Supreme Court warns Tripura govt. over "harassment" of citizens for tweets
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has pulled up the Tripura goverment for "harassment" of journalists and their families, after several family members of journalists granted protection by the court were issued notices over tweets made by the journalists on communal violence that erupted in the state last October.
"What's this? Stop harassing people like this for [their] tweets. Everyone should not be made to run to the Supreme Court. If this is not harassment, what else it is? We will ask your home secretary and superintendent of police to appear before us on screen and give explanations if you don't follow our orders," a bench headed by justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, cautioned the lawyer appearing for the Tripura government.
The admonishment came after an appeal was filed in the SC regarding activist and journalist Samiullah Shabbir Khan who claimed that his family members were sent notices under Section 41A of the CPC even after a court order was passed on January 10 granting him protection.
The SC bench noted that there was no need to send summons under Section 41A Of the CPC, when it had already granted Khan protection from arrests over tweets he made on the communal unrest issue. The Section is used to summon a party mentioned in the complaint. The court also dismissed the Tripura government's insistence that the state police did not know of the court order preventing summons and issued a fresh order of protection.
The court on Monday took up an application filed by Khan against a police notice seeking his appearance in Agartala for investigations in a case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for his tweets on the communal violence in the state, the Hindustan Times reported.
"Once we have passed some orders covering this issue, you must show some responsibility...show some deference to the orders of this court. You cannot defy our orders in a manner like this by issuing notices to everyone else in the same facts of the case after our injunction," the bench told the state's counsel.
At this point, solicitor general Tushar Mehta appeared and gave an assurance on behalf of the Tripura government. "I am now here my lords. I will ensure that the orders of this court are complied with in letter and spirit," Mehta submitted.
The Supreme Court, through separate orders, has protected several journalists, activists, and lawyers who were booked by the state police for their reports and social media posts on the October violence in the state. The Tripura Police invoked UAPA provisions against over 100 people for their comments on social media regarding violence. The government has sought to project that there was no real incident of violence.