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The Press Club of India and the Indian Women’s Press Corps on Tuesday criticised the Assam Police for filing a sedition case against journalists Siddharth Varadarajan and Karan Thapar of The Wire.
The associations said that the first information report registered against Varadarajan, the founding editor of the news portal, and Thapar were vindictive actions by the police.
The press bodies demanded that the cases against the two journalists be immediately withdrawn.
They also demanded the withdrawal of the “draconian” Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita invoked in the matter, which they said threatens freedom of expression under Article 19(1)a of the Constitution.
Section 152 pertains to acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
On August 12, the Assam Police’s Crime Branch in Guwahati issued a summons to Varadarajan in an FIR pertaining to an article about Operation Sindoor published in The Wire.
The summons came even as the Supreme Court, on the same day, had granted Varadarajan and members of the foundation running the news outlet protection from arrest in another FIR filed by the Assam Police.
The Wire received summons for Thapar on Monday, said the news outlet.
Ankur Jain, the joint commissioner of police in Guwahati, told Scroll that the summons had been issued as the Supreme Court order had come in relation to a case filed in “some other district”.
In the latest notice, Varadarajan and Thapar has been directed to appear for questioning before the investigating officer in Panbazar on Friday.
The earlier case against Varadarajan was registered at Morigaon police station on July 11 under Section 152.
It followed the publication of an article about Operation Sindoor titled “‘IAF Lost Fighter Jets to Pak Because of Political Leadership’s Constraints’: Indian Defence Attache”.
The fresh summons issued to Varadarajan cites the same charges, in addition to sections of the BNS pertaining to promoting enmity between different groups, publishing false or misleading information and criminal conspiracy.
On Tuesday, the news associations noted that the Supreme Court had in May 2022 ordered proceedings and criminal prosecutions for sedition under Section 124A of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code to be kept in abeyance.
Section 152 of the BNS is a “repackaged version” of Section 124A of the IPC, the press bodies said.
The organisations noted that The Wire had challenged Section 152 of the BNS and that the Supreme Court had issued notice to the government on August 12.
The registration of the FIR against Varadarajan and Thapar “makes it apparent that Section 152 has become a tool” to target the media.
Critics have also argued in the Supreme Court, in a separate case, that Section 124A was slipped into the law again in the guise of Section 152 when the BNS replaced the IPC in July 2024.
This article first appeared on Scroll.in
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