ANI
31 Jan 2023, 02:27 GMT+10
New Delhi [India], January 30 (ANI): Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, senior journalist N Ram, and advocate Prashant Bhushan on Monday approached the Supreme Court seeking direction to restrain the central government from censoring the BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The petition sought direction to quash all orders which directly and indirectly block online access to BBC's documentary "India: The Modi Question".
The plea termed the Centre's decision to block the documentary as "manifestly arbitrary" and "unconstitutional".
The petitioners further sought restoration of their tweets sharing the links of the documentary, which were taken down by Twitter following Centre's orders.
The right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed to citizens by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution also includes the "right to receive and disseminate information", the plea stated.
Even if the contents of the documentary and its viewership/discussion thereupon are unpalatable to the powers that be, it is no ground to curtail the freedom of speech and expression of the petitioners, the plea added.
As per the sources, on January 21, the Centre issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the controversial BBC documentary.
Senior advocate CU Singh mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Monday for urgent hearing and the court agreed to list the matter.
Today, the bench posted for hearing on February 6 a PIL filed by advocate ML Sharma challenging Central government orders to block the documentary.
The PIL filed by advocate Sharma also urged the apex court to call and examine the BBC documentary - both parts I and II - and sought action against persons who were responsible and were involved directly and indirectly in the 2002 Gujarat riots. (ANI)
Get a daily dose of Kolkata Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Kolkata Sun.
More InformationROLLING FORK, Mississippi: A powerful tornado has struck Mississippi, killing at least 25 people, injuring dozens, flattening entire blocks and ...
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras: In what could signal the end of his country's decades-long relations with Taiwan, Honduran foreign minister Eduardo Enrique ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: A new US Congressional committee focusing on China held its second hearing on the alleged abuses of the ...
SAN FRANCISCO, California: A new round of extreme winter weather that hit California, also drifted into neighboring Southwest states, with ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: After several high-profile near collision incidents, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a safety alerts to ...
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Two Cambodian opposition figures--- Yim Sinorn and Hun Kosal--- have been charged under the country's rarely used ...
New Delhi [India], March 28 (ANI): The civil aviation ministry is ready to formulate a policy framework for the air ...
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 28 (ANI): President Droupadi Murmu, on her maiden visit to West Bengal on Monday said ...
New Delhi [India], March 28 (ANI): Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia virtually inaugurated a direct flight between Amritsar ...
Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], March 28 (ANI): Odisha will have about 20 lakh metric tonnes of surplus rice after meeting all ...
New Delhi [India], March 28 (ANI): A 2-storey building in the Badarpur area collapsed after a fire broke out inside ...
Tel Aviv [Israel], March 28 (ANI): Israel's political crisis escalated on Monday as the country's largest trade union announced a ...