On the 9th of December, the Supreme Court made the West Bengal government withdraw all 4 FIRs against OpIndia Editor-in-Chief Nupur J Sharma. The Supreme Court not only express concern about the reducing level of tolerance to dissenting views but also said that journalists suffer the consequences of information that is in the public domain.
#WestBengal Govt informs the #SupremeCourt that it has decided to withdraw FIRs against @UnSubtleDesi in connection to some reports & photos published in @OpIndia_com.
— Utkarsh Anand (@utkarsh_aanand) December 9, 2021
SC: “Journalists suffer the consequences of what’s otherwise also in public domain.. Hope others will follow”.
Nupur J Sharma and other editors of OpIndia were being represented by senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani and lawyer Ravi Sharma. While the state of West Bengal was being represented by Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave.
Read the statement by Nupur J Sharma on Bengal govt withdrawing all 4 FIRs against her
Dear readers,
This note might be slightly emotional, so please bear with me. In 2020, I was interrogated for hours over 3 malicious FIRs that were filed against me. The FIRs pertained to a report we wrote on Azan being played at a Durga puja pandal, a report on COVID handling in Bengal and one on the Telinipara riots where Hindus were attacked.
During that time, my husband, who has nothing to do with OpIndia was interrogated, my father threatened, and Rahul Roushan, our CEO, was summoned for questioning as well.
A year after the Supreme Court stayed those FIRs, the Bengal government resurrected another FIR that we had no idea about. The FIR pertained to three reports on the Telinipara riots. The case was swiftly handed over to CID by the Bengal government and the malicious campaign against OpIndia had continued.
The Supreme Court stayed this FIR as well and asked the Bengal government to respond.
In the meantime, after the stay, there were threats that came my way, resulting in me shifting permanently out of Bengal.
In an almost cathartic end to this saga, today, the Supreme Court has ensured that the Bengal government withdraws all 4 FIRs against me with scathing comments against the Bengal government.
I will perhaps write a longer article to express the journey so far, but in this note, I would like to thank our readers, who stood by us when I was doubting myself. I would like to thank the OpIndia team who stood rock solid and I would like to thank my friends who did not leave my side even when I was potentially losing my mind after leaving Bengal. For my family, words would fall short. My husband and daughter happily uprooted themselves so I could continue to fight for Dharma. It is a debt I will never be able to repay.
Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani and lawyer Ravi Sharma are the two people who helped me get my freedom back and they did it all because they believed in us, without charging a penny. OpIndia, and I personally, would forever be indebted to them.
Above all, I would like to thank the Supreme Court of India. They upheld the truth today.
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.
Jai Siya Ram.
Satyamev Jayate.
