Tag: Rajdeep Sardesai

  • No suo motu contempt case registered against journalist Rajdeep Sardesai: SC

    Earlier, the news with regard to the suo motu contempt case against Sardesai was carried in the media based on the information available with the top court #39;s website.

  • Republic Day violence: SC stays arrest of Tharoor, Sardesai and others in FIRs lodged for tweets

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the arrest of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and six journalists in criminal cases pending against them over their tweets on the death of a Sikh man during a tractor rally on January 26 in New Delhi that turned violent.

    A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde issued a notice on the petitions filed by Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai and five other journalists, including Mrinal Pande, Zafar Agha, Paresh Nath, Anant Nath and Vinod Jose, to quash the multiple FIRs pending against them in several states.

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    The bench said the stay on the arrest will continue till the next date of hearing, after two weeks, and also issued notices to Delhi Police and Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana.However, the Delhi Police opposed the stay and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for them, said: “We will show the horrendous effect these tweets have had.

    These Twitter handles have lakhs of followers.” Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was representing Tharoor, said interim protection was needed as the Congress leader is in Delhi and the charge is serious.  “The investigating agency can arrest me anytime,” Sibal said. At this, the bench asked Mehta: “We will hear you. But are you going to arrest him?”

    Mehta replied: “We know our responsibility.”  The solicitor general assured that he will convey the assurance to other states. But the bench noted that Mehta was representing only the Delhi Police.  “Issue notice. Stay of arrest in the meantime. List after two weeks,” the bench said.

    The Delhi Police had lodged a case on January 30 against Tharoor and the journalists for alleged misreporting and spreading disharmony.  Simultaneously, cases were lodged at Gurugram in Haryana and in Madhya Pradesh under serious charges of sedition besides provisions of promoting enmity, making assertions prejudicial to national integration under the IPC, among other provisions under the Information Technology Act.

  • NBA condemns FIRs against senior editors over coverage of Republic Day violence

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The News Broadcasters Association on Monday strongly condemned the registration of FIRs against senior editors and journalists over the coverage of the farmers’ protest and the ensuing violence on Republic Day here, and demanded that the FIRs be quashed.

    Six journalists — Mrinal Pande, Rajdeep Sardesai, Vinod Jose, Zafar Agha, Paresh Nath and Anant Nath — along with Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, have been booked by police, including in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, over their alleged “misleading” tweets on the violence during the farmers’ tractor rally in Delhi on Republic Day.

    In a statement, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) said it is of the opinion that both the print and electronic media have been covering the farmers’ protests on the outskirts of Delhi in a fair, balanced and objective manner.

    The NBA strongly condemns the registration of FIRs against senior editors and journalists over the coverage of the farmers’ protest and the ensuing violence that took place in the national capital on January 26, the statement said.

    “To construe the reporting on one incident as an intent on the part of the journalists to incite violence, or as an offence, is like shooting the messenger. Also worrisome are the provisions under which the FIRs have been filed – ranging from sedition to harming national integrity and promoting communal disharmony,” the NBA said.

    “Weaponising archaic laws such as Sedition to stifle journalists negates the founding principles of our democracy that recognises the rights of news media to report without fear or favour. Laws such as Sedition are also increasingly being used to impede the functioning of a free press,” it said.

    The targeting of journalists is an attack on press freedom and severely impairs the media’s ability to perform its journalistic duties as an independent watchdog of our democracy, the NBA said.

    “While individual complainants are entitled to their grievances, the State, which understands the critical role of the media and the freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution, should ensure that the cases filed by the police against the senior editors and journalists are withdrawn,” it said.

    The NBA demanded that the FIRs be quashed and the journalists be allowed to perform their professional journalistic duties without fear.

  • ‘An attempt to browbeat media’: Media bodies slam FIRs against journalists over R-Day violence

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Media bodies on Friday strongly condemned the filing of FIRs against senior editors and journalists for their reporting on the farmers’ tractor rally and the ensuing violence here on Republic Day, saying it was an attempt to “browbeat” and “intimidate” the media.

