Supreme Court rejects Petition to seize Electoral Bond Funds Supreme Court has rejected a review of its fiat rejecting petitions for confiscating money received by parties under electoral bond scheme kozhikode l saturday l april 05, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION no roving inquiry into electoral bonds A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra dismissed the review plea against the court’s decision of August 2, 2024, when the SC had rejected several pleas for a court-monitored probe into electoral bonds and observed it couldn’t order a roving inquiry 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 Cong MP, AIMIM prez file pleas Want positive, constructive BJP promises ties with B’desh: PM to Yunus RS approves legislation 128-95 Fight against the to support Waqf bill goes to Munambam residents Supreme Court E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @Kochi P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Hours after the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025 received Parliament’s approval, the Congress and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) moved the Supreme Court on Friday chal, lenging its validity, arguing that it violates constitutional provisions. The development came a day after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin announced in the state assembly that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will move the SC to challenge the bill. In his plea, Congress MP Mohammad Jawed held the bill imposes arbitrary restrictions on waqf properties and their management, undermining the religious autonomy of the Muslim community. The plea claimed the proposed law discriminates against Muslims by imposing curbs not present in the governance of other religious endowments. Jawed, an MP from Bihar’s Kishanganj, was also a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) that scrutinised the bill. While the Lok Sabha cleared the bill 288:232; in the Rajya Sabha it was 128:95. The bill will now go to the President for assent before becoming law. Earlier in the day AICC gen, eral secretary Jairam Ramesh Policemen detain a protester in Ahmedabad on Friday | PTI Protesters hit the streets Ahmedabad: Protests erupted in parts of the country hours after Parliament passed the Waqf bill. In Ahmedabad, protesters poured into the streets, denouncing the bill saying it is an assault on minority rights and religious autonomy. Protests were also reported in pockets of Delhi, West Bengal, Bihar, TN, Karnataka, Manipur and Jharkhand. said his party will soon challenge the constitutionality of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, in the Supreme Court. Challenging the bill in the top court, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi in his plea argued that it removes various protections that were previously accorded to waqfs as well as to Hindu, Jain, and Sikh religious and charitable endowments. A day after the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, the BJP on Friday said it would stand with the people of Munambam until their revenue rights are reestablished. BJP leaders led by state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar visited Munambam and joined residents in their celebrations over the passing of the bill by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. In Thrissur, Union Minister Suresh Gopi went to the St Mary’s Forane Church in Koratti fulfilling “the promise he made to the people of Munambam” that he would visit the church once the bill was passed. Chandrasekhar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been following a policy of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ since 2014 and the Union government has not shown any discrimination towards any community on the basis of caste or religion. “The Waqf (Amendment) Bill passed by Parliament is a milestone in Indian history. The non-violent protest of the residents of Munambam village reached New Delhi and facilitated the passage of a historic bill,” he said.  ● More on P4 j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi IN his first meeting with Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus after tensions following Sheikh Hasina government’s exit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised India’s desire to build a positive, constructive ties with Bangladesh based on pragmatism and highlighted New Delhi’s people-centric approach to the relationship. During the 45 minutes meeting on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit in Thailand, Modi underscored India’s concerns on safety and security of minorities in Bangladesh, including Hindus, and expressed an expectation that the Bangladeshi government would ensure their protection, particularly by investigating incidents of atrocities against them, while urging that rhetoric that vitiates the environment should be avoided. “Enunciating India’s people-centric approach to the relationship, Prime Minister highlighted that cooperation between the two countries has brought tangible benefits to people of both nations,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said after the meeting. India is facing a China problem from U.S. tariffs D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi AS US President Donald Trump’s new tariff regime takes off, Indian businesses are facing a dragon-sized threat. India has a $100-billion trade deficit with China. With the US imposing a 54% tariff on Chinese imports, India could become a dumping ground for surplus Chinese goods. In 2024, China exported goods worth $440 billion and maintained a trade surplus of $295 billion with the US. With the additional tariff, Chinese goods will become uncompetitive in the US market. China’s usual back-channel exports through Vietnam and Bangladesh may not work this time, as they too have been tariffed. Beijing hits back Beijing: In a tit-for-tat response, China on Friday slapped a 34% additional tariff on all imports from the US, effective April 10. Beijing also announced export controls on certain rare earth metals, aiming to hit American defence, computer, and smartphone industries | P9 China’s top exports to the US are electrical and electronics items, machinery toys, apparel, , etc. India imports electrical & electronics items, heavy machinery and iron & steel from China. , According to the Indian Steel Association, as the US shuts its doors to global steel, surplus steel from China— the world’s largest steel producer—could be redirected to India, leading to market distortions. Electronics, apparel and footwear sectors may also be hit similarly . “In 2024, Directorate General of Trade Remedies registered 43 anti-dumping cases against China. Chinese manufacturers may now escalate dumping,” said Debopam Chaudhuri, chief economist, Piramal Enterprises. “While we negotiate with the US, we must also guard against China’s reaction,” said Madhavi Puri, chief economist at Emkay Global Financial Services. EXPRESS READ Not in race for TN BJP prez post: Annamalai Coimbatore: Putting speculation to rest, BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai on Friday declared he was not in the race for the post next time. He, however, said he was not inclined to comment on reports that the AIADMK was for easing him out of office to forge an alliance with the BJP for the 2026 assembly election. FEMA case: ED raids ‘Empuraan’ co-producer Kochi: The ED on Friday searched establishments of Gokulam Group headed by businessman Gokulam Gopalan, who is one of the producers of Mohanlal-starrer Empuraan, in Tamil Nadu and Kerala as part of an investigation into the alleged violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) | P4