HYDERABAD l saturday l august 09, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE CITY EDITION SC will examine sedition law’s constitutional validity A 3-judge bench led by Chief Justice B R Gavai issued notice to the Centre on a PIL against the validity of Section 152 (sedition) of BNS ‘rebranded version’ of sedition law pil says law is liable to be struck down Section 152 of BNS deals with the ‘act endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India’. A PIL filed by retired Major General S G Vombatkere, an Army veteran, called Section 152 a “rebranded version” of the sedition law, previously kept in abeyance by SC in July 2022 pending legislative review. Despite this, the new legislation reinstates sedition under a new label ■ ■ The plea said the BNS provision was violative of Articles 14 (right to equality), 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech and expression) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution; and was liable to be struck down Section 152 criminalises acts done ‘purposely or knowingly’, yet neither term is defined in the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, the plea said Sec 124A challenge to this law has also been tagged along with sec 152 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 high-stakes dialogue Had a very good and detailed conversation with my friend President Putin... We discussed Ukraine and reviewed our bilateral ties During our call, we exchanged opinions on key issues of the bilateral agenda, including trade, economic and investment cooperation Modi, Putin call amid tariff pain, Ukraine summit Russian leader holds consultations ahead of his talks with Trump on ending Ukraine war President Lula da Silva—another US trading partner hit with Prime Minister Narendra a 50% tariff—and amid reports Modi and Russian President of an accelerating Trump-Putin Vladimir Putin held a high- summit, possibly as early as stakes phone conversation on next week. Friday, reaffirming their comAdding to the geopolitical mitment to deepen India-Rus- complexity, Kremlin aide Yuri sia ties amid intensifying US Ushakov confirmed Thursday pressure over New Delhi’s en- that a venue had been selected ergy dealings with Moscow. for the proposed Trump-Putin The call comes on meeting. While the ofthe heels of a major ficial location remains escalation by the US, undisclosed, Putin sugwhere President Dongested that the United ald Trump signed an Arab Emirates would executive order slapbe a “suitable” host. ping a steep 50% tariff In a further twist, on Indian imports of Ushakov revealed disNo trade Russian oil, seen widecussions of a possible talks ly as a direct warning three-way summit into India over its convolving Trump, Putin, US President tinued energy partnerand Ukrainian PresiTrump ruled ship with Russia. dent Volodymyr Zelenout any trade “Had a very good talks with India skyy The Kremlin has . and detailed conversayet to comment offiuntil the tariff tion with my friend cially on that possibilissue is P re s i d e n t P u t i n , ” ity For his part, Putin . resolved. “No, Modi posted on social expressed cautious not until we media platform X. “We get it resolved,” openness to meeting reviewed progress in Zelenskyy, but added Trump said in our bilateral agenda that “certain condithe Oval Office and reaffirmed our tions should be creaton Thursday commitment to fured,” stressing that the ther deepen the Indiacurrent situation is Russia Special and Privileged “far” from ideal. For his part, Strategic Partnership.” Trump said he did not consider The two leaders also dis- a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting a cussed the ongoing Ukraine prerequisite for his own sumconflict. According to an offi- mit with the Russian leader. cial Indian readout, Putin Amid the shifting global dybriefed Modi on “the latest de- namics, New Delhi’s balancing v e l o p m e n t s c o n c e r n i n g act is increasingly under the Ukraine,” while Modi reiterat- spotlight. On the multilateral ed India’s consistent call for “a front, China officially welpeaceful resolution of the con- comed Modi’s participation in flict.” The diplomatic timing is the Shanghai Cooperation Ornotable. The call comes a day ganization (SCO) Summit in after Modi spoke with Brazilian Tianjin later this month. J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Govt pulls I-T bill in LS, set to table final version on Monday DIPAK MO N DAL @ New Delhi FINANCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday withdrew the Income Tax Bill 2025, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on February 13 to replace the Income Tax Act 1961. A fresh version of the bill, incorporating most of the recommendations of the Select Committee chaired by BJP member Baijayant Panda, will be tabled in the House on Monday . Sources said the earlier draft was withdrawn to avoid confusion due to multiple versions of the legislation and to present a consolidated text with all changes included. The finance ministry said the government has accepted almost all recommendations of the Select Committee. Suggestions were also received from other sources regarding fine-tuning the language to convey the correct legislative meaning. The 31-member Select Committee, which submitted its report to the Lok Sabha last month, proposed over 30 major amendments to the bill. These include changes in the definitions of ‘capital asset’, ‘infrastructure capital com- pany’, ‘MSME’, clarifications on property-related deductions, and