NEW DELHI: Preventing a citizen from expressing a bonafide opinion against any bill or law passed by Parliament is violative of the right to free speech and principles of democracy, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have contended before the Delhi High Court while opposing a plea for a hate speech FIR against them in the February 2020 riots here.
The Gandhis, in two separate affidavits, submitted no case was made out for the court to issue direction for registering an FIR against them and there was no requirement to order the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter. No interference and the case of issuance of direction to register an FIR against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi is not made out and no interference is called for by this court to pass any order.
The high court, while hearing a batch of petitions related to the 2020 riots in north-east Delhi, had on July 13 allowed several amendment applications wanting to implead political leaders, including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, as parties to proceedings seeking FIR and investigation against them for allegedly delivering hate speeches leading to the communal conflagration.
On Monday, a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Amit Sharma listed the matter for further hearing on September 27. In their affidavits filed in response to the petitions seeking FIR, Gandhis said to prevent a citizen from forming, holding, expressing a bonafide opinion in public interest on a bill passed by Parliament is not a reasonable restriction and violates the basic principles on which our democracy is founded.
High Court asks govt, MCD to file reply on details of spa centres
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Tuesday asked the Delhi government and MCD to file replies in view of its previous order regarding details of spa centres in their jurisdictions. The high court asked them to inform about the number of spa centres, how many of them have valid licences, and whether their business practices were legitimate. Justice Yashwant Varma passed the order while hearing pleas challenging the ban on cross-gender massage services in the city which was earlier stayed by the high court. “The Delhi government and MCD shall also file their responses bearing in mind the issues flagged in the April 5 order. List the matter on November 21,” the high court said. It said the interim order of December 16, 2021, staying the prohibition on cross-gender massage will continue.
Court can’t be mute spectator to forced conversions, says HC
NEW DELHI: The court cannot be a mute spectator if the political executive is not taking steps to check illegal religious conversion due to appeasement and vote bank politics, a petitioner has told the Delhi High Court. The petitioner, in an additional affidavit filed on Tuesday, said religious conversion by coercive or deceptive means amounts to ‘injustice and exploitation’. A bench of judges are scheduled to hear a plea seeking direction to the Centre and the government to prohibit religious conversion by intimidating and deceivingly luring people with gifts and monetary benefits or by using black magic and superstition. The petitioner’s affidavit said the right to religion guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution is not an absolute right but subject to public order, health and morality.