SC restrains UP police from acting against Taslima Nasreen

The Supreme Court on Tuesday restrained Uttar Pradesh Police from taking any coercive step against self-exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen following her criticism of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal meeting cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan just before Delhi Assembly elections.

The apex court bench of Justice BS Chauhan and Justice SA Bobde also issued notice to UP Police on her plea to quash an FIR against her.

The court restrained UP Police from moving against Taslima Nasreen after senior counsel KK Venugopal told the court that a critical tweet on a meeting between Kejriwal and Tauqeer Raza Khan cannot be construed as an offence under Section 66(a) of the IT Act.

The court, while restraining the police from acting against her, directed the Taslima plea challenging the validity of section 66(a) be tagged with an earlier petition pending before the court that has questioned the constitutional validity of the said IT provisions.