Goa bar row:Twitter moves Delhi HC seeking clarification in previous order
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought response of Union Minister Smriti Irani on a plea by microblogging site Twitter seeking certain clarifications in the court's earlier order by which it had directed social media giants to remove web links allegedly containing objectionable material against the BJP leader and her daughter.
Justice Mini Pushkarna issued notice to Irani on an application filed by Twitter in which it sought clarification in the July 29 order to the effect that the platform is only bound to take down similar material which is found to be defamatory on being provided with URLs by plaintiff Irani.
The application was filed on Irani's pending civil defamation suit in which the high court had on July 29 issued summonses to three Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera, and Netta D'Souza and had also asked them to take down tweets and other social media posts on allegations levelled against the union minister and her daughter.
Besides, the high court had directed search engine Google, social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to remove the allegations, videos, posts, tweets, re-tweets, captions, taglines along with the morphed pictures of the plaintiff and her daughter and the underlined material with such defamatory content or anything similar thereto including recirculation on their respective platforms.
Twitter sought clarification that the order is to be directed against defendants 1 to 3 (Congress leaders) and not against the social media platform.
As the counsel for Irani sought time to respond to the application, the high court granted two weeks to file a reply.
Earlier, Google had told the high court that it has complied with the order to remove web links allegedly containing objectionable material against Irani and her daughter and had said the BJP leader may provide other URLs on which action will be taken.
Google's counsel had submitted that only one URL was provided to them by Irani and the same has been disabled.
The high court had also issued notice on Google's application seeking modification in the July 29 order and asked the BJP leader to respond to it.
In its July 29 order, the high court had held that Irani and her daughter were neither owners of a restaurant-cum-bar in Goa at the centre of controversy nor a license was ever issued in their favour, and said the statements by three Congress leaders against them seem to be "bogus with malicious intent".
Further saying that even the show cause notice issued by the Government of Goa was not addressed to Irani or her family members, the high court had said the three Congress leaders along with others conspired to "launch a tirade of false, scathing and belligerent personal attacks" against them.
The Congress leaders have alleged that the senior BJP leader and her daughter had links with the upmarket restaurant - 'Silly Souls Caf and Bar'.
Irani has filed a defamation suit against the Congress leaders for allegedly making baseless and false accusations against her and her 18-year-old daughter.
The high court had said since the plaintiff commands an esteemed position as a minister in the Government of India and considering the nature of her public office, there is immense public glare and scrutiny of any information about her in the public domain.
It had said it was of the considered view that the statements made by the Congress leaders were in the "nature of slander and seem to be bogus with malicious intent, only to garner the highest amount of viewership thereby intentionally subjecting the plaintiff to a great public ridicule."
Irani's action had come after the Congress leaders alleged that her daughter Zoish Irani ran a bar illegally in Goa and also targeted the minister over this, demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sack her from his Cabinet.
"After seeing the documents placed on record and the excerpts of the press conference, I am of the prima facie view that slanderous and libelous allegations have been made against the plaintiff without verifying actual facts. Great injury has been caused to the reputation of the plaintiff and her family in view of the various tweets and re-tweets which have followed the press conference carried out by the defendants," the judge had said.
The judge had further said, "I deem it expedient to pass an ad-interim injunction directing defendants 1-3 (Congress leaders) to delete and remove the allegations, video of impugned press conference dated July 23, 2022, and the contents linked to the same , published against the plaintiff from all the social media platforms, namely, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter."
The matter has now been listed for further hearing before the court and registrar on November 15 and August 18, respectively.
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Kerala reels under heavy rains; IMD issues red alert in three districts
Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 26 (PTI): Heavy rains since Friday night have caused widespread damage across several parts of Kerala, raising water levels in rivers and dams and uprooting trees, which resulted in one death and injuries to several persons.
It also prompted the India Meteorological Department, on Saturday evening, to upgrade its rain alert status in Ernakulam, Idukki, and Thrissur districts from 'orange' to 'red'.
It also issued an 'orange alert' for Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, and Kasaragod districts, and a 'yellow alert' for the remaining three.
A 'red alert' indicates "heavy to extremely heavy" rainfall of over 20 cm in 24 hours. An 'orange alert' denotes "very heavy" rainfall of 11 to 20 cm, while a 'yellow alert' signals "heavy rain" between 6 and 11 cm.
The IMD said rains are likely to persist over the next five days, accompanied by strong winds reaching speeds of 50-60 kmph till Sunday.
Fishing has been advised against along the Kerala-Karnataka-Lakshadweep coasts until July 30 due to rough seas and strong winds.
In Kozhikode, overnight rains and strong winds uprooted trees and caused extensive damage to houses and vehicles, prompting shifting of several families to safer places. However, no one was injured.
Power lines and electric poles were brought down, disrupting supply in many parts of the district.
Similar incidents were reported from Kottayam, Palakkad, and Kannur districts.
In Kannur, one person died when a tree fell on his house. In similar incidents in the district, few others were injured.
In Kottayam, besides the damage to homes due to uprooted trees, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) suffered a loss of Rs 2.43 crore due to several electric poles and power cables being brought down by the strong winds and rain in the district on Friday and Saturday.
In Kuttanad and Upper Kuttanad regions of Alappuzha district, the heavy rains resulted in inundation of several low-lying areas, including roads and homes, and rise in river waters to dangerous levels.
With water levels rising in their catchment areas, shutters of the Banasura Sagar dam in Wayanad, the Aliyar dam in Palakkad and Kakkayam Dam in Kozhikode district have been raised to release excess water.
Residents living downstream have been advised to stay vigilant.
The Irrigation Design and Research Board (IDRB) and Central Water Commission (CWC) have issued alerts for several rivers that have "risen dangerously", including the Manimala, Achankovil, and Pamba rivers in Pathanamthitta; Vamanapuram in Thiruvananthapuram; Pallikkal in Kollam, Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam and Thodupuzha in Idukki.
People residing along riverbanks have been urged to exercise caution and avoid entering or crossing the water bodies.
Meanwhile, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has warned of possible sea surges and high waves reaching 2.8 to 3.4 metres along the Kasaragod and Alappuzha coasts till 8.30 pm on Sunday.
Fishermen and coastal residents have been advised to remain alert, it added.
