Guwahati, Oct 5: The Supreme Court on Friday said that journalists should not be slapped with criminal cases merely because their writings are perceived as criticisms of the government.
A bench headed by Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti noted that in democratic nations, the freedom to express one’s views is respected and the rights of journalists are protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
“Merely because the writings of a journalist are perceived as criticism of the government, criminal cases should not be slapped against the writer,” the bench was quoted as saying by a national newswire.
The apex court said the statement while hearing a plea filed by journalist Abhishek Upadhyay seeking quashing of an FIR lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh for publishing a news report on the ‘caste dynamics of the general administration’ in the state.
While issuing a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government seeking its response on the plea, it said, "In the mean time, coercive steps should not be taken against the petitioner in connection with the subject article."
The bench further noted in its order that the petitioner is a journalist, and he published an article with a "casteist tilt" on officers deployed in responsible positions in the state.
"The counsel for the petitioner would read the contents of the FIR to say that no offence can be said to be made out by the said FIR. Yet the petitioner is being targeted, and since the story was posted on X (earlier Twitter), it might result in multiple other FIRs," the bench noted in its order.
The next hearing on the matter is scheduled after four weeks.
In his plea, Upadhyay has alleged that the registration of the FIR against him was a clear attempt to "misuse" the law-enforcement machinery of the state to "silence his voice," and it should be quashed to prevent any further harassment.
The plea, filed through advocate Anoop Prakash Awasthi, claimed that after his client did a story titled 'Yadav Raj versus Thakur Raj', he was named in the FIR registered at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow on September 20.
It said the FIR was filed under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 353 (2) (statements conducing to public mischief), 197(1)(C) (publishing imputations or as- sertions prejudicial to national integration), 356(2) (punishment for defamation), and 302 (uttering words, etc., with deliberate intention to wound religious feelings of a person) and under the provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
The plea said the story, even when taken at its face value, did not disclose the commission of any offence.
