 that the Governor’s action of sending the Bills to the President as unconstitutional and a violation of Article 200 of the Constitution. 

The Supreme Court bench led by Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan also said the Bills should be considered as having received the assent on the date they were resubmitted on November 18, 2023. Of the 10 Acts, seven are about replacing the Governor with the Chief Minister as the vice chancellor of the universities. 

They are the Madras University (Amendment) Act, 2022; 

the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (Amendment) Act, 2022; 

the Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University (Amendment) Act, 2022; 

the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University (Amendment) Act, 2022; 

the Tamil University (Amendment) Act, 2022 and the Anna University (Amendment) Act. 

The Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Amendment) Act, 2020,

the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Further Amendment) Act, 2023, and the Tamil Nadu Fisheries University (Amendment) Act, 2020 are about introducing structural changes in the universities concerned while the Siddha Medical University Act, 2023 is for the formation of the university. ( Source : Deccan Chronicle )

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/southern-states/tamil-nadu/tn-notifies-10-acts-without-guvs-sign-1872595

பழிவாங்கும் நோக்கத்துடன் செய்யும் டிரான்ஸ்பர்களை ஒருபோதும் ஏற்க முடியாது: உயர் நீதிமன்ற மதுரை அமர்வு உத்தரவு

பழிவாங்கும் நோக்கத்துடன் செய்யும் டிரான்ஸ்பர்களை ஒருபோதும் ஏற்க முடியாது: உயர் நீதிமன்ற மதுரை அமர்வு உத்தரவு 12.04.2025

மதுரை: பழிவாங்கும் நோக்கத்துடன் செய்யப்படும் இடமாறுதல்களை ஏற்க முடியாது என்று உயர் நீதிமன்றம் உத்தரவிட்டது. மதுரை அரசுப் போக்குவரத்துக் கழகத்தில் கம்ப்யூட்டர் புரோகிராமராகப் பணிபுரிந்து வருபவர் ஆர்.சிவகுமார். இவர் 1995 முதல் பணிபுரிந்து வருகிறார்.

இந்நிலையில், தனக்கு கம்ப்யூட்டர் புரோகிராமர்களுக்கான ஊதியம் தரப்படுவதில்லை. ணிக்குரிய ஊதியம் வழங்க வேண்டும் என்று வலியுறுத்தி, உயர் நீதிமன்ற மதுரை அமர்வில் மனு தாக்கல் செய்தார். இதில் சிவகுமாருக்கு சாதகமான உத்தரவு பிறப்பிக்கப்பட்டது. இதை உச்ச நீதிமன்றமும் உறுதி செய்தது. ஆனாலும், அவருக்கு உரிய ஊதியம் வழங்கப்படவில்லை.

இதையடுத்து, அரசுப் போக்குவரத்துக் கழக அதிகாரிகளுக்கு எதிராக நீதிமன்ற அவமதிப்பு மனுவைத் தாக்கல் செய்தார். மனு நிலுவையில் இருந்தபோது சிவகுமார் வணிகப் பிரிவிலிருந்து, நீதிமன்றப் பிரிவுக்கு இடமாறுதல் செய்யப்பட்டார். இதற்கு உயர் நீதிமன்றத்தில் தடையாணை பெற்றார்.

இந்நிலையில், சிவகுமார் தாக்கல் செய்த நீதிமன்ற அவமதிப்பு மனு, நீதிபதி பட்டு தேவனாந்த் முன்னிலையில் விசாரணைக்கு வந்தது. போக்குவரத்துக் கழகம் தரப்பி்ல், மனுதாரர் பணியிட மாற்றம் நிர்வாகத் தேவைக்கேற்ப மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டது. அவமதிப்பு மனு தாக்கல் செய்ததால், அவர் பணியிட மாற்றம் செய்யப்பட்டார் என்பது சரியல்ல. பணியாளர் எப்போது வேண்டுமானாலும் இடமாறுதல் செய்யப்படுவார் என பணி நியமன உத்தரவில் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது என்று கூறப்பட்டது.

