State’s force should never be used to browbeat political opinions, says Supreme Court

The force of a government should not be used to browbeat political opinion, the Supreme Court said on Thursday, adding that in a diverse country like India, there were bound to be different points of view, Bar and Bench reported.

The court made the remark while quashing the cases filed by the West Bengal government in 2020 against OpIndia editors Nupur Sharma and Ajeet Bharti and the news website’s Chief Executive Officer Rahul Roushan, according to Live Law.

The cases had been registered in connection with OpIndia’s news reports on the communal violence that had taken place in West Bengal’s Hooghly district in May last year, according to ThePrint.

The website’s editors and chief executive officer had been charged under Sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) and 153A (promoting enmity between religious groups) of the Indian Penal Code, Bar and Bench reported.

Four first information reports were filed against them.

After the cases were filed, the website’s editors and chief executive officer had approached the Supreme Court, accusing the police in West Bengal of suppressing press freedom, according to Live Law. They claimed that action was taken against them for criticising the West Bengal government.

OpIndia editors claimed that other news portals had also carried similar reports, but only…

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