Petition to withdraw sedition charge given to Modi govt
The Times of India on Friday made a representation to the government of Gujarat for withdrawal of charges of sedition against its editor and staffers, brought by Ahmedabad city police commissioner O P Mathur.
By TNN |
AHMEDABAD: The Times of India on Friday made a representation to the government of Gujarat for withdrawal of charges of sedition against its editor and staffers, brought by Ahmedabad city police commissioner O P Mathur.
TOI wrote a letter to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, asking for withdrawal of FIRs charging the leading publication under Sections 120 (B), 124 (A) and 34.
Meanwhile, Mathur filed two more FIRs on Friday, pressing the same charges and taking the number of FIRs to five. In the fresh FIRs, Mathur has also included the name of an illustrator with TOI who made a caricature. The move comes just a day after the Gujarat high court granted anticipatory bail to TOI staffers.
The representation was handed over to Modi���s principal secretary K Kailasnathan. The copies were also provided to the minister of state for home Amit Shah, chief secretary Manjula Subramaniam and principal secretary Balwant Singh.
TOI has reserved its right to move the court for quashing of FIRs, but the state government has been first asked to withdraw the charges to safeguard freedom of the press. ���Senior officials have made public statements that the state government has not given specific approval to level charges of sedition against us. We are not sure if Shri Mathur was given permission by the state government to file the said charges under these sections.
You will appreciate that press being the fourth pillar of democracy, its independence should be fiercely protected and no individual should be permitted to take law in its own hand causing undue harassment,��� the TOI petition said.# It said that sedition charge must have the effect of subverting government by bringing it into contempt or hatred or creating disaffection against it. The FIRs do not even remotely suggest this, it said.
Meanwhile, Mathur filed two more FIRs on Friday, pressing the same charges and taking the number of FIRs to five. In the fresh FIRs, Mathur has also included the name of an illustrator with TOI who made a caricature. The move comes just a day after the Gujarat high court granted anticipatory bail to TOI staffers.
The representation was handed over to Modi���s principal secretary K Kailasnathan. The copies were also provided to the minister of state for home Amit Shah, chief secretary Manjula Subramaniam and principal secretary Balwant Singh.
TOI has reserved its right to move the court for quashing of FIRs, but the state government has been first asked to withdraw the charges to safeguard freedom of the press. ���Senior officials have made public statements that the state government has not given specific approval to level charges of sedition against us. We are not sure if Shri Mathur was given permission by the state government to file the said charges under these sections.
You will appreciate that press being the fourth pillar of democracy, its independence should be fiercely protected and no individual should be permitted to take law in its own hand causing undue harassment,��� the TOI petition said.# It said that sedition charge must have the effect of subverting government by bringing it into contempt or hatred or creating disaffection against it. The FIRs do not even remotely suggest this, it said.
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