Guwahati: The Press Club of India (PCI) and the Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC) have expressed concern over the Assam Police filing an FIR against senior journalists Siddharth Varadarajan and Karan Thapar of The Wire.
The case, registered by the Crime Branch in Guwahati, invokes sedition charges under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
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The organisations noted that this is the second FIR against The Wire in two months. They alleged that the police action reflects a pattern of harassment, adding that summons were issued on August 12 despite a Supreme Court order granting protection to Varadarajan and other journalists of The Wire in connection with a previous FIR filed in Morigaon on July 11.
The latest FIR requires Varadarajan and Thapar to appear before the Crime Branch in Guwahati on August 22, with the warning of arrest for non-compliance.
The PCI and IWPC pointed out that in May 2022, the Supreme Court had suspended the use of sedition provisions under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code. They said Section 152 of the BNS, which replaced it, is being “weaponised to silence the media.”
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They recalled that The Wire recently filed a writ petition challenging the validity of Section 152, following which the Supreme Court issued notice to the Assam government.
“While we welcome the relief provided by the apex court last week, the registration of a fresh case against Varadarajan and Thapar shows that Section 152 has become a tool to intimidate journalists,” the organisations said in a statement.
They demanded the immediate withdrawal of the FIRs and called for repealing the provision, which they termed “draconian” and “a threat to freedom of expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.”
The FIR reportedly stems from a complaint filed by a BJP leader regarding a story published in The Wire on June 28, based on a presentation by India’s Defence Attaché to Indonesia, Captain (Indian Navy) Shiv Kumar.