THE HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH QUASHED AN FIR FILED AGAINST A REPORTER FOR PUBLISHING A REPORT ON CUSTODIAL TORTURE BY THE POLICE

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh quashed an FIR filed in 2018 against a reporter for publishing a report on custodial torture by the police in the case of Asif Iqbal Naik v. State of J&K and Ors. Justice Rajnesh Oswal held that the registration of FIR clearly establishes the malafide intention of the police to silence the reporter.

"Freedom of the press is vital for the functioning of a democratic India, and the press is often referred to as the 4th pillar of that democracy. To fetters can be placed on freedom by registering the FIR against a reporter, who was performing his duty on the basis of the information gained by him from an identifiable source."

In April 2018, Asif Iqbal Naik, a journalist associated with local daily Early Times Newspaper and Times Now, broke down a piece of news displaying the heading "Father of 5 brutally tortured by Kishtwar Police," in which he reported that one Akhter Hussain was in a critical condition after the Kishtwar police brutally tortured him. Thereafter the Kishwat police registered an FIR against Naik u/s 500, 504, 505 of the Ranbir Penal Code.

Advocate FS Butt, Counsel for the petitioner, said that the FIR was registered to stop the petitioner from publishing news against the police and to suppress the media. This amounts to infringement of Article 19 of the constitution. 

Advocate Sunil Malhotra, appearing for the state, argued that the petitioner published the false report with a criminal intention to incite the peace-loving inmates of Kishtwar town.

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Author: Papiha Ghoshal