Archives for September 2024

Union minister Nitin Gadkari

Mumbai: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said he had received offers to become prime minister “multiple times” before and after Lok Sabha polls.

Gadkari made the statement at the India Today conclave when asked if he could divulge details about his earlier remark that an opposition party leader had offered support if he was ready to take up the post of PM.

“I have received such an offer multiple times, even before the (Lok Sabha) election and afterwards,” he said.

When the interviewers sought to know if Gadkari had received offers to become PM after the Lok Sabha results in June, the senior BJP leader evaded the query and said he was leaving it to the mediapersons to decipher.

“I will not compromise with my ideology. There was no question of accepting the offer. It is not my aim to become prime minister. I am living my ideology with my conviction,” he asserted.

Tumakuru: A 70-year-old man was arrested for allegedly setting his wife on fire 27 years ago, police said on Friday.

Ningappa had been absconding since 1997 after he was charged in the incident in Nonavinakere police station limits, they said.

“The arrest was made as part of solving long pending cases,” a police official said.

According to police, Nanjappa set his wife ablaze by pouring kerosene on her over domestic issues. She succumbed to injuries in hospital.

He was arrested three days ago when he happened to visit his village.

“It was a long pending case and now we caught him back. He came back to his village and his son started contacting him and through that connection, we caught him. It was a case of domestic violence. While she was admitted in hospital, the woman had given a dying declaration saying her husband had beaten her and poured kerosene on her,” Tumakuru Superintendent of Police Ashok K V told PTI.

“A dying declaration is undeniable and no one can protect the accused in such cases. Initially, it was a case of attempt to murder but after she succumbed to injuries, it was converted into a case of murder,” he said.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed the taking down of an allegedly disparaging video against nutritional drink Complan saying social media influencers cannot be reckless and comment on a subject they are not the “master” of.

Justice Saurabh Banerjee observed that Prashant Desai, who has about one million followers on Instagram and over 60,000 followers on Facebook, spoke on the “chemistry” behind Complan despite being “neither a doctor nor a nutritionist nor a dietician” nor anyone connected with the health industry, when Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) guidelines require a user to possess relevant qualifications to publish a health-related post.

The court also restrained the content creator from publishing any matter which denigrates the product and asked him to remove the existing video from all his social media handles within a period of two weeks.

In the video, Desai claimed that Complan, as well as certain other similar products, contain sugar in excess of the daily requirement in children.

Zydus Wellness Products Ltd, in its lawsuit, argued that the video made false as well as unsubstantiated claims and, therefore, sought directions to restrain Desai from infringing upon its trade mark and disparaging Complan and Complan Pista Badam.

Asserting that a social media influencer is entitled to take recourse to Article 19 of the Constitution if he has acted verily, cautiously and within the permissible precincts, the court noted that in the present case, the content creator identified and directly targeted Complan and asked the public to evade it, which cannot be permitted.

The court said a social media influencer is expected not to try to play the role of a professional without any backing to substantiate what is being shared by them.

“In the present scenario, even though the defendant is neither a competitor nor a qualified Doctor/ Nutritionist/ Dietician, however, he has openly named, identified and criticised the plaintiff’s product ‘COMPLAN’ by starting the impugned video on a purely negative note by making unsubstantive and false statements therein.

“The contents/ statements therein are not backed by any substantive basis, even when they were uploaded and even as on date, therefore, the said contents/ statements made by the defendant therein are nothing short of being false, which is writ large,” said the court on September 26 in the judgment passed on Zydus’ plea seeking an interim relief.

“Merely being a ‘social media influencer’, the defendant is not bestowed with the independence to speak and/ or comment about a subject of which he is not the master. In fact, ‘social media influencer’ like the defendant is always expected not to cross over and try to play the role of a professional or try to fall in/ step into the shoes of a teacher or any other professional or act like a preacher, more so without any backing to substantiate what is being talked/ shared,” the court stated.

Desai said he was a well-established social media influencer who created content relating to health and lifestyle, and maintained that his video reflected the truth. There were no falsities in relation to the product of the plaintiff, he added.

Besides being a qualified chartered accountant and certified management accountant, he has also obtained several certifications from different universities on the subject of nutrition and wellness, the court was told.

The court, in the order, said Zydus was an “age old company” which was selling Complan for a long time after obtaining requisite authorisations in accordance with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and other guidelines. The defendant cannot be permitted to “identify” and unauthorisedly reproduce the plaintiff’s product, it added.

“The defendant by uploading the impugned video is questioning all such authorisation(s), permission(s), approval(s), sanction(s) or like obtained by the plaintiff from the Government of India,” it stated, while concluding that the video was “indeed damaging” and “malicious” .

“The defendant’s unauthorised and dishonest use of the plaintiff’s registered mark ‘COMPLAN’ in the impugned video, is/ are detrimental to, the distinctive reputation/ goodwill/ character of the plaintiff’s trademark ‘COMPLAN’ and ‘COMPLAN family marks’, amounting to infringement,” it stated.

The court further said the defendant ought to have been more careful while uploading the video, especially as he was naming the plaintiff’s product.

“A ‘Social Media Influencer’ like the defendant cannot express and/or advocate his ideas/ opinions freely without any substantive basis and/ or backing and/ or is expected to be sensible, prudent, careful, cautious and pragmatic instead of being unwise and reckless, especially in today’s age when media is a powerful tool having an influence over all humanity,” the court said.

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Supriya Sule

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Supriya Sule on Friday said her fight will not end till she gives her father Sharad Pawar the party he founded and its original symbol.

The Sharad Pawar-founded NCP split in July last year after Ajit Pawar and eight MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde government. The ECI later gave the party name and ‘clock’ symbol to the faction led by the deputy chief minister, while Sharad Pawar’s faction was christened NCP (SP) with ‘man blowing tutari’ as its symbol.

Addressing a Maha Vikas Aghadi rally in Anushakti Nagar in north east Mumbai, Sule said, “My fight will not end until I give Pawar saheb the party he created and his symbol.”

She also took a swipe at the ruling alliance by saying “what happened to those who had an allergy to Nawab Malik”. Malik is the sitting MLA from Anushakti Nagar and has thrown his weight with the faction led by Ajit Pawar.

Malik was arrested in February 2022 by the Enforcement Directorate for allegedly usurping a property in Kurla here with the help of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s sister. Malik was released on bail last year.

Expressing disappointment with Malik moving towards the ruling alliance, Sule said, “I feel sorry when I see Nawab bhai with the BJP. The same party that put you in jail, you have joined hands with them?”

The Ajit Pawar-led NCP, BJP and the Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena comprise the ruling alliance in Maharashtra.

Sule stressed the (undivided) NCP gave Malik full support when he was jailed, during his court hearings and when he was hospitalised for various ailments.

“I have seen the tears of Nawab bhai’s wife and his children. Nawab bhai may have forgotten the injustice meted out to him by the BJP but I have not,” the Baramati Lok Sabha MP asserted.

Sule said allegations of irregularities to the tune of Rs 100 crore were made against former state home minister and party colleague Anil Deshmukh but the FIR mentioned only Rs 1 crore.

He, however, spent seven months in jail, leaving his kin in immense distress, Sule told the gathering.

Sule also expressed gratitude to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav for supporting her when the party split and the symbol was given to the breakaway faction.

Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi and Congress Rajya Sabha MP Chandrakant Handore also addressed the gathering.