• Thursday, March 28, 2024

HEADLINE STORY

India’s top court slams using state force to browbeat political opinion

Representational image (Photo by SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images)

By: Shubham Ghosh

STATE force should never be used to either browbeat a political opinion or journalists, the Supreme Court of India has said, calling for “introspection from the political class across the country” over debasement in dialogue even as it advised mediapersons to be more responsible in the age of Twitter.

A bench of the apex court comprising justices SK Kaul and MM Sundresh made the observations while quashing first-information reports (FIRs) against editors of news web portals and others, in connection with articles published in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, the Press Trust of India reported.

According to the top court, in a country which prides itself on its diversity, there are bound to be different perceptions and opinions which would include political opinions.

India's top court slams using state force to browbeat political opinion
The Supreme Court of India (Photo: SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images)

That is the very essence of democracy, it said.

“State force should never be used to either browbeat a political opinion or the journalists suffer the consequences of what is already in public domain.
“We hasten to add that this does not take away the responsibility of the journalists in how they report the matters, more so in a “twitter age,” the bench said.

The top court’s observations came after senior advocate Siddhartha Dave, representing the government of Bengal, told the bench that the state has decided to drop the FIRs registered against Nupur J Sharma, the editor of Opindia.com, YouTuber Ajeet Bharti and others.

The Supreme Court said it was not eager to let go off the chance of saying something which is troubling the society and the court.

“It is undoubtedly the debasement in the dialogue which is taking place which needs introspection from the political class across the country. In a country which prides itself on its diversity, there are bound to be different perceptions and opinions which would include political opinions.

“The present proceedings in a way emanate from the same. We say so as what the petitioners have done is to reproduce what the political class has stated against each other and which is already in public domain, an aspect pointed out eminently by senior counsel for the petitioners,” it said.

The court said while the very nature of the job required to be carried out by the political class may see their exchanges getting heated at times, it should not explode.

“We are sure difference in perceptions can be expressed in better language,” it said.

The FIRs were reportedly filed in relation to OpIndia reports on communal violence in Bengal last year.

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