By Scroll Staff
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted protection from arrest to The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan and members of the foundation running the news outlet in a first information report filed by the Assam Police, Live Law reported.
The case was registered at Morigaon police station on July 11 under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which pertains to acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. 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”.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi passed the interim order in a writ petition filed by the Foundation for Independent Journalism, which owns The Wire, and Varadarajan, challenging the constitutionality of Section 152.
The petitioners argued that the law was a repackaged version of the colonial sedition law. The bench issued a notice to the Union government and tagged the plea with another petition challenging the validity of the provision.
Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the provision was vague and broadly worded, creating a “chilling effect” on expression, particularly affecting the media’s right to report and question the government, Live Law reported.
However, the bench asked whether the potential for abuse of the law could be a ground to strike down a provision.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta reportedly asked whether the media should be treated as a separate class.
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