Through the Reader lens — The Karnataka High Court issued two consequential rulings in recent days. In one case, it refused to halt a criminal investigation into the daughter of a suspended former Karnataka Public Service Commission chairman, who is alleged to have submitted a false income certificate to claim reservation benefits — a move that keeps pressure on KPSC's integrity after earlier controversies. In a separate judgment, the Court struck down the Health Security and National Security Cess Act, 2025, which had imposed a cess on pan masala manufacturers based on assumed machine capacity rather than actual output. The bench held this methodology violated Article 14 (equality before law) of the Constitution. For the state, the ruling eliminates a significant revenue stream that had been contested by industry. For manufacturers, the cess is unenforceable in its current form, and any retroactive collection is now in legal doubt. The dual rulings underscore the Court's willingness to scrutinize both executive taxation methods and nepotism-linked abuse of public processes in Karnataka.