​​Assam Police book 'The Wire' journalists

The Assam Police have booked The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan and senior journalist Karan Thapar under multiple stringent provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and summoned them to appear before the Crime Branch in Guwahati on August 22.

The summons are related to an FIR registered under Sections 152 (endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India), Section 196 (promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, language, etc.), Section 197(1)(D)/3(6) (imputations prejudicial to national integration), Section 353 (statements conducing to public mischief), Section 45 (abetment), and Section 61 (criminal conspiracy).

The Wire said it received the summons at its New Delhi office -- first on August 14 for Varadarajan and later on August 18 for Thapar. The news portal alleged that no details of the alleged offences were provided, nor was a copy of the FIR enclosed with the summons.

The development has sparked outrage among press bodies. In a joint statement, the Press Club of India and the Indian Women Press Corps denounced the FIR as a “vindictive” attempt to muzzle the media. They said the repeated use of Section 152 of the BNS against The Wire was evidence of how the provision “has become a tool to target the media in India.”

The statement also noted that the fresh FIR was filed despite the Supreme Court recently granting Varadarajan and other Wire journalists protection from coercive action in an earlier case registered in Morigaon on July 11. The press organisations warned that failure to comply with the summons on August 22 could lead to the journalists’ arrest.

Section 152 of the BNS has drawn criticism for being a rebranded version of the sedition law (Section 124A of the IPC), which the Supreme Court had suspended in 2022. The Wire has already challenged the validity of the new provision before the apex court, which has issued notice to the Assam government.

The journalists' body demanded immediate withdrawal of all cases against The Wire journalists and repeal of what they called a “draconian” provision.