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SC Puts Legal Proceedings On-Hold Against Journalists Who Covered Tripura Violence
Writer: Rafia Tasleem
She is pursuing Masters in Mass Communication 2nd Year from Aligarh Muslim University. She has completed her graduation in Political Science honors from AMU.
India, 9 Dec 2021 1:38 PM GMT
Editor : Snehadri Sarkar |
While he is a massive sports fanatic, his interest also lies in mainstream news and nitpicking trending and less talked about everyday issues.
Creatives : Snehadri Sarkar
While he is a massive sports fanatic, his interest also lies in mainstream news and nitpicking trending and less talked about everyday issues.
A Bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud also sought the response of the state to the plea filed by the two journalists and the media company seeking quashing of cases against them in Tripura.
The Supreme Court decided to put on hold the legal proceedings against the journalists who covered Tripura Violence. The order came after a plea was filed by journalists Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, Arti Ghargi, the associate editor, and their media house, Theo Connect Pvt Ltd, for quashing the FIRs lodged against them in Tripura, as per The Hindu.
Accusations Against The Journalists
"The difficulty being faced is that you report the news, and one FIR is registered and then a second one is registered to say that it has been established in the first FIR that journalists are wrong. This is wrong and cannot be justified", Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra said.
On December 8, the Supreme Court stayed the legal proceeding initiated by Tripura Police against the two journalists.
Petitioner's Argument
The petitioners have, in turn, argued that the State is abusing the criminal justice administration system to portray factual reporting of events as spreading of communal enmity. They contended that the reports were based on the statements made by the victims of the alleged violence. They urged the court to uphold the right of free speech and the media's duty to speak truth to power in a democracy.
They said the "idea of justice" becomes the first casualty if reporting truth is criminalised, as per a report in The Hindu.
Journalists arrested after Tripura Violence is not the first case that came into a highlight. Many other journalists cover different acts of violence in the area. Journalist Siddiqui Kappan is one of them who was detained while he was on his way to cover 'Hathras Case'. Such arrests and detainments put the Freedom of the Press at risk. The journalists who cover the acts of violence and injustices become victims of the same.
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