One would not think that a Facebook status or a tweet could land you in jail, at least not in India -- the world's largest democracy. However, the reality is a lot more brutal in India, which has a shameful history of locking up its citizens for dissenting viewpoints. According to Mint, at least 50 people have been arrested through 2017 and 2018 for posts on social media. Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com presents some of the most prominent cases.
Group suspects taped conversations must have been spliced, altered, doctored and manipulated to serve interests of those engaged in tapping operations
Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and two other Aam Aadmi Party leaders have been summoned as accused by a court in New Delhi in a criminal defamation complaint filed against them by an advocate.
The lawsuit, by four industry associations and 34 producers, seeks the court's direction to Republic TV, its editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and reporter Pradeep Bhandari, Times Now, its editor-in-chief Rahul Shivshankar and group editor Navika Kumar and unknown defendants as well as social media platforms to refrain from making or publishing allegedly irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks against Bollywood.
'It smells like a case to silence my voice at this important time in the #metoo movement but in the larger context it could be a ploy to muddy the waters and sabotage the entire movement altogether.'
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) also told Justice Navin Chawla that on October 9 it issued an advisory to all private satellite TV channels to adhere to the programme code provided under the Cable Television Networks Rules.
Irked by his "bribe remarks" made at a poll rally on Sunday, Congress has moved the Election Commission against AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal demanding action against him.
Vadra posted the remark on Facebook as the Congress came out in defence of Vadra and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of practising political vendetta.
The high court pointed out that only an interim RGO was appointed by Twitter and a wrong impression was given to the court on May 31 as it was not informed that the appointment was on interim basis.
The rot is is not limited to Chitra Ramkrishna and the yogi, observed Debashis Basu.
Olympic bronze-medallist and five-time world champion M C Mary Kom on Sunday denied reports that she made disparaging remarks against fellow male boxers like Shiva Thapa and Manoj Kumar during a meeting of the national observers in New Delhi.
Nithyananda was booked on the similar charges after police recorded statements of the four children who were rescued from a flat and the ashram, "Yogini Sarvagyapeetham", a police officer said.
A Delhi court on Thursday warned former Army Chief General V K Singh for making defamatory remarks against ex-Lt Governor of Delhi Tejinder Singh, who had filed a criminal defamation case against him and four others, saying it would lead to cancellation of his bail granted earlier.
The court made the observation while refusing to grant interim protection from arrest to a woman booked by the Mumbai and Palghar police for allegedly making offensive remarks on Twitter against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya Thackeray.
An appeals court in New Delhi has affirmed a district judge's order to dismiss a human rights violation lawsuit filed against Congress president Sonia Gandhi by a Sikh group in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, ruling that the petition lacked merit.
Amid an uproar over Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's threat to "crush" the electronic media, the Congress on Tuesday said it has always given respect to the media and his statement was directed at the Bharatiya Janata Party's "paid team", which attacks virulently anyone who targets it or Narendra Modi.
Congress leader Manish Tewari has tendered an unconditional apology to Nitin Gadkari in connection with his charge against him in the Adarsh Housing scam following which BJP leader withdrew a defamation case against him.
On legal front, Wankhede, who the NCB asserted has an impeccable service record, failed to get any relief related to an affidavit on the sensational extortion claims made by the independent witness, Prabhakar Sail, with a special court saying it cannot pass a blanket order barring courts from taking cognisance of the document.
Under-fire Chris Gayle has sought the services of a leading Australian lawyer to start defamation proceedings against Fairfax Media over allegations that the West Indian cricketer indecently exposed himself to a woman in Sydney during the World Cup last year. The allegations came to the fore following Gayle's widely-criticised live interview with Ten Sports' female presenter Mel McLaughlin while playing for Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League.
Bala, 36, was arrested in Chennai on Sunday on a complaint by District Collector Sandeep Nanduri, who was also caricatured in the cartoon, along with the city police chief.
The announcement by Attorney General Jeff Sessions comes within days of President Donald Trump firing his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
A section of members from the National Cricket Club (NCC), one of the affiliated voting units of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), questioned as to how late Jagmohan Dalmiya's son Avishek represented the club at the Special General Meeting of the BCCI on Saturday.
Doval had moved court against the magazine, the author of the article Kaushal Shroff and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh for holding a press conference on January 17 reiterating the 'baseless and unfounded facts' as narrated in the article.
Jethmalani said, "The reason behind it is he (Kejriwal) has spoken a lie. He has gone and said that I have not given any instructions, but fact is he did and I have them recorded."
Katju who hit back at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his critical remarks and churned out more taunting posts.
Kejriwal exempted till March 17 by a Delhi Court in a defamation suit.
The Congress party on Saturday moved the Election Commission over Narendra Modi's controversial khooni panja (bloodied hand) barb at the party during a poll rally in Chhattisgarh, seeking "stern action" against Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate.
The apex court, while hearing a plea raising grievance over the programme, said that the manner in which some media houses are conducting debate is a matter of concern as all kind of defamatory things are being said.
India cricket captain Virat Kohli's wife and Bollywood actor Anuskha Sharma reacted strongly to former wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer's claims that the national selectors were getting her 'cups of tea' during the World Cup in UK earlier this year.
The cross-examination of Akbar by Ramani's counsel remained inconclusive and would resume on on July 6.
Media company Zee Media Corporation Limited on Tuesday vehemently rebutted the allegations in the defamation civil suit filed by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the Madras high court, where he alleged Zee News of telecasting "malicious" news about him.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday urged the Election Commission to derecognise Congress as a national party, accusing it and its vice president Rahul Gandhi of repeatedly violating the model code of conduct.
It could be a lewd remark, a suggestive gesture... It could be the office boy, the security guard, your boss or a colleague you didn't work directly with. What did you do about it?
The government of UP has made it a habit of sorts to move against -- or better still, lock up -- mediapersons who give cause for displeasure, says Shuma Raha.
The ground announcer who was stood down for allegedly introducing England spinner Monty Panesar in a mock Indian accent, is seeking clarification from Cricket Australia (CA) over his removal after denying any slur was made.
Bharatiya Janata Party Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been summoned as an accused by a Delhi court in a defamation complaint filed against him by former JD-U leader Sabir Ali for allegedly linking him with arrested Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal.
In a statement, the BJP chief's son said, ""The article makes false, derogatory and defamatory imputation against me by creating in the minds of right-thinking people an impression that my business owes its 'success' to my father Shri Amitbhai Shah's political position."
A Delhi court on Wednesday reserved for April 15 its order on a plea filed by the CEO of a news portal challenging a magisterial court's judgement dismissing his criminal defamation complaint against Aam Aadmi Party and its leaders, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Britain's longest serving Indian-origin Labour MP Keith Vaz on Tuesday resigned from his post as chair of the influential House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee in the wake of being embroiled in a sex scandal.
The HC closed both the defamation suits against Kejriwal and four AAP leaders after a joint settlement plea was moved before it.
