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The Supreme Court Monday took strong exception to a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court giving an interview to a news channel in September last year and speaking on a case being heard by him. A judge in office, the top court said, has no “business speaking with the media” on a matter that he/she is seized of.

A bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud asked the high court registrar general to personally verify with the judge concerned about the interview, and asked the officer to file an affidavit before the Supreme Court by Friday.

“We want to know if the learned judge has taken part in the interview. This is something on a TV video and it cannot be possibly misinterpreted,” noted the bench, also comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha. “Something said in the court cannot be gone into, but TV interviews…” 

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and deputy Tejashwi Yadav Monday took their renewed mission for a united anti-BJP opposition to Kolkata and Lucknow, first meeting Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to push for a conclave of non-NDA parties in Bihar and then SP chief Akhilesh Yadav to clarify that what mattered was the cause and not the mantle of leadership.

Nitish’s insistence on Congress being part of the initiative to send out the message that “we are in this together” apparently received Mamata’s nod during their 30-minute discussion at the state secretariat. “You do not have to worry about this. Everyone is together. The people of India will fight against BJP, and all parties will work together,” she later told reporters wanting to know her stand on working with Congress.

At a time when states governed by opposition parties are protesting governors’ inaction on bills passed by the assembly, the Supreme Court on Monday reminded the state constitutional heads to bear in mind that Article 200 of the Constitution mandates them to either give assent or return bills “as soon as possible”.

Although the apex court did not, as demanded by Telangana, set a timeline for governors to either clear or return the bills, the bench’s “as soon as possible” reminder was recorded as an order by a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha.

The bench was dealing with a petition filed by the Telangana government which had complained about governor Tamilisai Soundarajan sitting for long on 10 bills passed by the assembly. However, solicitor general Tushar Mehta informed the court that no bills were pending with the governor.

The BJP had 'used' the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the consequent air strike at Balakot in the neighbouring country to win the Lok Sabha polls that year, former Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar claimed on Sunday. Sarkar made the claim days after former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satyapal Malik, alleged that the Pulwama terror attack was a result of 'systemic failure, involving gross security and intelligence lapses'.

A terror attack was carried out in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir by a suicide bomber on February 14, 2019 resulting in the death of 40 CRPF personnel. "Using the atmosphere, they (BJP) won the 2019 Lok Sabha election and it is Satyapal Malik, who was the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir when the incident took place, is now speaking about it," Sarkar said at a party programme here.

The terrorists who ambushed an Army truck in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch used steel core bullets, capable of piercing an armoured shield, and decamped with the soldiers' weapons, officials said on Sunday, amid intensified efforts to trace and neutralise the perpetrators.

They said a sniper is believed to have targeted the truck from the front before the other terrorists sprayed bullets and lobbed grenades on it.

Five soldiers were killed and one injured after the terrorists attacked the lone Army truck, which was carrying eatables for iftar to a nearby village, in the dense forest area of Bhata Dhurian late on Thursday afternoon and the vehicle caught fire.