New Delhi, Oct 24 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the criminal proceedings initiated by the Uttar Pradesh Police against a journalist for writing articles on alleged caste discrimination in the UP government.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and K V Viswanathan granted interim protection to the journalist Mamta Tripathi, against whom 4 FIRs have been registered.
The Court issued notice to the UP government on Tripathi’s plea for quashing of the criminal proceedings initiated against her.
The bench issued notice to UP Police and government and asked them to reply within four weeks.
In the meantime, no coercive steps be taken against the petitioner in connection with the the articles.
The Court said, “Tripathi is the second journalist against whom UP Police had initiated criminal proceedings for writing such articles.”
Earlier, another journalist Abhishek Upadhyay had also moved the apex court to quash an FIR registered by the UP Police over a story on the caste dynamics in the Uttar Pradesh state administration.
The top court granted interim protection to Upadhyay on October four, observing that criminal cases cannot be slapped against journalists merely because their writings are perceived as criticism of the government.
“In democratic nations, freedom to express one’s views is respected. The rights of the journalists are protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. Merely because writings of a journalist are perceived as criticism of the government, criminal cases should not be slapped against the writer,” a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti had observed in its order.
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Mamta Tripathi, contended that four FIRs have been registered so far and the Court has granted stay in one FIR, as a result of the protection granted to journalist Abhishek Upadhyay.
He urged that it is a case of pure harassment, as whenever journalists even tweet something, be it regarding District Magistrates using red lights on their vehicles, or caste issues between Thakurs and Brahmins, FIRs are registered against them.
When Justice Gavai asked as to why the petitioner had approached the Supreme Court directly, the senior counsel replied that Upadhyay also approached directly and the same is being done as it is the petitioner-journalists’ case that there has been a violation of their fundamental rights.
The bench granted interim protection to Tripathi concerning six articles written by her and issued notice to the UP government and Police.
