SC relief to BJP leader in Facebook post case
New Delhi, May 22: In a relief to BJP leader S.Ve. Shekher, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Tamil Nadu Police not to take any coercive action till June 1 against him.
Shekher had moved the top court seeking anticipatory bail in connection with a criminal case registered against him for his alleged derogatory social media post against women journalists.
The post allegedly made insinuations against the media and women journalists after 78-year-old Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit patted a woman journalist on the cheek, apparently seeking to avoid answering a question she had asked.
A bench of Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice Navin Sinha issued the notice on Tuesday offering relief to Shekher from immediate arrest.
Shekher had already apologised and deleted the alleged Facebook post in April. He had said that the derogatory post was reportedly penned by one of his friends, S. Thirumalai, questioning the chastity of women journalists and shared it on Shekher's Facebook page in April.
The Madras High court had dismissed his initial anticipatory bail plea. The high court had directed police to take action on the complaint as they would do on a normal complaint against any person.
Shekher had challenged the high court order in the Supreme Court.
The Cyber Crime Cell of the police had registered a case against Shekher under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and also under the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Women Harassment Act.
The High Court had pulled up police for their inaction on the complaint lodged against Shekher and even asked why the department was acting in a biased manner on the complaint against him.
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1,483 locations in Lucknow raided to check black marketing of LPG cylinders, 6 arrested
Lucknow (PTI): Amid the LPG crisis, Uttar Pradesh's Food and Civil Supplies Department conducted raids at 1,483 locations here and arrested six people in an operation to check black marketing of cooking gas cylinders, according to an official statement.
The raids were conducted on Friday, along with the district administration.
As part of the operation, 24 FIRs were registered, said the statement issued by the Uttar Pradesh government late on Friday night.
In line with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's instructions, the Food and Civil Supplies Department and the district administration are continuously monitoring the supply system of LPG cylinders and conducting inspections and raids across the state so that no shortage or irregularity occurs anywhere, it said.
In this regard, Chief Secretary S P Goyal has issued instructions to all district magistrates to take all necessary steps to maintain the availability of petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders.
Uttar Pradesh is the first state to initiate swift and strict action against black marketing. Under this drive, enforcement teams at the district level conducted inspections and raids at a total of 1,483 locations on Friday, the statement said.
During this operation, four FIRs were registered against LPG distributors and 20 against other individuals involved in the black marketing of LPG gas. Six persons were arrested from the spot and prosecution was initiated against 19 individuals, it said.
Through 4,108 LPG gas distributors operating in the state, delivery of LPG cylinders has been ensured to consumers according to their bookings.
Adequate stock of LPG cylinders is available with the distributors, and domestic LPG refills are being supplied as required, the statement said.
To monitor the supply system and ensure quick resolution of any issue, a 24-hour control room has been established at the office of the food commissioner. Officers of the Food and Civil Supplies Department have been deployed there, it said.
Control rooms have also been established in all districts across the state.