இதையடுத்து நீதிபதி, "நீதிமன்ற அவமதிப்பு வழக்கில் அதிகாரிகள் ஆஜரான அதே நாளில், மனுதாரர் இடமாறுதல் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளார். மேலும், மனுதாரர் மருத்துவ விடுப்பில் இருந்த நேரத்தில், இடமாறுதல் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளார். மனுதாரரின் இடமாறுதல், தீய எண்ணத்துடன் நடந்துள்ளது.

மனுதாரர் பழிவாங்கும் எண்ணத்தில் இடமாறுதல் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளார். பொதுவாக இடமாறுதல் விவகாரத்தில் நீதிமன்றம் தலையிடாது. அதே நேரத்தில், அந்த இடமாறுதல் உள்நோக்கம் கொண்டதாக இருந்தால், நீதிமன்றம் தலையிடாமல் இருக்காது. இவ்வாறு நடக்கும்போது நீதிமன்றம் பார்த்துக்கொண்டு சும்மாயிருக்காது. மனுதாரரின் இடமாறுதல் உத்தரவு ரத்து செய்யப்படுகிறது" என்று உத்தரவிட்டார்.

Cuddalore Government hospital nurses protest for fair night shift rotation

Cuddalore Government hospital nurses protest for fair night shift rotation

Sources said over 250 nurses are employed at the hospital, but around 40 of them were being assigned night duty disproportionately.

Government Medical College and Hospital, Cuddalore District, building.Photo | Special Arrangement via website

Express News Service

Updated on:

10 Apr 2025, 11:05 am

CUDDALORE: A group of nurses at the District Government Medical College Hospital in Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram, staged a protest on Wednesday demanding a fair rotation of night shift duties.

Sources said over 250 nurses are employed at the hospital, but around 40 of them were being assigned night duty disproportionately. Citing mental stress from repeated night shifts, the affected nurses launched a sit-in protest inside the hospital premises on Wednesday morning.

The protest drew support from Pandian and John, president and secretary of the hospital’s government employees’ union, JACTO-GEO coordinator Professor Balamurugan, and other staff members.

The demonstration led to brief commotion at the hospital. College dean Dr C Thirupathi, hospital superintendent Dr Junior Sundaresh, and other senior doctors engaged with the nurses in dialogue.

Hospital authorities assured the protesters that night duty assignments would be distributed more evenly going forward. Following this, the nurses called off their protest by afternoon and resumed their duties.

Corruption rampant in government, we are helpless in tackling it, says Madras HC

Corruption rampant in government, we are helpless in tackling it, says Madras HC

The petitioner’s mother Amutha applied for a government job on compassionate grounds in 2018.

Express News Service

Updated on:

11 Apr 2025, 8:52 am

CHENNAI: Stating that corruption has been rampant in every organ of the government, the Madras High Court said it is helpless in curbing the menace.

The remarks were made by a division bench of justices R Subramanian and G Arul Murugan recently while dealing with an appeal filed by G Gowdham of Cuddalore district in connection with a government job under the compassionate grounds scheme.

“We have to acknowledge that corruption is rampant in every organ of the government today. We should also acknowledge our helplessness in curbing the menace of corruption,” the bench said, referring to the National Highways department authorities directing the appellant’s mother to get three certificates afresh from the local authorities.

The petitioner is the son of Ganesan, who was employed as record clerk with the National Highways department, died while on duty on October 1, 2016. The petitioner’s mother Amutha applied for a government job on compassionate grounds in 2018.

However, in 2020, the authorities asked her to submit fresh certificates on income, the manner in which the monetary benefits obtained due to the death of her husband, a genuineness certificate on educational qualifications and a copy of the family card duly attested by the taluk supply officer.

After becoming a major, he submitted an application on November 19, 2022 and it was also rejected on the ground that the application was filed three years after death of his father and he should have attained 18 years at the time of applying for job on compassionate grounds.

He sent applications again in 2023 but they were also rejected. Challenging this rejection, he filed a writ petition.

The single judge, in an order on September 25, 2024, accepted the contentions of the authorities, yet, he ordered them to consider the application of the appellant’s mother as she was eligible.

While upholding the single judge’s order, the bench directed the authorities to offer the job to Amutha in commensuration with her qualification within four weeks.

