The Supreme Court declined to pass an interim order allowing Friday namaz at the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque complex in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district. However, the court told the state government to make available an open space adjacent to the complex for Muslims to offer namaz on Fridays between 1 pm and 3 pm.

The arrangement would be temporary and subject to the final ruling in the matter, the court added.

On May 15, the High Court ruled that the complex in Dhar district is a temple of Hindu deity Saraswati and quashed a 2003 order of the Archaeological Survey of India allowing Hindus to perform prayers on the premises on Tuesdays and Muslims to offer namaz in the complex on Fridays.

Muslims groups have approached the Supreme Court challenging the order. Read on.

How SC’s evasion on Places of Worship Act challenge is powering new Hindutva claims on mosques, writes Vineet Bhalla

More than 1,800 members of civil society urged activist Sonam Wangchuk to withdraw his hunger strike. The fast, now in its 17th day, is part of the protest by the political campaign Cockroach Janta Party to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged mismanagement in the conduct of competitive exams.

The signatories include actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, author Arundhati Roy and academics Nivedita Menon and Jean Drèze.

In an open letter, academics, artists and activists said that they were concerned about the protesters’ health. The signatories said that they were making the appeal because the Union government “does not have a heart or a conscience”, and urged the protesters to withdraw the hunger strike “in the interests of the longer and more difficult struggle” ahead. Read on.

The Supreme Court imposed costs of Rs 3 lakh each on five comedians – Samay Raina, Balraj Paramjeet Singh Ghai, Nishant Jagadish Tanwar, Sonali Thakkar and Vipul Goyal. The court remarked that Raina had “taken the court for a ride” by not complying with an undertaking he had given in a case pertaining to allegedly insensitive jokes about persons with disabilities made on his show India’s Got Latent.

The order was passed after a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant was informed that Raina had not invited any persons with disabilities to his show, which was among the court’s directions in the matter. Read on.

The Supreme Court dismissed the Central Bureau of Investigation’s appeal against the Jharkhand High Court’s 2019 order granting bail to former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in the Deoghar fodder scam case. The case pertains to the alleged embezzlement of Rs 89 lakh from the Deoghar treasury between 1991 and 1994, when Yadav was the chief minister of Bihar. He was convicted in the case in 2017.

The Supreme Court said that it was not inclined to interfere with the High Court’s order. “It will only be appropriate to request the High Court to expedite the hearing of the appeal, preferably within six months,” the bench said. Read on.

India summoned Iran’s deputy chief of mission in Delhi to register a “strong protest” after an Indian sailor was killed and eight persons were injured in attacks on two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The attacks took place when the tankers were transiting the southern shipping lane of the strait, within Omani territorial waters, the United Arab Emirates said. The attacks also damaged the ships and resulted in fires on board.

The Emirati Ministry of Defence did not specify when the attacks took place. Of the eight injured, six were Indians and two Ukrainians. Four were in serious condition. Read on.

If you haven’t already, sign up for our Daily Brief newsletter.