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1. Evening rain brings Delhi to its knees yet again; 2 dead
KG MARG
Utkarsh Anand
letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: The Union govern-
ment has approved the oldest
pending recommendation of the
Supreme Court collegium, clear-
ing the decks for the appoint-
ment of Wasim Sadiq Nargal as
the first Muslim judge from
Jammu in the J&K high court,
people familiar with the matter
said on condition of anonymity.
Following a nod from the
Union law ministry, senior advo-
cate Nargal, whose name was
first cleared by the Jammu and
Kashmir high court collegium in
August 2017 and who was later
recommended by the Supreme
Court collegium in April 2018, is
finally set to be appointed as a
judge, the people added.
President Ram Nath Kovind is
expected to put his seal of
approval on Nargal’s appoint-
ment soon, and the official noti-
fication for his appointment
could be out as early as this
week, the people said.
With the approval of Nargal’s
name, the Centre has cleared the
longest pending name recom-
mended and reiterated by the
Supreme Court collegium for
appointment as a judge. The
only other recommendation that
comes close to it relates to pend-
ency of five names for appoint-
ment in the Calcutta high court
that were recommended by the
collegium in July 2019. Despite
reiteration by the collegium in
September 2021, they are yet to
be approved.
Nargal, who has around three
decades of experience as a law-
yer, was appointed senior addi-
tional advocate general of
Jammu and Kashmir in Febru-
ary 2017 and handled cases
related to the home department,
including the information
department under the BJP-PDP
government.
Earlier, from September 2015
until November 2016, he served
as an additional advocate gen-
eral in the state.
→FULLREPORTONPAGE8
{ JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS }
Decks cleared for first Muslim HC judge from
Jammu as 4-yr-old collegium pick approved
Nearly 25%, or 177, of the
total 685 successful candidates
were women. Apart from
Sharma, who is a Delhi resi-
dent, Ankita Agrawal from
Kolkata and Gamini Singla
from Punjab’s Anandpur Sahib
stood second and third, respec-
tively. Aishwarya Verma and
Utkarsh Dwivedi secured the
fourth and the fifth positions,
respectively. The top 25 candi-
dates comprised 10 women and
15 men.
Deeksha Bhardwaj
letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Shruti Sharma, an
alumna of Delhi’s St Stephen’s
College who lives in the Capital
and is from Bijnor district in
Uttar Pradesh, has topped the
final examination for the civil
services, the Union Public Ser-
vice Commission (UPSC)
announced on Monday. Three of
the top five positions were
secured by women in the test
that determines entry to the
country’s premier government
positions.
“Congratulations to all those
who have cleared the Civil Servi-
ces (Main) Examination, 2021,”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
tweeted after the results were
announced. “My best wishes to
these youngsters who are
embarking on their administra-
tive careers at an important time
of India’s development journey,
when we are marking Azadi Ka
Amrit Mahotsav.”
India is celebrating its 75th
year of Independence this year.
The commission has recom-
mended the 685 candidates for
appointment to various servi-
ces, whereas the number of
vacancies is 749.
Last year, the UPSC selected
761 candidates against 836
vacancies. “The recommended
candidates also include 25 per-
sons with disability,” an official
said, requesting anonymity.
Since Anna Rajam Malhotra
became the first woman to join
the Indian Administrative Ser-
vice in 1951, the percentage of
women in the civil services has
been rising steadily.
“In another decade or so, it
won’t be surprising if women
outnumber the men,” said San-
jeev Chopra, former chief of Lal
Bahadur Shastri National
Academy of Administration,
the government institute that
trains civil servants.
On the gap between the
number of vacancies and suc-
cessful candidates, Chopra said
it remained to be seen whether
the posts in the core services
continuedon→17
Womenbagtop3UPSCranks;
685 clear civil services exam
MUMBAI: A sessions court on
Monday convicted a 45-year-old
man for the rape and murder of
a woman in Mumbai’s Sakinaka
last year. The court will hear
arguments on the quantum of
sentence from June 1. The
accused, Mohan Chauhan, raped
the 32-year-old woman in a vehi-
cle and assaulted her with a rod
on September 10, 2021.
The woman died the next day
during treatment due to a heavy
blood loss. →P8
COURT CONVICTS
45-YR-OLD MAN IN
MUM RAPE-KILLING
VARANASI: A plea by five Hindu
women seeking unhindered
rights to worship idols in the
Gyanvapi Masjid complex is not
maintainable because it violates
Places of Worship (Special Pro-
visions) Act, 1991, lawyers for
the mosque committee argued
before a district judge on Mon-
day.
Judge AK Vishvesha posted
the matter for further hearing
on July 4.
Since the women filed the
case in their individual capacity,
their view did not represent that
of the entire Hindu community,
Akhlaque Ahmad, a lawyer rep-
resenting the Anjuman Inte-
zamia Masjid Committee, which
manages the Gyanvapi Masjid,
said in court. The case, there-
fore, was not maintainable, he
argued.
“Advocates for the committee
read para no 13 to para no 39 of
the suit and countered them by
presenting arguments in favour
of their plea,” said Mahendra
Prasad Pandey, district govern-
ment counsel, civil.
Hearing in the district court
regarding the maintainability of
the case began on May 26. “We
have many arguments to prove
that the case is maintainable,”
said Subhash Nandan Chatur-
vedi, one of the advocates for
the Hindu petitioners. →P14
Varanasi court adjourns hearing
on Gyanvapi petitions till July 4
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from St Stephen's, DU
Clockwise:An
uprootedtree
blocksKasturba
GandhiMarg
afterheavy
rain;trafficon
AkbarRoad;a
trafficpolice
boothfelloverat
VijayChowk,
NewDelhion
Monday. Page3
RAJKRAJ,SANJEEV
VERMA/HTPHOTOS
VIJAY CHOWK AKBAR ROAD AT NIGHT
NEW DELHI/METRO
Tuesday,May31,2022
n VOL. XCVIII NO. 128
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