Farmers’ protest: Indian SC stays arrest of Shashi Tharoor, 6 journalists

Photo: AFP/File

Online Desk: India’s Supreme Court today stayed arrest of opposition Congress Party lawmaker Shashi Tharoor and six journalists. The court order was in connection with FIRs lodged against them for their alleged “misleading” tweets regarding farmers’ tractor rally violence in New Delhi on Republic Day.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde, issued notices and sought responses from the Indian government and others on the petitions filed by Tharoor and journalists — Rajdeep Sardesai, Mrinal Pande, Zafar Agha, Paresh Nath, Vinod K Jose and Anant Nath, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

When the bench said it was issuing a notice on the matter, senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal, who was appearing for Tharoor, said no coercive action be taken against the petitioners in the meantime.

“Nothing is going to happen. Where is the danger?” said the bench, also comprising of Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.

“We will hear you after two weeks and stay the arrest in the meanwhile,” the bench said.

On January 30, Delhi Police had filed a case against Tharoor, Sardesai and others.

Earlier, Tharoor and the six journalists were booked by Uttar Pradesh police for alleged sedition, among other charges, over the violence during the farmers’ tractor rally in Delhi, officials had said.

Madhya Pradesh Police had also filed a case against Tharoor and six journalists over their alleged misleading tweets on the violence during the farmers’ tractor rally.

On January 26, thousands of protesting farmers had clashed with police in India’s capital during the tractor rally called by the farmer unions to highlight their demand for repeal of the three farm laws.

The petitioners had tweeted that a youth died in police firing. But police later put out evidence that the youth died after the tractor he was driving at high speed tried to smash through police barricades and overturned.