"Completely Reject": BJP Distances Itself From MPs' Remarks On Judiciary

The denial from the BJP was firm and unequivocal. The ruling party at the Centre underlined that it respects the judiciary, and that the provocative comments made by its MPs - Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma - against the Supreme Court have nothing to do with the BJP.

"The Bharatiya Janata Party has nothing to do with the statements made by BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma on the judiciary and the Chief Justice of the country. These are their personal statements, but the BJP neither agrees with such statements nor does it ever support such statements. The BJP completely rejects these statements," said JP Nadda in a late-night post on X.

Nishikant Dubey, an MP from Godda in Jharkhand, had said the Supreme Court is "responsible for inciting religious wars in the country". The MP did not stop there, arguing that the "Supreme Court is going beyond its limits". 

"If one has to go to the Supreme Court for everything, then Parliament and State Assembly should be shut down," argued Mr Dubey.

Another MP, Dinesh Sharma, citing the Constitution, declared "no one can direct the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha". 

The party chief said the MPs and everyone else has been told not to not to make such comments, adding that "judiciary is an integral part of our democracy".   

"Bharatiya Janata Party has always respected the judiciary and gladly accepted its orders and suggestions because as a party we believe that all the courts of the country including the Supreme Court are an integral part of our democracy and are the strong pillar of the protection of the Constitution. I have instructed both of them and everyone else not to make such statements," said Mr Nadda, who is also the Union Health Minister 

The BJP MPs' sharp remarks come days after the Supreme Court order in a Tamil Nadu case, in which it ruled that Governor RN Ravi's decision to withhold assent to 10 bills was "illegal and arbitrary". The Supreme Court bench set a three-month deadline for Presidential and gubernatorial assent to Bills passed by the legislature for the second time. The top court further underlined that it would be prudent for the President to refer Bills with constitutional questions to the Supreme Court.

The comments also come amid the ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court over several petitions challenging the constitutionality of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.

The Centre had assured the Supreme Court during the hearing held on April 17 that it would not denotify any 'Waqf-by-user' provision and would not include any non-Muslim members in the Board. The assurance came a day after the top court said it will consider staying those parts of the law.

Condemning Mr Dubey's remarks, the Congress said the "Supreme Court is being targeted". 

"Efforts are being made to weaken the Supreme Court. Different voices are deliberately coming up and the Supreme Court is being targeted. There is the issue of electoral bonds, the issue of Waqf has come up, the issue of Election Commission is about to come," said Congress' Jairam Ramesh, General Secretary in charge of communication.  

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"If You Don't Pass Me...": What Teachers Found In Class 10 Answer Sheets

The answer sheets carried requests and currency notes: the request was that the examiner help them clear the exam. Say, the examiner found the plea too plain, some students had also slipped in money to make it lucrative for the assessor.

Teachers as invigilators found these requests in answer sheets for Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) or Class 10 exams in Chikkodi in Karnataka's Belagavi district.

The requests have since gone viral on the world wide web.

One student placed Rs 500 note in the answer sheet with a request to help him clear the exam.

Some of the requests impressed upon the invigilator how their love depends on them clearing the exam.

"Please pass me, my love is in your hands," said a student, placing Rs 500 in between the answer sheet.

"I will only continue my love if I pass," wrote another student.

Another one wrote, "Have tea with this Rs 500, sir, and please pass me."

Some offered more money if the teacher could help them clear the exam.

In another paper, a student wrote, "If you pass me, I will give you money."

Some said their future depends on them clearing this important exam.

"If you don't pass me, my parents won't send me to college," said yet another.

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Flight Attendant Scolds Passenger For Knitting, Triggers Social Media Debate

A passenger aboard a US flight was scolded mid-flight after she brought her knitting needles for some embroidery work, according to a report in the New York Post. The woman named Brittany, who routinely posts knitting content on her social media platforms, shared the video explaining that she had been told that she could not knit.

Posting the video of her knitting bag under the seat, Britanny wrote: "Staring at my knitting in jail because the flight attendant told me to put it away after telling me to 'think about if I would really want to be holding needles if there was an emergency."

She added that the treatment meted out by the flight attendant was a "first for her" and that she did not get to finish knitting her sock on the flight. The cabin crew member told Brittany to consider whether she'd want to be holding needles if there was an emergency.

However, Brittany argued that the flight attendant could have been gentler in approach. "If she wasn't comfortable with the needles, that's fine, but I didn't appreciate her condescending approach," she said.

Also Read | Broken Flower Vase Found In UK Garden Sells For Whopping Rs 56 Lakh

Social media reacts

The video divided the internet, with some sharing Brittany's frustration while others pointed out that the flight attendant was right to be concerned about needles.

"The TSA says they are allowed if they meet certain criteria. Perhaps the flight attendant only thinks they know everything," said one user, while another added: "Last time I checked, knitting needles had points and were made of metal. Might as well call them daggers."

A third commented:"I bring small plastic knitting needles on flights and work on small projects. I've always had nice friendly interactions with flight attendants about what I'm knitting."

