New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India has expressed concern over increasing cases of misuse of criminal laws to intimidate journalists in various parts of the country. The guild says that Dhaval Patel, the editor and owner of a Gujarati news portal called ‘Face of Nation’, was not only detained but a case was also filed against him under the sedition and disaster law. Apart from this, a reporter of the Indian Express was given notice to call in connection with the investigation and threatened legal action if not included in the investigation, which is directly like warning the journalists. The Guild condemns this and seeks to stop the misuse of the law.
In a statement, the Guild has said that Dhawal Patel had written a report on the increasing cases of Corona virus in Gujarat, on which this action was taken against him. In this report, he feared a change of leadership in the state. They were charged with sedition under section 124 of the IPC and false terror under section 54 of the Disaster Management Act.
The guild said that the second case related to the action of Delhi Police. Delhi Police summoned the Indian Express Special Correspondent Mahendra Singh Manral on May 10 by sending a notice through City Editor and Chief Reporter. At the same time, he was threatened that a jail term and penalty under Section 174 of IPC could lead to legal action if he was not involved in the investigation.
The guild states that police actions in Gujarat and Delhi are examples of misuse of law. The government and police must understand that media is an integral part of the governance structure in any democracy. The Guild condemns these actions and seeks to prevent state and central governments from misusing the law to threaten the independent press. Earlier, the Guild had expressed concern over the treatment of Jammu and Kashmir police with Srinagar freelance photo journalist Masrat Jahra and ‘The Hindu’ reporter Pirzada Aashiq and demanded withdrawal of cases against both.
