Penguin India has released a statement, blaming section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, which bans “outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens” with “malicious intent”.

Madras HC chief Agrawal talks candidly on local turmoil : Recently elevated Madras HC chief justice RK Agrawal, at his farewell, made reference to HC justice CS Karnan barging into his chamber hurling abuse. Agrawal said that while nobody had “ever raised their voice” to him in his 37 year career, K...

Legally India editor Kian Ganz was in an online Q&A today, fielding some excellent and insightful questions on freedom of speech for an hour from CNN-IBN’s viewers. It was fun! Do read and let us know your thoughts.

The media, in India and abroad, has predictably had a field day over the settlement Penguin India entered into to recall and destroy all India-based copies of Wendy Doniger’s book, The Hindus: An Alternative History , against which a religious organisation filed criminal and civil cases. The Mint ca...

In settlement of a civil and two criminal suits brought by a religious group against Penguin Books India, the publisher has agreed to withdraw and destroy all copies of a history book on Hinduism.

The chilling effect of the Delhi high court’s gag order it the Swatanter Kumar case is only the latest in a long line of examples of the media losing out in its fight to report on the judiciary, argues advocate Prashant Reddy.

The Delhi high court’s order, restricting media coverage of the sexual harassment allegations against Swatanter Kumar, should give the Supreme Court cause to consider its Sahara gag order decision, argues Chinamyi Arun, research director at the Centre for Communication Governance at NLU Delhi and fellow at the CIS Bangalore.

After sending a takedown request for a photograph last Thursday, Karanjawala & Co, representing ex-SC judge Swatanter Kumar in a defamation case, declined to specify which parts of Legally India’s coverage relating to the case should be removed.

Karanjawala & Co, the law firm representing Swatanter Kumar in his Rs 5 crore defamation suit, has sent Legally India a legal notice for the removal of an anonyised photograph of the ex-judge.

Lawyer myths: NLSIU Bangalore grad and Singapore’s Nanyang Tech B-school lecturer Krishna Udayasankar has penned down a mythological trilogy – the Aryavarta Chronicles. Interview by [ Bangalore Mirror ] TOI didn’t defame: The Times of India is off the hook for criminal defamation after the Madras HC...

Karnataka govt pleader overhaul: The Karnataka government is on a warpath with its state legal team after it prepared a list of replacements for 61 out of its 73 law officers. While 36 officers resigned without putting up a fight, the rest of them is daring the state government to dismiss them [ Ban...

Chinmayi Arun, NLU Delhi’s research director at the centre for communication governance, senior advocate Aman Lekhi and Legally India editor Kian Ganz talk “internet laws around the world” in a panel discussion hosted by Newslaundry’s Madhu Trehan. Should India’s IT Act be amended? Lekhi says, not r...

File RTI online : Gov launches online portal for filing Right to Information (RTI) requests with 82 ministries at www.rtionline.gov.in [ Firstpost ] Delhi gang-rape closings : The closing arguments in the so-called Delhi gang-rape trial will be heard today. WSJ summarises case so far. Wikileaker sen...

Media friendlier new CJI? New CJI P Sathasivam said in a speech that he was in favour of self-regulation of the media rather than strict controls [ Hindu ] His remarks follow both his predecessors’ significant fall-outs with the media – SH Kapadia constituted a constitutional bench into media conduc...

No Reliance on reportage: Anil Ambani’s ADAG threatened legal action against monthly magazine Caravan while they were reporting their 11,000-word profile on attorney general Goolam Vahanvati. Delhi law firm Agarwal & Associates acted for ADAG, The Hoot published the deets. Feel me once, shame o...

Spicy IP blogger and NUJS Kolkata student Aparajita Lath was sent a letter threatening a defamation suit by the Times Publishing House, for her post that summarised the 19-year-old dispute between the Times Group and the UK’s Financial Times newspaper. [ SpicyIP ] The notice threatening civil and cr...

TRAI-ing new approach: On enforcing the 12 min/hour advertising cap on TV, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India head Rahul Khullar says: “I don’t have to win a fucking election. I am a regulator, I am answerable to Parliament, my job is to enforce the law. Once the regulation is issued, it is law. ...

The Allahabad High Court (HC) and a Lucknow district court cleared Supreme Court Cases (SCC) publisher EBC to publicise its earlier court win.

Communications minister Kapil Sibal has instructed the Information Technology (IT) department to appeal against the 14 Feb Gwalior court order blocking almost 80 web pages critical of the Arindam Chaudhary owned management institute IIPM. Sources told the Times of India that the department of teleco...

Recently-elected Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president and senior advocate MN Krishnamani has vowed to file cases for his digital-artist son Anirudh Krishnamani against the Karnataka state government and a Bangalore art gallery, which withdrew the son’s exhibited paintings on the direction ...