Refusal to leave ailing mom not cruelty: HC

Refusal to leave ailing mom not cruelty: HC 

Partha.Behera@timesofindia.com 02.09.2026

Raipur: A husband’s refusal to move away from his old and ailing mother cannot, by itself, be treated as cruelty towards his wife, Chhattisgarh HC ruled Monday, observing that marriage does not extinguish a person’s responsibilities towards parents. Justice Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi allowed an appeal filed by a man seeking a divorce from his wife, set aside the trial court’s order dismissing his divorce petition, and dissolved the marriage. The HC noted the wife’s insistence that her husband shift to a different house and held that the demand for a separate matrimonial home could not invariably be characterised as cruelty, as a spouse may have legitimate reasons for seeking independent accommodation. What had to be examined was whether such insistence was justified in the circumstances or amounted to an unreasonable attempt to compel the husband to sever or alter his relationship with his parents, the court observed. In this case, the husband’s mother was “very old and ailing”. The husband’s contention that he was unwilling to distance himself from his mother was “neither unnatural nor unreasonable”, the HC noted. Instead, it reflected a legitimate familial obligation that he was entitled to consider while deciding where to live. The HC further stressed that a matrimonial relationship did not give either spouse an unfettered right to compel the other to renounce or abandon pre-existing familial responsibilities. “Marriage creates a new family, but it does not, by itself, extinguish the moral and legal responsibilities which a person may owe towards aged or infirm parents,” the court stated.

Maternity leave can’t cost job or promotion on return, says HC

Maternity leave can’t cost job or promotion on return, says HC

Abhinav.Garg@timesofindia.com 02.09.2026

New Delhi: Noting that maternity leave can’t cost a woman her job or promotion on return, Delhi High Court has held that statutory protection extends to her duties, functional status, reporting hierarchy, supervisory responsibilities and prospects of appraisal. 

Granting over Rs 10 lakh as compensation to a chartered accountant who was subjected to professional disadvantage on disclosing her pregnancy and returning from maternity leave, the court stressed that protection to women in such cases can’t be reduced to merely retaining their salary and designation. Justice Sachin Datta said Monday that a woman returning from maternity leave is entitled to be restored to the post she held immediately before going on leave. 

“Motherhood cannot be permitted to become a basis for unequal treatment or professional disadvantage,” it said. “Where a woman employee is placed at a disadvantage, deprived of professional growth, denied promotion, stripped of responsibilities, or otherwise subjected to adverse employment consequences solely on account of pregnancy or maternity leave, the resulting action is not merely contrary to the spirit of Maternity Benefit Act but is also manifestly arbitrary and offensive to the guarantee of equality under Article 14.” 

It stressed that permitting an employer to maintain an employee’s salary and designation while stripping her of meaningful responsibilities, authority or career prospects would allow the employer to achieve indirectly what the law prohibits directly. The petitioner said she had around 14 years of professional experience and was appointed as manager, accounting, when she proceeded on leave in Dec 2023. 

On her return in July 2024, she was told that her original position was no longer available and allotted substantially inferior work. The employer claimed that her designation, level, salary and seniority remained unchanged and she was assigned investment accounting and currency revaluation functions at the same managerial level following organisational restructuring. HC stressed that protections under Maternity Benefit Act and Code on Social Security, 2020, stem from constitutional guarantees even against a private employer. It also asked Centre to  frame rules or schemes, or issue directions, for effective implementation of maternity protections.

Can’t recover excess salary from retd Class III, IV staff: HC Bhopal/Jabalpur:

Can’t recover excess salary from retd Class III, IV staff: HC Bhopal/Jabalpur:

02.09.2026

Recovery of excess salary payments from retired Class III and Class IV govt employees is illegal, Madhya Pradesh HC has held while dismissing a revision petition filed by the state govt against a 2025 order. The case relates to Ramrao Bhimte, who joined the police force as a constable in 1991 and retired as a sub-inspector after 36 years of service. 

In 2024, seven years after his retirement, the Bhopal DIG ordered the recovery of Rs 10,87,192 from his pension on the grounds of “erroneous payment of ad hoc increase in the salary during his service period”. The division bench of acting Chief Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Pradeep Mittal, in its Aug 25 order, referred to a 2015 SC judgement in which the apex court had held that there should be no recovery from Grade C and Grade D employees after retirement. tnn

NEWS TODAY 01.09.2026

Don’t collect excess fees, RGUHS warns its colleges

Don’t collect excess fees, RGUHS warns its colleges 

01.09.2026 TIMES BENGALURU

Bengaluru: Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) has warned affiliated nursing, allied health sciences (AHS) and physiotherapy colleges against collecting fees in excess of govt-prescribed amounts during admission. In a circular, the university said admissions must be made strictly through Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) counselling process and colleges cannot impose additional or hidden charges on students. 

