Supreme Court: The Bench of Dr. DY Chandrachud, CJI, PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra, JJ. granted interim protection against any coercive action by the State for a lawyer who was charged for serious offences including sedition and conspiracy to wage war against India. As per reports, the lawyer (‘petitioner’) was booked for the offences including Sections 121-A, 124-A, 153 of the Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC’).
It was contended that the petitioner had accompanied a fact-finding team of National Investigation Forum for Women (‘NIFW’) as an independent lawyer and observer to enquire into the recent violence triggered in Manipur.
As per reports, some of the incidents of violence in Manipur were stated to be ‘State sponsored’ by the NIFW team, whose findings were also made public in the form of a press release. Following the same, First Information Report (‘FIR’) was registered against the NIFW team and the lawyer for offences including sedition, defamation, making assertions prejudicial to national-integration and allied offences by the Manipur Police.
It was contended by the lawyer booked in the instant matter that the said press release did not contain any seditious content, nor was it signed by her.
The matter has been listed for next hearing on 14-07-2023 after the Bench directed the Solicitor General to ensure that a copy of FIR was served to the petitioner, and to gather more information in the instant matter, restricting any coercive steps against her.
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Source: Press
[Deeksha Dwivedi v. State of Manipur, dated 11-07-2023]
