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Scroll.in Journalist Supriya Sharma Granted Protection from Arrest by Allahabad HC in an FIR Alleging Misrepresentation of Fact and Statement
Supriya Sharma, Executive editor of Scroll.in along with the editor in chief of sroll.in has been granted protection from arrest by the High Court of Allahabad, which was in connection to an FIR lodged by a Varanasi resident against them for the misrepresentation of her statement.
It was observed by Justice Manoj Mishra and Anil Kumar-IX who comprised the divisional bench that it was claimed by Ms. Supriya Sharma that an audio record of the interview was in possession of her and the contents of that are reflected clearly in the publication. The interim relief have been granted on the following terms,
“Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and keeping in mind the petitioner’s claim that they have audio recording of the interview, the content of which were reflected in the publication, we dream it appropriate to dispose of this petition by providing that investigation of the case shall continue and brought to its logical conclusion but petitioner shall not be arrested in the above case till submission of police report under section 173 (2) CrPC provided they cooperate in the investigation.”
However, stating that the FIR which has been lodged against them contain the commission of cognizable offence, the High Court has refused the quashing of the FIR.
Mala Devi, a resident of Varanasi’s Domari Village, had lodged the FIR at the Ramnagar Police Station. The complaint made by her was that her statement was misrepresented by Sharma while making false claims in her reports. Accordingly a case under Section 501 and 209 of the IPC has been registered by the police along with some relevant provisions under the Scheduled caste and Schedule tribe (Prevention of Authorities) Act, 1989.
In a report by Sharma “In Varanasi village adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, people went hungry during lockdown”, she stated that this was quoted from the interview of a domestic worker, Mala Devi who is faced by hardship. However Mala Devi later clarifies that she isn’t a domestic worker and that her words have been misrepresented by the executive editor.
A statement was earlier issued by Scroll.in claiming the accuracy of Mala’s statement and that the FIR was only filed to intimidate andsilence independent journalism.
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