Booked for sedition charges, Shehla Rashid get protection against arrest from Delhi Court
New Delhi: A Delhi court has granted interim protection from arrest to Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement leader Shehla Rashid, who was booked for sedition over her controversial tweets on Kashmir.
Additional Sessions Judge Pawan Kumar Jain granted the relief to Rashid till November 5 and directed her to join the investigation conducted by the Delhi Police as and when called by the Investigating Officer.
Public Prosecutor, appearing for the state, told the court that the police has not received any complaint from the army and that they needed substantial time of at least six weeks to investigate the matter.
He further told the court that till date the police has not even issued any notice to the accused. The counsel for Rashid said she was ready to join the probe and would cooperate with the police.
"Considering all these facts, I am of the view that matter required investigation in detail, accordingly, renotify the matter on November 5. Till then accused shall not be arrested, however, she shall join the investigation as and when called by the IO," the judge said in the order.
Rashid had posted controversial tweets on Kashmir on August 17.
On the basis of her comments, advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava had filed a complaint to the Special Cell, saying the allegations levelled by the former JNU student leader were "absolutely false and concocted".
In his complaint, Srivastava had said Rashid's allegations were baseless.
He had also accused Rashid of "deliberately spreading fake news with the intention to incite violence in the country" and maligning the image of the Indian Army.
Following the complaint, police had registered an FIR under sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language), 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of IPC.
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Madras HC strikes down TN order limiting maternity leave for third child
Chennai: The Madras High Court has set aside a Tamil Nadu government order restricting maternity leave for a third pregnancy to 12 weeks, holding the move to be contrary to established legal principles.
A division bench comprising Justices R Suresh Kumar and N Senthil Kumar ruled that there was no justification to treat third pregnancies differently from the first two, observing that the physical and medical requirements of childbirth remain the same irrespective of the number of pregnancies, as reported by The News Minute.
According to a report published by Live Law, the court was hearing a petition filed by Shayee Nisha, a staff member of the district judiciary in Villupuram, whose request for maternity leave from February 2026 to February 2027 had been curtailed to three months by authorities citing the March 13, 2026 government order.
Quashing the decision of the Principal District Judge and related directions asking her to resume duty, the bench directed that she be granted maternity leave on par with that provided for earlier pregnancies, allowing up to 365 days.
The court noted that both the Supreme Court of India and earlier rulings of the High Court had consistently held that maternity benefits cannot be denied for a third child. Holding the restriction to be unsustainable, the court directed authorities to process maternity leave applications without discrimination based on the number of pregnancies.
It also pointed out that a similar issue had been addressed by a division bench earlier this year, which had disapproved denial of maternity leave in such cases and directed that its ruling be circulated among judicial officers. Despite this, the state issued the impugned order, the bench observed.
