Wednesday, 21 October 2015 | TN RAGHUNATHA | Mumbai
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday extended its stay on the implementation of the Maharashtra Government’s controversial circular vesting among other things powers with the police to invoke section 124-A (sedition) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) against persons, for their “words/signs, or representations” spoken or made against politicians or public servants who are representatives of the Government.
Extending its earlier interim order staying the implementation of the August 27, 2015 circular till such time the Maharashtra Government filed its say on the two petition challenging the controversial order on sedition, a HC Bench of Justices VM Kanade and Shalini Phansalkar Joshi set November 27 as deadline for the Government to file to its reply on the two petitions.
The HC Bench’s decision to extend the stay on the controversial sedition order came after the Government pleader Usha Kejriwal told the two judges that she needed some more time, as she had to seek instructions on whether the State Government planned to withdraw the controversial circular or issue a new one incorporating changes therein.
The HC Bench scheduled the next hearing in the case for November 27 and asked the State Government to take a stand on the issue.