Srinagar, September 6: The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted four members of the Editors Guild of India temporary protection from coercive action till Monday in connection with two FIRs filed against them in Manipur for crimes including inciting hatred between two groups.
The petition was set for hearing on September 11 by a bench that included Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, as well as a request for the state government to respond.
Senior Advocate Shyam Divan brought up the case for an urgent hearing, and CJI Chandrachud consented to take it up even though it wasn’t on the list of petitions for today. According to Divan, two FIRs have been filed against the fact-finding team members, stating that their report “promoted enmity”
Defence attorney Divan said that the Chief Minister himself was the first one to make accusations against the EGI at a news conference, even going so far as to claim that the EGI “has stoked provocative statements.” He emphasised that the Chief Minister’s comment was an additional factor that the Court need to take into account.
The bench then decided to provide temporary protection and give notice on the petition.
The Editors Guild of India president and three other members were named in a police complaint against them on September 4, according to Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who also accused them of attempting to “provoke clashes” in the state.
The four Guild members were also the subject of a second FIR that included a defamation allegation.
The 24-page conclusions from The Guild were made public on September 2. From August 7 to August 10, a fact-finding team was sent to Manipur to review the state’s media coverage.
The Guild had attacked the state’s internet censorship as harmful to media reporting, criticised what it called biassed reporting by certain media organisations, and said that there were signs that the state leadership “had turned partisan” during the crisis.
The charges that the report is “false, fabricated, and sponsored” are the basis for the FIRs.
