SC terms bad in law its 2011 verdicts on issue of membership of banned outfits
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday held as bad in law its 2011 verdicts that ruled that mere membership of a banned organisation will not make a person criminal unless he resorts to violence or incites people to violence.
A bench of Justices MR Shah, CT Ravikumar and Sanjay Karol, while deciding a reference made by a two-judge bench, held that mere membership of banned organisation will make a person criminal and liable to be prosecuted under provisions of UAPA.
The bench said the subsequent decisions passed by high courts pursuant to its two-judge verdicts in 2011 on membership of banned outfits are bad in law and overruled.
While allowing petitions of the Centre and the Assam government seeking review of the apex court's 2011 verdicts on membership of banned outfits, the court said the Union government was required to be heard when a provision enacted by Parliament is read down.
The top court said the 2011 verdicts were passed while relying on American court decisions which cannot be done without considering the condition prevailing in India.
"In India right to freedom of speech and expressions is not absolute and is subject to reasonable restriction. However, decisions of the American court can be guiding light", the bench said.
On February 9, the top court while reserving its verdict on batch of review pleas had noted that the Union of India was not heard by its two-judge benches when the 2011 verdict was passed reading down section 3 (5) of Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (now repealed).
The top court on February 3, 2011, had acquitted suspected ULFA member Arup Bhuyan, who was held guilty by a TADA court on the basis of his alleged confessional statement before the Superintendent of Police, and said mere membership of a banned organisation will not make a person a criminal unless he resorts to violence or incites people to violence or creates public disorder by violence or incitement to violence.
Similar views were taken by the apex court in two other verdicts of 2011 in Indra Das versus State of Assam and state of Kerala versus Raneef, where the bench relied upon the three US Supreme Court decisions which have rejected the doctrine of 'guilt by association'.
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Voting for DU Students Union elections begins
New Delhi (PTI): Voting for the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections began on Friday here at the north and south campuses of the university.
Students from different DU colleges are casting their votes to elect new representatives for the central panel positions of president, vice president, secretary and joint secretary.
Around 1.40 lakh students are eligible to cast their votes.
Voting will take place in two phases -- students from morning colleges will cast their vote till 1 pm and those from evening colleges from 3 pm till 7.30 pm.
A total of 21 candidates are vying for the positions with eight candidates contesting for the post of president, five for vice-president, and four each for the posts of joint secretary and secretary.
The RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the Congress-backed National Students' Union of India (NSUI), and the left-wing alliance of the All India Students' Association (AISA) and Students' Federation of India (SFI) are the key players this year.
The battle for the post of president is expected to be a tight race between ABVP's Rishabh Chaudhary, NSUI's Rounak Khatri and AISA's Saavy Gupta.
Rishabh Chaudhary, who hails from from Ganaur, Sonipat, is a graduate of Shyam Lal College and is currently a student in the Department of Buddhist Studies. Saavy Gupta contesting as an AISA candidate is a third-year law student at Law Centre-2.
The vice president post is a contest between ABVP's Bhanu Pratap Singh, NSUI's Yash Nandal and Ayush Mondal of the AISA.
The ABVP has fielded Mitravinda Karanwal as its candidate for the post of secretary. Karanwal, a third-year student of History (Hons) at Laxmibai College, is up against NSUI's Namrata Jeph Meena and SFI's Anamika K for the post. Anamika is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Political Science.
For the joint secretary position, ABVP's Aman Kapasia, a graduate of Hindi (Hons) from PGDAV Evening College, will face off against NSUI's Lokesh Choudhary and SFI's Sneha Aggarwal.
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court has halted the counting of votes of the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections till posters, hoardings and graffiti that have been put up are removed and public property is restored. The court passed the order on Thursday.
Currently, the RSS-affiliated ABVP holds most seats in the students body with the posts of president, vice president and secretary with them. The Congress's student wing NSUI holds the secretary's post.
