SC to hear UP Govt's plea against HC order directing it to impose strict restrictions in five cities
New Delhi: The Supreme Court agreed to hear on Tuesday itself the plea of the Uttar Pradesh government against the Allahabad High Court order directing it to impose strict restrictions till April 26 in five cities amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter for urgent listing before a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde.
Mehta, while referring to the high court's order passed on Monday, said that a virtual lockdown is declared by a judicial order for a week. He requested the bench to take up the matter during the day saying the matter relates to five big cities of the state.
Ok, the bench said.
The high court had directed the Uttar Pradesh government to impose strict restrictions including closing of malls, shopping complexes and restaurants till April 26 in five cities, but stopped short of calling it a "complete lockdown".
Allahabad, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur Nagar and Gorakhpur are the cities in which the high court has directed curbs.
The high court had said these curbs are "nowhere close to a complete lockdown".
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Australian journalist leaves India after govt refuses to extend work visa, says she 'crossed a line'
New Delhi (PTI): An Australian journalist on Tuesday claimed that she was forced to leave India after the government refused to extend her work visa contending that her reportage had "crossed a line".
Avani Dias, the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, said she had to leave India on April 19, the day the Lok Sabha elections started after the government objected to her reporting on the assassination of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
"Last week, I had to leave India abruptly. The Modi Government told me my visa extension would be denied, saying my reporting 'crossed a line'," Dias said on X.
"We were also told my election accreditation would not come through because of an Indian Ministry directive. We left on day one of voting in the national election in what Modi calls "the mother of democracy," said Dias, who had been working in India for the past two-and-a-half years.
She said after intervention from the Australian government, her visa was extended for two months which was conveyed "less than 24 hours before my flight".
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said Dias was informed of the decision by an official from the Ministry of External Affairs, who said her most recent Foreign Correspondent episode "crossed a line".
ABC said YouTube has also blocked access in India to an episode of its news series Foreign Correspondent on the Nijjar killing.
