UAPA overdrive
The Supreme Court has again come to the rescue of citizens troubled by the mighty State. A Bench led by CJI NV Ramana has restrained the Tripura Police from arresting two lawyers and a journalist booked under stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The trio, part of a fact-finding inquiry into the recent communal violence in Tripura, faced the wrath of the police for their allegedly provocative social media posts regarding the recent clashes.
Of late, India is witnessing a disturbing trend of activists and journalists being booked under the UAPA, touted as an anti-terror law. Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan was booked by the UP Police under this law last year while he was going to Hathras to cover the case of the gangrape of a Dalit woman. JNU students Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal and Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha faced a case under this law in connection with the communal violence in Delhi during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act last year.
Holding that the right to protest is a fundamental right which can’t be termed a ‘terrorist act’, the Delhi High Court had, in June this year, granted bail to Kalita and Narwal. It was constrained to note that in its anxiety to suppress dissent and in the morbid fear that matters may get out of hand, “the State has blurred the line between the constitutionally guaranteed ‘right to protest’ and ‘terrorist activity’. If such blurring gains traction, democracy would be in peril.” Later, the Supreme Court stayed the Delhi High Court’s order reading down the UAPA and said the order can’t be treated as a precedent. Part 3 of the Constitution guarantees a set of fundamental rights, including the right to free speech, which are essentially in the form of a limitation imposed on the State. The Constitution provides for a mechanism for their protection by constitutional courts. It’s heartening to see the apex court perform this task. The court has already issued a notice to the Centre on a PIL challenging the validity of UAPA provisions. It should take a decision on the matter at the earliest.
