Madras HC refuses to stay FIR registered against Dainik Bhaskar for tweeting fake video on migrant workers’ safety

The Madras High Court on Wednesday, April 26, refused to stay all further proceedings pursuant to the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) by the Tiruppur North police against Hindi newspaper Dainik Bhaskar for having tweeted a fake video on March 2, 2023, claiming that Bihari labourers in Tamil Nadu were being killed.

The Madras High Court on Wednesday, April 26, refused to stay all further proceedings pursuant to the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) by the Tiruppur North police against Hindi newspaper Dainik Bhaskar for having tweeted a fake video on March 2, 2023, claiming that Bihari labourers in Tamil Nadu were being killed.

Justice G. Chandrasekharan refused to issue any interim order until the first week of June on the petition moved by the newspaper to quash the FIR. Though Senior Counsel B. Kumar pressed for an interim stay, the judge said no such indulgence could be shown in a serious case.

“No, no. This is a serious issue. Nowadays people think they can do anything on social media. Let the prosecution file a counter. I will consider after that,” the judge told the Senior Counsel and asked Government Advocate (criminal side) S. Santhosh to make sure that the counter-affidavit was filed after summer vacation.

Earlier, the Senior Counsel told the court that one of the newspaper’s correspondents had received the video on WhatsApp and hence the media organisation had tweeted it on its Twitter handle. Within some time thereafter, Tamil Nadu’s Director General of Police C. Sylendra Babu declared that the video was fake.

Subsequently, the newspaper deleted its tweet at 10.51 p.m. the same day, counsel said. Wondering how could a responsible media organisation tweet an unverified video, the judge asked how would it answer for the law and order problem that would have been caused when the video was in public domain.

The Government Advocate told the court that the media organisation had tweeted the fake video with objectionable words, such as “Taliban in Tamil Nadu are punishing Bihari labourers for speaking in Hindi,” and therefore, the FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by Special Sub- Inspector of Police Kannagi.