According to the TSA site, knitting needles are permitted in both carry-on and checked luggage. However, the agency notes that any "sharp objects in checked bags should be sheathed or securely wrapped to prevent injury to baggage handlers and inspectors."

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Abhishek Singhvi On "Venerable Old Power Article 142" And Veep's Comments

Congress MP and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi has termed Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar's criticism of the Supreme Court as a matter which "absolutely needed no comment" from the holder of the second-highest constitutional office.

Vice President Dhankhar criticised the Supreme Court's judgment that set deadlines for the President to clear bills passed by state assemblies, and also the use of extraordinary powers by the Supreme Court under Article 142 of the Constitution.

"With the deepest respect to him, I would disagree with almost all aspects of this. And the first aspect I would disagree with is that the Vice President is the holder of a very, very high office, indeed the second-highest constitutional office in the country. There is absolutely no need for him to comment or deal with such matters. This is my humble opinion," Mr Singhvi told NDTV on Friday.

"The President of India does not comment on such things and on this issue, there is no difference between the President and the Vice President. Previous incumbents of the office have not commented on such issues and there is no reason to start this process," the Congress MP said.

In a hearing on the tussle between the Tamil Nadu Governor and the ruling DMK government over bills passed by the assembly, the Supreme Court on April 12 said the President should decide on bills reserved for her consideration by the Governor within three months from the date on which such a reference is received.

The Supreme Court used its plenary power under Article 142 of the Constitution to make the bill re-presented to the Tamil Nadu Governor as deemed to have been passed.

"The next in the warrant of precedent, the Prime Minister doesn't comment on these issues and he should not. So I think that is really not necessary. Before I tell you other aspects of what Article 142 is and why in the facts of this case, where I happen to be the lead counsel, what the Supreme Court did was eminently reasonable, necessary and required to be done..." Mr Singhvi told NDTV.

Mr Singhvi supported the Supreme Court's use of the powers under Article 142 in giving "full and complete justice".

"Before we turn to the case at hand where this judgment came, any important question is what is Article 142? The Vice President has said that [Article] 142 could have become a misguided, unguided missile etc. But we forget that [Article] 142 is a venerable old power, put in our Constitution by the framers, people far wiser than us, led by Babasaheb Ambedkar, the drafting committee, and various other members of the Constituent Assembly.

"It is a power given 75 years ago when it was being considered to be given exclusively to the Supreme Court, not to any high court. It is a recognition of the entrustment of what is called a special, a unique and a sui generis power, only to the Supreme Court to do full and complete justice, even beyond the law, even beyond the text of the law. The idea is that you will be able to tailor, modulate and, you know, create a relief which will do justice in all respects," Mr Singhvi told NDTV.

The Congress MP said this power [Article 142] is not something new, and so it would be wrong to question this power.

"I must add here, this power has been exercised for the last 75 years repeatedly. And once or twice when the power was exercised in the early years, subsequent judgments have put guidelines and various criteria. So it's not a lawless power. It's not an uncontrolled power. It's been confined, clarified, cribbed and conditioned by the Supreme Court itself. So to suggest it is kind of a Jungle Raj power is not right," he said.

In the Tamil Nadu case, the Supreme Court had previously framed questions to answer in the dispute between the state government and the Governor over the delay in assent to bills passed by the assembly.

The delay by the Governor prompted the state government to file a petition in the Supreme Court in 2023, claiming 12 bills, including one from 2020, were pending with him.

On November 13, 2023, the Governor declared he was withholding assent to 10 bills following which the assembly convened a special session and re-enacted the very same bills on November 18, 2023.

Later, some of the bills were reserved for the President's consideration.

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University Professor Claims Assault By Troops In J&K, Army Orders Probe

The Indian Army on Friday ordered an inquiry after a university professor accused the troops of assaulting him during the checking of vehicles at a village in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, officials said.

Police have also registered an FIR against unidentified army personnel, they said.

Former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti condemned the incident and said “such individuals tarnish the reputation of a respected institution through their unacceptable and high-handed behaviour”.

The professor, Liaqat Ali, suffered head injuries in the alleged assault near the border village of Laam late on Thursday night. A video purportedly showing the bleeding professor has surfaced online.

“An incident has come to light wherein certain individuals were allegedly manhandled by army personnel in Rajouri district. The army had inputs on the likely movement of terrorists in a vehicle in this sensitive area. Accordingly, search operations were being conducted.

“Preliminary information suggests that on being stopped, the individual tried to snatch weapons from the soldiers on duty, with whom he got into a scuffle. However, an inquiry has been initiated. Should any personnel be found guilty of misconduct, strict action will be taken in accordance with the existing law,” the army said in a statement in Jammu.

It said the army remains steadfast in upholding the highest standards of professionalism and discipline in the conduct of counter-terror operations.

“All sections of society are requested to continue to cooperate and collaborate with the Indian Army for collective and comprehensive security in this sensitive area,” the statement said.

The alleged incident took place when Mr Ali and some of his relatives, including his cousin brothers serving in the army and ITBP, were returning to Kalakote after attending the pre-wedding ceremony of one of their relatives.

