Saturday, September 13, 2025 | Vol. 68 No. 293 | 40 Pages Reg.No MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mumbai. PIN 400001 THE FREE PRESS JOURNAL INDIA EDITION | www.freepressjournal.in ● Leader in E-paper circulation SC: Right to housing a fundamental right FPJ News Service NEW DELHI In a landmark judgment aimed at safeguarding homebuyers, the Supreme Court has declared that the right to housing is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Court also urged the Union Government to create a revival fund to provide financing for stressed real estate projects undergoing in- solvency proceedings. A Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said that the primary objective must be to prevent liquidation of otherwise viable projects and to protect the interests of genuine homebuyers. “It is not merely about houses or apartments. The banking sector, allied industries, and the employment of a large populace are also at stake,” the Court observed, adding that the government is constitutionally obliged to safeguard both homebuyers and the economy, Live Law reports. The Court passed these directions while upholding a 2020 National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) judgment that had rejected the claims of speculative buyers in insolvency proceedings. The NCLAT had ruled against an allottee, Ms. Fernandes, who had invested ₹35 lakh in a builder’s scheme under a Memorandum of Understanding that promised a buyback of ₹1 crore after 12 months, backed by post-dated cheques. When the cheques bounced, she sought insolvency proceedings. The tribunal held that her arrangement was not a standard builderbuyer agreement but a financial investment scheme, classifying her as a speculative investor attempting to misuse the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) as a coercive recovery mechanism. Affirming this ruling, Justice Mahadevan, who authored the judgment, made it clear that speculative participants driven purely by profit motives cannot misuse the IBC, which was designed as a remedial framework for revival and protection of companies. 4Contd on | nation candidates, the same practice is not applied to PwDs. It said denying such “upward movement” defeats the purpose of reservations under Section 34 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, Bar & Bench and Live Law reported. “It is a matter of grave concern that the same treatment, that is, upward movement, is not provided to persons with disabilities protected under the Act, who, in spite of standing higher in terms of merit, are denied such movement.” 4Contd on | nation 4Contd on | nation Flags denial of avenues to PwDs NEW DELHI NEW DELHI The SC on Friday questioned why the blanket ban on firecrackers should apply only to Delhi and the NCR and not across the country. A bench of CJI BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran said citizens across India are equally entitled to clean air and that pollutionfree air should not be treated as a privilege limited to the capital, Bar & Bench and Live Law reported. “If citizens in NCR are entitled to pollution-free air, then why not people of other cities? Just because this is the capital city, or the SC is situated in this area, it should not mean that only they get pollution-free air. I was in Amritsar last winter, and the pollution was worse than in Delhi. Whatever policy has to be there, it has to be on a pan-India basis. We can’t have special treatment for Delhi because they’re elite citizens of the country. If firecrackers are to be banned, let them be banned throughout the country,” Gavai said. 4Contd on | nation FPJ News Service NEW DELHI The SC on Thursday has directed all High Courts and trial courts to dispose of bail and anticipatory bail applications within a short time frame, preferably within two months. The top court also instructed High Courts to devise mechanisms to prevent the accumulation of pending bail applications. A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan said that such applications, which directly concern the right to personal liberty, cannot be left pending for years while applicants remain under uncertainty. “Applications concerning personal liberty cannot be kept pending for years,” it remarked, adding that prolonged delays not only frustrate the object of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) but also amount to a denial of justice, contrary to the constitutional ethos reflected in Articles 14 and 21, Live Law reported. The court reiterated that bail and anticipatory bail applications must be decided expeditiously on their own merits and not allowed to languish. TRAILBLAZER | Gen-Z protesters claim win as former chief justice is sworn in as interim PM in Kathmandu. Polls to be held in six months New VP vows fair play in RS Nepal swipes right on Karki NEW DELHI FPJ News Service MUMBAI Nepal turned a historic page on Friday night as Sushila Karki, the country’s first woman Chief Justice, was sworn in as its first interim woman Prime Minister — capping three electrifying days of protests, negotiations, and high political drama. The oath-taking ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan in Kathmandu marked a rare moment of consensus in a bitterly polarised nation. President Ram Chandra Paudel administered the oath, flanked by senior leaders and protest representatives. Besides