Pakistan to ban all cultural exchanges with India: Report
Islamabad: Pakistan has decided to ban all cultural exchanges with India, including all kinds of joint ventures between the entertainment industry of the two countries after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, a media report said on Friday.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Thursday launched a national slogan 'Say No to India', Dawn newspaper reported.
"All kinds of Indian content have been stopped and Pemra [Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority] has been directed to step up its vigilance along with actions against the sale of Indian DTH instruments," said Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan.
Earlier this week, India revoked Article 370 to withdraw the special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the region into two Union Territories --Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh.
Pakistan termed the Indian action as "unilateral and illegal", and said it will take the matter to the UN Security Council. Awan said that the deception of cultural exchange was polluting the minds of Pakistani youth.
She said that the National Security Council had decided to establish a group and Pakistan would fight the "Hindutva ideology" from all fronts.
The group will be the cluster of all relevant ministries to fight against the Indian designs at required forums.
"The external communications will be dealt with by the ministry of information, the Foreign Office and the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) as per nature of information," Awan said.
She said in the current situation, the clash between Indian and Pakistani cultural and social values were imminent and it was the media's responsibility to come to the forefront to defeat Indian "cultural invasion".
The government has also banned the screening of Indian films in the country's cinemas.
"No Indian film will be screened in any Pakistani cinema. Drama, films and Indian content of this kind will be completely banned in Pakistan," Awan tweeted.
Films and cultural relations are the first to get affected when there is tension between the two countries and it is not for the first time that Pakistan has banned Indian films.
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SC delivers split verdict on Section 17A of PC Act mandating sanction to probe govt servants
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a split verdict on the constitutional validity of a 2018 provision of the anti-graft law which mandates prior sanction for initiating a probe against a government servant in a corruption case.
While Justice BV Nagarathna said Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act is unconstitutional and needs to be struck down, Justice KV Viswanathan held the provision as constitutional while stressing on the need to protect honest officers.
Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, introduced in July 2018, bars any “enquiry or inquiry or investigation” against a public servant for recommendations made in discharge of official duties without prior approval from the competent authority.
The top court's judgement came on a PIL filed by NGO 'Centre for Public Interest Litigation' (CPIL) against the validity of amended section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Requirement of prior sanction is contrary to the Prevention of Corruption Act, forecloses inquiry and protects corrupt, Justice Nagarathna said.
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"Section 17A is unconstitutional and it ought to be struck down. No prior approval is required to be taken... The requirement of prior sanction is contrary to the object of the Act, and it forecloses inquiry and protects the corrupt rather than seeking to protect the honest and those with integrity who really do not require any protection," Justice Nagarathna said.
Justice Viswanathan said striking down section 17A will be akin to throwing the baby out with the bath water and the “cure will be worse than the disease”.
"Section 17A is constitutionally valid subject to the condition that the sanction must be decided by the Lok Pal or the Lokayukta of the State...
"The safeguard of this provision will strengthen the hands of honest officers but also ensure that the corrupt are brought to book. It will guarantee that the administrative machinery attracts the best talent for the service of the nation,"Justice Viswanathan said.
The case will now be placed before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant for forming a larger bench to hear the matter for a final decision.
"Having regard to the divergent opinions expressed by us, we direct the Registry to place this matter before the Chief Justice of India for constituting an appropriate bench to consider the issues which arise in this matter afresh," the bench said.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, had argued that the provisions crippled the anti-corruption law as sanctions were not usually forthcoming from the government, which was the ‘competent authority’.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had appeared for the Union government.
