Bengal Sir tribunals ‘non-functional’, SC seeks report The Supreme Court said it would seek a report from the Calcutta HC amid claims that appellate tribunals in West Bengal are non-functional. Advocate Devadatt Kamat told an SC bench that appellate tribunals were not allowing lawyers to represent parties and were only accepting online applications. “We will get a report from the chief justice (of the Calcutta HC) today itself,” CJI Surya Kant responded bengaluru l tuesday l april 21, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION 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 ED raids sons of Haris, grandson of Rahman Khan On eve of Inauguration by PM, Big ‘no’ to peace D80K cr refinery up in flames talks, says Iran Express News Service RA J ES H ASNANI @ Jaipur The two sons of Congress sitting MLA from the Shantinagar constituency in Bengaluru, NA Haris, and a grandson of former Union minister Rahman Khan have allegedly come under the scanner of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Bengaluru in the case of notorious cryptocurrency-linked money laundering scam involving Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki and others. ED is “conducting search action against Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki and other accused persons on 12 premises spread across Karnataka, including the residence of Mohammed Haris Nalapad and Omar Farook Nalapad — sons of Congress sitting MLA from Shantinagar constituency in Bengaluru, NA Haris — and Aqib Khan, the grandson of former union minister Rahman Khan,” the ED stated in an official release on Monday morning. “The searches are being conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The investigation so far has revealed that Mohammed Haris and Omar Farook and Aqib Khan are close associates of Srikrishna Ramesh and are main beneficiaries of proceeds of crime,” charged the ED. A massive fire broke out at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL)’s new oil refinery at Pachpadra in Rajasthan’s Balotra district on Monday, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to inaugurate it. The entire refinery complex had to be evacuated following the blaze, which broke out near the crude distillation unit around 2 pm. There were no casualties. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said the PM’s programme would not take place on Tuesday and a new date would be announced. The exact cause of the fire has not yet been ascertained and a probe has been launched to find out what led to the blaze and take remedial measures, the ministry added. The fire incident on the eve of the PM’s programme has raised serious questions about the security arrangements and preparations in place. According to eyewitnesses, plumes of smoke from the refinery were visible from afar. The unexpected fire a day before a high-profile event caused chaos and panic among officials and security personnel. Chief Secretary V Srinivas had reached Pachpadra on Monday to oversee the arrangements for the PM’s visit. Fire safety systems were im- @ Bengaluru  CONTINUED ON: P4 U.S. team yet to reach pak Modi’s visit postponed; no casualties reported; investigation launched Agencies @ Tehran / Washington / Dubai The much-touted second round of peace talks in Pakistan appears to be a nonstarter with the US team of negotiators led by Vice President J D Vance yet to board the plane to Islamabad and Iran categorically stating that it has no plans to hold any more talks. “ We h ave n o day plans for the next round of negotiation, and no decision has been made in this regard,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday . Iran’s statement came after the US Navy, which is ‘blockading’ the Strait of Hormuz, seized an Iranianflagged cargo ship. Announcing the next round of peace talks with 52 Firefighters douse the blaze at HPCL’s refinery in Balotra, Rajasthan on Monday | PTI Fire broke out near the ‘heart’ of the refinery The fire broke out near the crude distillation unit, the primary unit considered the heart of an oil refinery. According to reports, refineries are susceptible to fires, explosions, and catastrophic failures during the commissioning phase, as this period involves introducing hydrocarbons into new or maintained high-pressure, high-temperature systems mediately activated upon detecting the fire. Teams from both the municipal fire department and the refinery’s internal fire brigade brought the fire under control after around two hours. India’s first greenfield integrated refinery-cum-petrochemical complex, HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd (HRRL) is considered crucial for the country’s energy sector. HRRL is a joint venture between HPCL and the Government of Rajasthan with an equity participation of 74% and 26%, respectively . Built at a cost of `79,450 crore, HRRL is considered one of India’s key energy projects. The refinery has a capacity of 9 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) and a petrochemical capacity of 2.4 mmtpa. The refinery will produce petrol and diesel along with petrochemical products such as polypropylene, linear lowdensity polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, benzene, toluene, and butadiene. The sprawling complex is spread across 4,400 acres and the project is expected to reduce dependence on oil imports.  (With inputs from Rakesh  Kumar in New Delhi) Iran on Sunday US President , Donald Trump had said the US team would travel to Islamabad on Monday He ini. tially said Vance wouldn’t go this time due to “security reasons” but the White House later clarified that the vice president would lead the delegation. However, as of Monday night, Vance was still in Washington according to reports. Meanwhile, news agency Reuters claimed that Iran ag reed to consider attending the talks after Pakistan promised Tehran it would persuade the US to end the blockade. The first round of talks on April 11 had ended without a deal and both sides accused the other of breaching the ceasefire pact. The two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran is set to expire on P11 Wednesday  . E x p r e s s Re a d Intra-city drone delivery trials in B’luru a success India, S Korea unveil economic roadmap Bengaluru: Logistics company Federal Express (FedEx) Corporation and IIT Madras on Monday successfully conducted trial flights for India’s first intracity drone delivery between Electronics City Phase II and a site near Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru | P2 New Delhi: India and South Korea on Monday pledged to nearly double their annual trade to USD 50 billion by 2030 and committed to upgrading their comprehensive economic partnership pact within the next year. Following talks, the two sides also inked 15 agreements | P9 Mangled remains of the bus involved in the accident in J&K’s Udhampur | PTI At least 21 dead as bus falls into gorge in J&K F aya z w a n i @ Srinagar At least 21 people were killed and 61 others injured after the bus they were travelling in fell into a gorge in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district on Monday . Officials said the passenger bus was on its way from Ramnagar to Udhampur, when it met with the accident near Khagote village in Ramnagar around 10 am. “The driver lost control while negotiating a sharp curve on at Khagote. At the same time, an auto-rickshaw was in the vicinity. The bus crushed the auto-rickshaw and plunged nearly 100 metres into the deep gorge before landing upside down on the road below,” Deputy Inspector General of Police (Udhampur-Reasi Range) Shiv Kumar Sharma told reporters. The impact of the fall was so severe that the entire top portion of the bus got crushed, trapping all passengers inside the wreckage. Locals, police, and SDRF personnel soon launched a relief and rescue operations.