The Editors Guild of India on Sunday said that it was concerned about the statement of a Congress spokesperson about the party’s intention to file a criminal complaint against NDTV journalist Shiv Aroor for allegedly defaming the party.

During his show on August 19, Aroor had spoken about psephologist Sanjay Kumar’s apology for having made erroneous claims about voter numbers in two Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra’s Nagpur and Nashik districts. The Bharatiya Janata Party accused Congress leaders of using Kumar’s erroneous data to spread misinformation about the electoral process.

On August 22, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged a “malicious attempt” by Aroor to defame the Congress and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. He had said that a criminal complaint had been filed, and that the party’s lawyer “will pursue every remedy to the fullest extent of law”.

The Editors Guild on Sunday said it was troubled “by the creeping tendency to invoke criminal charges” against mediapersons in response to their professional work. The guild, however, said that it was not offering a comment about the contents of the broadcast in question.

“The Guild reiterates its longstanding position that criminal laws should not be used as instruments of harassment against journalists,” it said. “All political parties are urged to refrain from such measures.”

The guild noted that there are several avenues, including civil remedies, to pursue grievances without criminalising journalism.

However, the Editors Guild of India also emphasised that journalists have a responsibility to “adhere to the principles of fairness and balance in their reporting”.

Voter turnout claim

Sanjay Kumar had claimed on August 17 that two Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra – Ramtek and Deolali – had witnessed a significant drop in the number of voters between the 2024 Lok Sabha election and the Assembly election held later that year.

Kumar is a professor and co-director of Lokniti, a research programme at the Centre for the Study for Developing Societies.

In a social media post, which was later removed, Kumar claimed that there had been a 38.4% drop in Ramtek and a 36.8% drop in Deolali. The post included specific figures, citing a decrease of around 1.7 lakh voters in each constituency.

On Tuesday, Kumar deleted the post, attributing the error to a data misreading by his team. He apologised, saying that he had “no intention of dispersing any form of misinformation”.

The controversy escalated into a political row amid allegations by Opposition parties about electoral fraud in the country.

The police in Nagpur and Nashik on August 20 filed first information reports against Kumar for allegedly making false statements about an election, making statements conducing to public mischief, furnishing false information to public servants and creating a false electronic record.

Also read: FIRs filed against psephologist Sanjay Kumar but claims about voter roll errors remain unaddressed

📰 Crime Today News is proudly sponsored by DRYFRUIT & CO – A Brand by eFabby Global LLC

Design & Developed by Yes Mom Hosting