The extensive use of criminal defamation to censor and silence journalists has become the norm and strikes a blow against freedom of expression. Despite several attempts, it continues to remain in the statute books, a handy tool to browbeat journalists.
In yet another example of the excessive and censorious use of sedition, Manipur police have arrested the executive editor of The Frontier Manipur (TFM) Paojel Chaoba for publishing an article that was actually critical of revolutionary movements in the state. Sedition, which comes under Sec 124 A of […]
Republished from Indian Journalism Review, Jan 13, 2021. The constitutional validity of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, has been challenged in the Karnataka High Court by Krishna Prasad, former Editor-in-Chief of Outlook; N. Ram, former Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu and director of The Hindu Publishing Group; Arun […]
A sharp rise in criminal cases lodged against journalists in India for their work, with a majority of cases in BJP-ruled states, has contributed to the deterioration in the climate for free speech in India.
Dev Desai, well known social activist from Gujarat, was in for a shock this afternoon when WhatsApp sent him a message that he was blocked from using their service! Totally clueless as to why the popular messaging service took this extreme step, Desai took to Twitter to let […]
The statement by the Network of Women in Media India (NWMI) on the Kerala government’s ill-advised, and now withdrawn, ordinance to introduce a new and draconian section to the Kerala Police Act, makes a very important point: Such measures only encourage over-reach of law enforcement agencies, potentially curb […]
A statement of support by Atindriyo Chakraborty. Republished with permission from Countercurrents, Nov 15, 2020 Shilpa Singh is a 31-year-old professor of Political Sciences in VM Salgaocar College of Law, Goa (VMSCL). Since June 2019, she has been teaching this discipline to students of the BA-LLB Course that […]
The apology filed by journalist Dhaval Patel that resulted in an order from the Gujarat High Court to quash a sedition charge against him only underlines the need to repeal an unjust, unfair and redundant law. Patel, the Ahmedabad-based editor of a news web portal called ‘Face Of […]
by Geeta Seshu The chilling account in the Caravan on the beating up of journalist Ahan Penkar on Oct 16, by Ajay Kumar, the assistant commissioner of police of Model Town, inside the premises of the police station, has this paragraph: Other police officials participated in the assault […]
The rising incidence of gag orders by various powerful accused men in sexual assault and harassment cases has been of immense concern, especially because of the manner in which it shields them and further victimises the victims/complainants in these cases. A statement from the Network of Women in […]
Justice Madan Lokur, former justice of the Supreme Court of India, delivered the Verghese Memorial Lecture 2020 on “Preserving and Protecting our Fundamental Rights – Freedom of Speech, Expression and the Right to Protest.” Justice Lokur said that one of the worst forms of curtailment of the freedom […]
More than 14 days since the attack on journalist Kamal Shukla and other journalists in Chhattisgarh, no action has been taken against the perpetrators. Kamal Shukla, who went on a hunger strike in Kanker to protest the attack and the lack of action, was forcibly admitted to hospital […]
Clear that the arrest and detention of Kanojia is politically motivated and driven by vendetta. It fits a larger pattern of Uttar Pradesh administration attempting to silence dissenting voices.
I have gone through the judgment of this Hon’ble Court. I am pained that I have been held guilty of committing contempt of the Court whose majesty I have tried to uphold — not as a courtier or cheerleader but as a humble guard – for over three […]
