The Supreme Court Thursday extended the protection from any coercive action till August 31 to TV news anchor Amish Devgan in connection with the cases lodged over his alleged defamatory remark against Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti during a show telecast on June 15.
A bench comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari took note of the fact that one of the FIRs against Devgan has been transferred from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh to Noida in Uttar Pradesh.
The bench, during the proceedings conducted via video conferencing, said the news anchor, represented by senior lawyer Siddharth Luthra and advocate Mrinal Bharti, will have to now amend his plea accordingly and deferred the hearing to August 31.
Now the UP government will have to file its response to Devgan’s plea in which he has sought quashing of the FIRs, stay on the investigation and the protection from any coercive action for his alleged comments against the sufi saint.
The bench made clear that the interim relief of protection to Devgan, granted earlier, shall remain operative.
The apex court, while granted interim relief to Devgan, had also stayed the probe in the cases related to the June 15 telecast against the journalist.
Five FIRs have been lodged against Devgan in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Telangana for using a derogatory term for the Sufi saint in the news debate show called Aar Paar’ on his channel on June 15.
However, he later tweeted an apology saying that he was actually referring to Muslim ruler Alauddin Khilji and inadvertently ended up naming Chisti.
As regards the interim relief, till the next date of hearing, we deem it appropriate to pass ad-interim relief in terms of prayer clause (A) and (B) (which seek stay of investigation in pending and future FIRs and the protection from possible coercive action), the top court had said in its June 26 order.
On July 8, the interim order of June 26 was extended till August 6 and now it will remain in operation till this month end.
Issuing notices to Maharashtra, Telangana and Rajasthan, the bench had earlier asked the petitioner to make the complainants, who have lodged FIRs, as parties to his plea.
Two FIRs for the alleged offence have been registered at Ajmer and Kota in Rajasthan and one has been lodged at Bahadurpura in Hyderabad, the plea said, adding that two such FIRs have been lodged at Nanded and Pydhonie in Maharashtra.
Devgan said he has already issued a clarification through a tweet and moreover, errors cannot be construed as criminal offences.
The journalist has said the plea concerned his life and liberty.
In a well-orchestrated manner – the petitioner has been made a victim of country-wide filing of false and baseless criminal complaint and FIRs on the one hand, and on the other hand, petitioner, his family and his crew has been abused unabashedly on social media and by personal messages by unknown persons. The petitioner has also received several death threats from various anti-social elements, the plea submitted.
It said that Devgan was holding a discussion on a petition filed before the top court on his show on June 15 on the issue of the Places of Worship Special Provisions Act.
During the course of the live heated discussion one of the panellists quoted Chisti (Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti) and inadvertently, petitioner (Devgan) who wanted to refer to the historical figure Khilji(Alauddin Khilji) as a marauder, mentioned the name Chisti’ , the plea submitted.
That immediately on realising his inadvertent slip of tongue during heated debate in his news debate show petitioner tendered a clarification and clarified that the name Chisti was mentioned by error and inadvertently, it said.
Devgan tweeted the clarification on his personal Twitter account on the intervening night of June 16-17 and moreover, the channel carried a video clarification featuring the journalist, the plea said.
One of the FIRs was lodged at Pydhonie police station in Mumbai against Devgan for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by referring to Chisti in derogatory terms in the TV programme on the complaint of Arif Razvi, general secretary of the Raza Academy.PTI
The Centre has released Rs 890.32 crore as the second instalment of the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness package to 22 states and Union Territories, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.
The amount of financial assistance to each state and Union Territories is based on their COVID-19 caseload.
Those who received financial assistance in the second instalment include Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Sikkim, the ministry said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the Rs 15,000 crore package as part of the ‘Whole of Government’ approach wherein the Centre is leading the COVID-19 response and management, and supporting the states and UTs through technical and financial resources.
The second instalment of the aid will be used to strengthen public health infrastructure for testing, including procurement and installation of RT-PCR machines, RNA extraction kits, TrueNat and CB-NAAT machines, bolster infrastructure for treatment and development of ICU beds, installation of oxygen generators and procurement of bedside oxygen concentrators among others.
It would also be used for engagement, training and capacity building of necessary human resources and incentives to healthcare workforce and volunteers, including ASHA workers on COVID-19 duties, the health ministry said, adding that wherever necessary, volunteers registered on the COVID Warriors portal may also be engaged in coronavirus duties.
The first instalment of Rs 3,000 crore was released in April to all states and UTs to aid and enable them ramp up testing facilities, augment hospital infrastructure, conduct surveillance activities along with procurement of essential equipment, drugs and other supplies, the health ministry said.
As part of this package, states and Union territories have been strengthened with 5,80,342 isolation beds, 1,36,068 oxygen-supported beds and 31,255 ICU beds.
Also, 86,88,357 testing kits and 79,88,366 Vial Transport Media (VTM) have been procured by them. As many as 96,557 human resource has been added and incentive has been given to 6,65,799 human resources. The package has aided provision of mobility support to 11,821 staff, the ministry said.
Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio’s production banner Appian Way has inked a first-look film and TV deal with Apple, under which the company will develop new TV series and films for the technology giant.
Appian Way, ran by DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson, previously had a three-year film deal with Paramount Pictures and, prior to that, was working in collaboration with Warner Bros.
The banner already has two projects set up at Apple TV Plus the feature Killers of the Flower Moon directed by Martin Scorsese and starring DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro, as well as thriller series Shining Girls , featuring Elisabeth Moss.
Under the company, the Oscar-winning actor and Davisson have also produced films like The Aviator, Shutter Island, The Ides of March, Runner Runner, The Wolf of Wall Street, Robin Hood and Richard Jewell .PTI
Four persons arrested for
allegedly spitting on a doctor at a medical facility in Tripura were granted interim bail by a court here on Tuesday.
After hearing the arguments, judicial magistrate Sanjan Lal Tripura granted interim bail to the accused persons till August 29 on furnishing of bail bond of Rs 30,000 each with one surety of like amount by August 10 with the condition that they will co-operate with the investigation.
The police prayed for getting remand but the judge declined, saying the present factual circumstances of the case do not justify that.
West Tripura District Surveillance Officer Dr Sangita Chakraborty went to the Covid Care Centre set up at the Bhagat Singh Youth Hostel on July 24 to admit five women with newborn babies when a group of patients said they would not allow any new admission, alleging that the facility had reached full occupancy, according to police.
When doctors at the centre tried to convince the patients, they allegedly abused and spat at Chakraborty and also threatened to infect her with coronavirus, police said.
The four were arrested based on an FIR lodged by the Director of Health Services at the New Capital Complex (NCC) police station.PTI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday performed the ?bhoomi pujan’ of a Supreme Court-mandated Ram temple in Ayodhya, bringing to fruition the BJP’s ?mandir’ movement that defined its politics for three decades and took it to the heights of power.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were among those who attended the event at the site where a large number of devout Hindus believe Lord Ram was born.
The guest list, including religious leaders who formed part of the movement that started in the 1980s, was restricted to 175 in view of the COVID-19 crisis.
As a priest chanted Sanskrit ?shlokas’ and the ground-breaking ceremony got under way under a giant marquee decorated in shades of reds and yellows, Modi and the other dignitaries, all in masks, maintained social distancing and sat a safe distance away from each other.
Slogans of ?Bharat Mataki Jai’ and ?Har Har Mahadev’ went up as the ritual ended and the prime minister laid the foundation of the temple
Bhajans and ?shlokas’ were heard as the town, festooned with marigold flowers and yellow and saffron flags, celebrated the beginning of the construction of a grand Ram temple. Roads leading to Ayodhya were adorned with hoardings of the proposed temple and of Ram Lalla, the infant Ram, the deity now housed in a makeshift temple. Most shops were painted in bright yellow
The prime minister arrived in Ayodhya in a helicopter where Adityanath among others received him.
Before the function to lay the foundation stone of the ‘Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir’, the prime minister took part in prayers at the Hanumangarhi temple
From there, he travelled to the ‘Shree Ram Janmabhoomi’ where he performed prayers at the ‘Bhagwan Shree Ramlala Virajman’.
He also planted a Parijat (Indian night jasmine) sapling.
He will unveil a plaque to mark the laying of the foundation stone and also release a commemorative postage stamp on the ‘Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir’
On November 9, 2019, the Supreme Court settled the fractious issue going back more than a century and backed the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site. It also ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town
Delivering a unanimous judgement on a case that had long polarised the country, the court said the faith of the Hindus that Lord Ram was born at the site was undisputed
The Ram Janmabhoomi movement got a fillip in 1990 with then BJP president L K Advani’s ?rath yatra’. Two years later, in December 1992, the 16th century Mughal-era Babri Masjid, built on what a large sections believe is Lord Ram’s birthplace, was demolished.
President Donald Trump said White House coronavirus task force leader Dr Deborah Birx hurt the Trump administration when she said widespread virus infections in urban and rural America mark a new phase for the pandemic.
It was a rare rebuke of Birx. Trump accused her of taking the bait by responding to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who told ABC’s This Week that she had lost confidence in Birx because Trump appointed her and the president has been spreading disinformation about the virus.
Trump, in a tweet on Monday, described Birx’s response to Pelosi as pathetic .
On CNN’s State of the Union , Birx said her comments are driven by data and that she would stake her 40-year career on using data to implement programmes to save lives.PTI
Former Union minister Uma Bharti
on Monday said she will go for darshan of Lord Ram in Ayodhya after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others leave the venue of the ground-breaking ceremony for Ram temple construction there, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The 61-year-old senior BJP leader’s comments came a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said he tested positive for the coronavirus.
Bharti was among the leaders of the Ram Janambhoomi agitation and is an accused in the Babri mosque demolition case.
The ground-breaking ceremony of the Ram temple is scheduled to be held on Wednesday in Ayodhya and is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Modi.
“I will leave Bhopal today and on the way I might come in contact with a coronavirus infected person. Taking this into account, I will keep a distance from the place where @narendramodi and hundreds of others will be present,” Bharti tweeted in Hindi.
