-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court today asked all authorities to stick to the guidelines laid down by a Constitution bench 54 years ago while invoking the sedition law. The five-judge bench had ruled in 1962 that the sedition law could be activated only if "violence and public disorder" had been incited. The directive today came against a backdrop of complaints that sedition cases were being filed indiscriminately to crush Dissent and...

-PTI The observation came as Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for an NGO, said sedition was a serious offence and the law on it was being grossly misused for stifling Dissent. New Delhi: Sedition or defamation cases cannot be slapped on anyone criticising the government, the Supreme Court on Monday said in a clear message. “Someone making a statement to criticise the government does not invoke an offence under sedition or defamation law. We...

-Hindustan Times New Delhi: Taking action against corrupt officials could soon get harder. A parliamentary panel has backed a move to bar anti-graft agencies from probing bribery allegations against public servants without the government’s approval. The government can take up to four months to decide if the police should register the bribery case, and there will be no penalty if it takes longer. However, its sanction would not be required if the official...

-Livemint.com NGO Common Cause said in a petition that governments and law enforcement agencies had abused sedition laws to gag Dissent, suppress freedom of speech and expression and to muzzle critical voices New Delhi: Common Cause, a non-governmental organization, on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court, alleging misuse and misapplication of sedition laws by successive governments, leading to routine persecution of students, journalists and intellectuals engaged in social activism. Common Cause said in...

-The Hindu New Delhi: Stepping up its scrutiny of NGOs, especially their financial dealings, the Centre has made obtaining unique identification numbers and registering them on the NITI Aayog portal, including the details of the Aadhaar and PAN numbers of all their trustees and office- bearers, mandatory for them to apply for grants from any ministry. The decision was taken by the Aayog at its meeting on May 9, which Prime Minister...