BHUBANESWAR  FRIDAY  MARCH 07, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 14  LATE CITY EDITION GST COUNCIL PANEL TO EXPLORE POSSIBILITY OF CESS IN CALAMITIES GST Council has constituted a Group of Ministers to suggest policies for levying a special calamity cess in case of natural disasters in states EXAMINING FEASIBILITY OF CESS IS NEXT STEP ALTERNATE MECHANISM NOT RULED OUT The seven-member GoM, headed by UP Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, will examine the constitutional and legal feasibility of levy of a special cess by states for revenue mobilisation in case of a natural calamity. Simultaneously, it would examine whether the special cess should be restricted to specific sectors or should be across the board ■ ■ The GoM would examine and identify the framework to be used to classify an event as a natural calamity/disaster for the purpose of levying special cess by states under the GST regime It is also expected to look into whether any alternate mechanism can be devised for helping states in case of a natural disaster 1% CALAMITY CESS ON LUXURY GOODS WAS SOUGHT BY ANDHRA PRADESH 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 GADKARI FIAT Faulty road construction reports under ‘FIR’e Khalistani bid to 30,000+ taxpayers declare foreign heckle Jaishankar assets worth `29,208 cr in spl drive at London rapped D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi Govt assails misuse of democratic freedom; UK claims its police acted swiftly, none held J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi Nitin Gadkari PA R V E Z S U LTA N @ New Delhi UNION minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday recommended registration of a police case against those responsible for faulty detailed project reports (DPRs) for road construction that result in deaths in road accidents. Gadkari said he had observed ‘thousands of mistakes’ in DPRs and blamed civil engineers for the spike in road accident rates and fatalities across India. “The most important culprits are civil engineers… I am directly taking the name because after 10 years of my experience, I am coming to this conclusion. The most important culprit is who makes the DPR. And there are thousands of mistakes… persons who are responsible, we should register an FIR against them and take them in custody said Gadkari. ,” The minister was speaking at the Global Road Infratech Summit & Expo (The GRIS 2025) organised by International Road Federation (IRF) India Chapter in Delhi. Gadkari has been vocal about poor quality of DPRs. In the past too, he has blamed the reports for delay in projects and road accidents. Last year, NHAI created a DPR cell to ensure better construction standards, costeffectiveness, and timely completion of national highway projects. Expressing concern over deaths of young citizens in road accidents, Gadkari said bureaucratic set-ups take years to improve or rectify faults in road design despite timely interventions by his ministry . “Because of small civil engineering mistakes, there are hundreds of deaths. I do not know why there is no sensitiveness… bureaucratic systems take years,” Gadkari said. The minister called upon industry members to develop strategies to enhance road safety “My first suggestion . to you as an international road federation is just take all records and give it to me. I will stamp it, and make it mandatory he said. ,” TAKING strong exception to Khalistani supporters breaching the security of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in London, India on Thursday said it expects the UK to live up to its diplomatic obligations while deploring the “misuse of democratic freedoms”. “We have seen the footage of a breach of security during the visit of EAM to the UK. We condemn the provocative activities of this small group of separatists and extremists. We deplore their misuse of democratic freedoms. We expect the host government in such cases to fully live up to their diplomatic obligations,” the External Affairs Ministry said. Later, the UK strongly condemned the security breach, saying such attempts to “intimidate, threaten, or disrupt” public events are “completely unacceptable”. The incident occurred when a group of proKhalistan extremists tried to disrupt Jaishankar’s visit for a discussion at Chatham House in London. The breach took place as the minister was leaving the venue after the event. A video circulating online shows an individual aggressively charging toward Jaishankar’s convoy Taking advan. tage of the police officers’ brief hesitation, the protester tore the Tricolour while others in the group shouted slogans from a distance. Earlier, Jaishankar held A special drive to ‘nudge’ taxpayers to disclose their foreign assets and income has resulted in over 30,000 taxpayers declaring foreign assets worth `29,208 crore and additional foreign income of `1,090 crore, according to government sources. The campaign also made 6,734 taxpayers change their residential status from resident to nonresident. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) launched the compliance-cum-awareness campaign on 17 November 2024, Common Reporting Standards helped India is an adopter of Common Reporting Standards (CRS), under which more than 125 nations agreed to share financial information of individuals urging taxpayers to declare their foreign assets and income in revised income tax returns (ITRs) for assessment year (AY) 2024-25. As part of the campaign, SMS and emails were sent to 19,501 taxpayers with STRONGLY CONDEMN IT: UK FOREIGN OFFICE “We strongly condemn the incident that took place outside Chatham House” during the visit, a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said on Thursday talks with the UK’s Secretary of State for Home, Yvette Cooper, focusing on issues such as trafficking and extremism. Concerns over the activities of Khalistan separatists in the UK were reportedly part of the discussions, as India has repeatedly raised this matter with British authorities. The British authorities said the police acted swiftly to address the situation. A Met Police spokesperson said the protester was quickly intercepted by officers. He did not get close to the minister, who was able to leave without further incident. There were no arrests. 