HC declines urgent relief to ‘Anandabazar Patrika’ journalists in ‘saffron hooliganism’ headline FIR

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday declined urgent relief to Anandabazar Patrika journalists against whom a first information report has been filed after the newspaper used the phrase “saffron hooliganism” in a headline, Live Law reported.

The headline was about clashes between members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Left-affiliated student groups at Kolkata’s Jadavpur University on August 20. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad is the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

An FIR was registered against the editorial team of Anandabazar Patrika, including editor Ishani Dutta Roy and chief reporter Soma Mukherjee, PTI reported.

On Wednesday, the High Court indicated that the appropriate course of action for the journalists would be to file a petition seeking the quashing of the FIR, Live Law reported.

Lawyer SN Mookherjee, appearing for the journalists, told the court that such a petition had already been filed. He sought urgent relief, arguing that the case warranted immediate intervention.

The bench, however, said the matter should be filed in the regular course and would be heard according to the applicable procedure.

The clash on August 20 took place during a general meeting of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students’ Union. The ABVP and Left-affiliated groups blamed each other for the violence and accused the other of bringing people from outside...

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