RGUHS must train evaluators, provide key answers: Court

RGUHS must train evaluators, provide key answers: Court 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 12,04,2025

Bengaluru : The high court has said the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) is required to train its evaluators before assigning them evaluation work and also consider providing model/key answers to question papers. Justice Suraj Govindaraj recently made this observation while dismissing a petition filed by a postgraduate homeopathy student, challenging the evaluation of his answer scripts by five evaluators and also an ordinance on governing the evaluation process of the examinations for PG programmes, including diploma and superspeciality courses. 

The judge pointed out that thousands of petitions are coming up on discrepancies in the valuation on account of which students are being declared failed. “It is not only the number of litigations that has to be seen, but the number of lives which are dependent on such evaluation too, more particularly students in the younger age group whose confidence could be adversely affected if they are declared failed on account of improper evaluation. The impact of this on the psyche and the future of the student, on the family of the student, the society as a whole, as also on the college and the university need not be more emphasised,” the judge added. 

“While preparing the question paper, the model ans wers or key answers could also be prepared by the very same person who has set/ drafted the question paper. This would not cause any administrative strain on the university but would go a long way in addressing the difficulties faced by the students,” the judge suggested. In the case on hand, one Abhishek M Sutrave, a PG student in homeopathy, challenged the valuation of the first-year MD theory paper — Advanced teaching of fundamentals of homeopathy — saying there was a large variance in the marks awarded by the five valuators. As his representation on the disparity in marks was not considered, he approached the high court. According to him, he stood 36th in the all India entrance exam and obtained 86% marks in the practical exam. He contended that he should be declared passed by taking into account the marks awarded by the 5th evaluator in the repeat examination. The academic council of the RGUHS pleaded there are over 3,000 subject codes, and 10 question papers would have to be prepared for each. Thus, there would be about 30,000 question papers, and as many model answer scripts and key answers would have to be created per examination. 

As such, a policy decision was taken that model answers or key answers could not be provided. “This decision has been taken purely on the basis of administrative difficulties... The academic council has sought to negate its own responsibilities on the basis of administrative difficulties,” the judge added.

C’garh HC: Pension is earned property right, not a bounty

C’garh HC: Pension is earned property right, not a bounty 

Orders Govt To Refund Pension Deducted To Heirs Within 45 Days

Partha.Behera@timesofindia.com 11.04.2025

Raipur : State govt cannot take away any part of an employee’s pension, gratuity or leave encashment without a statutory provision ‘even under the guise of administrative instructions’, Chhattisgarh high court has ruled. 

The court quashed the govt order that permitted the recovery of over ₹9.2 lakh from the pension of a deceased govt employee, Rajkumar Gonekar, a resident of MP’s Chhindwara, and directed that the amount be refunded to his legal heirs within 45 days. “It is an accepted position that gratuity and pension are not bounties. An employee earns these benefits by dint of his long, continuous, faithful and unblemished service. 

It is thus a hard earned benefit which accrues to an employee and is in the nature of ‘property’,” Justice Bibhu Datta Guru said in a recent order. This right to property cannot be taken away without the due process of law as per the provisions of Article 300-A of Constitution of India, Justice Guru said. “It follows that the attempt of the appellant state govt to take away a part of pension or gratuity or even leave encashment without any statutory provision and under the umbrage of administrative instruction cannot be countenanced,” the order said. Gonekar’s counsel submitted to the court that he was appointed as assistant director on March 29, 1990, and later promoted to deputy director in 2000. However, due to certain corrections in the gradation list, he was demoted to assistant director. 

Following court orders, he served as deputy director and retired on Jan 31, 2018. During his service, Gonekar received a notice alleging misappropriation. In his response, he denied the allegations and asserted that he acted lawfully. After retire ment, a show-cause notice  was issued on Dec 13, 2018, and he submitted his response on Jan 25, 2019, again refuting the charges. 

The court noted that the order to recover ₹9.23 lakh from his pension was passed without properly considering these facts and without following due process. The state contested this and said procedure was followed, adding that govt granted permission to recover the amount only after receiving Gonekar’s reply. HC noted that the original petitioner, Gonekar, died on June 20, 2024, and his legal heirs were subsequently included in the petition. HC concluded that according to Rule 9, recovery from pension can only be ordered if the employee is found guilty in departmental or judicial proceedings.