The Wire: New York-based journalists' group objects to criminal defamation, criticizes Gujarat court move

PM Narendra Modi with Jay and Amit Shah

By Our Representative
In a major embarrassment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), one of the world's most prestigious associations of mediapersons, has come down heavily on the decision of "India's judiciary to proceed with a criminal defamation complaint against The Wire and issue an injunction preventing the news website from reporting about Jay Shah, the son of the ruling BJP party's president Amit Shah, while the defamation case is being heard."
Referring to the October 12 Ahmedabad court issuing an injunction barring The Wire from writing about Jay Shah's businesses "so that the right to live with dignity of the plaintiff (Jay) may be protected," CPJ wonders how was it that "the news website learned of the injunction only after being sent a copy of the order", quoting a statement published by The Wire on October 16.
"The injunction was issued as part of a criminal defamation case that Jay Shah filed against the news website on October 11. The legal action is related to an October 8 report in The Wire about the turnover of Jay Shah's company, Temple Enterprises, since Narendra Modi became prime minister and his father became party leader", CPJ says.
Also objecting to the "Gujarat court" issuing "summons for those named in the criminal defamation complaint to appear on November 13", CPJ says, "If convicted, the journalists could be jailed for up to two years, or fined." It adds, "One of the The Wire's founding editors, Siddharth Varadarajan, who is named in the complaint, told CPJ via email that The Wire would challenge the injunction."
"A democracy like India should not use criminal defamation proceedings and censorship to resolve publishing disputes," CPJ Asia programme coordinator Steven Butler in New York has been quoted as saying. "Rather than shutting down reporting by The Wire, Indian authorities should take steps to change the country's outdated defamation laws."
The defamation complaint was filed under sections 500 [criminal defamation], 109 [abetment], 39 [voluntarily causing grievous hurt] and 120B [criminal conspiracy] and names the Foundation for Independent Journalism, the non-profit that publishes the website; The Wire's founding editors Varadarajan, Sidharth Bhatia, and MK Venu; Rohini Singh, a reporter; Pamela Philipose, a public editor; and managing editor Monobina Gupta, according to a report in the Business Standard, CPJ notes.
It adds, "The injunction bars The Wire from publishing further stories on Shah's business for the duration of the criminal defamation trial, but it did not require the news website to remove stories already posted, according to Varadarajan."
At the same time, CPJ quotes Nirupam Nanavati, a lawyer representing Jay Shah, defending the use of the injunction as telling CPJ, "Once you write or speak [about a person], you might issue a denial but the injury caused to the person is irreversible and irreparable and can't be compensated in terms of money."
It comments, "The Wire has faced ex-parte injunctions -- an injunction in which only one party is heard -- previously. In March, CPJ documented how a Bangalore city civil court issued an ex-parte injunction ordering The Wire to take down two articles critical of Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a member of India's upper house of parliament."
"Separately", CJP adds, "In August, CPJ documented how the Karkardooma District Court in Delhi issued an injunction that restrained Juggernaut Books from publishing 'Godman to Tycoon: The Untold Story of Baba Ramdev', after the guru filed a complaint."

Comments

Communal rhetoric? Hindutva preached by RSS-BJP is 'monolithic', not Hinduism

By Prem Verma* I am a devout Hindu but not a believer of RSS Hindutva form of Hinduism which brings about hatred of other religions. My Hindu religion has not taught me to look down on other religions and neither has it instilled in me to go about converting others to my religion because my religion is superior.

Gross 'injustice' to children: Rs 5000 cr cut in education budget; 15 lakh schools shut down

Counterview Desk More than 100 dignitaries, including educationists, academia, social activists, teachers’ union, civil society organisations (CSOs), various networks and people working on child rights, in a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have sought reversal of reduction in allocation for education in the Union Budget 2021-22, even as demanding substantial increase in it.

India sees 62 journo deaths, 4th highest, amidst pandemic: Swiss media rights body

By Our Representative The Switzerland-based media rights body Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) has noted that India is the fourth most affected country as far as mediapersons’ death on account of Covid-19 is concerned. According to Blaise Lempen, secretary-general of PEC, the global tally of casualties among media persons in the Covid-19 pandemic has reached 1,036 journalists in 73 countries till date.

Buddhist shrines massively destroyed by Brahmanical rulers in "pre-Islamic" era: Historian DN Jha's survey

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

RSS love for 'killer' Myanmar junta behind Indian military presence at Tatmadaw Day?

By Shamsul Islam* If a shameful act means an action which is criminal and nauseating, it would be an understatement to describe the attitude of the present RSS-BJP rulers of India towards the demolition of democracy and large-scale killing of the people of Myanmar by the military ( tatmadaw ) junta which took power through a coup on February 1, 2021 after renegading the election results in which the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, National League for Democracy, was a clear winner.

Chhattisgarh’s Apra riverfront imitates Sabarmati: 'Devaluing' water, environment

Sabarmati riverfront By Mansee Bal Bhargava* This year’s #WorldWaterDay (March 22) focus was on ‘Valuing Water’. My school friend, Pragati Tiwari from Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, called that day knowing my interest in water matters. We were remembering our childhood days as how we used to play on the banks and the bed of the Arpa Nadi (River) during the summer holidays and as how the river would swell like Anaconda to flow happily during the monsoon.

Bihar massacre on Holi day: Brahminical, casteist mindset behind 'uneasy' silence

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Several people were killed in Bihar amidst Holi festivities, but not much response has come in from the media. The silence of the government and the society as a whole is also appalling. We seek to romanticise these festivals, yet we forget that every year they take so many lives. This despite the fact that Holi appears to be the best time for 'avenging things'.

India's draft migrants policy: Whither concern on job restrictions imposed by states?

By Anil Kumar* India’s Niti Aayog has prepared a Draft Migration Policy. The draft policy acknowledges migration as an integral part of development, and it calls for positive government interventions that facilitate internal migration. With a rights-based solution to migration, the draft states that the policy should “enhance the agency and capability of the community and thereby remove aspects that come in the way of an individual’s own natural ability to thrive”.

Recalling Jallianwala martyrs' communal amity as BJP 'warns' of Sitalkuchi everywhere

By Shamsul Islam* The RSS-BJP rulers declare India to be a battle-ground between Hinduism and Islam. Muslims have been declared as ‘internal threat’ by RSS ideologue MS Golwalkar (“Bunch of Thought”, Chapter xvi). Behaviour of many of their leading cadres, including those who hold high constitutional posts, is such that they seem to be conspiring over-time to ignite a civil war between the two communities. They are under the impression that this would help divert attention from failures of the Hindutva rulers on developmental front.

Counterview

Search This Blog