reinforcement of the ‘actual payment’ rule for claiming business expenses. One significant proposal is the reinstatement of a provision allowing the tax department to issue nil withholding tax certificates for specific payments — a clause dropped in the February draft, which only permitted low TDS certificates. The panel also recommended permitting refund claims even if the returns are filed late. For charitable and not-forprofit entities, the panel suggested replacing ‘receipts’ with ‘income’ for tax purposes, restoring the concept of ‘deemed application’, and providing clearer definitions. Bringing professionals under electronic payment norms, prescribing qualifications for valuers, and ensuring fairness in the application of General Anti-Avoidance Rules were also recommended. In a relief to corporates, the panel said the deduction for inter-corporate dividends in multi-tiered structures should also apply to firms opting for the 22% tax rate, as is the case under current law. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Lok Sabha on Friday | pti What is changing 1 Earlier draft bill had some errors leading to confusion. The new version will simplify clauses 2 Revised bill will allow income tax refund claims even if the returns are filed late; earlier provision had tied refunds to ITR being filed within ‘due date’ and this denied refunds to those who missed the deadline for filing ITRs due to genuine reasons 3 Draft bill had inadvertently deleted the words “no deduction”, resulting in removing the concept of nil TDS certificates. The revised bill reinstates that 4 Anonymous donations made to religious-cumcharitable trusts will be exempt from tax; however, trusts that run hospitals and educational institutions will be subject to tax Toshiba transformer plant expansion boost for state E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Sangareddy Laying the foundation stone for the `177 crore expansion of Toshiba’s Extra High Voltage Transformer plant, Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu on Friday said the state government was working strategically to position Telangana as a global manufacturing hub. The minister inaugurated two manufacturing facilities—the CRGO Core Processing Centre (`65 crore) and the Surge Arrester Unit (`105 crore)—at the premises of Toshiba Transmission & Distribution Systems India Pvt Ltd in Rudraram, Sangareddy district. The total investment amounts to `347 crore. He said Telangana is expected to record an industrial output of `2.77 lakh crore in 2024–25, with nearly 48% from manufacturing.  continued on P2 SC rejected plea for digital list of voters, says ECI Photo: Nagaraja Gadekal MUK E SH RA N J A N @ New Delhi Rejecting Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of voter list manipulation, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday pointed out that the Congress-led Karnataka government itself is using the same electoral rolls for its caste census exercise. It dared him to sign a formal declaration for his claims or apologise to the nation. Regardless of the format of the complaint, it’s the EC’s job to purify the rolls whenever discrepancies are pointed out. Sources in the ECI said that the Karnataka cabinet approved the use of electoral rolls as the base for conducting a caste survey “ the same time LoP (Ra. At hul Gandhi) was dropping the ‘atom bomb’ on electoral rolls, Can prove vote theft, says Rahul Gandhi Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said if EC provides him 10 years of data — the voters’ list in machine-readable format and videos of polling stations, he can prove theft of voters in several Lok Sabha seats across the country | P7 the Congress government was vouching for their authenticity by basing their most important policy of caste census on them,” a source said. ECI officials argued that Rahul was repeating a tired script. “In 2018, they (then MP Congress chief Kamal Nath), tried to mislead SC by producing documents from a private website to demonstrate there are errors in the electoral rolls, saying same face was shown for 36 voters,” an official said. “But, the defects had already been rectified four months before Nath made the allegations and a copy of revised rolls was supplied to the party Yet, Nath . sought the poll rolls in a searchable pdf format. The SC refused to entertain it, agreeing with the EC’s position that it would com- promise voter privacy .” “The Nath judgment gives a settled position on machine readable document. Raising the same issues again shows that Rahul has no respect for the SC,” the official charged. Rahul alleged that the name of Aditya Srivastava was found in three different states. “But it was rectified months ago,” the official pointed out. Cong to proceed with local body polls after Aug 15 ‘Very high priority’ SLBC I r e d d y S r i n i v a s Re d d y @ Hyderabad Fresh off its three-day protest in New Delhi over enhanced reservations for Backward Classes (BCs), the ruling Congress has decided to go for the much-awaited local body elections in the state, insiders insist. Sources said the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) is likely to convene a Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting on August 13 or 14 to review the party’s protest in Delhi, counter-strategies of the BRS and BJP and prepara, tions for the polls to elect sar- panches, MPTCs and ZPTCs across the state. The meeting date is expected to be finalised on Monday or Tuesday . Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, along with his Cabinet colleagues, MPs, MLCs and senior Congress leaders, staged protests in the national capital demanding that the Union government pass a bill sent by the Telangana Assembly and an Ordinance seeking to raise BC reservations to 42% as well as amend the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act to remove the 50% cap. The government is likely to notify local body polls after August 15 or 18. The State Election Commission has reportedly completed arrangements to conduct elections for MPTC and ZPTC positions. Existing reservation patterns are expected to continue, with district election officers (usually collectors) tasked with finalising reservations at the village and mandal levels. Although legislative attempts to mandate 42% BC reservations were not successful, Congress plans to implement this informally. The party also intends to challenge the BJP and BRS to adopt similar BC quotas while distributing tickets. BJP state president N Ramchander Rao has indicated that the party is open to allotting a large share of seats to BC candidates. BRS leaders have suggested, without formal confirmation, that they may field more BC candidates than the Congress.  continued on P4 project put on fast track E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad The state government has accorded administrative approval to resume work on the Srisailam Left Bank Canal Tunnel project, terming it a “very high priority” for the administration. On Friday, the government sanctioned `2.36 crore for a helicopter-borne VTEM Plus Magnetic Geophysical Survey to aid in the investigation, design and execution of Tunnel I and II, including the head regulator at the entrance portal of Tunnel I under the SLBC Tunnel Scheme of the AMR Project. The project spans Nagarkurnool and Nalgonda districts. The National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) will carry out the survey on a nomination basis. Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the process to restart construction has begun. A meeting would be held with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka soon to secure approvals from departments, including Finance and Energy he said.  , continued on P4 SC deletes its observations against HC judge on CJI’s nudge 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 Friday deleted its observations criticising Allahabad High Court judge Prashant Kumar for allowing criminal proceedings in a civil dispute case, clarifying that its “intention was not to embarrass or cast aspersions on him”. In its order on August 4, a bench of justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan had taken strong exception to Justice Kumar’s handling of a case for treating a civil dispute as a criminal case. The bench barred the judge from hearing criminal matters till his retirement, adding, “The Allahabad High Court chief justice shall make the judge sit in a division bench with a seasoned senior HC judge.” However, the SC’s caustic verdict ran into constitutional trouble as the HC CJ is the master of roster, not the the SC. While CJI Gavai was exploring ways to remedy the situation, 13 judges of the Allahabad High Court urged their Chief Justice Arun Bhansali to convene a full court meeting and refuse compliance with the SC order. With the situation snowballing, the CJI urged the Pardiwala bench to reconsider its fiat. The revised verdict read, “We fully acknowledge that the HC CJ is the master of the roster... (But) When matters raise institutional concerns affecting the rule of law, this court may be compelled to step in and take corrective steps.” Revanth sees Musi rejuvenation as solution to flooding in city E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy reviews with officials the situation in the aftermath of the heavy rains that lashed Hyderabad, at his residence on Friday Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday called for an integrated approach to address Hyderabad’s flood issues, with focus on rejuvenating the Musi River. He directed officials to link all tanks, nalas and sewage treatment plants (STPs) to the river and begin work on the 55- Traffic plan & parking woes The chief minister also instructed officials to draft a comprehensive traffic management plan, particularly for the rainy season. Highlighting congestion in the Old City, he proposed pedestrianonly zones and multi-level parking facilities near Charminar, Salarjung Museum, High Court, and Osmania Hospital. These measures, he said, would ease both traffic flow and parking issues. km stretch immediately . At a review meeting held after his return from a three-day visit to Delhi, the chief minister reviewed Thursday’s downpour in Hyderabad, which led to widespread waterlogging and traffic disruptions across the city Hyderabad recorded up to . 15 cm of rainfall in some areas, with several low-lying localities inundated. Revanth agreed with officials that the city’s current drainage and road infrastructure was inadequate to handle intense rainfall, which now often occurs in a single day due to changing climate patterns. Officials pointed out to the chief minister that Hyderabad had already recorded 16% excess rainfall this season, and that even 5 cm of rain was proving difficult for the city to manage, while recent events had shown rainfall of up to 20 cm in a single day . Stressing the need for a longterm solution to prevent disruptions caused by rain, Revanth sought modernisation of all urban systems.  continued on P2