New Delhi: “We are aware of fundamental rights and don’t want freedom of press to be stifled,” Justice L. Nageswara Rao said on Wednesday as the three-judge Supreme Court bench grants interim protection to The Wire and its reporters from any coercive action by the Uttar Pradesh police over three FIRs filed in response to stories published by the website, The Wire reported.
The Apex Court also said that it cannot create a separate avenue for journalists to come directly to the top court under Article 32 to quash cases registered against them.
The Foundation for Independent Journalism, the non-profit company which runs The Wire, had moved a writ petition along with three of its reporters, seeking quashing of the FIRs on the grounds that none of the offences listed in the FIRs was even made out.
The FIJ, represented by senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, submitted that the police was attempting to violate constitutionally guaranteed press freedoms by filing criminal charges over factual news reports that the authorities did not like.
More Read
The court granted two months interim protection to allow The Wire to approach the Allahabad high court for relief, with Justice Rao noting that in the case of Shillong Times editor Patricia Mukhim, he had agreed to quash the FIR against her after the Meghalaya high court had refused to do so.
“You can file an application before the high court and we can grant you some interim protection,” Justice Rao told Ramakrishnan. “Because what will happen is, this will open a Pandora’s box. We cannot take up all the cases here”.
The other members of the bench were Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice BV. Nagarathna.