“I will go for darshan of Ramlala after @narendramodi and others leave the venue,” she further said.
“I have informed senior officer-bearers of Ram Janambhoomi Nyas at Ayodhya and @PMOIndia not to incorporate my name in the list of the people during @narendramodis function,” she said.
Bharti in an earlier tweet said a senior office-bearer of the Ram Janambhoomi Trust directed her to reach Ayodhya by August 4 evening and be present there till August 6.
The mosque in Ayodhya was demolished in December 1992 by ‘kar sevaks’ who claimed an ancient Ram temple had stood on the same site.
In November last year, the Supreme Court paved the way for the construction of Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, and directed the Centre to allot an alternative five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a “prominent” place in the holy town.PTI
The domestic equity market in this coming week will be driven by a host of key developments like RBI monetary policy, macro-economic data release and corporate earnings, analysts said.
At the start of the week, the market will also take cues from July auto sales numbers which signal a recovery in the sector hit hard by COVID-19.
With most parts of the country in unlock phase, the automobile industry has performed better in July over the previous month in terms of sales and is now marching towards normalcy in terms of production as well.
“Going forward, markets would react to auto sales numbers. On the event front, they would also be keeping a close watch on the RBI monetary policy,” said Ajit Mishra, VP Research, Religare Broking.
On the macro data front, market participants will be keenly awaiting PMI manufacturing and services sector numbers that are scheduled to be released in the first half of the week.
On the earnings side, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Lupin, Titan, Voltas Apollo Tyres, Canara Bank, Adani Power and M&M, among others, will announce their quarterly numbers during the week.
“We expect market volatility and stock-specific action to continue for a while. Investors would watch out for quarterly results for stock-specific action and development over US fiscal stimulus which could provide some cheer to the markets,” Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank is scheduled to meet for three days beginning August 4 and will announce its decision on August 6.
Besides, COVID-19 cases trend and geopolitical developments on US-China ties front will remain key market drivers globally.
Meanwhile, the number of cases around the world linked to COVID-19 has crossed 1.8 crore and the death toll has topped 7 lakh.
In India, the death toll due the disease rose over 37,000 and the number of infections has crossed 17-lakh mark.
Investors will also track movement in Brent crude oil and rupee-dollar during the week.
During the last week, the Sensex fell 522.01 points or 1.36 per cent, while the Nifty declined 120.70 points or 1.07 per cent.PTI
Tamil Nadu went on a total shutdown
mode on Sunday with the government imposing intense curbs as part of its anti-coronavirus measures, leaving main roads deserted while most shops, barring pharmacies,remained closed.
Roads were virtually empty with no vehicles plying on account of the strict implementation of the curbs, with police making it clear that private vehicles will be allowed only for emergency purposes.
While announcing extension of the coronavirus-induced lockdown to August, Chief Minister K Palaniswami had said on July 30 that complete curbs will be in place on all five Sundays this month also, much like in July.
There will be no relaxations, he had said.
Subsequently, all kinds of shops, including those selling vegetables and groceries, commercial establishments, hotels and restaurants downed shutters on Sunday, while the roads were deserted in the absence of major vehicular movement.
In Chennai, police said no vehicle will be allowed to ply today except those meant for milk distribution, medical purpose, emergency and funeral cause.
Private vehicles meant for medical emergency and those belonging to the print and electronic media were exempted from the curbs.
Other vehicles plying without (valid) reasons will be detained and 193 traffic check posts have been set up across the city for this purpose, police said and requested people against venturing out of their homes “unnecessarily.”
As of August 1, Tamil Nadu’s cumulative COVID-19 cases stood at 2,51,738, with Chennai having a total of 1,00,877 of these infections.PTI
India’s COVID-19 tally reached 16,95,988 on Saturday with a record single-day increase of 57,118 cases, while the recoveries surged to 10,94,374, according to the Union Health Ministry data
The death toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 36,511 with 764 people succumbing to the disease in a day, the data updated at 8 am showed
At present, there are 5,65,103 active cases in the country
The recovery rate among COVID-19 patients was recorded at 64.53 per cent, while the fatality rate further dropped to 2.15 per cent, the data stated
This is the third consecutive day that COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 50,000. The total number of confirmed cases also includes foreigners
According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 1,93,58,659 samples have been tested up to July 31 with 5, 25,689 being tested on Friday
Of the new 764 deaths reported, 265 are from Maharashtra, 97 from Tamil Nadu, 84 from Karnataka, 68 from Andhra Pradesh, 45 from West Bengal, 43 from Uttar Pradesh, 27 from Delhi, 23 from Gujarat, 16 from Punjab, 14 each from Bihar and Telangana, 12 from Jammu and Kashmir and 11 from Rajasthan
Ten fatalities have been reported from Madhya Pradesh, eight from Odisha, four each from Assam, Haryana and Uttarakhand, three each from Goa, Jharkhand, Kerala, two from Chhattisgarh while Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Manipur and Puducherry recorded one fatality each.
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