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HC stays proceedings against Sania Mirza
Madhya Pradesh High Court has stayed proceedings against tennis player Sania Mirza in the case of alleged dishonour to the national flag.
Madhya Pradesh High Court has stayed proceedings against tennis player Sania Mirza in the case of alleged dishonour to the national flag.
The Bench of Justice Rakesh Saxena stayed proceedings against Sania Mirza and issued a show-cause notice to the petitioner returnable within four weeks asking why proceedings against her in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Bhopal be not quashed.
Taking suo-motu notice of the case filed in the CJM Ajay Shrivastava's court, High Court Chief Justice, AK Pattnaik had on Friday directed the bench of Justice Saxena to take up the case.
The bench ruled that the reported incident took place in Perth, Australia during the Hopman's Cup and not in India and therefore, without the permission of the Central Government the case cannot be registered or trial initiated.
The bench also directed the court to submit all details of the case before the High Court.
A social worker, Praksah Kumar Thakur, on the basis of photographs of Mirza allegedly sitting in front of the national flag with her feets pointed towards the tricolor published in several dailies filed a case under Section 2 of the Prevention of Insult to the National Honour Act (1971) following which notices were issued against her on January 7. The CJM court has directed her to appear in the court on March 10.
