Tag: Solicitor General

  • ‘Bharat’ is present and future of world, says Solicitor General Tushar Mehta

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: ‘Bharat’ is the present and future of the world, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta asserted Saturday, as he extolled India’s growing economic power which is attracting foreign investment like never before.

    Bharat, he said, is leading the world in terms of digital payment, and justice is being delivered to the litigants at their doorstep because of the government’s initiative for digitisation.

    Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Bar Council of India’s (BCI) two-day ‘International Lawyers Conference 2023’ here, Mehta said there are 21,000 district courts, 25 high courts and the Supreme Court in the country, and now every document of every court is available in digitised format that anybody can access.

    “Bharat is the present and the future of the world. Even during the COVID period between 2019 and 2022, our country got the maximum foreign direct investment, and people are trusting our country even for legal adjudication,” Mehta said.

    He described the two-day event, the first in India, as the beginning of an era in which the Indian judiciary and lawyers will be able to share the finer nuances of their legal system with their foreign counterparts and vice versa.

    The SG said India has entered an era where it has achieved “100 per cent” direct investment through automatic route, an entirely transparent process.

    “Our country is becoming an economic powerhouse in the world. In the last decade, under the visionary leadership of the prime minister, we have taken several statutory steps, making new laws, policies and initiatives as a result of which India has jumped to 79th position in the index of ease of doing business,” he said.

    Mehta said just before the function started, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice of the United Kingdom Alex Chalk KC, who was also present on the dias during the event, asked him about how digitisation was working in India.

    The government’s law officer said under the “visionary leadership” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India now has 760 million mobile internet users, with a new user joining every 3 seconds.

    “That’s the position of our country in digitisation. Now justice is delivered literally at the doorstep because of digitisation,” he said.

    “Our country ‘Bharat’ is not behind anyone but is leading the world in terms of digital payment, and I would be very happy to share with you that the total digital payments which are made in India, because of the visionary leadership, is seven times (more than) that of United States of America and European Union put together. Our digital payment is three times the population of China,” Mehta asserted.

    He said digitisation has not only helped the Indian judiciary in the administration of justice but also served the cause of humanity because the goal of the government is not just justice, as per the legal books, but social, economic and political justice.

    Stressing that social justice is not possible without providing a good health mechanism to the nation, Mehta said when the world faced the COVID pandemic, which was one of the biggest known human tragedies, India not only developed indigenous vaccines but the government went to the extent of administering 2.2 billion vaccine doses free of cost.

    Calling it a “miracle”, the law officer said this was possible only because of digitisation.

    He said the government has also formulated a policy based on digitisation called tele law, which brings justice to the doorstep of the last man standing in the line.

    He said an individual has to just dial a number and he would get free legal advice from eminent lawyers who have been persuaded to work free of cost.

    Mehta also talked about the initiatives to make the Supreme Court’s functioning paperless.

    The apex court has launched a platform called ‘Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvad Software’ which is capable of translating the judgments and orders of the top court in nine vernacular languages on a real-time basis, he said, adding this is also a “miracle” in itself.

    Mehta concluded his speech by saying “More and more litigation will come, more and more people. Litigants will trust our justice system, particularly arbitration and mediation, and we as the legal fraternity members will have to rise to the occasion so that our country continues to be the future of the world”.

    CJI D Y Chandrachud was the chief guest at the event that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice of the United Kingdom Alex Chalk KC, Attorney General for India R Venkataramani, Bar Council of India chairman and senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra and others, including several judges of the apex court, were also present at the event.

    NEW DELHI: ‘Bharat’ is the present and future of the world, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta asserted Saturday, as he extolled India’s growing economic power which is attracting foreign investment like never before.

    Bharat, he said, is leading the world in terms of digital payment, and justice is being delivered to the litigants at their doorstep because of the government’s initiative for digitisation.

    Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Bar Council of India’s (BCI) two-day ‘International Lawyers Conference 2023’ here, Mehta said there are 21,000 district courts, 25 high courts and the Supreme Court in the country, and now every document of every court is available in digitised format that anybody can access.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “Bharat is the present and the future of the world. Even during the COVID period between 2019 and 2022, our country got the maximum foreign direct investment, and people are trusting our country even for legal adjudication,” Mehta said.

    He described the two-day event, the first in India, as the beginning of an era in which the Indian judiciary and lawyers will be able to share the finer nuances of their legal system with their foreign counterparts and vice versa.

    The SG said India has entered an era where it has achieved “100 per cent” direct investment through automatic route, an entirely transparent process.

    “Our country is becoming an economic powerhouse in the world. In the last decade, under the visionary leadership of the prime minister, we have taken several statutory steps, making new laws, policies and initiatives as a result of which India has jumped to 79th position in the index of ease of doing business,” he said.

    Mehta said just before the function started, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice of the United Kingdom Alex Chalk KC, who was also present on the dias during the event, asked him about how digitisation was working in India.

    The government’s law officer said under the “visionary leadership” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India now has 760 million mobile internet users, with a new user joining every 3 seconds.

    “That’s the position of our country in digitisation. Now justice is delivered literally at the doorstep because of digitisation,” he said.

    “Our country ‘Bharat’ is not behind anyone but is leading the world in terms of digital payment, and I would be very happy to share with you that the total digital payments which are made in India, because of the visionary leadership, is seven times (more than) that of United States of America and European Union put together. Our digital payment is three times the population of China,” Mehta asserted.

