Assam summons Siddharth Varadarajan over Operation Sindoor article despite SC protection
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Despite the Supreme Court granting protection from arrest in a similar case, the BJP-led government in Assam has issued summons to The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan in connection with an article on Operation Sindoor, stating that the earlier order applied to a case filed in another district and directing him to appear before an investigating officer at the Crime Branch in Panbazar on August 22.
The summons, issued on August 12, came even as the top court had recently extended relief to Varadarajan and members of the Foundation for Independent Journalism, which runs The Wire, in another case registered by the Assam Police, according to a report by Scroll.in.
The fresh notice has intensified scrutiny of the controversial Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a provision critics have described as a repackaged version of the sedition law that had been kept in abeyance by the Supreme Court in 2022.
The earlier case had been registered at Morigaon police station on July 11, invoking Section 152 that deals with acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, after the publication of an article titled “‘IAF Lost Fighter Jets to Pak Because of Political Leadership’s Constraints’: Indian Defence Attache”.
The latest summons, however, has widened the scope of the allegations by adding provisions relating to promoting enmity between different groups, publishing false or misleading information and criminal conspiracy, Scroll.in reported.
On the same day the notice was issued, a Supreme Court bench had granted protection from arrest to Varadarajan while hearing a writ petition that challenged the constitutional validity of Section 152.
The petitioners, including the Foundation for Independent Journalism and Varadarajan, maintained that the news report was a factual account of a seminar organised in Indonesia where an Indian defence attaché had spoken on military tactics during Operation Sindoor, and that the article had also included the Indian embassy’s clarification, which several other media outlets reported.