The directions follow complaints that some RGUHS-affiliated nursing colleges were charging exorbitant fees. According to the Aug 8 order issued by medical education department, the prescribed annual fee for nursing admissions is Rs 10,000 for students admitted under govt quota, Rs 1 lakh (management quota for Karnatakadomicile students) and Rs 1.4 lakh (non-Karnataka students). RGUHS directed colleges to maintain a uniform fee structure throughout the course. Colleges cannot charge a higher amount in the first year and adjust or reduce fee in subsequent years. The university has prohibited colleges from making hostel stay compulsory as a condition for admission. tnn

Owners missing, dog stays put at flood-hit home

Owners missing, dog stays put at flood-hit home

 Vishant.Agarwala@timesofindia.com 01.09.2026

Trishuli Bazaar (Nepal): A black-and-white dog, its collar still intact, has refused to leave the site of a row of four homes washed away in last week’s flood in Trishuli Bazaar, remaining in the same muddy patch even as half a dozen JCBs and rescuers clear timber, silt, and debris around him. He barely reacts to strangers, does not wag his tail at all, and keeps returning to what used to be the front entrance of one of the houses. 

Volunteer relief worker Bikram Thapa told TOI that workers initially tried offering biscuits and calling him by common pet names. “... He doesn’t even turn his head. His collar is intact,” he said. Sunil Tamang, who has been working on debris clearance, said even the roar of heavy machinery operating only metres away failed to move the dog. “In the middle of all the heavy JCB engines and clearing operations, he just sits in that muddy pool,” Tamang told TOI. 

“Not a single wag of his tail. He refuses to cross the boundary of where his yard used to end.” Tamang said the dog showed no panic even when excavators moved close to the spot. He would occasionally lift his head at the sound of an approaching vehicle or people moving through the debris but then settle back in the same place once they passed. The dog’s home, like the rest of the small neighbourhood around it, no longer exists. The flood washed away the row of houses and erased familiar boundaries, leaving only mud, debris, and scattered remains of structures. 

Nobody working at the site could identify his owners or say which of the four homes he belonged to, but his repeated return to the same former doorway and refusal to move beyond what used to be the yard suggested this had been his territory. Community animal rescue volunteer Rita Gurung said workers eventually stopped trying to make him leave and instead began placing dry food and water nearby. “We keep leaving dry rations near him every few hours,” Gurung told TOI. “He only takes a bite when the road is quiet.” Displaced resident Maya Adhikari said most dogs in the area moved towards higher ground when the flood struck, but this one stayed around the destroyed houses. 

“This was his territory, his family’s courtyard,” she said.  A local shopkeeper said residents who had themselves lost homes had begun watching out for him. “We lost our homes, but we understand what happened,” he said. “He doesn’t understand why everyone disappeared — he just knows he isn’t supposed to leave until they return.” Vishant V Agarwala The dog just sits in the muddy pool, and doesn’t even wag its tail

Nepal toll hits 955; 4,471 missing as tunnel searchers push deeper

Nepal toll hits 955; 4,471 missing as tunnel searchers push deeper 

FULL COVERAGE: P 14 

At least 955 people were killed in flash floods and 4,471 missing across Nepal and Tibet by Monday evening — 639 of Nepal’s 3,925 missing people being linked to hydropower projects, report Vishant Agarwala and Kalyan Das. As many as 27 hydropower plants across Nepal were damaged and around 12 “virtually destroyed”, Australian tunnelling expert Arnold Dix said, underlining the scale of destruction along Bhote Koshi-Trishuli. 

Nepal Army spokesman Brig Gen Rajaram Basnet told TOI a rescue team entered Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project tunnel, where 14 people had been feared trapped. “The team, equipped with searchlights and drones, reached the end of the 250m-deep tunnel. However, they failed to find any trace of any person after much effort and returned.” At Chilime Hydropower Project, another joint team comprising foreign experts entered around 100m before encountering a section buried under mud and silt. One of the most difficult operations was at Trishuli-3A, where teams carried out a controlled blast around 2am on Monday, Nepal time, to create an entry portal after struggling to breach the buried tunnel.