    He said digitisation has not only helped the Indian judiciary in the administration of justice but also served the cause of humanity because the goal of the government is not just justice, as per the legal books, but social, economic and political justice.

    Stressing that social justice is not possible without providing a good health mechanism to the nation, Mehta said when the world faced the COVID pandemic, which was one of the biggest known human tragedies, India not only developed indigenous vaccines but the government went to the extent of administering 2.2 billion vaccine doses free of cost.

    Calling it a “miracle”, the law officer said this was possible only because of digitisation.

    He said the government has also formulated a policy based on digitisation called tele law, which brings justice to the doorstep of the last man standing in the line.

    He said an individual has to just dial a number and he would get free legal advice from eminent lawyers who have been persuaded to work free of cost.

    Mehta also talked about the initiatives to make the Supreme Court’s functioning paperless.

    The apex court has launched a platform called ‘Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvad Software’ which is capable of translating the judgments and orders of the top court in nine vernacular languages on a real-time basis, he said, adding this is also a “miracle” in itself.

    Mehta concluded his speech by saying “More and more litigation will come, more and more people. Litigants will trust our justice system, particularly arbitration and mediation, and we as the legal fraternity members will have to rise to the occasion so that our country continues to be the future of the world”.

    CJI D Y Chandrachud was the chief guest at the event that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice of the United Kingdom Alex Chalk KC, Attorney General for India R Venkataramani, Bar Council of India chairman and senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra and others, including several judges of the apex court, were also present at the event.

  • Toolkit row: Have not leaked anything related to Disha Ravi to media, police tells Delhi HC

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Delhi Police Thursday told the Delhi High Court that it has not leaked any material to the media in relation to its probe in the FIR against climate activist Disha Ravi for her alleged involvement in sharing a toolkit backing the ongoing farmers’ protest.

    The court was hearing Ravi’s plea to restrain police from leaking to the media any probe material in relation to the FIR lodged against her.

    The submission was made before Justice Prathiba M Singh by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the police.

    The court asked the police to file an affidavit containing its submission that it has not leaked any material relating to the investigation to the media.

    Since there were no counsels representing the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) and some of the media houses named in Ravi’s petition, the court issued notice to them and said it will hear the matter on Friday.

    The petition has also sought to restrain the media from publishing the content or extract of any private chats, including those on WhatsApp, between her and third parties.

    Ravi said she is “severely aggrieved and prejudiced by the media trial surrounding her arrest and the ongoing investigation, where she is being viscerally attacked by the respondent 1 (police) and several media houses”.

    She claimed that her arrest from Bengaluru on February 13 by a Cyber Cell team of Delhi Police was “wholly unlawfully and without basis”.

    She also contended that in the present circumstances, it was “highly likely” that the general public will perceive the news items “as being conclusive as to the guilt of the petitioner (Ravi)”.

    “In these circumstances, and to restrain the respondents from further violating her privacy, her reputation, and her right to a fair trial, the petitioner is moving the present petition,” the plea has said.

    Her petition has alleged that investigative matters have been leaked to the media and the press briefings by the police are “prejudicial” and “grossly violative of her right to a fair trial and presumption of innocence”.

    “The illegal actions and omissions on part of the respondents has irrevocably violated the petitioner’s fundamental right to privacy, her right to reputation, her dignity, and the consequent effect of the administration of justice and right to fair trial,” the petition has said.

    It has claimed that the police first “leaked investigative material” — like alleged WhatsApp chats — the substance and details of which were only in the possession of the investigating agency.

    Thereafter, the “private alleged WhatsApp chats” were publicised and disseminated by various media houses which was a violation of the provisions of the Cable Televisions Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 (CTN Act), the Programme Code and the Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines, the petition has contended.

    It has also claimed that the “media houses have published one-sided defamatory, suggestive innuendos, and half truths about the petitioner”.

    Ravi’s plea has further contended that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the NBSA “have failed to exercise their statutory and self-regulatory powers in ensuring compliance with the Programme Code under the CTN Act and the Code of Ethics of National Broadcasting Standards Association”.

    Delhi Police, probing the “toolkit Google doc” backing the farmers’ agitation shared by climate activist Greta Thunberg, had arrested Ravi while Mumbai lawyer Jacob and Pune engineer Shantanu Muluk have been granted pre-arrest bail by court.

    A Delhi court had on February 14 sent Ravi to five day police custody after the agency said her custodial interrogation was required to probe an alleged larger conspiracy against the government of India and to ascertain her alleged role relating to the Khalistan movement.

    A toolkit is a document created to explain any issue.

    It also provides information on what one needs to do to address the issue.

    This might include information about petitions, details about protests and mass movements.

    Delhi Police had earlier asked Google and some social media giants to provide information about email ID, URLs and certain social media accounts related to the creators of the toolkit shared by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and others on Twitter in connection with the farmers’ protest.

    The Cyber Cell had lodged an FIR against “pro-Khalistan” creators of the toolkit for waging a “social, cultural and economic war against the government of India”.

    The case against unnamed persons was registered on charges of criminal conspiracy, sedition and various other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

    The toolkit was aimed at spreading disaffection and ill-will against the government of India and creating disharmony among various social, religious and cultural groups, the police had claimed.