The Chhattisgarh High Court has issued a notice to Bollywood actor Aamir Khan over his alleged remark about rising intolerance in the country in 2015. The court, on Monday, also issued a notice to the Chhattisgarh government in this regard on a petition filed by Dipak Diwan. Diwan's lawyer Amiyakant Tiwari said he had filed a complaint before a Magistrate at Raipur against Khan over the actor's alleged statement that intolerance was growing and his wife Kiran Rao had even asked if they should move out of India. Aamir Khan’s Happy Pictures With Gippy Grewal’s Baby Are Damn Cute!

Diwan sought registration of a complaint under IPC sections 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, etc) and 153 (B) (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration). But the application was rejected on the ground that no sanction under section 196(1)(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was obtained, the lawyer said. Government's permission is required for prosecuting offences such as the one described by section 153 (A). Aamir Khan To Return With Ghajini 2? Makers Share a Cryptic Post Hinting So! (View Pic)

The complainant then approached the sessions court which too rejected his petition, so he moved the high court. "It appears from the record that the Magistrate without recording any finding as to whether case for taking cognizance is made out or not, straightway rejected the complaint for want of sanction under Section 196(1)(a) of the CrPC. In view of that, the petition deserves to be admitted," the high court said.

Justice Sanjay K Agrawal issued notices to Khan and the state government and posted the matter for next hearing on April 17. PTI COR TKP ARU KRK KRK 03171703 NNNNl Congress MLAs, said that the resignations of six lawmakers, out of 22, have already been accepted and there was no reason for not accepting the resignations of the 16 MLAs. "Maninder Singh, senior counsel states that he would be filing an application for impleadment on behalf of the sixteen MLAs who, it is submitted, have tendered their resignations.

A copy of the application... shall be served on the contesting parties in the same mode as the petition under Article 32 of the Constitution. List the Writ Petition at 10:30 am tomorrow (18 March 2020)," the apex court's order said.

At the outset, Rohatgi, appearing for the senior BJP leader and three-time chief minister, said: "The rationale in this case is that a floor test is required and usually the other side appears in such cases. "This case represents complete travesty of democracy. The other side deliberately did not appear," he said referring to the fact that nobody for the Chief Minister and the state government appeared in the court.

He said the apex court has in the past heard such a case during night hours and the floor test were ordered. Taking note of the submissions, the bench said, "We will have to issue a short notice and keep it for tomorrow morning."

The plea alleged that after the resignations of 22 Congress MLAs the government has lost the majority in the House and "it has no moral, legal, democratic or constitutional right to remain in power even for a single day".

The plea has sought a direction to the Speaker, the Chief Minister and the Principal Secretary of the Assembly to "hold the floor test in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly within 12 hours of the passing of the order by this court and as directions...issued by Governor".

It alleged that all possible attempts are being made by Nath to convert "his minority government into majority by giving all possible threats, allurements to the members of the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha". It said the horse-trading was at its peak and hence, it was essential that the floor test was conducted on March 16 itself as already directed by the Governor, so that it becomes absolutely clear as to whether the state government continued to enjoy the confidence of the majority of house. Any deferment of the floor test will further encourage "horse trading" and will be in utter violation of the directions issued by the Governor, law laid down by this court and the spirit and basic structure of the Constitution of India, it added.

The plea alleged that the Speaker, the Chief Minister and the Principal Secretary of the Assembly have "flagrantly violated the constitutional principles and have deliberately and wilfully defied the directions" issued by the governor asking the government to prove the majority on the floor of the house on March 16 when when the budget session was to commence. Besides Chouhan, nine other BJP MLAs, including Gopal Bhargava, leader of Opposition in Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly and Narottam Mishra, the Chief Whip of BJP in assembly are parties to the petition.

On Saturday night, Governor Lalji Tandon wrote to Nath asking him to seek a trust vote in the Assembly soon after the Governor's address on Monday, saying his government was in minority. "The above work must be completed under any circumstances on March 16, 2020 and it should not be adjourned, delayed or suspended," he had said in the letter. After the Speaker accepted the resignation of six Congress MLAs on Saturday, the party now has 108 legislators. These include 16 rebel legislators who have also put in their papers but their resignations are yet to be accepted. The BJP has 107 seats in the House, which now has an effective strength of 222, with the majority mark being 112.