SC quashes sedition case against Vinod Dua
Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 3
The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed an FIR registered by the Himachal Pradesh Police against senior journalist Vinod Dua last year for his comments critical of the government’s handling of COVID-19 lockdown on his YouTube channel.
“We have quashed the proceedings and FIR. Every journalist will be entitled to protection under Kedar Nath Singh judgment (on sedition),” said a Bench headed by Justice UU Lalit which had reserved its verdict on October 6 last year.
While upholding the validity of Section 124A of IPC (sedition), a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had in Kedarnath Singh’s case (1962) restricted the scope of the law by prescribing certain safeguards.
The Bench, however, rejected Dua’s prayer for setting up of a high-level committee in each state for prior vetting of sedition charges against journalists of 10-year standing, saying “It will be directly encroaching upon the legislative domain.”
The Shimla FIR was registered at the insistence of Himachal Pradesh BJP leader Ajay Shyam who filed a criminal complaint against Dua accusing him of instigating violence against the government by allegedly spreading fake news.
Contending that none of the ingredients of the offences alleged against Dua in the FIR were made out, senior advocate Vikas Singh had urged the court to quash the FIR as what was said by the senior journalist in his show had already been reported by several TV channels.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju had argued that even if one cognizable offence was made out, the FIR could not be quashed.
On laying down guidelines on the registration of cases against journalists as was the case with doctors, Raju had contended that journalism wasn’t like the medical profession over which MCI exercised greater control and regulation.
“Anyone can become a journalist. There are no qualifications. No expertise is required. A layman can become a journalist. There is no control like how the MCI exercises control for doctors. Journalism is not a profession, it is an activity,” Raju had submitted.
The Supreme Court on June 14 last year refused to stay the probe into a sedition case lodged against Dua by Himachal Pradesh Police but protected him from arrest in the case.
It had asked Dua to join the probe and co-operate with the police in the process through video conferencing or online mode. Police could interrogate him at his residence in Delhi after giving him a 24-hour prior notice, it had said.
