How India’s political class bends laws and wields power to muzzle dissent and stifle journalism.
WHILE INTRODUCING new laws to replace the British-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), the government had assured that the intention behind creating the new regime, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), was to move from a punitive approach to one focused on justice. It was also claimed that colonial laws, such as the draconian Sedition Act—which was aimed at muzzling protest or dissent against colonial rule—would be abolished.
However, since its introduction in 2023, the claim about replacing the Sedition Act (Section 124A) has been belied time and again. Section 152 of the new law provides punishment for “those who excite or attempt to excite secession, armed rebellion or subversive activities, or encourage feelings of separatism, or endanger the sovereignty and integrity of India.” This section is being invoked indiscriminately, particularly against journalists, to muzzle criticism of the government.
FIRs have been filed against The Wire’s founding editor, Siddharth Varadarajan, and consulting editor, Karan Thapar, by the Assam Police for articles published by the digital platform.
The first FIR was registered by the Guwahati Crime Branch against Varadarajan and Thapar on May 9 under Section 152 (acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India) of the BNS. The FIR listed 14 interviews and articles as being against the sovereignty and integrity of India. No further action was taken on this FIR until August 12.
On July 11, Morigaon police station registered another FIR under Section 152 of the BNS against Varadarajan and The Wire for a story published on June 28 regarding the Indian defence attaché’s statement about the loss of an Indian aircraft in Sindoor.
In addition to Section 152, the FIRs invoke several other provisions: Section 196 (communal enmity), Section 197(1)(d)/3(6) (false propaganda), Section 353 (public mischief), Section 45 (abetment), and Section 61 (criminal conspiracy).
After the Supreme Court protected them from arrest in the Morigaon case, while asking them to cooperate with the police, fresh summons were issued by the Guwahati Police to the two journalists. When their counsel pointed this out to a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, the bench allayed the apprehension by saying that the court was “watching.”
The bench, while protecting the journalists, emphasized that everyone was expected to follow the law and asked the journalists to join the investigation and submit a status report on the next date of hearing.
Unfortunately, this tendency to file criminal cases against journalists is not confined to the BJP and BJP-led governments. The Congress, even though currently struggling politically, matches the same arrogance. Both parties see conspiracies and both try to weaponize laws.
Last week, the Congress filed a criminal complaint against journalist Shiv Aroor for exposing Rahul Gandhi’s false claim of “vote theft.” The case was filed over Aroor’s comments on his TV show, where he cited an apology issued by election analyst Sanjay Kumar, co-director of Lokniti, for publishing inaccurate data alleging massive discrepancies in the Maharashtra voter list.
Sanjay Kumar had earlier alleged that there were major discrepancies in the number of voters in some Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party used this data to bolster their claim of “vote chori.” Later, Kumar withdrew the data and expressed regret over the misreading.
Shiv Aroor cited this development to show how most of Rahul Gandhi’s allegations against the Election Commission of India are baseless. Despite Kumar’s apology and retraction, several criminal cases were filed against him by Election Commission officials. The Supreme Court has now stayed the criminal proceedings against him.
The Editors Guild has said it is extremely disturbed by this continuing trend of law enforcement agencies across states registering FIRs against journalists by invoking multiple provisions of the criminal code.
“This practice effectively muzzles independent journalism, as the very process of responding to notices, summons, and prolonged judicial proceedings becomes a form of punishment,” the Guild stated.
It further said that while laws must always be respected and upheld, they must not be misused to suppress journalism. Honest journalism can never be a crime, the statement added.
By initiating criminal proceedings against journalists, both the BJP and the Congress have sent out a warning that they will not hesitate to weaponize laws to muzzle any criticism against them. Such an attitude is certainly unhealthy for a democracy. 
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Vipin Pubby
The author, a freelance journalist, is a former Resident Editor of Indian Express, Chandigarh, and reported on the political developments in Jammu and Kashmir, North-Eastern India, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab in his long, illustrious career.
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