Sedition charges can’t be invoked to quieten disquiet, rules Delhi court
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has said that sedition charges should not be invoked to quieten disquiet under the pretence of muzzling miscreants, making the observations while granting bail to two people arrested in connection with the tractor rally violence during farmers’ protest on this year’s Republic Day.
Additional sessions judge Dharmender Rana made the observation while granting bail to Devi Lal Burdak and Swaroop Ram. The two were arrested by the Delhi Police for alleged sedition and circulating rumours by posting videos on social media.
“The law of sedition is a powerful tool in the hands of the state to maintain peace and order in the society. However, it cannot be invoked to quieten the disquiet under the pretence of muzzling the miscreants,” the judge said on Monday. The court said the invocation of Section 124 A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code was a “seriously debatable issue” in the case.
Burdak and Ram, both aged 25, were booked under sections 124A (sedition), 505 (spreading rumors), 468 (forgery) and 471 (fraud) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
While Ram, a labourer, was arrested from Mahisagar in Gujarat, Burdak was arrested from Nagaur in Rajasthan.
The police alleged that both the accused circulated a video on social media that showed a senior police official briefing other personnel during the farmers’ protest. It alleged that though it was an old video of September 2020, it was being projected through social media posts as being connected with the farmers’ agitation and the violence son January 26 in an effort to project that there was unrest within the police forces.
“In the recent violence that occurred on Jan 26 at Red Fort, near ITO and other areas in Delhi, a large number of police personnel were injured and these posts have been released on social media at a strategic time deliberately in an attempt to excite disaffection towards the government established by law and with an intent to cause any officer or soldier in the Armed Forces to mutiny or otherwise disregard or fail in his duty as such,” the police told the court.
The investigating agency also said that the accused circulated fake videos and also charged them for forgery. The court, however, rejected both the contentions and said that the invocation of sedition in this case was a “debatable issue”.
The law of sedition is a powerful tool in the hands of the state to maintain peace and order in the society. DHARMENDER RANA, Additional sessions judge
Chandigarh The Punjab social security, women and child development department has decided to link Aadhaar with the scheme for financial assistance to disabled persons to enable eligible beneficiaries to get their dues promptly in a transparent manner.
Social security and women and child development minister Aruna Chaudhary said the Aadhaar linkage would be used as identification document for the beneficiaries of finance assistance to disabled persons (visually impaired, handicapped, deaf and dumb and mentally challenged) scheme. “An individual eligible for receiving the benefits under the scheme will be required to furnish proof of Aadhaar number or undergo authentication. Any individual desirous of availing benefits under the scheme and who does not possess the Aadhaar number or, has not yet enrolled for Aadhaar, should get enrolled,” she said in a statement.
The minister said the department will provide Aadhaar enrolment facilities for such beneficiaries in case there is no Aadhaar enrolment centre located in the respective block or tehsil. “Till the time, Aadhaar is assigned to the individual, benefits under the scheme should be given to person who furnishes his or her Aadhaar enrolment identification slip, voter identity card, voter list, birth certificate, matriculation certificate or disability certificate,” she said.
She said in all cases where Aadhaar authentication fails due to poor biometrics or due to any other reason, then iris scan or face authentication method should be adopted.