Top court protects scribes booked in Assam from arrest

The Supreme Court on Friday protected from arrest The Wire’s Founding Editor Siddharth Varadarajan and Consulting Editor Karan Thapar in connection with an FIR registered by Assam Police against them over a news article.

A Bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi passed the order on a plea filed by the Foundation for Independent Journalism (FIJ), which owns The Wire along with Varadarajan.

Senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for the journalists, said the Assam Police was circumventing the orders passed by the court.

She argued despite the court’s order granting interim protection in an FIR by the Morigaon Police, summons were issued to the journalists in another case filed by the Guwahati Crime Branch.

The senior lawyer said the journalists were summoned on Friday for recording statements in an old FIR lodged in May and they apprehended they might be arrested.

When she said there could be further FIRs and threat of arrest, the Bench tried to allay her apprehension saying, “We are watching.” The Bench said everyone was expected to follow the law and asked the journalists to join the investigation and file a status report on the next date of hearing.