MEXICO , CANADA, China TARIFFS from march 4 US President Donald Trump said illicit drugs are still pouring into the US from Mexico 25% bengaluru l friday l february 28, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 40 l late city 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. D IPA K M O N D AL @ 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. express read K’taka releases water to TG, farmers furious Vijayapura: Karnataka has released 1 tmcft of water from the Almatti and Narayanpur reservoirs to Telangana, reportedly on the request of the neighbouring state. Farmer organisations, however, have condemned the decision | P4 Hampi Utsav: Passes for pourakarmikas Hampi: The Vijayanagara District Commissioner on Thursday distributed over 2000 VIP passes to pourakarmikas and their families for the Hampi Utsav. The much-awaited event will be inaugurated on Friday | P4 Chief Minister Siddharamaiah and Speaker UT Khader take a look at books displayed at the ‘Pustaka Mela’ at Vidhana Soudha, in Bengaluru on Thursday | Express Delimitation BJP ploy to weaken us, all south states will resist: CM E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru TUHIN New SEBI chief Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey is the new head of Securities and Exchange Board of India | P13 WITH THIS ISSUE CHENNAI’S BEST WEEKEND GUIDE 40 PAGES, INCLUDING 24 OF INDULGE (TABLOID) Warning that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s enthusiasm for delimitation of Lok Sabha seats is just a ploy to punish southern states that resist the BJP’s expansion, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called upon the governments of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh to unite against this injustice. He said discussions are going on with other southern states to launch a coordinated national-level resistance against the Centre’s discriminatory policies. The CM also slammed Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent remarks on the issue, calling them “untrustworthy” and “misleading”. The Union government is trying to create confusion in southern states while pushing an agenda that unfairly favours the northern states, he said. Siddaramaiah questioned Shah’s claims that southern states would not be affected by this exercise and demanded clarity on whether the new delimitation will be based on the proportion of the population or the current number of Lok Sabha seats. If the population-based formula is used, it will severely disadvantage southern states, which have successfully controlled their population while northern states have lagged behind in both population management and development, he said.  P4 ‘K’taka BJP MPs silent spectators’ Siddaramaiah urged Kannadigas to unite beyond caste, religion and party lines to oppose the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats, warning that BJP MPs from Karnataka remain silent spectators while the state is continuously shortchanged. K’taka bans plastic use for steaming idlis E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Bengaluru The state health department has banned the use of plastic sheets in the preparation of idlis in eateries after the food safety and standards department found that nearly a quarter of the 251 idli samples tested were “unsafe” due to the use of plastic sheets during steaming. The state health department is expected to issue an official notification regulating idli preparation in the next two days. The food safety department tested 251 idli samples collected from eateries across the state till Wednesday and found that 54 of these were unsafe for consumption. The issue was traced to shops using plastic sheets while steaming idlis, which contaminates the food and introduces (cancer-causing) substances. Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, who announced the ban on Thursday told TNIE that 54 , eateries have been fined for using plastic sheets. “Many vendors have been following this method of preparing idli and since the public is largely unaware of its health risks, the department started a statewide drive. As of Wednesday 251 ea, teries were inspected and the number is expected to rise as the drive continues,” Rao said. Earlier, cloth was used for cooking idlis, but we received information that hotels have recently started using plastic. So, our officers conducted inquiries at various locations Dinesh Gundu Rao, Health Minister 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 | P12 ■