Remove video recording of excise case court proceedings from social media: HC to Sunita Kejriwal
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Saturday directed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal to take down a video recording of court proceedings related to the excise policy case from social media platforms.
In the video, Arvind Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor, is seen addressing a trial court.
A bench of justices Neena Bansal Krishna and Amit Sharma issued notices to six people, including Sunita Kejriwal, and social media intermediaries X (formerly known as Twitter), Meta and YouTube on a petition alleging violation of the video conferencing (VC) rules of the Delhi High Court.
The high court also directed the social media intermediaries to take down similar content if it is brought to their notice that it has been re-posted.
The court passed an ex-parte ad-interim order and listed the matter for further hearing on July 9 while restraining the parties from re-posting the content.
"The order be communicated to them within 48 hours. Service be also effected through ordinary and electronic mode," the bench said and asked the petitioner to serve the unserved respondents.
The high court was hearing the petition filed by lawyer Vaibhav Singh.
In his petition, Singh claimed that when Arvind Kejriwal was produced before a trial court on March 28 after his arrest in the Delhi excise policy case, he chose to address the court in-person, and the video recording of the proceedings was posted on social media platforms which is prohibited under the High Court of Delhi Rules for Video Conferencing for Courts, 2021.
According to the Rules, there shall be no unauthorised recording of the proceedings by any person or entity.
The video was allegedly re-posted by Sunita Kejriwal and the others.
During the hearing, the counsel representing social media platform Meta submitted that if the persons who have posted the content take it down, nothing remains for his client to do.
"However, if they don't take it down we will take it down pursuant to court orders," he said.
To this, the court said whenever it is brought to the notice of social media intermediaries that there is a re-posting of this identical content, they shall take it down.
The petitioner told the court that YouTube had sent an e-mail saying that it had deleted the content on its platform.
In the public interest litigation (PIL), the petitioner sought the formation of an SIT to investigate and register an FIR against the alleged conspiracy of recording and sharing the audio and video of the court proceedings and putting the life of the trial court judge at high risk.
"Several members of the Aam Aadmi Party, including members of various other opposition parties, have intentionally and deliberately and with wilful intention to malign and manipulate the court proceedings done the audio and video recording of the court proceedings and circulated on social media platforms," the plea said.
It also sought a direction to conduct a thorough investigation to identify the individuals responsible for recording and sharing audio and video recordings of the court proceedings.
The plea sought to "punish the alleged contemnor as per the provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, and impose strict penalties on the individuals found guilty of violation of VC Rules 2021 of this Hon'ble court, as per the provisions specified in law".
The petition urged the court to issue appropriate directives to social media platforms to prevent the recurrence of such unauthorised recordings and their subsequent dissemination and impose penalties for non-compliance of directions on any individual or entity.
Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in the money laundering case stemming from the Delhi excise policy 'scam' on March 21 and has been lodged in Tihar jail under in judicial custody.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
