Kochi: Two television journalists who were taken into custody for trying to film an Iranian naval ship anchored in Cochin Port moved a Kerala court seeking bail.
However, the verdict was reserved after the Judicial First Class Magistrate-I court in Ernakulam heard their bail plea on Monday, reported Bar and Bench.
The order will be pronounced by the court on Tuesday.
Reporter Sankar CG and cameraman S Mani of Republic TV, along with a boat driver, were arrested in Kochi on March 8.
The trio was questioned for capturing visuals of IRIS Lavan, which was given permission by Indian government to dock at the port on “humane” grounds.
IRIS Lavan reached Kochi a day after an American submarine torpedoed and sank Iranian warship IRIS Dena off the Sri Lankan coast amid the ongoing conflict in Gulf region.
The Republic TV journalists reportedly hired a small boat and travelled to the port area to record visuals of the Iranian frigate from close range.
Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel nabbed them from a restricted high-security zone, where photography and videography are prohibited without official clearance.
They were booked under sections 3(1)(a) (spying in prohibited places) and 5 (wrongful communication of information) of the Official Secrets Act as well as Sections 329(3) (criminal trespass) and Section 3(5) (acts committed with common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Advocate Geo Paul, who represented the TV journalists, told the court no objectionable footage had been recorded. He further argued that the docking of IRIS Lavan has been reported by other news organisations and hence, charges under the Official Secrets Act against the two Republic TV journalists won’t stand.
