New Delhi, Aug 19, KNT: The Press Club of India (PCI) and the Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC) have expressed strong dismay over the Assam Police Crime Branch’s FIR against senior journalists Siddharth Varadarajan and Karan Thapar of The Wire under sedition charges framed through Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
In a joint statement, the journalist bodies noted that this was the second such FIR against the news platform in as many months. They accused the Assam Police of unleashing “vindictive action” against the journalists despite a Supreme Court order that had granted protection from coercive measures in an earlier case.
“It is noteworthy that summons were issued on August 12, 2025, even as the Supreme Court bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi had granted Mr. Varadarajan and all journalists at The Wire protection from any coercive action in FIR 0181/2025 filed in Morigaon on July 11, 2025, under Section 152 and other provisions of BNS. Now, the Assam Police have filed another FIR without mentioning any reason and have asked Mr. Varadarajan and Mr. Thapar to appear before the Crime Branch in Guwahati on August 22, on pain of arrest in the event of non-compliance,” the statement read.
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The organisations argued that Section 152 of BNS is a rebranded version of the repealed Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, under which sedition cases were previously filed. They recalled that in May 2022 the Supreme Court had suspended prosecutions under 124A. The Wire has already challenged the constitutionality of Section 152, and the apex court has issued notice to the Assam government in this regard.
“While we welcome the relief given by Supreme Court to The Wire and Mr. Varadarajan last week, the registration of a new case against him and Mr. Thapar makes it apparent that Section 152 has become a tool with which to target the media in India,” the statement said, demanding immediate withdrawal of the cases as well as repeal of Section 152 itself.
The journalists’ bodies cautioned that the law threatens press freedom guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. “As can be seen from the actions of the Assam Police, Section 152 of BNS has been weaponised to chill the press into silence,” they said.
The FIR, according to reports, is based on a complaint by a BJP leader over a story published in The Wire on June 28, which drew from a presentation by India’s defence attaché to Indonesia, Captain (Indian Navy) Shiv Kumar. [KNT]
