New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed case against senior journalist Vinod Dua ruling that criticising the Prime Minister does not amount to sedition.
On 11th of March, 2019 Dua had posted a video on YouTube questioning the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government over riots occurring in the northeastern parts of Delhi. The Himachal Pradesh police reacted to the protest by booking him under sedition charges.
Journalists should be protected from sedition charges; protection as ruled by Supreme Court in the Kedar Singh case should be lend to them, observed the court.
The Bench comprising justices UU Lalit and Vinita Sharan handed down the verdict after hearing arguments put forward by Himachal Pradesh government and the petitioner in the case. The Bench observed that things coming in the purview of sedition were listed in the Kedar Singh case verdict and that criticism of PM cannot be viewed as sedition.
Dua was booked for sedition following complaint lodged by a BJP leader Ajay Syam, who argued that the journalist in his video show fanned communal passions and indulged in fake propaganda.
