FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. 14 No. 332 | BHOPAL | FRIDAY | MAY 16, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 3 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 www.freepressjournal.in iii QUALITY @ VALUE EDITIONS: BHOPAL The Kohli way in IPL 2025 P.15 PTI President Droupadi Murmu has exercised powers under Article 143(1) used in rarity to know from the Supreme Court whether timelines could be imposed by judicial orders for exercise of discretion by President while dealing with the bills passed by state assemblies. Article 143 (1) of the Constitution deals with the power of President to consult the Supreme Court "if at any time it appears to the President that a question of law or fact has arisen, or is likely to arise, which is of such a nature and of such public importance that it is expedient to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court upon it, he may refer the question to that Court for consideration and the Court may, after such hearing as it thinks fit, report to the President its opinion thereon". President's decision comes in light of the April 8 verdict of the apex court passed in a matter over the powers of Governor in dealing with bills questioned by the Tamil Nadu government. The April 8 verdict for the first time prescribed President should decide on the bills reserved for her consideration by Governor within three months from the date on which such reference is received. In a five-page reference, President Murmu posed 14 Every word uttered by a minister has to be with a sense of responsibility at a time the country is undergoing "such a situation", the Supreme Court said on Thursday as it reprimanded Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah who is facing an FIR for his remarks targeting Col Sofiya Qureshi. "What sort of statements are you making? You are a responsible minister of the government," Chief Justice B R Gavai told Shah's counsel. The bench, also comprising Justice Augustine George Masih, said the apex court would on Friday hear Shah's plea challenging the Madhya Pradesh High Court's May 14 order directing an FIR against him for the comments. "When this country is undergoing such a situation, every sentence or word uttered by a responsible minister has to be with a sense of responsibility," the CJI told Shah's counsel. The bench went on, "Persons holding such a consti- fp NEW DELHI Turkish firm loses security clearance The Turkish firm that handles the lion's share of services at nine major airports in India, has lost its security clearance following Turkey's support of Pakistan over Operation Sindoor. An order from the Civil Aviation Ministry said the security clearance for Celebi Ground Handling India Private Limited "is hereby revoked with immediate effect in the interest of national security". The Delhi airport has also severed ties with Çelebi, which under a separate entity of Celebi Aviation—Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India—oversees cargo services at Delhi International Airport. DOHA US, Iran close to N-deal: Don President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States and Iran have "sort of" agreed to terms on a nuclear deal, offering a measure of confidence that an accord is coming into sharper focus. Trump, in an exchange with reporters at a business roundtable in Doha, Qatar, described the talks between American envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as "very serious negotiations" for "longterm peace" and were continuing to progress. 3 terrorists killed in J&K encounter PTI NASHIK MUMBAI E-paper Cinema Dubai Bling on the Red Carpet P.14 ‘GO & APOLOGISE’ NEW DELHI Briefs INDORE FACING MUSIC| SC raps minister Vijay Shah over remarks on Col Sofia Qureshi saying, person holding public office expected to uphold certain standards PTI 4Continued on | P8 PUNE Edit MP minister must resign P.6 India is world’s second largest travel titan NEW DELHI questions to the Supreme Court and sought to know its opinion on powers of Governor, President under Article 200 and 201 in dealing with bills passed by the state legislature. Article 200 deals with situations with regard to passage of bills by the state assembly and subsequent options available to the governor on grant of assent, or withholding of assent or sending the bill to President for reconsideration. Article 201 deals with the bills reserved for the President's consideration by Governor. The Centre has resorted to the presidential reference instead of seeking review of the verdict, which has evoked sharp reactions in the political spectrum. The rules prescribe for the review petitions to be heard by the same set of judges in the apex court in chambers while presidential references are heard and considered by a five-judge Constitution bench. The apex court, however, may choose to refuse to answer any or all of the questions raised in the reference. UJJAIN MONEY Sports Can SC set timeline for Prez, guv assent to bills, asks Murmu ESTD-1983 Kejriwal went to jail as CM: Yadav hief Minister Mohan Yadav has hinted at not seeking resignation from Vijay Shah. He made such indications at a press conference on Thursday. The government will act according to the SC order, Yadav said after Tiranga Yatra. “We have always followed the court orders,” he said. The Congress does not have the right to seek Shah’s resignation. The party should seek resignation from Siddaramaiah, Yadav said. A Congress ministers are facing court cases, he said. Yadav further said when Arvind Kejriwal was the chief minister he had gone to jail and the Congress stood by him. C tutional office are expected to exercise a degree of restraint." Senior advocate Vibha Datta Makhija, appearing for Shah, mentioned the matter for urgent listing and said the high court had taken suo motu cognisance and asked for registration of an FIR. Later in the day, another HC to monitor probe, slams FIR as ‘Gross Subterfuge’ Our Staff Reporter JABALPUR lawyer mentioned before the bench a separate letter petition which has sought action against Shah for his remarks against Colonel Qureshi. "We don't want these publicity litigations. Anybody reads newspaper and file such petitions," the bench said. The Madhya Pradesh High Court's principal seat at Jabalpur has ordered monitoring of the investigation into an FIR registered against Minister Vijay Shah, who is accused of using scurrilous language against a senior Indian Army official. The court expressed strong disapproval of the FIR, stating that it is brief and lacks any specific mention of Shah’s actions that would meet the criteria for the alleged offences. The division bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Anuradha Shukla observed, “This is gross subterfuge on the part of the State. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 Shah’s resignation rests on SC order BJP leaders from Bhopal to Delhi mulling over the Shah issue Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL The Supreme Court’s order on Friday will decide minister Vijay Shah’s resignation from the cabinet. The apex court on Thursday decided to hear the case on Friday. DEVDA CRITICAL, BAGRI TRIES TO SAVE SHAH Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda said public representatives should utter word with caution and sobriety. Regarding action against Vijay Shah, Devda said party leadership was serious about the issue. However, minister of state Pratima Bagri tried to save Shah. Bagri said Shah did not have any wrong intention, but some words were misplaced. Shah has already apologised, she said. Ex-CM Uma Bharti again demanded Shah’s sacking. He is like younger brother, but he must face music for mistake, she said. If the SC does not accept the petition for cancellation of registration of an FIR ordered by the high court, the BJP will have no alternative other than accepting Shah’s resignation. The BJP is worried about Shah’s statement. The party leaders from Bhopal to Delhi are mulling over the issue. CM Mohan Yadav spoke to the central leaders of the party over the phone on Thursday. Yadav informed the party leaders in Delhi about the matter. The central leaders will take a decision. The party leadership has asked the BJP’s national organisational secretary, BL Santosh, to hold discussions over the issue. 4Continued on | P8 India offered zero tariff trade deal to US, claims Trump PTI DOHA US President Donald Trump on Thursday claimed that India has offered to drop all tariffs on American goods. Speaking at a business roundtable in Doha, Trump also said he had a "little problem" with Tim Cook, and he told the Apple CEO that he does not want him to build iPhones in India. Trump, who is in Qatar as part of his four-day visit to the Gulf region, was talking about Apple's plans to make iPhones in India. "I said to him (Cook), my friend, I am treating you very good. You are coming up with $500 billion, but now I hear you are building all over India. I don't want you building in India. You can build in India, if you want to take care of India because India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world, so it is very hard to sell in India," Trump said. "They [India] have offered us a deal where basically they have agreed to charge us literally no tariffs. I said 'Tim, we are treating you really good, we put up with all the plants you built in China for years. We are not interested in you building in India. India can take care of themselves'," he added. There has been no such announcement from India. Trump's comments came nearly two weeks after Cook ‘Trade deal complicated’ External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Thursday termed any judgment on the India-US trade deal "premature" after President Donald Trump remarked that New Delhi was willing to charge "no tariff" on US goods. Jaishankar said India wants a mutually beneficial trade deal with the US, which will work for both countries. "Between India and the US, trade talks have been going on. These are complicated negotiations. Nothing is decided till everything is," Jaishankar told reporters in New Delhi said his company made quarterly records in several countries, including India. Apple will source the majority of the iPhones sold in the US from India in the June quarter, while China will produce the vast majority of the devices for other markets amid uncertainty over tax tariffs, Cook said earlier this month. 4Continued on | P8 Trump backtracks, says only helped in peacetalk US President Donald Trump on Thursday repeated his claim yet again that he "helped settle" the tensions between India and Pakistan. ".And by the way, I don't want to say I did, but I sure as hell helped settle the problem between Pakistan and India last week, which was getting more and more hostile," he said while addressing US military personnel at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar. SRINAGAR Three Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, officials said. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Nader Tral area of Awantipora in the south Kashmir district after receiving specific inputs about the presence of terrorists there, a police official said. The search operation turned into a gunfight after the terrorists opened fire at the forces, who retaliated, he said. The three terrorists were killed in the exchange of fire, they said. "The eliminated terrorists have been identified as Asif Ahmed Sheikh, Amir Nazir Wani and Yawar Ahmed Bhat, from whom three AK-series rifles, twelve magazines, three grenades and various other war like stores have been recovered," Army's Chinar Corps said in a post on X. Sources in police said the terrorists belonged to the proscribed JeM. Speaking to reporters near the encounter site, inspector general of police (IGP), Kashmir, V K Birdi termed the killing of the three as a significant development in the fight against terror. Rajnath calls for IAEA supervision of Pakistan nukes ‘No radiation leak in Pak’ Agencies SRINAGAR Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday highlighted India's firm stance against terrorism, evident in its refusal to be intimidated by Pakistan's repeated nuclear threats, which have been issued irresponsibly on several occasions. On his first interaction with troops after Operation Sindoor at Badami Bagh Cantt, he said that Operation Sindoor has sent a loud and clear message to the terrorist organisations hiding in Pakistan and their masters that they are not safe anywhere. "Our forces have shown to the world that their aim is precise and pin-point and the task of counting is left to the Global nuclear watchdog IAEA has said there was no radiation leak or release from any nuclear facility in Pakistan during the country's recent military conflict with India. The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) statement came amid claims being made on social media that Pakistan's nuclear facilities were hit by Indian armed forces during Operation Sindoor. enemies," he said. India's unwavering resolve against terrorism can be gauged from the fact that it was not deterred by Pakistan's nuclear blackmail, pointing out that the world has witnessed how irresponsibly Islamabad has issued nuclear threats to New Delhi several times. 