New Delhi: The Supreme Court on February 7, Monday slammed the Tripura Police for sending notices to people for social media posts over alleged communal violence in the state despite its interim restraining order.
A bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant warned the counsel for the state that if Tripura Police does not refrain from harassing people, it will summon the home secretary and the concerned police officials.
The top court was hearing a plea filed by journalist Samiullah Shabbir Khan against a notice issued by Tripura Police seeking his appearance under Section 41A (notice of appearance before police officer) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
“Inform the Superintendent of Police not to harass people like this. Why should somebody be required to run to the Supreme Court? What else is this if this is not harassment…,” the apex court told the state, reprimanding police for ignoring the Supreme Court’s previous restraining order.
“Otherwise, we will call SP to court and make him answerable if we find he’s trying to evade compliance by issuing notices to the people. We’ll ask everybody to appear before this court including your home secretary, once we have passed an order covering the issue you must show responsibility,” the bench observed.
Advocate Sharukh Alam said Khan – a “socially conscious student” – was summoned on Tuesday, and several other social media users were sent the notices over the issue, the Indian Express reported. He further said that the top court on January 10 had passed an interim order restraining the police from acting against the journalist’s tweets.
During the hearing, Alam also told the court that other social media users have been sent notices, and some of them have approached SC as well, the report said.
The matter is related to social media posts made in the aftermath of alleged communal violence in Tripura in November last year. Vandalism and arson incidents were reportedly triggered in the state after attacks on Hindu communities in Bangladesh.
The counsel for the Tripura government requested that the matter be adjourned for two weeks.
The apex court then said, “What do you mean hold over for two weeks when you have issued notice for today?”
The apex court directed Tripura Police not to take further steps with regard to a notice seeking appearance of Khan in the matter.
“Since the petitioner has already been protected by the previous order of this court dated January 10, 2022, no further steps shall be taken in pursuance of the notice under section 41 A, pending further orders. The counsel for the state of Tripura shall communicate both the copies of the present order and the previous order dated January 10, 2022 to the superintendent of police,” the bench said.
When the counsel for the state government said that he has no instructions in the matter, the bench said, “What else is all this if it is not harassment? It is a very innocuous statement to say you don’t have instructions here while you keep doing all this.”
As the hearing came to an end, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared and assured the bench, “I will look into it and I will ensure that the sanctity of your lordships’ orders is ensured in letter and in spirit”.
Backstory
The top court on January 10 had restrained Tripura Police from acting on its notice to Twitter Inc with regard to a journalist’s tweet about alleged communal violence in the state.
On November 17 last year, the top court had directed Tripura Police not to take any coercive action against the three civil society members, including a journalist, in connection with a first information report (FIR) lodged under the harsh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) provisions against them for allegedly bringing facts through social media posts about targeted violence against the minority community in the state.
The three persons, who were part of a fact finding committee, have also challenged the constitutional validity of some provisions of the UAPA on the grounds that the definition of unlawful activities is “vague and wide”; moreover, the statute makes grant of bail to accused very difficult.
The FIR took note of a tweet of one of the members of the civil society which had stated that “Tripura is burning”.
Last year, the north-eastern state witnessed incidents of arson, looting and violence after reports emerged from Bangladesh that the Hindu minorities there had been attacked during Durga Puja’ on allegations of blasphemy.
This story first appeared on thewire.in