'We are not at govt's beck and call': K'taka HC not happy with repeated adjournments of Twitter case
Bengaluru, Jan 9: The High Court of Karnataka on Monday expressed its displeasure at the Union Government seeking repeated adjournments in the petition filed by microblogging site Twitter against take-down orders issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
Twitter's case challenging blocking of accounts, posts and URLs without giving notice to account holders came up before Justice Krishna S Dixit.
The Central Government counsel sought adjournment of the hearing either to January 27 or February 3.
The court said that repeated adjournments were being sought on such an important matter.
"We are not at the government's dictation like that. I don't agree. What will people think? We are not at your beck and call. How many times have you taken adjournments. See the order sheet," the court said.
The court said that it would give only one week and ordered listing of the case on January 18.
Twitter approached the High Court with its petition filed in June, 2022. It has claimed that the Government was required to issue notice to the owners of the twitter handles against whom blocking orders are issued.
It claimed, it was even barred from informing the account holders about the take-down.
Senior advocates Arvind Datar and Ashok Haranahalli have argued on behalf of Twitter.
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.
Allahabad HC expresses dissatisfaction over probe in 2009 custodial death case
Prayagraj (PTI): The Allahabad High Court has expressed dissatisfaction over the investigation and state's evidence in a 2009 custodial death case in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh.
A bench of justices Atul Sreedharan and Siddhartha Nandan warned that if relevant videography and photographs are not placed before the court, the only option left to it will be to take assistance of CBI to recover the vital evidence.
The order was passed while hearing a PIL filed by Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives.
The court, in its order dated April 7, noted that crucial facts including video and photo evidence of the incident are missing.
The court observed, "In the event, by the next date of hearing, the videography and photographs relevant in this case are not placed before this court, the only other option left to this court is to take assistance of the central bureau of investigation (CBI) to recover vital evidence in this case which shall be considered on the next date of hearing."
"The chain of evidence is unclear casting doubt on the fairness of the investigation," the court added.
The court also directed the then sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Karmendra Singh of Mainpuri to file his affidavit strictly in terms of the order dated February 9, failing which, it said, it shall consider to take appropriate action against him.
The court asked Singh to give a precise answer on the fate of the videography recording which was done in his presence.
The court fixed May 5 as the next date of hearing in the matter.
