Criminal Cases Shouldn't Be Sapped Against Scribes For Writings Perceived As Govt Criticism: SC

Criminal cases should not be slapped against journalists merely because their writings are perceived as criticism of the government, the Supreme Court said on Friday.

A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti said 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. The bench was hearing a plea filed by journalist Abhishek Upadhyay, who has sought 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.

"Merely because writings of a journalist are perceived as criticism of the government, criminal cases should not be slapped against the writer," the bench said.

While issuing a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government seeking its response on the plea, it said, "In the meantime, coercive steps should not be taken against the petitioner in connection with the subject article."

The bench 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. It further noted that following the article, an FIR was registered against him.

"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 top court posted the matter for hearing after four weeks. In his plea, Upadhyay has alleged that 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 assertions 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. "The reason for approaching this court is the threat of legal action by the official X handle of UP Police and the petitioner is not aware as to how many other FIRs are filed against him on the issue in the State of Uttar Pradesh or anywhere else," it said.