Four killed in Srinagar gunfight, clashes
Srinagar, May 5: Three militants and a civilian were killed on Saturday during a gunfight and subsequent clashes in Srinagar, police said.
A senior Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer told reporters here all the three holed up militants were killed in the gunfight with the security forces in Chattabal area's Gasi Mohalla locality.
Security forces, including the police and the CRPF surrounded the area following a tip-off about the presence of the militants.
The militants belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit.
"Their identities were being ascertained," the officer said.
The civilian identified as Adil Ahmed Yadoo was killed after being hit by a vehicle during clashes by residents in Safa Kadal -- a densely populated downtown neighbourhood on the banks of Jhelum
Locals have alleged that a CRPF vehicle ran over Yadoo but its spokesperson Rajesh Yadav refuted the claim.
"There was no CRPF vehicle in the area and the allegation is baseless," Yadav told IANS.
He was taken to the S.M.H.S hospital in a critical condition where doctors pronounced him dead.
A CRPF officer was wounded in the gunfight while three photo-journalists sustained injuries while they were covering the clashes.
Schools and colleges suspended class work as tension spread in the city. Markets and other business shut down.
Authorities have suspended mobile Internet services in Srinagar district and brought down the speed of fixed line broadband connections.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bombay High Court strikes down Centre's plan to set up Fact-Check Unit
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has struck down the central government's plan to establish a fact-checking unit (FCU) under the Information Technology Amendment Rules, 2023. The decision comes in response to a petition filed by standup comedian Kunal Kamra, challenging the constitutional validity of the Centre's move.
Justice A.S. Chandurkar, delivering the final verdict, declared that the proposed IT Amendment Rules violated key provisions of the Indian Constitution, namely Articles 14 (right to equality), 19 (freedom of speech and expression), and 19(1)(g) (right to profession).
“I have considered the matter extensively. The impugned rules are violative of Articles 14, 19, and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India,” Justice Chandurkar said in his judgment. He further remarked that terms like "fake, false, and misleading" in the IT Rules were "vague" and lacked a clear definition, making them unconstitutional.
This judgment followed a split verdict issued by a division bench of the Bombay High Court in January. The bench, consisting of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale, was divided in their opinions. While Justice Patel ruled that the IT Rules amounted to censorship and struck them down, Justice Gokhale upheld the rules, arguing that they did not pose a "chilling effect" on free speech, as the petitioners had claimed.
The matter was then referred to a third judge, leading to today's decision. The Supreme Court had previously stayed the Centre's notification that would have made the fact-checking unit operational, stating that the government could not proceed until the Bombay High Court ruled on the case.
Kunal Kamra and other petitioners had argued that the amendments posed unreasonable restrictions on freedom of speech and expression. They contended that the provisions would lead to government-led censorship, effectively granting the government unchecked powers to determine what constitutes 'truth' online. The petitioners further claimed that such powers would turn the government into "prosecutor, judge, and executioner" in matters of online content.
With the Bombay High Court’s ruling, the Centre's move to create fact-checking units has been effectively halted, reaffirming the importance of protecting freedom of speech and expression in the digital space.
