This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Flora Swain.
It’s the 15th of May and here are today's headlines.

Invalidating his arrest in a terror case, the Supreme Court today ordered the release of Newsclick founder-editor Prabir Purkayastha. The reason the court gave: the Delhi Police failed to inform Purkayastha the grounds of his arrest before taking him into custody. The ruling is significant because it emphasises that proper procedure and due process are the guardrails against arbitrary action, even in stringent terror cases. Purkayastha was arrested on 3rd of October 2023 by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police, who alleged that Newsclick received money for pro-China propaganda.

One of the 14 people who were trapped after a lift collapsed at a copper mine in Rajasthan’s Neem Ka Thana district passed away today, hours after all of them were rescued. Besides workers, members of a Vigilance team from Kolkata and senior officials of the Khetri Copper Corporation were also trapped following the collapse on Tuesday night. The incident took place in Hindustan Copper Limited’s Kolihan mine, located in the Khetri area. Ambulances have been rushed to the spot and doctors have been asked to be prepared for any emergency.

While reacting to the warning issued by the United States a day after India and Iran signed a 10-year contract to operate the strategic Iranian port of Chabahar,  External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today, asserted that the agreement will benefit the entire region. He said, “We have a long association with the Chabahar port but we could never sign a long-term agreement. The reason being there were various problems on the Iranian end, it’s a JV (joint venture), partners changed, conditions changed. Finally, we were able to sort this out and get the long-term agreement done. A long-term agreement is necessary, because without it, you cannot really improve the port operations, which we believe will benefit the entire region.” Unquote.

Coming down heavily on the Uttarakhand government, the Supreme Court today said it was “at pains to say that the state’s approach in controlling forest fires has been lackadaisical,”. It added that though action plans were prepared and finalised, no steps have been taken for their implementation. Hearing a plea raising the issue of forest fires in Uttarakhand, the top court also directed the Chief Secretary to be present before it on 17th of May. Flagging a huge vacancy in the state’s forest department, the Supreme Court said the issue needs to be addressed.

As Israel-Hamas war continues to rage on, the Israeli Defence Forces claimed to eliminate Hussain Ibrahim Mekky, a senior field commander in Hezbollah, by an IAF aircraft strike overnight. The IDF made the announcement in an 'operational update' on its official X handle and claimed that Mekky was responsible for "various acts of terrorism" against Israel. Mekky previously served as the commander of Hezbollah's forces in the coastal region, said the IDF post.

This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.