Coercive action against 'The Wire' Editor, Karan Thapar in Assam stayed by SC
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The Supreme Court on Thursday granted interim protection from arrest to The Wire’s Founding Editor, Siddharth Varadarajan, and Consulting Editor, Karan Thapar, in connection with an FIR filed by the Assam Police under Section 152 of the BNS.
The order was issued by a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi after Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan mentioned the matter. She informed the court that, despite the earlier interim protection granted in a previous FIR by the Assam Police, the petitioners had now been served with summons in a separate FIR.
The Court ordered: "Post the matter on 15 September. Meanwhile, no coercive action shall be taken against petitioner No.2 (Varadarajan) and members of the petitioner-Foundation, including the Consulting Editor (Karan Thapar), pursuant to FIR registered u/s 152 BNS subject to their joining and cooperating with investigation."
On July 11, the Assam Police at Morigaon Police Station booked The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan and others under Section 152 of the BNS. The FIR was related to an article titled “IAF Lost Fighter Jets to Pak Because of Political Leadership's Constraints: Indian Defence Attache”, published by The Wire in connection with Operation Sindoor, Live Law reported.
Challenging this, the Foundation for Independent Journalism, which owns The Wire, along with Varadarajan, approached the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of Section 152, arguing that it was essentially a rebranded version of the sedition law.
The petition stated that the article reported facts from a university seminar in Indonesia where statements were made by Indian defence officials, including India’s military attaché to Indonesia, regarding strategies used during Operation Sindoor. It also highlighted that the article carried the Indian Embassy’s response to the attaché’s remarks and that several other media outlets had reported the same statements.
On August 12, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Union Government and granted interim protection to the Foundation and Varadarajan, shielding them from coercive action in the FIR registered by the Morigaon Police. However, on the same day, the Guwahati Crime Branch issued summons to Varadarajan and senior journalist Karan Thapar in connection with another FIR.
These repeated cases filed by the Assam Police have drawn widespread criticism from press bodies, Members of Parliament, and the public, with many alleging that they are attempts to suppress press freedom and harass The Wire’s editors and journalists.