AI-generated video shows tiger drinking liquor; police issue notice to Insta user
Nagpur (PTI): Police in Nagpur district have issued a notice to an Instagram user over an AI-generated video of a man making a tiger drink liquor, citing that the clip sent a wrong message and could damage the image of the wildlife reserve, where it was claimed to have been shot, an official said on Friday.
The six-second clip, which went viral on social media, showed an inebriated man giving liquor to a tiger and patting the big cat on an empty village street.
Several social media posts claimed the video had been shot in Madhya Pradesh and that the tiger had strayed from the Pench Tiger Reserve, and a 52-year-old drunk labourer mistook the animal for a giant cat.
The Nagpur Rural Police took cognisance of the matter because the reel was linked to the Pench Tiger Reserve, the official said.
According to the police, the reel was posted on October 30, and on verification, it was found that the clip was created using artificial intelligence.
"The reel sent a wrong message and could damage the image of the Tiger Reserve. It could also create confusion among tourists. It also shows a misleading action against wild animals," the police stated in a release.
Superintendent of Police Nagpur Rural, Dr Harssh Poddar, and Additional SP Anil Mhaske issued a notice under section 68 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita to an Instagram account holder from Mumbai, the official said.
The video has since been removed from Instagram, he added.
The Nagpur Rural Police have appealed to citizens to stop sharing such fake content and have warned that action will be taken against those who create reels that defame wildlife reserves or spread misinformation.
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SC refuses to entertain plea against deletion of names from WB voter list, terms it ‘premature’
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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea by a group of 13 people seeking its intervention in the deletion of their names from the voter list during the Special Institutional Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, where polling for the first phase of the assembly election will be held on April 23.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi termed the petition "premature", directing the aggrieved parties to approach the established appellate tribunals instead.
"Since the petitioners (Quaraisha Yeasmin and others) have already approached the appellate tribunals… in our considered view, the apprehensions expressed in the petition are premature. If the plea is allowed, then necessary consequences will follow,” the bench said in its order, adding that it has not expressed any views on the merits of the plea.
The plea alleged that the Election Commission was summarily deleting names without following due process, and that appeals against these deletions were not being heard in a timely manner.
The Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court has set up as many as 19 tribunals headed by former HC chief justices and judges to decide appeals against deletions of names of persons from the voters’ lists.
Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the poll panel, informed the court that there are approximately 30 to 34 lakh appeals currently pending. "Every tribunal now has over one lakh appeals to handle," the bench said.
The petitioners’ counsel argued that the EC had failed to place necessary orders before the relevant judicial authorities and that the "freezing date" for the electoral rolls should be extended.
"If I am not allowed to argue, then what is the use? Will these appeals be decided within a timeframe or just kept extending?" the counsel asked.
Justice Bagchi, during the hearing, referred to the sanctity of the electoral process and said the right to vote is not merely a constitutional formality but a "sentimental" pillar of democracy.
"The right to vote in a country you were born in is not just constitutional, but sentimental. It is about being part of a democracy and helping elect a government," he said.
He, however, said that the tribunals, manned by former judges, cannot be overburdened by fixing the timelines for adjudications.
"It is not the end justifying the means, but the means justifying the end," Justice Bagchi said.
"We need to protect due process rights. The voter should not be sandwiched between two constitutional authorities," he said, adding that it would not interdict the election process at this stage.
Justice Bagchi noted that the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice had already formulated the manner and mode for appeals, which began on Monday.
"Unless and until an enormous number of voters are excluded or it materially affects the election... the election cannot be cancelled," the bench said, adding that judicial intervention is intended to "promote elections, not interdict them."
The CJI emphasised that the petitioners must exhaust their remedies before the appellate tribunals.
Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.
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