4Continued on | P8 Set up special POCSO court on priority basis: SC to Centre NEW DELHI In a significant interpretation of Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has ruled that a woman being asked by her in-laws to divorce her husband so he can marry a girl from a higher caste does not, by itself, con- stitute cruelty under the provision, LiveLaw reported. The division bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Sanjay Deshmukh passed the judgment on April 4, while hearing a petition filed by a 21-year-old woman seeking to quash a First Information Report (FIR) lodged against her. The petitioner, the sister-in-law of the complainant, was accused of pressuring her brother’s wife to end the marriage due to caste differences. The court noted that while the inlaws’ disapproval of the marriage based on caste was evident, the specific allegation against the applicant was li- Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre to set up on "top priority basis" dedicated POCSO courts to exclusively deal with cases of sexual offences against children. A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and P B Varale said due to the inadequacy of the number of exclusive courts for the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cases, the timelines mandated under the law for completion of trials weren't adhered to. "It is therefore expected that the union of India and the state governments shall take appropriate steps to sensitise the officials associated with the investigation of POCSO cases, and also to create dedicated courts to try POCSO cases on top priority basis," the bench said. The top court further directed filing of chargesheets within the mandatory period stipulated in law besides completing trials within the prescribed time frame. Two police personnel were injured when a controlled explosive device exploded unexpectedly during a mock drill conducted by the 25th battalion of the Special Armed Force in Bhopal on Thursday, said officials. A real hand grenade would have made the situation worse, they said.  The injured have been identified as Head Constable Vishal Singh and Constable Santosh Kumar, who were admitted to a private hospital, where the former remains in a critical condition. Later, the DGP Kailash Makwana visited them at the hospital. IG intelligence Dr Ashish told Free Press that the Police Headquarters would conduct an inquirythrough a high-level investigation committee to examine whether proper NEW DELHI/DOHA mited to her asking the woman to divorce her husband to facilitate his remarriage to a higher-caste woman, LiveLaw reported. "She had not abused the informant on her caste... She insisted on a divorce, which certainly is not cruelty as contemplated by Section 498-A of the IPC," the bench observed. 4Continued on | P8 safety measures were followed during the drill. The committee will also evaluate the handling of explosive devices and the overall execution. He said the other part of the investigation into the incident would be conducted by the local police station, Kamla Nagar. DGP Kailash Makwana said that medical teams monitored the injured personnel, with a team of specialists overseeing their treatment. 4Continued on | P8 US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he has asked Apple CEO Tim Cook to stop producing iPhones in India, and rather make them in the US. Apple has no smartphone production in the US - most of its iPhones are made in China while facilities in India produce around 40 million units per year (about 15 per cent of Apple's annual output). Trump, who in his second term as President is pushing for local manufacturing, said Apple will be "upping their production in the United States." Soon after Trump's comments in Doha, Qatar, Indian government officials spoke to Apple executives, who assured that Apple's investment plans for India are intact and the company proposes to make the country a major manufacturing base for its products. As Pak pleads on Indus Treaty, EAM says it will remain paused NEW DELHI ‘Caste-based divorce urge not cruelty’ Online Report Trump wants Apple to stop production of iPhones in India PTI offgrid MUMBAI Controlled explosive device blows up during mock drill, 2 cops hurt External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Thursday made it clear that the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) will remain suspended until Pakistan stops sheltering internationally designated terrorist entities and individuals who are also engaged in crossborder terrorism against India. New Delhi had put the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in abeyance immediately after the terrorist attack on April 22 in Pahalgam, in which 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen Only bilateral talks: Jaishankar India's relations and dealings with Pakistan will be "strictly bilateral", which is a national consensus for many years and there is "absolutely no change" in that consensus, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday. Interacting with reporters on the sidelines of an event here, he also said the UN Security Council had underlined the need to hold the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack accountable, and on May 7 morning, "we held them accountable through the Operation Sindoor" were killed and a number of others sustained injuries. The Resistance Front (TRF), an international terrorist organisation affiliated to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-eToiba (LeT), had claimed responsibility for the killings. 4Continued on | P8