'The idea of subversive activities is so vague that it could include making fun of the government, being critical of the government.'
The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas, including those seeking review of some verdicts of 2011 which had held that mere membership of a banned organisation will not make a person criminal unless he resorts to violence or incites people to violence.
The Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) has busted an Al Qaeda module and arrested four members who hail from Bangladesh but have been living illegally in Ahmedabad, an official said on Monday.
Twitter has also withheld the handles of its chairperson, OMA Salam (@oma_salam), who had just under 50,000 followers, and general secretary, Anis Ahmed (@AnisPFI), who had nearly 85,000 followers.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the events in Tripura, which led to several people being charged under the draconian UAPA, for questioning the state government's version on the recent violence in the state.
The Gauhati high court on Thursday acquitted all six accused in the 2004 Dhemaji bomb blast case in which 18 people, including 13 school children, were killed on Independence Day.
Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 terror attacks case, stayed at a hotel in Mumbai's Powai area for two days in November 2008 ahead of the attacks, where he discussed about the crowded places in south Mumbai with a witness in the case, the police said on Tuesday.
A Delhi court on Tuesday sent to 10-day judicial custody NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and human resources department head Amit Chakravarty, arrested in a case lodged under anti-terror law UAPA over allegations that the news portal received money to spread pro-China propaganda.
The judge said the prosecution failed to prove that the accused were members of a terrorist organisation.
Professor T J Joseph, whose right hand was chopped off back in 2010 by alleged activists of now banned Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI), still bears no ill-will against his attackers whose actions not only impaired the functioning of his palm, but also led to him losing his job for a while that in turn resulted in his wife's suicide.
Bhima Koregaon represents what the government can do in India against well meaning people who speak up against atrocities, who stand up for the weak and the dispossessed and for this reason alone as seen as enemies of the State and kept in prison for as long as the government can manage. So long as the rest of us do not speak up against this misbehaviour by the State, so long as we forget about those who have been made its victims, this behaviour will continue, asserts Aakar Patel.
'The Bills (Bharatiya Saksha, Bharatiya Nagarik Sanhita and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) are arbitrary, opaque and ambiguous and structurally quite violent.'
The National Investigation Agency on Friday filed a fresh charge sheet against five persons in connection with the Coimbatore car bomb blast in October 2022, and said the prime accused was "reportedly inspired by the hardcore ISIS ideology" to carry out this terrorist attack.
The FIR pointed out that the accused persons booked by the Central agency were instructed to hurl hand grenades at public gatherings and processions in order to create communal tension.
Para, perhaps, has become the first person to benefit from the Supreme Court putting on hold trial of cases under section 124 A (sedition).
'...by directing these draconian provisions against political and ideological opponents of the ruling group, minorities, and those who dare to dissent through and selective prosecution and prolonged incarceration as undertrials.'
"Having given our anxious consideration to this aspect of 'likelihood' of threat and terror, we are of the view that the foundations of our nation stand on surer footing than to be likely to be shaken by a protest, however vicious, organised by a tribe of college students or other persons, operating as a coordination committee from the confines of a University situate in the heart of Delhi," a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani said in a 133-page judgement.
The court is likely to hear argument on quantum of sentence on February 14 and the convicts face a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and S Ravindra Bhat fixed the plea for final disposal on September 9.
The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is the national central bureau of India to liaison with the Interpol, had sent the request of National Investigation Agency seeking Red Notice against Pannun but it was returned with further queries, they said.
Panjwar, 63 was involved in drug and weapons smuggling and was designated as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020.
Chief metropolitan magistrate Dinesh Kumar admitted him on bail on furnishing Rs 25,000 bond with one surety of like amount.
Five people who were radicalised to carry out terror attacks have been arrested by the Central Crime Branch with firearms and ammunition along with 12 mobile phones confiscated from them, Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda said on Wednesday.
A Supreme Court bench of Justice M R Shah and Justice Bela M Trivedi in a special sitting on Saturday upheld the Maharashtra government's plea and suspended the Bombay high court order acquitting former Delhi University Professor G N Saibaba in a case relating to his alleged Maoist links.
On average, about 60 cases were filed by the agency in 2019 and 2020, officials said.
The Kerala high court on Tuesday granted bail to Swapna Suresh in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act case registered by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the sensational gold smuggling through diplomatic channel.
'This action sends out a very nasty message in a very strong way -- that nobody is exempt.' 'It is also an attempt to extend the definition of who is an anti-national, who's a terrorist, a definition that's becoming looser under this regime.' 'The sad part is that by the time the courts acquit those arrested, they would've spent years in jail and been taught a lesson.'
The police have detained three more people in connection with the killing so far.
'I wonder how people who come to power through democratic means turn out this way.' 'But people of India are strong, and those who think they can hoodwink people, are mistaken.' 'You can fool some people for some time, but not all people, all the time.'
Maybe, the need for secrecy may have tied the government's hand from sharing details in Parliament. Still, it should consider the need of sharing the utmost within any consultative committee, so that relative secrecy is still maintained. But such a course should involve the prime minister or home minister, as it is much more serious than is being made out to be, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Where you change the law and then say, we are following the law.' 'The fact is, the law is not meeting any international standards.' 'How can you call UAPA or PMLA a law when you are guilty until proven innocent?'
Lashing out at both the opposition and ruling fronts led by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday said that neither dukandar nor chowkidar opens their mouths when Muslims are oppressed.
'It taught me how to be resilient, how to be strong and how to be courageous.'
The NIA on Thursday filed a chargesheet against six people in connection with the October 2022 Coimbatore car bomb blast, saying the prime accused of the terrorist attack was "inspired by ISIS ideology".
Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and several other party leaders were detained on Tuesday night as they held a dharna at the Union Rural Development Ministry office in New Delhi demanding a meeting with the minister and released around three hours later.
Kerala-based journalist Sidhique Kappan, arrested in October 2020 on the way to Hathras where a Dalit woman had died after allegedly being gang-raped, has deep links with the Popular Front of India and is part of a larger conspiracy to "incite religious discord and spread terror", Uttar Pradesh government has told the Supreme Court.
The Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association has expressed strong reservations about the proposed amendments to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Dabholkar, who headed the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was shot dead in Pune on August 20, 2013, allegedly by members of a right-wing extremist group. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting a probe into the case.
Malik had earlier pleaded guilty to all the charges including those under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in a terror funding case.
While most political parties have mostly stayed mum about the vicious anti-hate speeches -- reportedly calling for killing Muslims and former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh -- made at the so-called 'Dharma Sansad' event in Haridwar from December 17-20 -- student organisations protested against the inflammatory and provocative speeches, calling for the immediate arrests of the accused.
