SC grants interim protection to Siddharth Varadarajan, Karan Thapar of ‘The Wire’ in Assam FIR

The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim protection from arrest to The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan and consulting editor Karan Thapar in a case registered by the Assam Police in connection with news articles on Operation Sindoor, reported Live Law.

The case was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 152, which replaced the old sedition law. The section pertains to acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi asked the petitioners to join and cooperate with the investigation and posted the matter for September 15, reported Bar and Bench.

Appearing for the petitioners, advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan told the bench that Varadarajan had been issued a fresh summons in another case despite the court granting him protection from arrest in another FIR filed by the Assam Police.

The first case against the journalists was registered on July 11 at Morigaon police station, following the publication of an article on Operation Sindoor titled “‘IAF Lost Fighter Jets to Pak Because of Political Leadership’s Constraints’: Indian Defence Attache”.

On August 12, the Supreme Court bench had already granted the petitioners protection from arrest while hearing a writ petition challenging the constitutionality of Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The fresh summons issued on the same day cited the same charges under Section 152, in addition to the Bharatiya...

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