New Delhi: No coercive action is to be taken against Siddharth Varadarajan, the founding editor of The Wire, and Karan Thapar, the online portal’s consulting editor, in connection with a fresh case booked by the Assam Police under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Supreme Court directed on Friday.
The Bench of Justice Suya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said this will be subject to their joining and cooperating with the investigation.
“Post the matter on September 15. Meanwhile, no coercive action shall be taken against petitioner No. 2 (Varadarajan) and members of petitioner – Foundation (Foundation for Independent Journalism, the Trust owning ‘The Wire’), including the consulting editor (Karan Thapar), pursuant to FIR registered u/s 152 BNS subject to their joining and cooperating with investigation,” the Court said in the order.
Section 152 of the BNS deals with acts endangering India’s sovereignty, unity, and integrity through speech, writing, signs, digital communication, or financial means.
On August 12, the Supreme Court had granted interim protection from arrest to Varadarajan in a case lodged by the Assam Police under Section 152. This was over an article on Operation Sindoor carried by the online portal. The First Information Report was registered after the portal carried a report headlined ‘IAF lost fighter jets to Pak because of political leadership’s constraints’: Indian defence attache on June 29.
On the same day, the Assam Police had issued separate summons to Varadarajan and Thapar in connection with the FIR registered at the Crime Branch Police Station in Guwahati, directing them to appear at the police station on August 22.
On August 12, the Apex Court also issued notice to the Centre on a plea by the Foundation for Independent Journalism, which runs the portal, challenging the Constitutional validity of the provision, which it contended brings back the colonial provision of sedition in Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).