HC BARS GUJARAT FROM DECLARING LOCALITIES ‘DISTURBED AREAS’
The Gujarat high court on January 20 stopped the state government from declaring any locality a “disturbed area” allowed under Section 3(1)(ii) of the Gujarat Disturbed Areas Act, 1991, stating that it could lead to “improper clustering of persons” from “one community”. A bench comprising Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Ashutish J. Shastri was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, challenging the Gujarat Disturbed Areas Act, 1991, amended in 2020. The court ordered the state government not to issue any notifications under Section 3(1)(ii) and (iii) of the said Act until February 3, when the next hearing is scheduled. The petitioner, represented by advocate Muhammad Isa M. Hakim, requested the court to declare the said Act ultra vires as it is in violation of Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.
TIMES OF INDIA APOLOGISES FOR 2007 ARTICLE ON AMU
Prominent English daily Times of India tendered an apology for publishing a ‘defamatory’ article on Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in a civil court of Delhi on January 14 – 14 years after the article was published, a report said on January 23. The case was filed by a former law student of the university, Farrukh Khan, who is now a practising advocate. Khan was also the general secretary of the students’ union in 2005. The 2007 news story titled ‘AMU: Where the Degrees are Sold like Toffees’ was written by Akhilesh Kumar Singh. Khan filed a defamation suit against the publisher, the editor and the reporter of the newspaper. The case was settled on January 14 when the newspaper submitted an apology. The news story has been retracted.
HC REFUSES TO QUASH FIR AGAINST HINDU MAHASABHA LEADER
The Allahabad High Court on January 21 declined to quash the FIR against Hindu Mahasabha leader, Ashok Kumar Pandey, for passing communal slurs against Aligarh Muslim University and its Founder Sir Saiyed Ahmad Khan. A division bench of Justices Manoj Kumar Gupta and Rajendra Kumar-IV found that the allegations prima facie disclosed the commission of a cognizable offence under Sections 153-A, 153-B and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The bench also refused to grant a stay of the arrest. Ashok Pandey was booked by the Aligarh police for terming AMU students as ‘terrorists’ and calling the institution ‘a seminary for terrorists’ in an interview.
FARMER UNIONS CONDEMN TRACTOR RALLY CHAOS
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a joint front of the protesting farmer unions, condemned the violence that erupted in the national capital on January 26 and blamed antisocial elements for infiltrating the Republic Day tractor agitation. “Antisocial elements infiltrated our otherwise peaceful movement. We condemn and regret the undesirable and unacceptable events that have taken place today during farmers’ protest,” the SKM said in a statement. The morcha said it is dissociating itself from all such elements that violated the discipline. It also thanked thousands of farmers for their “unprecedented participation” in the agitation. Earlier, Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said there are people from political parties who are trying to malign the agitation against the new farm laws.
APCR HELPS RELEASE FOUR INMATES FROM LUCKNOW DISTRICT JAIL
Four prisoners were released from Lucknow District Jail in Uttar Pradesh on January 26. This could be possible thanks to the legal help of civil rights group, the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR). Those who got released are Yunus, Vishal, Javed and Santosh. The UP unit of the APCR has been helping prisoners for a long time. So far it has helped release around 125 prisoners in different districts of UP. The APCR provides legal aid and guidance to poor and backward people, who become victims of injustice for various reasons. The organisation comes forward to help such jailed victims and helps them to restart their normal life. APCR’s UP unit Secretary Advocate Najmussaquib Khan thanked jail officials for their cooperation in his organisation’s efforts.
POSSESSION OF 2.88 ACRES OF GRAVEYARD IN BHOPAL FUELS TENSION
A curfew was imposed in the old city of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh on January 17 after the RSS-backed Rajdev Janseva Trust began construction work on the 2.88 acres of disputed land, claimed to be a graveyard, in the presence of heavy police deployment. Even after several days of the curfew, tension continues to prevail in the locality. Shops have remained closed and police restricted the entry of locals into the lane which led to the disputed site. The Trust has been constructing the boundary wall and a community hall on the disputed land. However, the land still has a few graves made of brick.
ZEE NEWS DELETES FALSE REPORT ABOUT JAMAAT-E-ISLAMI HIND
Zee News portal has edited and deleted all references to Jamaat-e-Islami Hind from one of their Hindi stories (dated 14 January) covering the West Bengal and Assam elections after drawing attention. In the news story, the Jamaat was portrayed in bad light. Upon rigorous follow-up and correspondence with the concerned editor and legal department of the Zee News, the original article was edited and any reference to Jamaat-e-Islami Hind was deleted. The Jamaat had informed Zee, “In the present scenario, media needs to foster better understanding between people of various religions rather than increasing the gulf of misunderstandings and myths. We hope that Zee Media will avoid such reporting in the future”.
ARNAB PAID ME $12,000 AND RS 40 LAKH TO FIX RATINGS: DASGUPTA
The former CEO of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, Partho Dasgupta, has claimed in a handwritten statement to Mumbai Police that he received US$12,000 from Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami for two separate holidays and a total of Rs 40 lakh over three years, in return for manipulating ratings in favour of the news channel, according to the supplementary chargesheet filed in the TRP scam case. The 3,600-page supplementary chargesheet, filed by Mumbai Police on January 11, also includes a BARC forensic audit report, WhatsApp chats purportedly between Dasgupta and Goswami, and statements of 59 persons, including former council employees and cable operators. The audit report names several news channels, including Republic, Times Now and Aaj Tak.
BJP YOUTH LEADER, 19 OTHERS BOOKED IN MP FOR SMUGGLING BOVINES
In a 10-hour long operation, the Balaghat police of Madhya Pradesh rescued 165 bovines from Lalbarra area of the district on January 25-26, which were allegedly being smuggled for slaughter in Maharashtra, a report citing police sources said on January 28. The police has registered an FIR (first information report) against 20 people, including the general secretary of Balaghat BJP’s youth wing, Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha’s (BJYM) Manoj Pardhi under Section 429 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections.
BJP MLA STOPS REPAIR OF VANDALISED MOSQUE IN KANPUR
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Abhijeet Singh Sanga has stopped the repair works on a mosque in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The mosque in the Bithoor area of the city was vandalised and painted with saffron colour recently. Through a tweet in Hindi, he claimed that the mosque was built at the place of a temple. On January 23, Sanga put out a video of himself stopping the police officials from carrying out the repair works. In the video clip, the SHO of local police station can be seen telling the MLA who represents Bithoor in the state Assembly that the mosque was vandalised, to which the MLA asks what proof he has that it was vandalised. “Work on it if you have guts. Let me see who has the guts to do it. Call your higher ups. Tell him that the MLA is not allowing. I’m challenging on record,” Sanga is seen as saying.