"Every Journalist Entitled To Protection": Supreme Court On Sedition

Vinod Dua was charged with sedition in Himachal Pradesh over his show on the Delhi riots last year, based on a complaint by a BJP leader.

The Supreme Court today cancelled a sedition case against journalist Vinod Dua and said a 1962 order protected every journalist from such charges. Vinod Dua was charged with sedition in Himachal Pradesh over his show on the Delhi riots last year, based on a complaint by a BJP leader. He was accused in an FIR of spreading fake news, causing public nuisance, printing defamatory material, and making statements amounting to public mischief. The senior journalist went to the Supreme Court against the FIR. While cancelling it, the Supreme Court rejected Mr Dua's request that no FIR be registered against any journalist with 10 years' experience unless cleared by a panel headed by a High Court judge. This would amount to encroaching on the domain of the legislature, the court said.