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SC grants Chidambaram interim protection from ED – till CBI custody gets over on Aug 26

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SC grants Chidambaram interim protection from ED – till CBI custody gets over on Aug 26

Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram got little real relief from Supreme Court today (Friday, Aug 23) as all got was interim protection from arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the INX Media case till Aug 26.

Till then, Chidambaram will continue to be in CBI custody as the apex court did not intervene in the CBI case.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that Chidambaram cannot be arrested in the ED case till Monday as he is already in the custody of the CBI and a person cannot be arrested simultaneously by two agencies.

A bench comprising Justices R Banumathi and AS Bopanna has scheduled the next hearing for Monday, August 26. On that day, the apex court will also hear Chidambaram’s plea for anticipatory bail in the case filed by CBI as well as his petition challenging order remanding him to CBI custody.

The apex court was hearing two separate petitions filed by Chidambaram challenging the Delhi High Court August 20 verdict by which his anticipatory bail was dismissed in the cases registered by both the CBI and the ED.

In the CBI case, a special court on Thursday sent Chidambaram for custodial interrogation after he was arrested on the night of August 21.

Chidambaram, who was Union Home Minister and also Finance Minister during the UPA rule from 2004 to 2014, was arrested on Wednesday night after he failed to get protection from the Supreme Court, which did not list for an urgent hearing his appeal against the Delhi High Court verdict dismissing his anticipatory bail plea on Tuesday.

At the very outset in the hearing at SC today, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the CBI and ED, submitted that the plea for anticipatory bail on the CBI matter had become infructuous since Chidambaram had already been arrested.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Chidambaram, argued that the fundamental rights under Article 21 have been violated. Contending that he still has the right to be heard, he said the matter for anticipatory bail was mentioned on Wednesday and just because it could not be taken up, the CBI arrested Chidambaram in the evening.

Sibal said the special leave petition challenging the order was ready and pleaded for the matters to be listed for Monday.

On the plea against ED, Sibal claimed that the Delhi High Court’s single judge had copy-pasted verbal arguments/notes of the respondents as observation in its order. This clearly showed his bias in the case, Sibal added.

Mehta argued that custodial interrogation was necessary for Chidambaram as he had been evasive and avoiding questions using his “mental faculties, grasp of legal and political knowledge”.

“Given the background and mental faculties, we will never be able to investigate properly if there is a protective umbrella of anticipatory bail. This is why we need custodial interrogation,” said Mehta. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, also appearing for Chidambaram, said, “How can the HC judge refer to Aircel Maxis case when he was hearing only the INX Media case?” Singhvi added that interim protection was already granted in the other case and it had no relation to the INX Media case.

Mehta said, “Hue and cry is being made.. Political vendetta is being raised but I will give evidence to show why we need custodial interrogation.”

“We have electronic evidence, emails exchanges to trace route of illicit, illegal transfer or money. Shell companies were created by those having close connection with P Chidambaram and the money was laundered through these companies,” Mehta said.

The apex court division bench, reported LiveMint, said that they are inclined to continue Chidambaram’s his interim protection in the ED case since he had interim protection before as well and it isn’t the case of the respondents that he didn’t join investigation.

Opposing this, Mehta said, as of now, Chidambaram is already in custody of the CBI hence cannot be arrested.

Mehta persistently argued for the case diary to be pursued by the Supreme Court bench and pass an order on Monday on the basis of that. He tried giving the case diary in a sealed envelope to the Judge. The same diary was given to the CBI judge who passed the order for custodial interrogation on Thursday evening. The bench, however, refused to accept the case diary.

The court also recorded in its order that Chidambaram had always been on bail and he had been cooperating in the investigation in the ED matter.

The CBI registered an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during Mr. Chidambaram’s tenure as the Finance Minister. Thereafter, the ED lodged a money laundering case in this regard in 2018.

India News

Parliament’s Monsoon Session likely to bring five new bills and two pending legislations

The upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament is expected to take up five new bills and two pending legislations, with proposals covering FCRA, MSMEs, Supreme Court judges and births and deaths registration.

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Parliament

Parliament’s Monsoon Session, expected to begin in the last week of July, is likely to feature five new bills along with two pending legislations for consideration and passage, according to sources. The government is also expected to brief political parties on the proposed legislative agenda during the customary all-party meeting ahead of the session.

Notably, the tentative agenda does not include any Constitution Amendment Bill, even as speculation continues over measures related to delimitation and women’s reservation.

Two pending bills likely to come up for consideration

Among the pending legislations is the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25. The proposed amendments aim to improve transparency in the regulation of foreign funds received in India.

The Viksit Bharat Education Establishment Bill, 2025, introduced in December 2025, is also expected to move forward after the Joint Committee of Parliament submits its report during the Monsoon Session.

Two bills to replace ordinances

The government is expected to introduce the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026, replacing an ordinance issued earlier. According to sources, the legislation seeks to strengthen India’s sovereign debt market, attract global investments and improve market liquidity amid geopolitical uncertainties, volatile crude oil prices and global supply chain disruptions.

Another ordinance replacement is the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, which proposes increasing the sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges from 33 to 37, excluding the Chief Justice of India, to help speed up the disposal of pending cases.

Three new bills on the legislative agenda

The remaining proposed legislations expected to be introduced during the session include:

  • Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026, aimed at tightening and streamlining rules governing delayed registration of births and deaths.
  • Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which seeks stricter provisions against acts considered disrespectful to national symbols or national honour.
  • Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026, intended to improve ease of doing business, strengthen mechanisms for addressing delayed payments and provide greater powers to states.

