Kerala journalist Sidhique Kappan walked out of jail on bail Thursday, over two years after he was arrested for allegedly trying to instigate violence after the death of a woman in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras.
A first information report (FIR) was registered Sunday under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after two explosives-laden drones crashed into the Indian Air Force station at Jammu airport, officials said, while indicating that the case is likely to be taken over by the terror probe agency National Investigation Agency.
The high court said "foisting extremely grave and serious penal provisions", engrafted under the UAPA, "frivolously" upon people would undermine the intent and purpose of the Parliament in enacting a law that is meant to address threats to the very existence of our nation.
'This type of comprehensive legislation has never been introduced before in Parliament's history.' 'A bill that simultaneously affects ministers, chief ministers, and the prime minister represents completely uncharted Constitutional territory.' 'Throughout our nation's legislative history, the established policy has consistently held that public office holders should face punishment only after receiving conviction from a competent court of law. Without this safeguard, we risk systematic destabilisation, and our federal structure would face complete collapse.' 'Any central government could potentially deploy this legislation against state governments they oppose politically. This represents the most frightening prospect and dangerous possibility that these bills create.'
A division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande warned that it would impose costs on the authorities for denying parole only on the ground that Baig had been convicted of terror charges.
Authorities in Kashmir have launched a massive crackdown on terrorists and their sympathisers in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, razing homes of the ultras, raiding their safe havens and detaining hundreds of overground workers for questioning, officials said on Saturday.
The Maharashtra legislative assembly passed the 'Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill' aimed at preventing unlawful activities of Left Wing Extremist organizations, focusing on urban Naxalism and passive militancy.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has accorded sanction to prosecute author Arundhati Roy and a former professor in Kashmir under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly making provocative speeches at an event in New Delhi in 2010, Raj Niwas officials said on Friday.
Arguing his bail plea in the riots conspiracy case before additional sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat, his lawyer referred to the supplementary charge sheet filed in the case and said that the police wished to paint every accused with the same brush while adding tadka (flavour) to it.
The Supreme Court Thursday agreed to hear a plea of two advocates and a journalist seeking quashing of a criminal case lodged under the harsh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act provisions against them for allegedly bringing facts through social media posts about the 'targeted violence' against the minority community in Tripura.
The Supreme Court has quashed the Kerala High Court order which discharged an accused, arrested for his alleged Maoist links, for the purported offences including sedition and under the provisions of the anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in three cases.
A special NIA court in Kerala on Wednesday convicted six persons, who are allegedly members of the now banned radical Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI), in the sensational hand chopping case of a college professor in Kerala in 2010.
Khalid's petition challenging the October 18 last year order of the Delhi High Court, which had rejected his bail plea in the matter, came up for hearing before a bench of Justices A S Bopanna and Prashant Kumar Mishra.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said his government may seek the help of agencies like the Interpol in investigating the alleged interference of Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, who allegedly has links with Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's British wife, in India's internal affairs. Sarma said the probe is at an initial stage and he has informed Union Home Minister Amit Shah about the developments in the case.
'We have been fighting to treat political prisoners differently.' 'Except for Hyderabad and Kolkata, the concept of keeping political prisoners separate doesn't exist in India.'
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has re-introduced the Special Public Security Bill in the state assembly, aiming to combat 'urban Naxalism'. The bill, which seeks to criminalize activities deemed to disrupt public order, has faced criticism from opposition parties who argue it could stifle dissent. The proposed law will be referred to a joint select committee for review and is expected to be passed in the monsoon session next year.
Former Jawaharlal Nehru University student and activist Umar Khalid has completed four years in jail after being arrested in connection with the 2020 northeast Delhi communal riots.
"I don't want Z category security. I want to be an A-category citizen, at par with you all. Why was UAPA not invoked against those who fired at me? ...I want to live, to speak. My life will be safe when the poor are safe. I will not get scared of those who shot at my car," he said in Parliament.
On September 29, 2008, a bomb explosion at 9:35pm opposite Shakil Goods Transport Company situated between Anjuman Chowk and Bhiku Chowk in Malegaon killed six persons and injured 101.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday attached 17 properties of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmed Shah Watali in a terror funding case, the agency said.
The Delhi police special cell has questioned about 25 journalists and contributors of NewsClick for a second time in connection with a UAPA case registered against the online news portal for allegedly peddling "anti-national" agenda in the country, sources said on Monday.
The prosecution has proved the entire chain that connected the accused with each other for achieving the goal of executing the bomb blast and perform terrorist acts, the written statement, filed by the intervenor for the victims, said.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, allegedly linked to Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's British wife, has visited India 18 times. Sarma, while speaking in the state assembly, claimed that the initial information in the case is "very fatal" for the Congress and will have a "huge impact" on the politics of Assam. He also stated that the investigation findings will put some people in an indefensible position.
'The strategy of frontal organisations of the Maoists is to create unrest and ensure that such unrest leads to a law and order problem.' 'To cover such acts it was necessary to bring in a different definition of unlawful activities which is different from the definition of unlawful activities in the UAPA.'
The Bombay high court on Tuesday set aside the life sentence of Delhi University professor G N Saibaba in an alleged Maoist links case, noting that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside a Bombay high court order acquitting former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba in a Maoist links case and remanded it back to the high court for fresh consideration on merits within four months.
As the Delhi police continue to raid different premises linked to NewsClick, a team reached at Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury's residence on Tuesday morning to question his staffer Sri Narayan's son Sunmit Kumar.
'We were not protesting for a wage hike or provident fund. We were protesting for the safety of the larger population. There is no personal gain.'
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.
The Uttar Pradesh police on Friday said it has arrested a "functionary" of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) from Kerala on charges of conspiracy to trigger riots in the wake of the alleged gangrape and death of a Dalit girl in Hathras in 2020.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday alleged that Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi visited Pakistan on an invitation from its spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence, and that he worked closely with the establishment of the neighbouring nation.
'My health is very bad. I can't talk. I will have to first take medical treatment, and then only I will able to speak'
India lodged 5,164 cases of offences against the State, including those under sedition, the Official Secrets Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in 2021 with an average of 14 cases every day, according to latest government data.
The go-ahead given to prosecute Arundhati Roy would be seen by supporters of freedom of speech as an announcement that the Right-Wing doesn't feel humbled by the results of the elections, argues Shyam G Menon.
Saibaba died at due to gall bladder infection and other complications.
The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief, who is currently serving a life term in the case, was virtually present for the the court proceedings from the Tihar jail in Delhi.
The Delhi High Court has reserved its order on a plea by jailed MP Rashid Engineer, facing trial in a terror funding case, seeking custody parole to attend the ongoing Parliament session. Engineer, a Baramulla MP, was opposed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) who argued that he has no vested right to attend Parliament and there were security concerns. The court said though there might not be a vested right to attend the session, it could exercise its discretion. The NIA also argued that Rashid misused the telephone facility in Tihar jail and that allowing him to attend the session would be a security risk.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was brought to India on Thursday after being "successfully extradited " from the US, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said. The 64-year-old Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin landed in Delhi in a special plane on Thursday evening, ending days of speculation of when and how he will be extradited, officials said. The NIA said in a statement that it had secured the successful extradition after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring to justice the key conspirator behind the 2008 mayhem that claimed 166 lives. Rana is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to carry out the the three-day terror siege of India's financial capital.
The Bombay high court on Thursday granted bail to activist Mahesh Raut, arrested in the Elgar Parishad Maoist links case.
The Assam Cabinet on Sunday had decided not to register any case against the Congress MP or his British spouse, who the BJP has accused of having ISI links, but instructed the DGP to file an FIR against Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh.