Officials said an FIR under Sections 126(2) dealing with crime of wrongful restraint and 115(2) -- voluntarily causing hurt -- of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was registered at the Nowshera police station against unidentified army personnel for a thorough investigation.

Mr Ali, a professor at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) posted in Delhi, wrote a post on X claiming he was "assaulted" without any reason.

“My entire family is in the army. I've always been proud of that. Proud of the uniform, the service, the sacrifice. But today, what I experienced shook that pride to the core. Without any reason, without any question, I was assaulted -- hit on the head with a weapon by the very people I once trusted blindly," Ali said in the post that also had a picture showing him bleeding.

“It made me realise one terrifying truth: if the system chooses to, it can 'encounter' any human being -- without evidence, without trial, without justice. There's no apology that can undo this wound. Only one haunting question remains -- has justice now become the privilege of the uniform alone?” the professor wrote.

Mr Ali got nearly half-a-dozen stitches to close his wound, besides undergoing necessary tests at the Government Medical College (GMC) in Jammu.

“I was sitting inside the vehicle when army personnel came and asked for my identity. I came out of the vehicle as a matter of respect to show my identity card, but they started beating me with their weapons,” the professor told reporters.

He said he saw his younger brother, who is in ITBP, also knocked to the ground along with him.

“The army is our country's pride… I want nobody to be treated like this and justice be given to me,” Mr Ali said.

Mehbooba Mufti, in a post on X, urged the army to take immediate and strict action against those responsible for this “shocking incident”.

“Such individuals tarnish the reputation of a respected institution through their unacceptable and high-handed behaviour,” she said.

Former J-K BJP president Ravinder Raina assured the professor of justice and said “law of the land is supreme and nobody in India is above the law. Whosoever made it happen, have to face the consequences...” 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Watch: Triple Olympic Champion Wins Parent's 100m Race During Son's Sports Day

It wasn't the Olympic final but Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's competitive edge remained intact as she stormed to victory in the parents' 100m race during her son Zyon's sports day, leaving fellow mums to chase her shadow. In a video that has gone viral, the triple Olympic champion was also seen stepping on to the line and doing some warm-up exercises before the 'real' event in her son's school, even as fellow mums geared up for the race. Asked why she took part in the competition, the 38-year-old said, "Yes, why not. I'm a parent. It said parent race so I showed up for the parent race.

🇯🇲Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was GONEpic.twitter.com/99W4a3oceB

— Travis Miller (@travismillerx13) April 16, 2025

"Honestly I wasn't planning on running. But then my son and my husband didn't show up like we planned. So I had to show up "They haven't banned me yet so I'm at the line," Fraser-Pryce, who won back-to-back 100m Olympic titles in 2008 and 2012 and then clinched the 4x100m relay gold at the Tokyo Olympics, wrote along with the clip of her win.

One of the greatest sprinters of all time, Fraser-Pryce announced last week she will return to the track in 2025 season after her final Olympics ended in a heartbreak last year in Paris where she missed her 100m semi-final due to an injury sustained during the warm-up.

This is the second time that she has won the school competition, having emerged winner in 2023 at the same event.

Fraser-Pryce, who stood on the Olympic podium no less than eight times besides her 10 World Championship titles, ran in the middle lane and finished more than four seconds ahead of the field on Wednesday.

She is now aiming to leave the scene on a high at the World Championships, scheduled to be held in Tokyo in September. PTI AH AH PDS PDS

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Sehwag's 'Jane Ka Time Aa Gaya' Take Turns Prophetic As Rohit Fails Once Again

Former Indian cricket team batter Virender Sehwag was extremely critical of Rohit Sharma as the Mumbai Indians star continued to struggle for runs in the ongoing IPL 2025. Rohit, who came into the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad with 56 runs in five innings, was dismissed for 26 by Pat Cummins. Rohit's dismal run has resulted in a lot of criticism from both experts as well as fans and Sehwag warned him that he needs to safeguard his legacy. Sehwag pointed out that he has just one 400-plus run IPL season and even hinted that it is time for Rohit to retire from the format.

“If you look at Rohit's IPL numbers in the last 10 years, he scored more than 400 runs only once. So he is not the kind of player who thinks that I need to score 500 or 700 runs. If he thinks, he might. When he became the Indian captain, he said that he wanted to be the player who wants to cash in on the powerplay and take the chances, so he wanted to make all the sacrifices alone, but he is not considering the fact that at the end of the day when he is not performing, it is your legacy that is getting hurt. Ab uska jaane ka time aagaya, (It's already time for him to retire), and before retiring, you would want to give fans something to remember you by, and not moments that force them to think, why are they not dropping him,” he said.

Rohit looked in good touch once again but was dismissed after playing a loose shot against Cummins.

“Take 10 balls extra, but at least play and give yourself a chance. He has been getting out to that pull shot many times against the back of the length deliveries. So he should decide that in one innings he will not play the pull shot at all. But who will explain it to him? There should be someone telling him to play normal cricket. When I was there, Sachin, Dravid or Ganguly used to tell me to play normal cricket,” he added.

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