Sacred Games-Rajiv Gandhi case: Delhi HC watches show, finds nothing urgent

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought to know whether it could hear as a PIL a plea claiming that some scenes in the Netflix series "Sacred Games" are derogatory to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and should be removed.

A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar asked the petitioner's advocate to first advance his submissions on the point of maintainability of the plea as a public interest litigation (PIL) and listed the matter for further hearing on July 19.

The Bench said it has gone through the CD of the series, placed on record by the petitioner, and there was nothing urgent in it as all the episodes have been aired.

It also asked how the actors could be held liable for enacting their characters.

The court said a person is entitled to express his views, which may be right or wrong, and asked the petitioner to satisfy it on how the court could interject. 

Dera chief Ram Rahim's 'daughter' Honeypreet arrested by Haryana Police

After a month-lengthy look for jailed Dera Sacha Sauda leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim's "followed" daughter Honeypreet Insan, Haryana Police on Tuesday arrested her.

Honeypreet, in conjunction with some other female, was arrested via the Haryana Police from the Zirakpur-Patiala road in Punjab, said Panchkula Police Commissioner A S Chawla.

Honeypreet tops the list of 43 humans 'desired' via the Haryana Police in reference to the incidents of violence that left 41 human beings dead and several injured following Gurmeet Ram Rahim's conviction in rape cases.

speakme to media men and women at Panchkula, Chawla said, "She has been taken into custody through take a seat in-price (Mukesh Kumar) from Zirakpur-Patiala road in Punjab. She is being added to Panchkula for thinking in reference to the incidents of violence".

"Her role inside the violence (after Ram Rahim's conviction on August 25) can be probed...who supplied her shelter or support in the course of her run from police may also be produced. She will be produced before a court (in Panchkula) day after today and we can are searching for her police remand," Chawla stated.

Arnab Goswami gets notice from Delhi HC for alleged Times Now 'theft'

The Delhi High court has issued a notice to former Arnab Goswami, the former editor-in-chief of the group's Times Now channel, in the case pertaining to the alleged breach of employment contract and misusing intellectual property of Times Now, the channel owned by Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd (BCCL), Live Law reported.

The Group had filed a criminal complaint against Arnab Goswami. Soft copies of the complaint and an executive summary thereof were reviewed by Business Standard.

Times Now, Goswami’s previous employer, alleged that the audio tapes played during the Sunanda Pushkar story and the earlier Lalu Prasad controversy on Republic TV were ‘procured and accessed’ by Goswami and Sridevi while they were employed by Times Now.

Republic TV is the name of the news channel that Goswami launched on May 6,  months after he quit Times Now last November.

In its complaint, BCCL sought to slap Goswami and Sridevi with various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act, for allegedly using material that belonged to BCCL on Republic TV. BCCL claims the duo had access to stories, audio-video content, documents, tapes, while they were still employees of Times Now, and had used some of these in the channel that Goswami launched on May 6.

In its executive summary, BCCL submitted that on the first day of its launch, Republic TV carried an expose on Lalu Prasad Yadav in which audio tapes containing phone conversations between the ex-chief minister of Bihar and Shahabuddin allegedly while he was still in prison were played out.

BCCL further claimed that another expose was done on Republic TV by Goswami on May 8 in which audio tapes of phone conversations between Prema Sridevi (former News Reporter of Times Now) and the Late Sunanda Pushkar (wife of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor) and their house help Narayan was broadcast.

BCCL alleged that both these exposes displayed material (in the form of audio tapes of phone conversations) that was procured and accessed while Goswami and Sridevi were in the employment of Times Now. It said that an internal inquiry clearly pointed out that these tapes were procured and in the possession of Goswami and Sridevi while they were in the service of BCCL.

The complainant also alleges that Goswami and Sridevi had on Republic TV admitted and claimed that the audio conversation in the Sunanda Pushkar case aired on May 8 was in their possession for the last two years when they were with Times Now.  

Accusing Goswami and Sridevi of wilfully and deliberately using Times Now's intellectual property, BCCL has sought to prosecute the duo for criminal misappropriation of property under section 403 and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code, and certain sections of the Information Technology Act.

READ MORE

Jio, Tata oppose Airtel, Vodafone plea on Trai's IUC rules in Delhi HC

Latest Business News - Reliance Jio and Tata Tele Services Ltd (TTSL) Wednesday opposed in the Delhi High Court the pleas filed by telecom firms Bharti Airtel and Vodafone challenging Trai's interconnect usage charges regulations fixing termination charges for the landline to wireless as zero paise and wireless to wireless at 14 paise per minute.

Interconnection usage charges (IUC) or termination charges are payable by one telco, whose subscriber makes a call, to another whose subscriber receives the call. The charge is payable by the first for using the second's network.

The counsel appearing for Reliance Jio and TTSL told a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal that they are opposing the petitions filed by Airtel and Vodafone.

To this, the bench said, "We felt that all the service providers are on the same footing."

However, senior advocate P Chidambaram, who was appearing for one of the petitioners, told the bench that service providers who have less customers are not at "disadvantage" but operators having a large customer base are "suffering" due to the regulation.(Read More)