NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict quashing the sedition charges against journalist Vinod Dua, also said in an announcement that”a taxpayer has the right to criticise or comment on the steps undertaken by a government” “The apex court never only quashed the criminal complaint against Dua, but also has underlined the value of protecting journalists against sedition instances,” an announcement from the Editors Guild of India stated.
The apex body of editors from India also welcomed the Supreme Court’s observations which sedition laws are abused by law enforcement officials in various areas of the nation, resulting in”pre-trial incarceration”, also stated these sedition laws have a chilling effect on social networking along with India’s democracy.
“The Guild requires redesign of those and antiquated laws which find no room in almost any contemporary liberal democracy,” it added.
The Women Press Corps (IWPC) also welcomed the SC verdict mentioning protections to journalists below the Kedar Nath Singh judgment against sedition charges and added criticism of their authorities, even though brutal, cannot be termed as sedition.
“We’ve seen, together with dismay, a developing tendency in India in recent instances where the two state and central governments have regularly staged sedition prices on journalists such as posts, tweets, Facebook articles that criticise government policies…In January 2021, IWPC founder celebrity Mrinal Pande and several other journalists have been reserved for sedition to get tweets regarding farmers’ demonstration,” IWPC explained in a declaration.