Hyderabad, Jan 2: Police have picked up seven suspects for questioning after protests by female students of a private engineering college over alleged video recording in hostel bathrooms. The mobile phones of the hostel workers were seized and were being scanned on Thursday by the police to ascertain if they recorded the videos.

CMR Engineering College at Medchal on the outskirts of Hyderabad was rocked by protests late on Wednesday night.

Alleging privacy breach, the students staged a protest and demanded action against the accused.

They alleged that some hostel workers secretly recorded videos of female students in bathrooms.

Leaders of student unions including ABVP also joined the students in the protest which continued past midnight.

ABVP leaders demanded action against the management of the college. They alleged that female students were being blackmailed.

The protest began after some female students noticed hand imprints on the glass of ventilators in bathrooms.

The students also complained of inadequate security at the hostel and said though the issue was brought to the notice of the management, no action was taken.

They also alleged that when the warden was informed about the video recording, he made some objectionable remarks.

The student leaders warned that if videos recorded in bathrooms surfaced on social media, former minister and BRS MLA Malla Reddy, who owns the college, will have to take responsibility.

The protestors smashed the windows of the security room.

Police rushed to the college and tried to pacify the protestors with an assurance to take action.

The police officials said they would register a case based on the complaints and initiate a thorough investigation into the incident.

With no formal complaint being filed, police have not registered an First Information Report (FIR). However, they detained seven hostel workers for questioning.

The mobile phones of the workers were seized and were being scanned by the police to ascertain if they recorded the videos.

Patna, Jan 2: Arif Mohammad Khan took the oath as Bihar’s 42nd Governor on Thursday at Rajendra Mandapam, Raj Bhavan.

Patna High Court Chief Justice Krishnan Vinod Chandran administered the oath of office and secrecy to Khan.

The ceremony was attended by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary and other ministers.

Khan, who previously served as Kerala Governor, will succeed Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar.

Before taking the oath, Khan paid tribute to former President Rajendra Prasad at his memorial in Patna.

After reaching Patna on Monday, Khan told the media that he would “try to discharge his duties as per the glorious tradition of the state”.

Khan is the second person from the minority community to hold the Governor’s post in the state. Earlier, A. R. Kidwai served as Governor from August 14, 1993, to April 26, 1998.

Khan has a long and diverse political career having been associated with the Janata Party, Lok Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party, Congress, and the BJP.

He previously served as a Union Minister alongside Chief Minister Nitish and gained prominence for his resignation from the Congress over the Shah Bano case.

On December 24, President Droupadi Murmu appointed governors for five states.

Vijay Kumar Singh was appointed Mizoram Governor, Hari Babu Kambhampati as Odisha Governor, Ajay Kumar Bhalla as Manipur Governor and Rajendra Viswanath Arlekar as Kerala Governor.

The relationship between Khan and Chief Minister Vijayan was marked by frequent public disagreements. Tensions peaked over Khan’s resistance to the Kerala government’s efforts to exert influence over state universities. The dispute culminated in Khan refusing to sign several key ordinances and bills, compelling the state government to seek the Supreme Court’s intervention.

New Delhi, Jan 2: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the tagging of a plea filed by AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi seeking implementation of the Places of Worship Act, 1991 with a pending batch of matters.

The 1991 Act prohibits the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.

At the very outset, a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar ordered that Owaisi’s plea be tagged with the pending clutch of petitions, where it had imposed restrictions on registering new suits, delivering effective or final judgments, or ordering surveys in ongoing cases concerning mosques and shrines.

In an interim order passed on December 12, 2024, the CJI Khanna-led Special Bench had ordered that no fresh suits would be registered under the Places of Worship Act in the country, and in the pending cases, no final or effective orders would be passed till further orders.

The Special Bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and K.V. Viswanathan, had asked the Union government to file within four weeks its reply to the batch of petitions challenging the validity of the Places of Worship Act, 1991.

As per the computerised case status, the matter is tentatively listed for hearing on February 17.

On the other hand, several intervention/impleadment applications were filed before the Supreme Court seeking the dismissal of the petitions against the Places of Worship Act.

In its application, the Managing Committee of Varanasi’s Gyanvapi Mosque said the “consequences of declaring the 1991 Act unconstitutional are bound to be drastic and will obliterate the rule of law and communal harmony.”

It said that an Article 32 petition challenging a legislative enactment must indicate the unconstitutionality of the provisions based on constitutional principles and the rhetorical arguments seeking a sort of retribution against the perceived acts of previous rulers cannot be made the basis for a constitutional challenge.

“As many as 20 suits are pending before different Varanasi courts seeking to nullify the protection accorded by the 1991 Act and to convert the character of the Gyanvapi Mosque and prevent access of Muslims to the mosque,” it said.

In a similar application, the Committee of Management of Mathura’s Shahi Masjid Eidgah said that the law was enacted by Parliament in the interest of the country’s progress, which has stood the test of time for more than 33 years.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) had said that local courts were undermining the spirit of the 1991 Act by entertaining petitions and issuing orders concerning mosques.

“The manner in which local courts declared appeals admissible and issued orders on mosques and dargahs had made this Act ineffective. The Supreme Court has now stopped any effective or final decisions and prohibited survey orders until the next hearing,” added the AIMPLB.