Image Courtesy:english.mathrubhumi.com
Congress Leader and Member of Parliament Dr Shashi Tharoor and Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai have approached the Supreme Court against multiple FIRs registered in different states for allegedly sharing “fake news” about the death of a protester during the farmers’ tractor rally on 26 January, 2021 reported LiveLaw.
Journalists Mrinal Pande, Zafar Agha, Paresh Nath and his son, Anant Nath have also approached the Supreme Court challenging the FIRs. The FIR registered at Gautambudh Nagar police station, Noida is under sections 153-A (Promoting enmity between different groups), 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), 298 (Uttering words to wound religious feelings), 504 (Intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 505(2) (public mischief) 124A (sedition), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC as well as section 65 of the Information Technology Act.
Thereafter, four FIRs were lodged in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, Hosangabad, Multai and Betul. In the FIR filed in Delhi, on a complaint by city resident Chiranjiv Kumar, the police said that Dr. Tharoor and the others misled people on the death of a protester in central Delhi when thousands of farmers entered areas in the national capital, that were not in the agreed route of the tractor rally, as reported by LiveLaw.
These FIRs further state that all accused persons through their “fake, misleading and wrong” tweets, tried to imply that the death of the farmer was caused by the violence committed by Delhi Police under directions of the Central government.
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