New Delhi, Sep 21: Delhi Chief Minister Atishi will retain all the 13 portfolios, including education, revenue, finance, power and PWD, that she held in the previous government headed by Arvind Kejriwal.

A proposal from the chief minister for allocation of work among the ministers of her cabinet has been approved by Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, officials said on Saturday. Atishi's predecessor Kejriwal did not hold any portfolio.

Atishi, the eighth chief minister of Delhi, has retained four ministers from the previous government -- Saurabh Bharadwaj, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot and Imran Hussain. First-time MLA from Sultanpur Majra Mukesh Ahlawat is a new member in her cabinet.

Bharadwaj will retain his previous portfolios and also have the charge of the social welfare and cooperative departments that were earlier held by Raaj Kumar Anand, who resigned in April.

His other portfolios include health, urban development, irrigation and tourism. Bharadwaj will have eight portfolios, the highest after the chief minister.

Ahlawat has been given the charge of the labour, gurdwara elections, welfare of SCs and STs and land and building departments.

Rai has retained the development, general administration department, environment and forest portfolios that he also held in the Kejriwal government.

Gahlot has also been given his previous portfolios -- transport, home, administrative reforms, women and child development.

Hussain will continue to hold the food and supply and election portfolios.

The allocation of work by the chief minister, approved by the LG, was gazette notified by the General Administration Department.

"In exercise of powers conferred under Rule 3 of the GNCTD (Allocation of Business) Rules 1993, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, in consultation with the chief minister, is pleased to allocate the portfolios to the ministers," read the notification.

"The allocation of business to the ministers is approved, in so far as, such business relates to matters with respect to which the Council of Ministers is required under Article 239AA of the Constitution to aid and advise the Lieutenant Governor in the exercise of his functions, in accordance with Rule 3 of the GNCTD (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1993 and subject to The GNCTD Act, 1991," it added.

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Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court judge, Justice V Srishananda, on Saturday expressed regret in open court after facing backlash over his controversial remarks in his recent court hearings, reported Bar and Bench.

Two purported video clips from Justice V Srishananda’s court hearing that show him making inappropriate comments went viral across social media platforms.

On Saturday, Justice Srishananda invited members of the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and senior lawyers to his courtroom at 2:30 PM, where he read out a note expressing regret for inappropriate comments.

Quoting Advocates Association President Vivek Subba Reddy, Bar and Bench wrote, “He expressed regret for the comments and clarified that it was not his intention to offend any community or members of the Bar. He also requested the association to relay this message to all members of the Bar.”

Reddy further stated, “We also advised him to encourage young lawyers in the courtroom and refrain from making any irrelevant remarks during hearings.”

Another senior lawyer present during the session confirmed to the legal news portal that Justice Srishananda also addressed comments directed at a woman lawyer, who was seen in one of the videos being reprimanded by the judge. The judge Justice Srishananda clarified that his remarks were not intended to target her (woman lawyer) specifically, but rather pertained to the appellant she was representing. “He explained that his comment was meant to imply that the appellant seemed to know a lot about the other party,” said the lawyer.

In addition, Justice Srishananda assured those present that he would avoid making such comments in the future.

The controversy came to light on September 19, when a video clip from an August 28 Court hearing surfaced on social media, showing Justice Srishananda referring to a Muslim-majority sub-locality in Bengaluru’s Goripalya as "Pakistan." Hours later, another video from the same courtroom emerged, in which the judge was seen making a gender-insensitive remark.

Following outrage over the viral videos, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, on September 20 took a suo motu cognizance and sought a report from the Karnataka High Court Registrar General in connection with the viral video.

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