Supreme Court Grants Interim Protection To Journalist In UP Police FIRs Over Article On Caste Discrimination

The Supreme Court today granted interim protection to another journalist booked over her article(s) alleging caste discrimination in the administration of the Uttar Pradesh government.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan passed the order in favor of journalist-Mamta Tripathi, against whom 4 FIRs are stated to have been registered. The Court further called for the response of the UP government on Tripathi's plea for quashing of the criminal proceedings initiated against her.

Dictating the order, Justice Gavai said, "Issue notice, returnable in 4 weeks...in the meantime, it is directed that no coercive steps be taken against the petitioner in connection with the subject articles".

It may be recalled that another journalist ie Abhishek Upadhyay recently moved the Supreme Court for quashing of an FIR registered by the UP Police over a story exploring the caste dynamics in the Uttar Pradesh State Administration. On October 4, the Court granted interim protection to him, observing that criminal cases can't be slapped against journalists merely because their writings are perceived as criticism of the government.

"In democratic nations, freedom to express one's views are respected. The rights of the journalists are protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. Merely because writings of a journalist are perceived as criticism of the Government, criminal cases should not be slapped against the writer," a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti observed in its order.

Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Mamta Tripathi, contended that 4 FIRs have been registered so far and the Court has granted stay in 1 FIR, as a a result of the protection granted to journalist-Abhishek Upadhyay. He urged that it is a case of pure harassment, as whenever journalists even tweet something, be it regarding District Magistrates using red light on their vehicles, or caste issues between Thakurs and Brahmins, FIRs are registered against them.

When Justice Gavai asked as to why the petitioner has approached the Supreme Court directly, the senior counsel replied that Upadhyay also approached directly and the same is being done as it is the petitioner-journalists' case that there has been a violation of their fundamental rights.

Ultimately, the Bench issued notice to the UP government and granted interim protection to Tripathi in relation to 6 articles written by her.

Case Title: MAMTA TRIPATHI v. THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH, W.P.(Crl.) No. 441 / 2024

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