MEXICO , CANADA, China TARIFFS from march 4 US President Donald Trump said illicit drugs are still pouring into the US from Mexico 25% HYDERABAD l friday l february 28, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 36 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. Tunnel rescue teams push through debris Rescue teams use gas cutters to cut the debris of the TBM so that the pieces can be taken out of the SLBC tunnel on Thursday E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Rescue teams intensified operations on Thursday, hoping to find survivors six days after the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel collapsed, trapping eight workers inside. Using gas and plasma cutters, the teams made some progress in clearing the debris of the tunnel boring machine (TBM). Rescue personnel are expected to cross the previously inaccessible 40-metre area after the path near the TBM was cleared. A multi-agency rescue operation is in full swing at the SLBC, with the country’s top experts and advanced equipment deployed to save the trapped workers. Teams have been removing slush and dewatering the tunnel, where the water seepage rate is estimated to be around 5,000 litres per minute. Once the debris is cleared, teams will be able to reach the TBM. The rescue mission involves personnel from the Army, Navy, NDRF, SDRF and Border Roads Organisation, with South C e n t r a l R a i lw ay ’s plasma cutters and other specialised equipment being used. Efforts are also underway to ext r a c t t he TBM from the tunnel. Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy after a review of , the situation on Thursday said , the rescue operations would be Works to continue Jaiprakash Gaur, 94, chairman of Jaypee Group, the contracting agency, said the tunnel works would continue once the workers are brought out. He said he has witnessed six to seven such incidents in his professional life completed within the next two to three days. Regular tunnel work would resume in two to three months, he said, describing the incident as one of the most complex tunnel accidents in the country’s history . The minister pointed out that multiple national and international agencies — for the first time — have come together for a rescue mission of this scale. Eleven top agencies specialising in tunnel disasters are leading the operation. Teams are working round the clock, deploying the most advanced technology, including plasma cutters, high-grade shutters and debris removal machinery while international , experts oversee the strategy. “Removal of the TBM and the dewatering processes have been intensified to clear obstructions,” the minister said. This is an extremely challenging operation, and the best experts in the field are involved. They are risking their lives to complete the rescue mission N Uttam Kumar Reddy, state Irrigation minister Panel with legal experts to resolve Emaar disputes No one can stop TG Rising: Revanth Hyderabad: Asserting that no one could stop ‘Telangana Rising’ or halt its progress, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said, “Many people were unsure when I first coined ‘Telangana Rising’. Now, the whole world is accepting it. People were also sceptical about ‘Hyderabad Rising’, but today, the entire world has witnessed its reality.” On Thursday, the chief minister, along with IT Minister D Sridhar Babu, inaugurated the HCLTech KRC campus in Hyderabad. The state-of-the-art 3.2-lakh sq ft facility will create 5,000 jobs. continued on P5 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has directed officials to constitute a committee comprising legal experts, in addition to the existing panel formed by the previous government in 2015 under the chairmanship of the chief secretary, to address the long-pending disputes involving Dubai-based Emaar Properties. The decision followed a meeting at the Secretariat on Thursday, where Emaar representatives, including founder and managing director (MD) Mo- hammed Alabbar, spoke about resolving legal and operational hurdles related to the company’s stalled projects. Since the cases probed by investig ating agencies and chargesheets involve legal issues, the chief minister instructed officials to thoroughly examine the firm’s agreement documents, details of court cases and instructions given by the Union government. He also accepted Emaar’s proposal to set up a legal agency with the approval of the UAE government to study the legal disputes and find an amicable solution.  continued on P5 85% of edu seats in Telangana reserved for locals GO 15 says remaining 15% will be unreserved. It also implies that candidates from AP will no longer be eligible for local reservations in colleges in Telangana | p2 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 | P9 ■