New Delhi: A FIR filed against journalist Vinod Dua last year for sedition and other violations was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Thursday June 3.
Shyam, a local BJP leader in Himachal Pradesh filed the FIR over Dua’s YouTube show claiming that Dua accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using “deaths and terror attacks” to get votes.
Before filing a FIR and arresting journalists, the SC said that police across India must strictly observe the rule on sedition enacted 60 years ago by a five-judge SC bench in the case of Kedar Nath Singh vs State of Bihar.
In the case of Kedar Nath Singh, the Supreme Court ruled that sedition charges could not be brought against a citizen for criticising public policies or making comments about government actions, no matter how strongly worded, because it would violate the fundamental right to free speech and expression.
However, Dua’s request for the establishment of a high-level committee in each state to investigate sedition accusations filed against journalists over a 10-year period was dismissed by a bench of Justice U.U Lalit and Vineet Saran.
