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The Supreme Court has ruled that Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi acted “illegally and erroneously” by withholding assent to 10 state bills, some pending since 2020, and later sending them to the president after they were re-passed by the Assembly.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said Ravi violated Article 200 of the Constitution and “showed scant respect” for settled democratic conventions. The court deemed the bills as assented to from the date of their re-enactment and quashed any presidential action taken on them.

Governors cannot deploy “pocket vetoes” and must act within fixed timelines, the court said. Chief Minister MK Stalin said the verdict was “historic” and upheld the rights of all Indian states. Most of the bills relate to state control over higher education, including limiting the governor’s role as chancellor of state universities. Read on.

Pocket vetoed: Governors are sitting on bills – and undermining federalism

The owner of a Greater Noida restaurant was arrested on Monday after a woman alleged that she was delivered non-vegetarian biryani instead of a vegetarian one during Navratri. In a widely shared Instagram video, Chhaya Sharma claimed she ordered vegetarian biryani via Swiggy from Lucknowi Kabab Paratha, but realised after a few bites that it contained meat.

Describing herself as “pure vegetarian”, Sharma claimed that the mix-up was intentional. She claimed the incident took place during the nine-day Hindu festival of Navratri, which concluded on Sunday.

The police took suo motu cognisance of the video, detained a restaurant employee and arrested its owner Rahul Rajvanshi.

Rajvanshi was arrested for “negligently or unlawfully spreading a disease dangerous to life”. He was later granted bail. Read on.

The Supreme Court has overturned a Calcutta High Court order directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to inquire into the West Bengal Cabinet’s move to create supernumerary posts for teacher appointments, saying courts cannot scrutinise Cabinet decisions.

However, the court upheld the cancellation of around 25,000 appointments made through the 2016 State Level Selection Test, saying that the recruitment process was “vitiated by manipulation and fraud”. A re-evaluation had shown candidates were hired against blank optical mark recognition, or OMR, sheets.

While the CBI probe into these irregularities will continue, the court set aside the agency’s inquiry into the creation of the posts. West Bengal’s school board has urged the court to let “untainted” teachers continue till the academic year ends. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, addressing affected teachers, said she would stand by them but respected the court’s verdict. Read on.

Members of the Christian community have criticised the Catholic Bishops Conference of India for supporting the Waqf Amendment Bill, warning that it could legitimise state interference in religious affairs. The Catholic Bishops Conference of India had written to political parties on March 25, claiming Waqf Act, before it was amended, conflicted with India’s Constitution and secular values. Union minister Kiren Rijiju cited this letter to argue the bill had wide backing.

In an open letter, some Christians said the bishops’ position was based on a land dispute in Kerala and risked setting a dangerous precedent. The bill, which has now been promulgated into law, restricts the autonomy of waqf boards. It has triggered strong opposition from Muslim groups and political parties.

Last week, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had said that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of the BJP, had already turned its attention to Christian institutions, citing an article in the Hindutva group’s mouthpiece Organiser comparing Church and waqf land holdings. The article, published online on April 3, is no longer accessible. Read on.

A Jaipur court has sentenced four men to life imprisonment for planting a live bomb near a temple in 2008 on a day when serial bomb blasts took place in the city. The bomb near the temple was defused in time, but nine others went off within 25 minutes, killing 71 people and injuring 185.

Mohammed Sarwar Azmi, Mohammed Saif, Saifur Rehman and Shahbaz Ahmed were convicted under the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Explosives Act.

Azmi, Saif, Rehman and another person named Mohammed Salman had been given the death penalty in connection with the blasts in December 2019. However, the High Court went on to acquit them in March 2023.

The men’s counsel argued that they were falsely implicated in the case about the defused bomb, citing the lack of witness testimony. An appeal against Tuesday’s ruling is expected. Read on.

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