Supplementary grants also on Parliament agenda

Apart from legislative business, the government is expected to present the Demands for Supplementary Grants for the financial year 2022-23 for discussion and voting in Parliament.

Meanwhile, sources said there is speculation that the government may take up Constitution Amendment Bills related to delimitation and women’s reservation only after it is confident of securing the required two-thirds majority in Parliament.

The government is also expected to introduce Constitution Amendment Bills aimed at disqualifying jailed leaders from holding powers and advancing the proposed ‘One Nation, One Election’ framework.

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Arunachal Pradesh floods: Fresh landslides hit five districts as over 1 lakh people remain affected

Fresh floods and landslides have affected five districts in Arunachal Pradesh, taking the total number of affected people to over 1.03 lakh as the IMD forecasts more heavy rainfall.

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Delhi floods

Fresh floods and landslides were reported in five districts of Arunachal Pradesh over the past 24 hours, adding to the devastation caused by persistent rainfall across the state. Officials said the disasters have damaged roads, bridges, irrigation infrastructure, houses and crops, while the overall number of affected people has crossed one lakh.

Fresh floods reported in five districts

According to the state Disaster Management Department’s latest daily situation report, fresh incidents were recorded in East Kameng, Upper Subansiri, Upper Siang, Kamle and Kra Daadi districts.

The affected areas include Seppa and Bameng circles in East Kameng, Daporijo in Upper Subansiri, Mariyang, Migging and Tuting in Upper Siang, Gepen, Puchigeko and Raga in Kamle, and the Tali circle in Kra Daadi district.

During the last 24 hours, 640 people were affected in East Kameng and another 53 people in Kamle.

The ongoing spell of floods and landslides has so far claimed seven lives, injured 29 people and affected 1,03,860 people across Arunachal Pradesh.

Infrastructure suffers extensive damage

Authorities reported fresh damage to key infrastructure, including roads and drainage systems in East Kameng, 13 minor irrigation projects and channels along with a flood protection wall in Upper Siang, three bridges in Kamle, and a bridge and two retaining walls in Kra Daadi.

Upper Siang remains the worst-affected district, with 49,259 people impacted. It is followed by Siang (25,365), Kra Daadi (13,731), East Kameng (6,786), Upper Subansiri (3,467), Namsai (2,657) and Anjaw (1,011).

Across the state, 804 houses have been damaged, including 614 kutcha houses and 120 pucca houses. Floods and landslides have also affected roads, bridges, power infrastructure, government buildings, schools, hospitals, water supply schemes and flood protection structures.

The cumulative damage to agriculture and horticulture has reached 603.75 hectares, including 240 hectares of agricultural land and 363.75 hectares of horticulture plantations.

IMD forecasts more heavy rainfall

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast continued rainfall across Arunachal Pradesh from Friday, with heavy to very heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning likely over several districts during the next three days.

An orange alert has been issued for Papum Pare, Tirap and Changlang districts on Friday, warning of thunderstorms with lightning and heavy rainfall.

On Saturday, the orange alert has been extended to Longding, East Siang, Lower Subansiri, Papum Pare, Tirap and Changlang. The IMD has also warned of very heavy rainfall over Lohit and Papum Pare.

Weather conditions are expected to improve from Sunday, with most districts likely to remain under a yellow alert or no warning, indicating a gradual reduction in rainfall intensity. By Monday, conditions are expected to improve further, although isolated places may continue to receive light to moderate rain.

The IMD has advised district authorities and residents to remain vigilant, warning that continued rainfall could trigger landslides, flash floods, waterlogging and disruptions to road connectivity in vulnerable areas.

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Illegal immigration from India to US drops 69% from 2023 peak, says US data

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Fears of harsh treatment, including internment, and tough border legislations under the Donald Trump administration seem to have brought down illegal immigration from India to the United States by almost 69 per cent from the peak recorded in 2023, according to the latest data released by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The figures indicate a significant decline in irregular migration through the US land borders.

Trump and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) support base have advocated tougher measures against illegal immigrants such as roving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel who have picked up immigrants and detain them in camps. ICE personnel have killed several Americans too in the mindless drive against immigrants.

CBP data, which follows the US fiscal year (October to September), shows authorities recorded 20,614 encounters with Indian migrants between October 2025 and May 2026. During the corresponding period in FY2023, when illegal migration from India reached its highest level, the number of encounters stood at 67,212. The latest figures are also lower than the nearly 29,000 encounters recorded during the same period in FY2025.

The sharpest decline has been recorded along the US-Mexico border, where encounters involving Indian migrants fell by nearly 99 per cent, from 30,109 during the October-May period of FY2023 to 417 in FY2026. At the US-Canada border, encounters dropped to 2,250, marking a 91 per cent decline from the comparable period in FY2024.

Migration experts said the decline comes amid tighter US immigration measures, stricter border enforcement and reduced expectations of securing asylum through illegal entry routes. Experts also noted that the high financial cost and risks associated with irregular migration have discouraged many prospective migrants from attempting the journey.

Despite the decline, Indian nationals continue to account for a significant share of migrants intercepted at US land borders, says CBP. Officials from both India and the United States have repeatedly urged people to avoid illegal migration routes and instead use authorised visa and immigration channels.

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