The Supreme Court on Thursday, December 9 quashed all four FIRs filed by the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal against OpIndia Editor-in-Chief Nupur J Sharma, Ajeet Bharti, the then Hindi editor of OpIndia, CEO Rahul Roushan, and Nupur J Sharma’s husband Vaibhav Sharma. In its order, the details of which were made public by the apex court later in the day, the bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh made it evidently clear that the State cannot use force to browbeat opinions.
While making some scathing observations against the West Bengal government, the SC also raised concerns about how journalists are having to bear the repercussions of publicly available information. “State force should never be used to either browbeat a political opinion or the journalists suffer the consequences of what is already in public domain,” the bench observed.
The two-judge bench while quashing the FIRs said that they did not want to “let go of the opportunity of saying something which is troubling society and the court”.
“It is undoubtedly the debasement in dialogues which is taking place which needs introspection from the political class across the country. In a country which prides itself on its diversity, there are bound to be different perceptions and opinions which include political opinions,” it observed.
‘Petitioners had only reproduced what politicians had said’: Supreme Court observes while quashing the FIR against the editor-in-chief of OpIndia
The court said the petitioners had only reproduced what politicians had said against each other, and this information was already in the public domain.
The apex court made the aforementioned statement in reference to the first case that was filed in relation to a Hindi article published on OpIndia Hindi on 14th May 2020, which had reported an exchange of words between BJP leader and union minister Debasree Chaudhuri and TMC leaders.
The BJP MP from Raiganj had alleged that Mamata Banerjee is planning to convert West Bengal into an Islamic state and merge it with Bangladesh. It was a report on comments by her, and reactions to the same by TMC leaders, which was also reported by several media organisations. But the Bengal government decided to file FIR against OpIndia English editor and her husband, who are residents of Kolkata, and Vaibhav was summoned to the police station on 16th May.
It may be noted that Vaibhav is not related to OpIndia, but one phone number used by Nupur is registered in his name, and only because of that phone number, he was interrogated by police. During the interrogation on May 16, the police had threatened that if the report is not deleted, they will be arrested.
Police had even talked to Nupur Sharma’s 68-year old father and issued the same threat. When a copy of the FIR was requested, the police had refused the same.
The other three FIRs registered against OpIndia Editor-in-chief at the behest of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee were in reference with three other reports published by OpIndia. In one report which was published on October 7, 2020, we wrote on Azan being played at a Durga puja pandal. This was not an OpIndia exclusive but was also reported by several national and local media houses. Moreover, a video of the same had also gone viral on social media. However, the state decided to single out OpIndia and come after us.
Another report which irked the Mamata Banerjee regime was a report on COVID handling in Bengal and one on the Telinipara riots where Hindus were attacked.
After the repeated threats by police to get reports deleted, the four persons targeted by the West Bengal government decided to move Supreme Court relief, and accordingly, a petition was filed on 12th June through advocate Ravi Sharma seeking to quash the FIRs.
The apex court had then stayed three such FIRs in June 2020, and another one in September this year.
Nupur J Sharma forced to leave West Bengal by Mamata regime
In September this year, the OpIndia editor-in-chief wrote how the vindictive Mamata Banerjee government in the state had made it almost impossible for her to follow her instincts and do her job truthfully.
“I have left my home of decades with a heavy heart”, OpIndia editor in chief Nupur J Sharma took to Twitter on Thursday, September 9 to announce that she was forced to leave her home and her loved ones back in Kolkata, West Bengal. She had to flee overnight because of the constant threats she had been receiving from the Mamata Banerjee government in the state.
OpIndia editor-in-chief thanks Supreme Court for upholding the truth
Following the Honourable Supreme Court’s decision to have the West Bengal government withdraw all four FIRs against OpIndia Editor-in-Chief Nupur J Sharma, she issued an emotional statement thanking OpIndia readers, her team, friends, family, Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani and lawyer Ravi Sharma, and, most importantly, the Supreme Court of India for upholding the truth.
“OpIndia took on the malicious, motivated and drunk-on-power state and emerged victorious. This is a victory for every Dharmic voice who fought for us, stood by us and supported us. We will continue to do the work we do and I know you will continue to be our rock”, wrote Nupur J Sharma.
