NewsClick row: SC seeks Delhi Police's reply on founder, HR head pleas against arrest under UAPA
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought response of the Delhi Police on pleas of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and its HR head Amit Chakravarty against their arrest under anti-terror law UAPA.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra issued notice to the Delhi Police and sought its response by October 30 after senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Devadatt Kamat, appearing for Purkayastha and Chakravarty, respectively, said they are in jail and the pleas be heard early.
On October 16, the top court agreed to list the matter urgently after Sibal mentioned it before the bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.
The CJI had asked Sibal to circulate the case papers and said he would take a call on urgent listing of the matter.
The Delhi High Court had on October 13 dismissed their pleas against arrest and subsequent police remand in the case. Both were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on October 3.
They subsequently moved the high court challenging the arrest as well as the seven-day police custody, and sought immediate release as interim relief.
The court, however, refused to grant them relief, saying there was no procedural infirmity or violation of the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in arresting them.
The trial court had on October 10 sent them to judicial custody for 10 days.
The city police has lodged cases against the two under anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly receiving money to spread pro-China propaganda.
According to the FIR, a large amount of funds to the news portal allegedly came from China to "disrupt the sovereignty of India" and cause disaffection against the country.
It also alleged that Purkayastha conspired with a group -- People's Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) -- to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
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Padma awardees in Odisha to receive monthly honorarium of Rs 30,000
Bhubaneswar, Jan 16 (PTI): The Odisha government will provide a monthly honorarium of Rs 30,000 to each of the Padma awardees of the state from the current month.
The Odia Language Literature and Culture Department issued a notification to this effect on Thursday.
In view of their outstanding contribution to society in various fields, the state government has decided to provide an honorarium of Rs 30,000 to the Padma awardees, the notification said.
All the Padma awardees of the state, who are alive, will receive the honorarium through direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode from January 2025, it said.
The government has asked collectors and culture officers of all districts to submit details of the Padma award winners (who are alive) including the district collector's certificate, bank account details, IFSC code to the Directorate of Odia, Language, Literature and Culture as soon as possible.
In March last year, the previous BJD government had announced a monthly honorarium of Rs 25,000 for the Padma awardees from Odisha. However, it was not implemented yet, an official of the department said.
In November last year, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had decided to provide Rs 30,000 to the Padma awardees of the state. Accordingly, the formal notification was published on Thursday, he said.
The Padma Award was introduced in 1954. The award is given to personalities for their outstanding contribution in the fields of arts, education, science, sports, social work, public service, medicine, literature, etc.
As per the Padma Awards website of the Ministry of Home Affairs, till now, the President has conferred Padma awards on 105 eminent personalities from Odisha, which includes 90 Padma Shri, 11 Padma Bhushan and four Padma Vibhushan.
