1,150 TOLL PLAZAS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE LIKELY TO BE AFFECTED NO CASH PAYMENTS AT NATIONAL HIGHWAY TOLL PLAZAS FROM APRIL Starting April, cash transactions may not be accepted at NHAI toll plazas, aiming to create a fully digital National Highway toll ecosystem Looking at cutting cash transactions As per current National Highway fee rules, vehicles entering a toll plaza without a valid, functional FASTag are charged twice the applicable user fee, if paid in cash, and 1.25 times from UPI mode ■ These initiatives have collectively advanced the objective of reducing dependency on cash transactions and digitizing the toll framework ■ BENGALURU  SATURDAY  FEBRUARY 21, 2026  `9.00  PAGES 22  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 US SC strikes down Don’s global tariffs Judicial officers for Bengal SIR SHIRTLESS PROTEST S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Says US President acted beyond his legal authority P U S H P I TA D E Y & J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi I’m ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed, for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country Donald Trump Refunds could be a mess The Treasury had collected more than $133 billion from the import tariffs Trump imposed. But Supreme Court did not clarify whether companies that paid tariffs can get a refund Critics welcome SC ruling Opponents of the tariffs are cheering it. ‘We Pay the Tariffs’ a coalition of businesses, called it a tremendous win IN a landmark judgment with significant implications for India’s trade outlook, the US Supreme Court has ruled that President Donald Trump acted beyond his legal authority in imposing sweeping global tarif fs under emergency powers. The court held that tariffs are effectively taxes and the Constitution assigns taxation powers to the Congress, not the President. In a 6-3 decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court held that the use of the Inter national Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to introduce broad-based tariffs lacked Congressional authorisation. The justices ruled that IEEPA did not grant the power to the President to impose tariffs on trading partners. The court emphasized that the law of imposing tariff is only meant for use in national emergencies. Trump reacted furiously al, leging that the court was influenced by “foreign interests”. He also announced a 10% “global tariff ” under a trade law known as Section 122. In light of the US court ruling, more than half of the Indian exports will not have to pay even the 18% tariff and, therefore, India may choose not to rush to sign the Bilateral Trade Agreement, say experts. “Removal of reciprocal tariffs will free about 55% of India’s exports to the US from the 18% duty, leaving them subject only to standard MFN (most favoured nation) tariffs. On the remaining exports, Section 232 tariffs will continue — 50% on steel and aluminium and 25% on certain auto components — while products accounting for roughly 40% of export value, including smartphones, petroleum products and medicines, will remain exempt from US tariffs,” said Ajay Srivastava, founder of Global Trade Research Initiative. “The US had agreed to reduce reciprocal tariffs on India to 18%, which shall no longer remain relevant following the Court’s decision. This is also likely pave the way for potential refunds of tariffs collected without adequate legal basis,” said Manoj Mishra, partner and tax controversy management leader at Grant Thornton Bharat. (With agency inputs) E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi A group of Indian Youth Congress workers on Friday staged a bizarre, shirtless protest at the India AI Impact Summit, before being confronted by members of the public and escorted away by security personnel. The protesters were seen waving T-shirts printed with photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump. The protest drew a sharp reaction from the BJP, with spokesperson Sambit Patra saying, “For the Congress, I have just three words—topless, brainless and shameless.” IYC national president Uday Bhanu Chib defended the action, saying, “Peaceful protest is our right in a democracy .” IN a dramatic turn of events, the Supreme Court on Friday directed for deployment of judicial officers, including retired judges, for easy and smooth conduct of the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal, after noting that there was a clear lack of cooperation between the State government and the Election Commission of India (ECI). The court said it had to pass the “extraordinary order” due to “extraordinary circumstances.” The court requested the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Sujoy Paul to allot serving and former judicial officers in the rank of district judges or above for SIR duties. Chief Justice Paul has been asked to convene a meeting on Saturday, to be attended by Chief Secretary, DGP, official from the EC, Advocate General TRINAMOOL SAYS IT’S A BLOW TO ECI Hailing the SC order to deploy judicial officers for SIR exercise, the ruling TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee said that it is a blow to the Election Commission, which has “failed in discharging its constitutional duties” of the state, Additional Solicitor General of the Centre and Registrar General of the high court on the issue. “There is an unfortunate blame game of allegations and counter allegations which shows trust deficit between the WB government and the ECI. Now the process is stuck at the stage of claims and objections of the persons who have been included in the logical discrepancy list,” said a three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipin Pancholi. “We are left with hardly any other option but to request Calcutta High Court CJ to spare some serving judicial officers along with former judicial officers who can aid in disposal or revisiting of claims under the logical discrepancy list. Each officer shall be assisted by the ECI and officials of State government deputed to assist in the duty,” the three-judge bench added. The court was hearing a batch of pleas challenging the ECI’s exercise of electoral rolls in West Bengal, where ECI submitted that they were not being provided well-qualified officers to conduct SIR. Snehamayi detained over ‘fake’ audio SP injured as stones thrown clip of former MUDA commissioner at procession in Bagalkot EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru SOCIAL activist Snehamayi Krishna, who had filed a complaint against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and others in connection the alleged illegal allotment of sites by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), was detained by the Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) police on Friday , for allegedly creating fake documents and uploading a fabricated audio clip on social media, based on a complaint filed by ex-MUDA commissioner DB Natesh. On Tuesday, Krishna had uploaded a six-second audio clip in which a person, whom Krishna claimed was Natesh, was heard saying, “We should find some link to establish connection with Snehamayi Krishna one-to-one.” CONTINUED ON: P4 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bagalkot BAGALKOT Superintendent of Police Siddharth Goyal and two others sustained injuries after stones were thrown at a Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti procession in the old city of Bagalkot on Thursday night. All of them escaped with minor injuries. The incident occurred when the procession was passing through Pankha Masjid, one of the oldest mosques in the city, source said. One of the stones hit the SP injuring him, but he , is said to be out of danger. Goyal told media persons that the stones thrown at the procession were not kept in advance or intentionally. “They were kept under a shoe rack to balance it,” he said. P4