By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Aug 18: Leading media organisations have expressed strong disapproval of the Assam Police’s move to file a fresh FIR against The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan and senior journalist Karan Thapar, calling it a “vindictive action” and a clear attempt to intimidate the press.
According to a statement issued by the representatives of the Press Club of India and the Indian Women Press Corps, the Crime Branch in Guwahati registered the case on August 12 under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) — the second such FIR against The Wire in as many months. Varadarajan and Thapar have been directed to appear before the investigating officer on August 22, with the threat of arrest in case of non-compliance.
The development comes even as the Supreme Court, in an earlier case filed in Morigaon on July 11, had granted Varadarajan and all journalists of The Wire protection from coercive action.
The apex court also issued notice last week to the Assam government after The Wire challenged the constitutional validity of Section 152 of the BNS, which the petition described as a “repackaged” version of the colonial-era sedition law. In May 2022, the Supreme Court had suspended prosecutions under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code.
The statement said the repeated use of Section 152 against journalists “makes it apparent that the provision has become a tool to target the media in India.”
It demanded immediate withdrawal of the FIRs against The Wire journalists and called for scrapping Section 152 altogether, terming it “draconian” and a threat to the freedom of expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
The statement was signed by Gautam Lahiri, president of the Press Club of India; Neeraj Thakur, secretary general of the Press Club of India; Sujata Raghaban, president of the Indian Women Press Corps; and Aditi Bahl, secretary of the Indian Women Press Corps.