    In a statement, the Editors Guild of India demanded that such FIRs be withdrawn immediately and the media be allowed to report without fear and with freedom.

    It said journalists have been specifically targeted for reporting the accounts pertaining to the death of one of the protestors on their personal social media handles as well as those of the publications they lead and represent.

    “It must be noted that on the day of the protest and high action, several reports were emerging from eyewitnesses on the ground as well as from police, and therefore it was only natural for journalists to report all the details as they emerged. This is in line with established norms of journalistic practice,” the Guild said.

    The Editors Guild said it “strongly condemns the intimidating manner in the way in which the Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh Police” have registered FIRs against senior editors and journalists (including current and former office-bearers of EGI) for reporting on the farmers’ protest rallies and the ensuing violence that took place in the national capital on January 26.

    ALSO READ | FIR against Shashi Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai others for seditious tweets on farmer’s death during tractor rally

    The FIRs allege that the tweets were intentionally malicious and were the reason for the desecration of the Red Fort, the Guild noted, asserting that nothing can be further from truth.

    “On a day thick with information, the EGI finds these FIRs, filed in different states, as an attempt to intimidate, harass, browbeat, and stifle the media,” the Guild said.

    That the FIRs have been booked under a total of 10 different provisions, including sedition laws, promoting communal disharmony, and insulting religious beliefs, is further disturbing, it said.

    “This targeting of journalists grievously violates and tramples on every value that our democratic republic stands for. It is intended to grievously hurt the media and prevent it from working as an independent watchdog of Indian democracy,” the statement said.

    ​ALSO READ | Now, MP Police books Shashi Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai, others for spreading misinformation

    “We demand that the FIRs be withdrawn immediately and the media be allowed to report without fear and with freedom,” the Guild said.

    The Guild also reiterated its earlier demand that the higher judiciary takes serious cognizance of the fact that several laws such as a sedition are often used to impede freedom of speech, and issue guidelines to ensure that “wanton use of such laws does not serve as a deterrent to a free press”.

    The Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) also “unequivocally” condemned the Uttar Pradesh Police’s decision to file an FIR for sedition against Mrinal Pande, founder president of the IWPC, along with several leading journalists, allegedly because they shared “unverified” news during the farmers tractor rally in Delhi on Republic Day.

    The Editors Guild of India condemns the intimidating manner in which UP and MP police have registered FIRs against senior journalists, for reporting on farmers’ protests in Delhi on Jan 26. EGI finds these FIRs as an attempt to intimidate, harass, and stifle free media. pic.twitter.com/Mf3albnYvs
    — Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) January 29, 2021

    In a statement, the IWPC said it believes that the charges against Pande, who has been the editor of several leading news publications in the country, “smack of a deliberate attempt to misrepresent the situation”.

    “It is an attempt to browbeat the media and push it to fall in line,” the IWPC said.

    To attribute malafide intent against Pande and the other journalists charged is a “ham handed attempt at besmirching their reputation”, it said.

    The Press Club of India said it is shocked to learn that UP and MP police have lodged FIRs against respected journalists, and others, on various counts of breach of criminal law, including sedition.

    “We call upon the authorities in Lucknow and Bhopal to retract their vile move against well-known and respected journalists.

    We also call upon the Union Home Ministry to reassess the situation and tender the counsel of caution to the UP and the MP governments,” the Press Club said.

    “Anything less will be a willful tampering with the tenets of democracy. It will also be seen as a move to muzzle the media. We urge the government not to drag journalists in its ongoing actions in relation to protesting farmers,” it said.

    Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and six journalists have been booked by the Noida Police for sedition, among other charges, over the violence during the farmers’ tractor rally in Delhi, officials said on Thursday.

    The journalists named in the FIR are Mrinal Pande, Rajdeep Sardesai, Vinod Jose, Zafar Agha, Paresh Nath and Anant Nath and an unidentified person has also been named in the FIR.

    Madhya Pradesh police have also filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Tharoor and the six journalists over their ‘misleading’ tweets on the violence during the farmers’ tractor rally in Delhi.

