New Delhi: Eighteen journalist organizations and media outlets from across India have jointly penned a letter to Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, making a fervent appeal for the judiciary’s attention to the growing encroachments on press freedom within the country.
This appeal comes in the wake of recent actions taken by the Delhi Police, who conducted raids and interrogations involving 46 journalists, editors, writers, and professionals connected, in some way, to the online news portal Newsclick. During these operations, several journalists had their electronic devices confiscated, and the portal’s director, Prabir Purkayastha, and HR head, Amit Chakravarty, were arrested.
The letter seeks the court’s assistance in establishing guidelines to deter the arbitrary seizure of journalists’ phones and laptops, developing protocols for interrogating journalists and confiscating their possessions, and finding methods to ensure accountability for state agencies and individual officers who overstep legal boundaries.
These organizations, including press clubs from various cities, emphasize that they do not intend to place journalists above the law but advocate for their equitable treatment in accordance with it.
Full Text of the Letter:
To
D.Y. Chandrachud
Chief Justice of India
Supreme Court of India
October 4, 2023
Dear Chief Justice Chandrachud,
We are writing this letter as a voluntary coalition of organizations representing a free press, dedicated to upholding the principles of freedom of speech and expression enshrined in our Constitution.
This letter is an earnest appeal to the vigilant guardian, aware of the well-worn phrase—an entreaty from an institution indispensable for exercising freedom and democracy in India, to one that is Supreme and sworn to safeguard the Constitution that enshrines these freedoms.
We write this letter with full awareness that it is not merely addressed to the Chief Justice of India but also to an individual who has stated, both within and outside the courtroom, that “the press has a duty to speak truth to power and present citizens with hard facts enabling them to make choices that propel democracy in the right direction” and that India’s freedoms will remain intact as long as journalists can fulfill this role “without being chilled by a threat of reprisal.”
Regrettably, today, a significant segment of Indian journalists find themselves working under the shadow of reprisal. It is essential for the Judiciary to confront Power with a fundamental Truth—that we are all answerable to a Constitution.
On October 3, 2023, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police conducted raids at the residences of 46 journalists, editors, writers, and professionals, seemingly connected in some way to the online news portal, NewsClick. These raids resulted in the arrest of two individuals under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the confiscation of mobile phones and computers without ensuring the integrity of their data—a fundamental due process protocol. The use of UAPA is particularly alarming, as journalism cannot and should not be prosecuted as ‘terrorism.’ History has shown us the dangerous path such actions can lead to.
During your tenure at the Supreme Court, you have witnessed how the country’s investigative agencies have been misused and weaponized against the Press on numerous occasions. Editors and reporters have faced sedition and terrorism charges, and multiple, sequential, or frivolous FIRs have been weaponized as instruments of harassment against journalists.
Our intention in addressing this letter to you is not to bypass or undermine the established legal process and procedure. However, when journalists are summoned, and their property seized in the name of investigation, there is an inherent malicious intent in the process that must be scrutinized.