26/11 accused Rana STA officer under Vigilance scanner seeks US SC stay for amassing property worth crores on extradition S H E K H A R S I N G H @ New Delhi WEEKS after US President Donald Trump announced Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana’s extradition to India, the convict made a last-ditch plea before the US Supreme Court seeking an emergency stay on the decision. He claimed he faces a high risk of torture and death if handed over to India. Rana also argued that his extradition would violate international and US legal protections against torture. His legal team claimed that Rana, now 64, is in deteriorating health and unlikely to survive long enough to stand trial in India. They also claimed that India’s Tahawwur Rana criminal justice system has a documented history of human rights violations, referencing US State Department reports detailing instances of extrajudicial killings, custodial torture and mistreatment of detainees. On February 12, 2025, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington to meet President Trump, the State Department notified Rana’s counsel that the Secretary of State had decided to authorise his surrender to India. His defense claimed that his identity as a Muslim of Pakistani origin, along with his past service in the Pakistani Army, would put him at a greater risk of mistreatment in India. Rana is a known associate of David Coleman Headley a Pakista, ni-American terrorist who played a crucial role in planning the November 26, 2008, attacks in Mumbai, which killed 166 people, including civilians. EXPRESS READ Justice Harish Tandon likely to be new Chief Justice of Orissa HC QUITE A HUDDLE Children of street vendors take rest on a hammock tied by their parents, along Sachivalaya Marg in Bhubaneswar, on Thursday | DEBADATTA MALLICK Cuttack: The Supreme Court Collegium on Thursday recommended appointment of Justice Harish Tandon, presently judge of Calcutta High Court, as Chief Justice of Orissa High Court. The appointment is required to fill up the vacancy of the office of Chief Justice of Orissa High Court consequent upon the retirement of Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh on January 19 this year. In a statement the Collegium said, Justice Harish Tandon ranks 7 in the All-India Seniority of High Court Judges, including Chief Justices. Curious case of Indore family court denying divorce to Jains A series of petitions have been filed by the Jain community in the Madhya Pradesh High Court against an Indore family court’s orders denying them relief in matrimonial disputes/matters under provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act. First Additional Principal Judge, Family Cour t-Indore Dhirendra Singh, refused relief to multiple Jain couples under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage ers disclosing foreign assets and income on a voluntary basis has steadily grown from 60,000 in AY2021-22 to 231,452 taxpayers in AY 2024-25. “This year, due to extensive outreach and awareness efforts, voluntary disclosures witnessed a significant 45.17% growth compared to AY 202324,” said a source. “At the heart of this campaign lies the Trust First approach, which prioritises voluntary compliance over enforcement,” said a government source. Video grab of the heckler HINDU MARRIAGE ACT A N U R A A G S I N G H @ Bhopal high foreign account balances or significant foreign income from interest or dividends above a specified threshold. The tax department also organised 30 outreach sessions, seminars and webinars across India, engaging over 8,500 participants directly . Government sources said approximately 62% of taxpayers approached by the department responded positively vol, untarily revising their ITRs to declare foreign assets and income. The number of taxpay- Act, which deals with divorce by mutual consent. In one of the orders passed on a petition of a 35-year-old advocate and her 37-year-old senior software engineer husband, the judge said, “Followers of Jainism don’t have any right to get relief under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, as they have rejected the basic Vedic beliefs of Hinduism and have established themselves as minorities after separating from Hindu religion since 2014.” The judge further said, “the followers of Jainism are at liberty to file pleas in accordance with the well established old religious and social traditions of their religion, under Section 7 of the Family Court Act to get their marital disputes resolved.” A division bench of the MP High Court in Indore, while looking into the controversy appointed , Indore-based senior advocate A K Sethi as amicus curiae to assist the court. The HC said as many as 28 petitions filed under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act have been dismissed by Judge Singh. “Jains have been getting their matrimonial disputes resolved under the Hindu Marriage Act for a long time, since they have no separate marriage law. Indore district has five family court benches, but only one of them has passed the order while hearing multiple petitions in a day last month,” said Pankaj Khandelwal, the counsel in one the cases. E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar JOINT commissioner of State Transport Authority (STA) Pradeep Kumar Mohanty has come under Vigilance scanner for allegedly amassing assets worth crores, disproportionate to his known sources of income. The anti-corruption agency on Thursday launched simultaneous searches at the senior STA officer and his relatives’ property in connection with allegations of possessing huge wealth acquired through illegal means. During searches, Mohanty and his family members were found in possession of a three-storey building spread over 2,400 sq ft in capital city’s upscale Maitri Vihar area, another three-storey building over 7,500 sq ft at Balukhand in Puri, which is suspected to be a benami property and a farmhouse over an area of 14.78 acre at Kusupalla in Nayagarh. This apart, Mohanty’s family was found in possession of a sion of three gold biscuits and building in Tangi, and 11 highgold ornaments of about 1.5 kg, value plots as well as agricul`15.55 lakh cash and two cars tural land spread over 11.08 He was also found registered in his brother-inin possession of acres in Bhubaneswar, Khurda law’s name along with a Royal and Nayagarh. The measure- three gold biscuits Enfield bullet. and gold ment and valuation and assessOn the day, the anti-corrupornaments of ment of the immovable assets tion agency carried out simultaabout 1.5 kg, are being carried out by the Vigneous searches at Mohanty’s `15.55 lakh cash ilance’s technical wing, sources house in Maitri Vihar, underand two cars said. construction five-storey buildVigilance officer Investigation revealed Moing in Gobinda Prasad, house in hanty paid `1 crore to a realtor Tangi, farmhouse at Kusupalla, to purchase a 4-BHK flat at the luxury 9 office in Cuttack, his relatives’ house in Boulevard apartment in Raghunathpur Puri and a petrol pump in capital city’s CONTINUED ON P5 area here. He was also found in posses- Malipada.