'The best remedy would be to scrap Section 124-A of the IPC, a colonial vestige, altogether.' 'However, if legislators don't want to do so, they can do two things.' 'They can formally amend Section 124-A to bring it in line with what the Supreme Court has said about sedition.' 'The words which stand on the statute book today were inserted in 1898.' 'The Supreme Court's words are not a part of Section 124-A.'
The high court observed there was no final adjudication on the subject matter at this stage as the ADJ was yet to hear Bloomberg.
'His speech at the bhoomi puja will stand out for a long time in the memory of those who listened to it for touching the pinnacle of excellence and brilliance in both style and content,' declares B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said Pradhanmantri Suryodaya Yojana will enable one crore families to get up to 300 units of free electricity monthly and help them save up to Rs 18,000 annually. "There is provision of Rs 10,000 crore for rooftop solar (scheme) in the Budget," said finance secretary T V Somanathan in press conference on Budget later in the day. Earlier in the day Sitharaman in her interim Budget speech said through rooftop solarisation, one crore households will be enabled to obtain up to 300 units of free electricity each month.
Experts warned that amendments, which would allow traceability of "unlawful content", invade personal privacy and free speech.
Replying to the debate in Lok Sabha on Motion of Thanks to President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the Parliament, Modi said the Congress' 'arrogance' has not gone away despite multiple electoral defeats and its 'misdeeds' seem to indicate that it has made up its mind not to come to power for the next 100 years.
For now, Modi's government appears singularly focussed on demonstrating that it is not in any way inhibited by the BJP's loss of a majority, and will continue along its patented path of bulldozing all opposition and doing just as it likes, asserts Prem Panicker.
The Centre is expected to apprise the court of the steps taken so far with regard to reviewing the contentious penal provision.
Modi's inability to make peace with a renewed Opposition will only embolden his coalition partners and it is just a matter of time before they begin asking probing questions besides politely disagreeing with his tactics, predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The apex court pulled up the Centre for its "evasive" and "brazen" affidavit on the issue.
Dominic Xavier heaves a sigh of relief for Dr Kafeel Khan who has been languishing in Mathura jail since January.
In a poor village of daily wage earners in Siwan, Bihar, people speak about their hard lives and why they vote.
The students had earlier planned to arrange a mass screening of the documentary India: The Modi Question, but they watched it on Saturday on laptops and mobile phones at a decided time and venue despite a warning by the institute, while tight police security was deployed outside the campus, he said.
The Centre told the Supreme Court on Tuesday a new data protection bill is ready and will be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament in July, as the apex court heard a matter related to privacy concerns of social media users.
Respect for India is increasing all over. One can experience the change, Modi said.
Ulajh strikes you as an attempt at statement-making gone horribly wrong, a punchline that doesn't land, a roar that never reaches the ear, observes Sreehari Nair.
Despite fierce criticism by Narendra Modi's supporters that the Wharton Business School has violated the Gujarat chief minister's freedom of speech by cancelling his keynote speech at this month's Wharton India Economic Forum, a professor from the University of Pennsylvania argues that the decision has nothing to do with curtailment of free speech.
Tyagi, the JD-U's political advisor and spokesperson, was replying to queries about the suggestion that followed Kumar's speech at a party rally in Patna on Wednesday.
He said that fact-checkers are a reference point to fight against misinformation and rejected arguments that it will adversely impact "free speech".
The EC reminded Gandhi that the Model Code of Conduct prohibits leaders from making unverified allegations against political rivals.
The Halwa ceremony, marking the final stage of the budget preparation process for Interim Union Budget 2024, was held in North Block on Wednesday in the presence of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad was also present. A customary halwa ceremony is performed every year before the "lock-in" process of Budget preparation begins.
The Mumbai police had earlier told the HC that they would not arrest Ranaut till January 25, 2022 over her social media post that allegedly linked farmers' protests to a separatist group.
In the FIR, Kejriwal has been accused of an offence under Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which pertains to promoting enmity between classes in connection with elections.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said that upon being produced before the competent magistrate in Delhi, Khera would be released on interim bail.
Kovind said he always considered himself as a part of the larger family, which included the members of parliament.
Prabowo was accused in the late 1980s of making a number pro-democracy activists mysteriously disappear and for human rights abuses in the provinces of East Timor and Papua and was denied a visa to the US.
Greenpeace's registration to operate in India has been cancelled, the environmental group said on Friday, marking yet another action which, it alleged, came under the directions of the Union home ministry as part of the crackdown on NGOs.
Expressing his concerns about India under Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party, India-born author Salman Rushdie said that the attacks on freedom of expression could worsen if the Bharatiya Janata Party comes to power.
Unless Indians learn to speak freely and fearlessly, 'true greatness will elude this nation, no matter how brilliant the individual at the helm may be,' says Aakar Patel.
Last week, The Wall Street Journal reporter Sabrina Siddiqui asked Prime Minister Modi about the rights of minorities in India and what steps his government was willing to take to improve them and also uphold free speech.
The apex court noted that the Representation of People Act, 1950, read with the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, has contemplated the name of a candidate has to be proposed while filling the nomination form.
'It does two things that even our erstwhile colonial masters did not deem fit for their subjects: The Bill does away with any checks or balances on the exercise of interception and surveillance powers, including any penalty whatsoever for unauthorised interception, opening, scrutiny, or destruction of postal materials.'
The Delhi high court on Tuesday sought Twitter's response on a lawsuit filed by Abhijit Iyer Mitra, seeking restoration of his account on the website that has been "unilaterally banned" and made inaccessible to his followers.
And since social media platforms benefit from it, shouldn't they too be held responsible for the hate and fake news they spread, asks Vanita Kohli-Khandekar.
The top court set aside the Delhi high court verdict of March 6, 2023, by which it had upheld an order of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) asking the Delhi Police to register an FIR in connection with an episode in web series, 'College Romance', against TVF, the show's director Simarpreet Singh and actor Apoorva Arora under the Information Technology Act.
Modi said Gandhi, during his cross-examination, not merely failed to make any dent in the prosecution's case, but practically admitted the defamation of all persons bearing the Modi surname.
Indian-Americans from across the US hailed the maiden speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with some saying that the speech reflects that India has arrived on the world stage with a strong voice.
'The word 'ally' in a coalition is misleading because it suggests someone who is always for you and with you. This is incorrect.' 'They are always for themselves and sometimes with you,' explains Aakar Patel.
'You (Modi) come here and don't even take the name of your Chief Minister (Basavaraj Bommai) and (B S) Yediyurappa (former CM). Your speeches are all about Narendra Modi'
With Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal having been sent to judicial custody till April 15 by a city court in connection with the excise policy case, buzz over his replacement intensified even as his party leaders asserted that he will continue to head the government no matter how long he stays in jail.
