The Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea challenging the appointment of senior IAS officer Nidhi Chhibber as the chairperson of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), saying she has the qualification for the post.

The high court said it was not inclined to issue a writ of quo warranto as no prima facie case was made out by the petitioner and Chhibber is qualified to be appointed as the chairperson of CBSE.

Justice Chandra Dhari Singh said the petition by Independent School Federation of India was a “gross misuse of law”.

“The writ of quo warranto is issued in cases where there is a finding by this court under its writ jurisdiction that the person holding the public office does not possess the requisite qualification to be appointed to the position. The said writ is issued by the courts to prohibit the unqualified person to occupy the said position.

“In the instant case, this court is not inclined to issue a writ of quo warranto, as no prima facie case is made out by counsel for the petitioner…,” the high court said.

The court passed the order on the petition claiming that Chhibber was appointed by way of bureaucratic re-shuffle and that she did not fulfil the requisite terms and conditions for appointment to the position.

The petitioner urged the court to pass a direction for production of the entire record pertaining to the eligibility and experience of the officer.

In pursuance to the court’s direction, Chhibber filed documents relating to her qualification for the purpose of appointment as CBSE chairperson and also referred to certain documents to show that she has worked in the Education department for 48 months in the cadre of Director.

Her lawyer submitted that the allegations made in the petition qua her qualification that she does not possess the minimum experience of three years in the field of education, are incorrect.

After perusing the documents, the court said it was prima facie not satisfied with the averments made in the petition and held that the executive record showed that the officer was eligible for the post.

A man wanted for the murder of a Maryland judge who ruled against him in a child custody case has been found dead, officials said Thursday.

The body of Pedro Argote, 49, was found in a wooded area near where his vehicle was located last week, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The sheriff’s office did not provide a cause of death.

Law enforcement had been searching for Argote since Judge Andrew Wilkinson, 52, was shot dead in the driveway outside his home in Hagerstown, Maryland, on October 19.

Just hours earlier, Wilkinson had presided at a divorce hearing in which custody of Argote’s children was given to his wife.

Washington County Sheriff Brian Albert described the judge’s murder as a “targeted attack.”

China’s top diplomat voiced hope Thursday for more stable relations with the United States after months of turbulence as he paid a rare trip to Washington to prepare a potential visit by President Xi Jinping.

President Joe Biden has invited Xi to San Francisco to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, but he has also stood firm on China in the run-up, keeping up a stream of targeted sanctions and staunchly backing US allies in disputes with Beijing.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi began by meeting Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who told his guest that he looked forward to “constructive conversations” that will include a dinner and more formal talks.

Wang told Blinken, who paid a visit to Beijing in June, that China wanted to “reduce misunderstanding.”

“We seek to expand cooperation that will benefit both sides so that we can stabilize US-China relations and return them to the track of healthy, stable and sustainable development,” Wang said.

Acknowledging that differences will still come up, Wang said that China hoped to respond “calmly, because we are of the view that what is right and what is wrong is not determined by who has the stronger arm or the louder voice.”

On Friday, Wang will speak at the White House with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. No meeting has been announced with Biden, but an encounter is widely expected after Xi received Blinken in Beijing.

US officials have repeatedly spoken of creating “guardrails” with China to prevent worst-case scenarios and have sought, without success, to restore contact between the two militaries.

“We’re going to compete with China (in) every way according to the international rules — economically, politically, in other ways. But I’m not looking for conflict,” Biden said Wednesday as he welcomed Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Biden also warned China of US treaty obligations to the Philippines, which said that Chinese vessels deliberately hit Manila’s boats in dispute-rife waters — an account contested by Beijing.

Tensions have been particularly high over Taiwan, the self-ruling democracy claimed by Beijing which over the past year has launched major military exercises in response to actions by US lawmakers.

China’s defense ministry on Thursday accused Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of pushing the island toward a “dangerous situation of war.”

– What are ‘stable’ ties? –

Robert Daly, director of the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, said Wang will likely seek assurances that the Biden administration will not “embarrass” Xi if he comes to San Francisco, either through harsh new policies or public comments.

“They would like to have a smooth glide path and then a smooth exit from the meeting,” he said.

Daly said the two powers had very different views on what “stable” ties mean, with the United States having no intention of changing course from viewing China as a threat and applying pressure.

“By stabilization, we mean that we want to be able to do that without greatly increasing the chance of conflict,” Daly said.

“The Chinese view is that stabilization would mean America ceasing this relentless stream of provocations and insults such that China is free to focus on its extremely weak domestic economy,” he said.

The Biden administration in recent months has tightened export curbs on chips to China, stepped up military support for Taiwan and issued sanctions targeting individual Chinese over support for Iran’s drone program and over production of chemicals that make fentanyl, the painkiller behind an addiction epidemic in the United States.

Biden has also championed alliances in the face of China’s rise. He has forged a new three-way military alliance with Australia and Britain and promoted the “Quad” with Australia, India and Japan.

The United States and China have also traded barbs over the conflict in the Middle East, where Biden has been Israel’s foremost ally.

The diplomacy with China comes as the United States enters an election season in which Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, who is seeking to return to the White House, has made hawkish criticism of Beijing a signature policy.