In a significant development, the Supreme Court has granted an urgent hearing to a writ petition filed by the President and three editors of the Editors Guild of India (EGI). The Editors Guild members are challenging the First Information Report (FIR) lodged by Manipur Police, alleging the release of a “biased and factually inaccurate” report on the ethnic conflict in Manipur, a northeastern state of India.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra have taken cognizance of the matter. Senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing the members of the fact-finding committee formed by EGI, emphasized the urgency of the case, expressing concerns about potential arrests. Divan stated, “There is a very grave urgency in the case… Essentially, we are seeking emergent protection from arrest and coercive steps.”
After brief deliberation, the bench responded, “Alright, you get your papers produced. We will take it up after our admission cases are over for today.”
Multiple FIRs have been filed against the President of the EGI and three editors – Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan, and Sanjay Kapoor. They had visited Manipur last month to investigate media coverage of the ethnic violence and its surrounding circumstances.
A three-member fact-finding team from EGI, after conducting an on-ground assessment in Manipur, published its report in New Delhi last week. The report claimed that media reports on the ethnic violence in Manipur were one-sided and accused the state leadership of showing partiality.
The FIR alleges that the EGI report incorrectly labeled a photo of a burning building in Manipur’s Churachandpur district as a “Kuki house.” In reality, the building in question was a Forest Department beat office that had been set on fire by a mob on May 3, the day when widespread violence erupted in the district and other parts of the state.
EGI, in response, issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter), acknowledging an error in a photo caption in the report released on September 2. They assured that the mistake was being rectified, and an updated report would be uploaded shortly, expressing regret for the error that occurred during the photo editing stage.
