Police target The Wire’s editor, Karan Thapar under draconian law
Press bodies slam FIR as bid to muzzle free media in India
New Delhi: Police in the Indian state of Assam have booked The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan and senior journalist Karan Thapar under multiple harsh provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and summoned them to appear before the Crime Branch in Guwahati on August 22, in what has been widely condemned as a vindictive move to silence critical voices.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the FIR accuses the journalists of offences under Sections 152 (endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India), 196 (promoting enmity between groups), 197(1)(D)/3(6) (imputations prejudicial to national integration), 353 (statements conducing to public mischief), 45 (abetment) and 61 (criminal conspiracy).
The Wire revealed that it received the summons at its New Delhi office — first for Varadarajan on August 14 and later for Thapar on August 18 — but neither details of the alleged offenses nor a copy of the FIR were enclosed. The case has been lodged at the Crime Branch in Panbazar, Guwahati.
The Press Club of India and the Indian Women Press Corps, in a joint statement, denounced the action as a “vindictive attempt to muzzle the media,” pointing out that repeated use of Section 152 shows how the law has become a weapon against independent journalism. They stressed that the fresh case comes despite the Supreme Court’s recent order granting Varadarajan and other Wire journalists protection from coercive action in an earlier FIR lodged in Morigaon on July 11.
Observers note that Section 152 of the BNS is effectively a rebranded version of the colonial-era sedition law (Section 124A of the IPC), which was suspended by the Supreme Court in 2022. The Wire has already challenged the validity of the provision before the apex court, which has issued notice to the Assam government.
Press organisations demanded immediate withdrawal of the cases against The Wire journalists and called for repeal of the “draconian” provision, warning that failure to comply with the summons could lead to the journalists’ arrest.