  • Now, MP Police books Shashi Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai, others for spreading misinformation

    Express News Service
    BHOPAL: As many as four criminal cases have been registered against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, journalist Rajdeep Sardesai and others in three districts of BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh for allegedly spreading misinformation on social media about the January 26 farmers’ tractor rally.

    The FIRs were lodged on the complaints of farmers. Among the accused are Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai (India Today), Mrinal Pandey (National Herald) Zafar Agha (Urdu daily Qaumi Awaz), and Paresh Nath, Anant Nath, and Vinod Jose (The Caravan).

    The cases have been lodged at Misrod police station of Bhopal and the Sarani and Multai police stations of Betul and Shivpur police station of Hoshangabad district.

    The cases have been registered under IPC Sections, including 124-A (sedition),153-A (promoting enmity between groups), 153-B (imputation or assertion prejudicial to national integration), 295-A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings), Section 504 (intentional insult), Section 506 (criminal intimidation), 505(2) (statements conducing public mischief), 298 (uttering words, etc with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings), 120-B (criminal conspiracy to commit offence punishable by death) and 34 (acts done by several persons with a common intent).

    While confirming the lodging of the four FIRs, the in-charges of the four police stations said investigations are now underway in all the cases.  

    ALSO READ | FIR against Shashi Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai others for seditious tweets on farmer’s death during tractor rally

    Complainants farmer Balmukund Singh Dongre (who filed FIR at the Multai police station in Betul district) said, “I belong to a family whose prime occupation has been farming for many generations. We all were backing the farmers’ stir until the violent incidents happened in Delhi on Republic Day.”

    “The Republic Day violence is condemnable. No farmer can attack the police. Farmer is Anndaataa and not Atankwadi who will disrespect the national flag. All those involved in the violence shouldn’t be spared at any cost,” Dongre said.

    “Instead of behaving responsibly, prominent citizens, including Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor and senior journalists such as Rajdeep Sardesai and Mrinal Pandey spread misinformation about a farmer being died after being hit by bullets fired by police during the tractor rally, which was ultimately responsible for adding fuel to the massive violence across the national capital thereafter. All those named in the FIR should be sternly dealt with under the law of the land, which is why I have lodged a case against them,” the young farmer said. 

    Earlier, on Thursday a similar FIR was registered against the same persons by the Uttar Pradesh police.

  • FIR against Shashi Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai others for seditious tweets on farmer’s death during tractor rally

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Noida Police has registered FIR against eight people including Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and six journalists–Rajdeep Sardesai, Mrinal Pandey, group editor of National Herald Zafar Agha, and editors of The Caravan magazine Paresh Nath, Anant Nath, Vinod K Jose for allegedly misreporting, provoking, and spreading communal disharmony during the clashes between the police and protesting farmers on Republic Day.

    The FIR has been registered under various sections of Indian penal code (IPC) dealing with sedition and for promoting enmity between different groups, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace, incite violence, and criminal conspiracy.

    The complainant Arpit Mishra, a 35-year-old resident of Noida, accused them of broadcasting offensive, misleading and provocative news that the police had killed a protestor driving the tractor. The accused also retweeted news in question through their social media handle, the FIR further says, which was lodged at Sector 20 police station.

    “The complaint is being examined and action as per the law is being taken,” said a press statement by the Noida Police.

    The FIR says that the accused acted in a prejudiced manner which jeopardised national security and public safety.

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    “As part of a conspiracy, the accused planned riots in the national capital with intention to kill public servants and incite violence….It is known fact that despite provocative activities by rowdy elements and injuries to large number of police personnel, the police force acted with restraint and control the violators with professional efficiency,” the complainant in the FIR says.

    Sardesai, consulting editor with India Today group, on January, 26 tweeted that a farmer Navneet Singh was allegedly killed in police firing during the tractor rally. However, Police said the farmer died after his tractor overturned.

    “The accused in a well-planned manner conspired with each other to spread the wrong information about the death of a farmer in police firing. It was intentionally done to incite riots at large scale and create tension among communities. The riots and tension certainly affect countries along the international border…because of their tweets protestors reached Red Fort and installed their religious and other flags where the national was hoisted,” the FIR also says.