Lawfare, Summons/Notices – Journalists

An FIR has been filed at the Kozhikode Kasaba police station in Kerala against Zee News editor-in-chief Sudhir Chaudhary based on a complaint accusing him of spreading religious animosity and hurting sentiments of the Muslim community in connection with a programme aired on the television network on March 11.

The segment anchored by Chaudhary on March 11 focused on different kinds of ‘jihad’, using a flow-chart describing them. The case was filed against Chaudhary under non-bailable section 295 A of the IPC, based on a complaint by Adv P Gavas, the state joint secretary of the All India Youth Federation (AIYF), the youth wing of the CPI in Kerala. Gavas said he decided to file the complaint against the anchor after watching a clip of the programme sent by a friend two days after it aired.