MEXICO , CANADA, China TARIFFS from march 4 US President Donald Trump said illicit drugs are still pouring into the US from Mexico 25% tirupati l friday l february 28, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION SC upholds power of arrest by GST, Customs officers Says their authority to arrest is ancillary to their power to collect goods and services tax functioning of the officers combating serious crimes may emTHE Supreme Court on Thurs- bolden the people who commit day upheld the constitutional such crimes and may not do validity of the arrest provi- justice to the victims. sions under the Goods and The bench, however, was Services Tax Act and the Cus- mindful of the abuse of such toms Act. Rejecting a powers. It said anticibatch of pleas challengpatory bail could be aling these provisions, a lowed even in cases bench of Chief Justice where FIR is not filed Sanjiv Khanna, Justice but the threat of arrest Bela M Trivedi, and is imminent. Justice M M Sundresh Use it with “By striking a deliupheld the legislative cate balance between caution, amendments that clas- says court enforcement powers sify specific economic and personal liberty, offenses as cognizable SC maintained the judgment ensures that the and non-bailable. that while the governpowers to This means enforcement can take stringent ment authorities will arrest must be action against financial have the power to ar- exercised with offenses, citizens’ fundue caution rest individuals withdamental rights remain and in out prior judicial approtected,” said Abcompliance proval in cases of hishek A Rastogi, with the serious violations such founder of law firm as tax evasion exceed- constitutional Rastogi Chambers. safeguards ing specified thresh“This reinforces the olds, fraudulent claims legal architecture of of exemptions, or misuse of anti-evasion mechanisms and trade instruments. also brings the much-needed Special Acts like GST and clarity to the enforceCustoms Act have specific ob- ment of arrest provijectives and judicial review sions under these should be exercised cautiously statutes,” said Raand in rare circumstances, the jat Mohan, senior SC said. It added that frequent partner, AMRG & judicial interference in the Associates. DI PA K M ONDAL @ New Delhi HC fiat on toxic Union carbide waste upheld S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea challenging the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s order on transportation and safe disposal of all toxic waste from Bhopal’s ill-fated Union Carbide plant at a treatment unit in the industrial town Pithampur in the state. A two-judge bench comprising justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih also refused to stay Thursday’s trial run of the disposal of 30 metric tonnes of the waste at Pithampur. Hours later, incineration of the toxic waste generated from the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy began. Indore-based Gandhian Chinmay Mishra was among those who had challenged the HC order. But the bench observed, “You seem to be following the NIMBY principle, that is, not in my backyard. You are saying if they want to pollute, they may do it somewhere else, but not in my backyard. Not in Indore.” Won’t sit The court pointed out that on opinion the HC had considered the of experts views of experts from institutes of repute and recognition The bench said it couldn’t sit like NEERI, NGRI and CPCB on the opinion before arriving at its decision. “The impugned HC order of experts, who had already would reveal that it took a seriapproved the ous view of the lethargic mantransportation ner in which the state government was dealing with the and disposal of the toxic disposal of waste. It is revealed Bhopal gas that only after the direction tragedy waste from the HC, the matter has moved. The HC is monitoring the matter. So, we do not find any reason to interfere with the impugned order,” the bench said. While granting some liberty the judges asked , the aggrieved parties to approach the high court. It said the petitioner and intervenors could also give their suggestions to the state government, which would place them before an expert committee for further consideration. State Budget outlay likely to cross `3 lakh cr S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav will present the Andhra Pradesh Budget for 2025-26 in the Assembly on Friday. It will be followed by the introduction of Agriculture Budget by Minister K Atchannaidu. Though the exact outlay of the budget is not known, going by the statements of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and other leaders of the ruling coalition, equal emphasis is likely to be laid on welfare and development in allocation of funds. As Naidu has already announced plans to implement ‘Thalliki Vandanam’ and ‘Annadata Sukhibhava’, considerable allocations are expected to be made to the two schemes. The NDA government, which was formed in June, presented its full-fledged budget in November 2024 with an outlay of `2.94 lakh crore for 2024-25. The budget outlay for 2025-26 is expected to cross `3 lakh crore. Payyavula under the guidance of Naidu, is likely to present a realistic budget fulfilling the aspirations of people. The State Cabinet will meet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister at 9 am on Friday to give a formal approval to the budget before its presentation in the Assembly . Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and HRD Minister Nara Lokesh show their ink-marked fingers after casting their votes in the MLC election at Undavalli in Guntur district on Thursday I Prasant Madugula MLC polls go off smoothly, see good voter turnout E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada The elections to the erstwhile combined Krishna and Guntur, and East and West Godavari District Graduates’ Constituencies, and Uttarandhra Teachers’ Constituency, comprising Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam, went off smoothly on Thursday . As per the information given by the office of Chief Electoral Officer, 63.28% of voters cast their votes in the MLC elections in East Godavari and West Godavari Graduates’ Constituency, 65.58% in Krishna and Guntur Graduates’ Constituency, and 91.82% in Srikakulam-Vizianagaram-Visakhapatnam Teachers’ Constituency till 4 pm. However, the polling percentage is likely to increase further as the Election Commission permitted all those standing in queue by 4 pm at the polling stations to exercise their franchise in the elections. Though 70 candidates are in the fray for the three MLC constituencies, the main contest is likely to be between contestants supported by the TDP-led NDA and PDF in both the GradP4 uates’ Constituencies. ‘Vote is a weapon in democracy’ Speaking after casting his vote in the MLC poll at Undavalli, CM Naidu described the vote as a big weapon in a democracy. “It is the responsibility of voters to exercise their franchise in polls,” he said Tunnel rescue teams push through debris E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Rescue teams on Thursday intensified operations inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel to reach eight workers who have been trapped there since the last six days. Using gas and plasma cutters, the teams made some progress in clearing the debris of the tunnel boring machine (TBM). They are expected to cross the previously inaccessible 40metre area after the path near the TBM is cleared. The teams have been removing slush and dewatering the tunnel, where the estimated Dewatering operations in progress at the SLBC tunnel | Special arrangement seepage rate is around 5,000 litres per minute. Once the debris is cleared, they will be able to reach the TBM. Irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said the rescue operations would be completed within the next two to three days. Regular tunnel work would resume in two to three months, he added. Eleven top agencies specialising in tunnel disasters are leading the operation. Teams are working 24X7, deploying the most advanced technology for the mission that is being overseen by global experts. “This is an extremely challenging operation, and the best experts are involved. They are risking their lives to complete the mission,” Uttam said. Conveyor belt repair The damaged conveyor belt in the tunnel is expected to be repaired during the day for transportation of debris Many agencies have come together for the rescue mission Uttam Kumar Reddy 10% Tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods to kick in next week Extra duty on Chinese goods, over and above 10% tariff levied on February 4 CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the US... The proposed tariffs will, indeed, go into effect... T he tariffs on Mexico and Canada, announced earlier, was paused on February 3 for 1 month; it will now go live on March 4 E xperts say the tariffs carry the risk of higher prices for American consumers and slower growth for the US economy | P9 ■