Case against journalist Nikhil Wagle for remarks against Advani’s Bharat Ratna

Pune: Pune police have charged top journalist Nikhil Wagle with posting insulting remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and veteran BJP politician L K Advani after it was announced that the latter will be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honours.

Senior BJP leader Sunil Deodhar filed the first information report (FIR) at Vishrambag police station early Friday. Wagle has been charged under sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups), 500 (punishment for defamation) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

According to the FIR, Wagle made supposedly defamatory remarks in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on February 4, Indian Express reported.

Deodhar had first filed a complaint against Wagle at the Vishrambag police station, demanding legal action against him. The police have filed a FIR in this instance. Deodhar claims in the FIR that Wagle attempted to destroy societal peace by hurting multiple people's sensibilities with his defamatory comments about PM Modi and Advani.

Meanwhile, Wagle said on X that he stands by his tweet even though he is in jail. “This is an undeclared emergency,” he posted on X.

Meanwhile, the Pune BJP unit has written to the Pune city police requesting that permission be denied for a 'Nirbhay Bano' public gathering programme on Friday evening, where Wagle will be one of the main speakers. The BJP has threatened to disrupt the programme.

Wagle, a Mumbai resident, stated that he was not worried about such threats and would travel to Pune to attend the programme.