President Paudel and the newly-elected prime minister, Vice President Ram Sahay Yadav and Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Rawat were present during the occasion. President Paudel said the new caretaker government is mandated to hold fresh parliamentary elections within six months. Earlier, after hectic consultations and negotiations among various stakeholders Karki's name was announced as the head of the caretaker government. Karki was chosen to lead the interim government after a Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar Within hours of taking oath as the 15th Vice-President of India on Friday, C.P. Radhakrishnan, also took charge as the Chairman of Rajya Sabha and met floor leaders of various political parties in Parliament. During his “courtesy meeting” with the floor leaders, he spoke about how he intended to run the House in a smooth manner. He also sought the cooperation of all parties in ensuring transaction of business and proper proceedings in the Upper House. 4Contd on | nation 4See also | nation meeting between President Paudel, Nepal's top military brass, and the youth protesters, who spearheaded the anti-government protests A meeting held between President Paudel, the Nepal Army chief and representatives of the 'Gen Z' protesters agreed on Karki's name to head the interim government. Karki, 73, is no stranger to making history. In July 2016, she shattered Nepal’s judicial glass ceiling by becoming its first woman Chief Justice. Now, she assumes the reins of a transitional government — chosen not by political parties but by a digitally mobilised Gen-Z protest movement that toppled KP Sharma Oli’s government ear- lier this week. In a first for South Asian politics, Karki’s name was put to a vote on Discord, the platform used by protesters to coordinate their campaign. She emerged as the consensus choice — a rare bridge between a digitally savvy youth uprising and Nepal’s traditional power elite eager for stability. “Our target is to hold an election and hand over power to the political leaders who come next,” Karki told News18 a day before her swearing-in. “We will not get more than six months or a year. We will try to have a fair election.” 4Contd on | nation 4See also | world Fear factor led to tariffs: RSS FPJ News Service MUMBAI RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday said tariffs imposed on India were “out of fear” of its growing strength, suggesting that global powers were anxious about its rising influence. India had done nothing to provoke such steps, he said at an event of Brahma Kumaris in Nagpur. President Trump said on Friday levying tariffs is “not an easy thing to do” as it creates rift between India and the US. 4Contd on | nation offgrid Nobel panel not to be swayed by Trump Agencies OSLO US President Donald Trump’s hopes of securing the Nobel Peace Prize next month may run into a roadblock - the strict independence of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which has emphasized that it will not be influenced by campaigns or media pressure. The 79-year-old billionaire has repeatedly said he “deserves” the Nobel Peace Prize, claiming credit for ending six wars, despite ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. He has also pointed to endorsements and nominations from several world leaders as proof of his candidacy. “Of course, we do notice that there is a lot of media attention towards particular candidates,” the secretary of the committee, Kristian Berg Harpviken, told AFP in Oslo. “But that really has no impact on the discussions that are going on in the committee.” “The committee considers each individual nominee on his or her own merits,” he added. 4Contd on | nation FPJ News Service While acknowledging the challenge of docket explosion, the apex court stressed that cases involving personal liberty take precedence. “Nevertheless, this court has consistently underscored, in a long line of decisions, that applications affecting personal liberty, particularly bail and anticipatory bail, ought not to be kept pending indefinitely.” 4Contd on | nation The SC on Friday expressed concern that persons with disabilities (PwDs) who score higher than the cut-off marks for general category seats continue to be treated as reserved category candidates, thereby blocking opportunities for lower-scoring PwDs. A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta observed that while caste-based reservation allows candidates who qualify in the open category to be treated as general FPJ News Service NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea filed by actress and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut seeking to quash a criminal defamation case against her over a tweet about a woman participant in the 2021 farmers’ protests. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta heard the matter. At the outset, Justice Mehta remarked, “What about your comments? It was not a simple retweet. You have added spice.” The Court said that clarification for her comments could only be given before the trial court. When Ranaut’s counsel said that she could not travel to Punjab, the bench advised that she could seek exemption from personal appearance, Bar & Bench and Live Law reported. Mulls pan-India ‘Clear bail pleas fire cracker ban in two months’ FPJ News Service Bins Kangana’s spiced up tweet