Man held on sedition charge for FB post over power cuts in Chhattisgarh
Rajnandgaon: A 53-year-old man has been arrested and charged with sedition in Chhattisgarh for allegedly spreading rumours on social media over power cuts in the state, police said Friday.
The accused identified as Mangelal Agarwal was arrested Thursday evening under IPC sections 124 A (sedition) and 505 (1) (2)(intent to incite) following a complaint filed by Chhattisgarh State Power Holding Company Limited (CSPHCL), a police official said.
Agarwal was produced before a local court Friday and remanded to 5-day judicial custody.
The police action sparked condemnation with the opposition BJP accusing the state government of trying to suppress freedom of expression.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel later stepped in and directed the police to withdraw the sedition charge against Agarwal., according to a state government release.
On June 12, the power company lodged a complaint with City Kotwali police station in Rajnandgaon town that a video had gone viral on social media in which an unidentified man was deliberately spreading rumours and false information in a bid to tarnish the image of the Congress government.
In the video allegedly posted by Mangelal, a native of Musra village under Dongargarh police station area, on his Facebook account, he is heard saying, "The Bhupesh Baghel-led government and Madhya Pradesh government have allegedly colluded with inverter manufacturing companies to increase its sales by doing frequent power cuts in the respective states."
In the purported video, Mangelal said inverter companies had allegedly given money to the Chhattisgarh government to cut power supply 10 to 15 minutes every 2 hours.
"As the frequency of power cuts will increase so will the sales of the inverter. This news is true because in Delhi there was a meeting of inverter companies with the state government...," he purportedly said in the video.
The CSPHCL in its complaint said an attempt was made to spread hatred against the state government and disrespect it through the video.
The mobile through which the video was recorded has been seized, the official said.
"While the Congress had promised to repeal the sedition law, the party itself is now misusing it to implicate and threaten the common man. If spreading rumours is such a big offence, then several Congressmen should have been put behind bars. Congress was elected to power through false campaign only," said Santosh Pandey, a BJP MP from Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat.
"The people of the state have been bearing the brunt of frequent power cuts. It is a failure of the Congress. When people are opposing it, then in frustration, the Congress government has taken such action," Pandey added.
Chairman of the five state power companies, Shailendra Kumar Shukla, appealed to the people not to believe in such false propaganda over power cuts.
"Personnel of the state's power generation, transmission and distribution companies have been engaged to ensure regular power supply to consumers. People should not believe in such false news and rumours regarding the power cuts which can be due to natural phenomenon like storms or other local reasons," he said.
Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board was restructured into five companies - distribution, generation, holding, transmission and trading, in 2008. Shukla is chairman of all five companies.
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Karnataka to approach SC seeking permission to continue MGNREGA
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday decided to approach the Supreme Court seeking permission to continue implementation of MGNREGA in the state, contending that the Centre had repealed the rural employment guarantee law without consultation and failed to put in place any alternative mechanism under the VB-G RAM G Act.
Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state would immediately move the apex court seeking permission to prepare and implement the annual action plan for rural employment works, while also challenging what it described as an infringement on the constitutional rights of states.
The parliament passed VB-G RAM G in December that replaces MGNREGA.
Patil explained that the Cabinet decided to approach the court seeking permission for the State Government to prepare an action plan in this regard. Since the Centre’s stand interferes with the constitutional rights of state governments, the Cabinet has also decided to challenge this issue before the appropriate court
“There are two points here. One is that they have come in the way of our constitutional right of providing the right to work. That has been halted, and, therefore, the State Government has decided to approach the Supreme Court. The second point is that the Government of India has not provided any alternative,” the Minister said.
The Central Government has not yet issued a notification to implement the VB-G RAM G Act, nor has it made any alternative arrangements and hence continuing Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is unavoidable in the public interest, the Minister said.
“Therefore, in the interest of the public, farmers and agricultural labourers, we must continue MGNREGA. For that purpose, the Cabinet has decided to approach the court seeking permission for the State Government to prepare the action plan for this year,” he added.
The Minister also said the Centre had only permitted continuation of pending and spillover MGNREGA works without releasing grants or announcing a fresh action plan.
“The Centre itself has said that pending, spillover and half-done MGNREGA works can continue. That means MGNREGA is actually still functioning in practice. But there is no new action plan,” he said.
Patil said the state had already passed a resolution on the issue, while Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had written to the Prime Minister and the Rural Development Minister had held discussions with Union Ministers.
Replying to questions, the minister said the state would move court “as immediately as possible.”
He clarified that the state was seeking permission to formulate and implement this year’s action plan under the existing framework.
“What we are asking the Supreme Court is to allow us to have the action plan for this year and implement it,” he said.
The Cabinet also held detailed discussions on the final report submitted by the State Education Policy Commission headed by former UGC chairman Professor Sukhadeo Thorat.
Patil said a Cabinet sub-committee would be constituted to examine the report and recommend measures for implementation.
“No decision has been taken yet. The Cabinet sub-committee will recommend what should be accepted and what should be modified,” he said.
He said the report comprised around eight volumes and covered issues relating to financial implications, human resources, curriculum reforms, deemed universities, unitary universities and newly established universities. The Chief Minister has been authorised to constitute the sub-committee.
The Cabinet also approved the Karnataka Motor Transport and Other Related Workers’ Social Security and Welfare Amendment Bill, 2026, transferring welfare administration of transport-related workers from the Labour Department to the Transport Department.
The Cabinet further approved establishment of three new industrial estates in Kalaburagi, Yadgir and Surpur under the Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation and Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board schemes at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore.
The Cabinet also approved amendments to Karnataka Civil Services (General Recruitment) Rules, 2026, providing two per cent reservation in state civil services appointments for sportspersons.
