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.
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.
'Those giving voice to the voiceless should be welcomed, not punished.' 'Yes, I paid a price -- 10 years in jail -- but it wasn't only me who did so. There are many paying the price.'
'The Bills (Bharatiya Saksha, Bharatiya Nagarik Sanhita and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) are arbitrary, opaque and ambiguous and structurally quite violent.'
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Friday the appeals of Delhi Police challenging the Delhi high court verdicts granting bail to three student activists in a case related to the last year's communal violence in north-east Delhi during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
"For security reasons, Mailk may not be assigned any work in jail. He has been kept in a separate cell in jail number seven under heavy security. His security will be regularly monitored and reviewed from time to time," a senior jail official said.
Malik had earlier pleaded guilty to all the charges including those under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in a terror funding case.
Opposition leaders and activists hit out at the Centre after the death of Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy on Monday, saying it should be held accountable for the "ruthless" and "inhuman treatment" meted out to the 84-year-old who was suffering from multiple ailments and awaiting bail on medical grounds.
The HC had in its order last week said Bharadwaj was entitled to bail and its denial would be in breach of her fundamental right to life and personal liberty, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
'Just waiting outside the prison gate, thinking that your mother is inside those walls even though you know she is innocent, affects your psyche.'
"We state that the most precious fundamental 'right to life' unconditionally embraces even an undertrial. The consideration made herein is keeping in view the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case.
'I asked him why were he and other writers being targeted.' 'I saw his point of view, that he and others being writers, their work was popular and well-appreciated by people, especially the youth.' 'This made the State fear them.'
'From the look of those photographs and videos, it cannot be made available to anyone,' the judge said.
The Uttar Pradesh government told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that "shocking findings" have emerged in the investigation so far in the case in which Kerala-based scribe Sidhique Kappan was arrested on his way to Hathras, where a young Dalit woman had died after allegedly being gang-raped, in October.
Safdar Nagori, one of the 38 convicts sentenced to death in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts case by a Gujarat court on Friday, appeared remorseless after the sentencing for a terror act that killed 56 people, and was heard saying the Constitution does not mean anything to him.
"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.
I went to the NIA office on my own and was arrested, the police officer said, adding he had not confessed to anything.
'...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.'
Officials said PFI has been under the radar of security agencies for its alleged role in violent protests in different parts of the country.
On Monday, another accused Meeran Haider also applied to the restoration of inmate daily phone call facilities.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to poet and activist P Varavara Rao on medical grounds in the Bhima-Koregaon case.
It further claimed the prosecution has not been able to establish Khan had any intention to cause the murder (of Kolhe) in order to invoke UAPA or IPC provisions.
Shivaji Pawar made a startling revelation: Though the subject matter of his investigation was the January 1 violence, he had not examined any of the witnesses to that violence.
The US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also recommended to the Congress to raise the issue of religious freedom during US-India bilateral meetings, and hold hearings on it.
There is ample material against activist Gautam Navlakha in the charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case and prima facie he is connected with the alleged offence, a special court in Mumbai has said while denying him bail.
The four, who are in jail since their arrest in 2013, had approached the high court in 2016 after a special court rejected their bail pleas in June that year.
The court also asked her not to indulge in any activity 'similar to the activities on the basis' of which a first information report (FIR) has been registered against her for offences under the Indian Penal Code and the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act).
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".
'We urge you to take remedial measures to address this blatant injustice pending withdrawal of the case against them,' the MPs write.
Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, was admitted to hospital on Monday after he complained of fever and diarrhoea, his lawyer told a special court in Mumbai and claimed that Malik's health had deteriorated and he was in a "serious" condition.
The National Investigation Agency filed a supplementary chargesheet before a special court in New Delhi on Monday against two terrorists of the Pakistan-based terror group LeT for their alleged involvement in a conspiracy to commit subversive activities and wage a war against India, besides killing key personalities of the Hindu community in the country, an official said.
'Anybody and everybody who opposes this government for whatever reasons will be branded a terrorist and charged in such a manner that all human rights will be taken away.'
A source in the medical college said the suspect, who was caught from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra on the Wednesday, was admitted there after his examination.
The draft lays down 17 charges against 15 accused, including human rights and civil liberties activists, and they have been sought to be charged under various sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea seeking to prevent a 'mahapanchayat' called by Hindu outfits in Uttarakhand and registration of an FIR against hate speeches allegedly targeting members of a particular community.
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.
The high court directed Pinjra Tod activists Narwal and Kalita and Tanha to surrender their passports and not to offer any inducement to prosecution witnesses or tamper with the evidence in the case.
The entire operation was meant to have a chilling effect on independent journalists, those not completely subservient to the regime, the small section still doing what the Fourth Estate should do -- raising questions to those in power.
'What the UP administration wanted was political mileage, and they also had the silent approval from the central government.'
Teltumbde, who is in jail for the last one-and-a-half years, had approached the HC last month, challenging the order of a special court in the city denying him bail on merits in July.
