In the past 48 hours, five people have been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police, including three journalists, for sharing “objectionable” content about Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, including a video of a woman speaking to reporters outside Adityanath’s office—in which she claims that she had sent him a marriage proposal.

The first person to be arrested was 26-year-old Prashant Kanojia, a freelance journalist who was picked up from his home in East Delhi on June 8. Strangely, he wasn’t arrested by the Delhi police, but by the Uttar Pradesh police, who came to his residence in plain clothes to arrest him and take him to Lucknow. Next came the arrest of an editor as well as the owner of a Noida-based television channel that aired the video. This was followed by the arrest of two more people in Gorakhpur, which is Adityanath’s stronghold.

Needless to say, the arrests sparked large-scale debates on social media regarding the state of freedom of expression in the country.

In Kanojia’s case, the UP police filed a suo moto FIR and have accused Kanojia of making “objectionable tweets” against Yogi Adityanath. Kanojia has been booked under IPC Sections 500 (defamation) and 505, and Section 66 of the IT Act.

On Sunday, the Editors Guild of India released a statement calling Kanojia’s arrest “high-handed and arbitrary” and also said that it amounted to “authoritarian misuse of laws”. At 1 pm on Monday afternoon, bracing the overhead sun and a sweltering 48-degree temperature—the highest temperature recorded in the history of the capital—senior journalists and others from Delhi’s journalism fraternity assembled outside Press Club to take part in a protest march against the arbitrary arrests of Kanojia and the other journalists. They were armed with posters that demanded Kanojia be released and other placards demanding that the intimidation tactics against journalists and citizens be stopped. Those assembled also chanted slogans and marched on the circular road around Press Club.

Amid heavy police security and extensive media coverage, the journalists, who came from practically every news organisation in the capital, took part in the protest march and spoke about the issue of these arbitrary arrests.

Speaking with Newslaundry at the protest was Rajdeep Sardesai, consulting editor and anchor with India Today. He said that defamation, in his opinion, is a civil offence. “In this particular case, there was no official criminal complaint. There is no private citizen who came and said that he/she has been defamed. The UP police comes to Delhi and demonstrates a sense of urgency in the manner in which the arrests are carried out. In this particular instance, I don’t see any hate or attempt to incite violence.”

According to him, there are two issues. The first is that the criminal defamation law is prone to misuse, and the second is the manner in which the criminal defamation law has been interpreted. “I’m not convinced that something has changed only in the last six months. Yes, sensitivity is greater during election time, but now the elections are over. I think this (issue of arrests) is a national problem that stems from a law that has been struck off by many countries but continues to be followed in India. Frankly, for me, the issue is not about this particular case, but about taking a principled stand against the criminal defamation law.”

MK Venu, The Wire’s founding editor, said Kanojia’s arrest is arbitrary since it did not follow even the basic procedure of law in a criminal defamation case where first, a private complainant should file the case. “However, in this case, Adityanath has not filed the case. You’re simply shooting the messenger, yet the police went and arrested him without any private complaint. Furthermore, typically in a criminal defamation case, you have to go the magistrate and get permission from him to make the arrest—all these procedures have been thrown to the winds.”

He added: “Prashant has also been booked under Section 66 of the IT Act, which talks about inciting the public into creating violence against the state. In this case, the woman is expressing affection for somebody—so where is the question of inciting violence?” Venu also questioned why Facebook and Twitter weren’t sent notices. “When you claim defamation, it is the platform too that is sent notices. Why has that not happened in this case?”

Journalist and author Paranjoy Guha Thakurta was also present at the protest. When asked what was meant by “arbitrary” arrest, he said: “The Supreme Court has, in my opinion, unfortunately ruled that defamation is a criminal offence. It is my personal view that it’s about time defamation became decriminalised. It means that you can keep defamation as a civil offence but not a criminal offence, as is the case with most democracies around the world.”

Thakurta said the manner in which the journalists were picked up during the weekend and kept in custody indicates that the law has been misused. “I would even say it has been abused. I believe that this (Prashant’s arrest) is an act of harassment and intimidation and it is indeed a dark day for Indian media.”

Senior journalist TK Rajalakshmi said Kanojia’s arrest is arbitrary because “you have to look at whether his harmless comment warrants extreme action or not”. “Just because you have the law doesn’t mean that you use it randomly. You’re supposed to use it where it merits a cause.” When asked what was the biggest red flag in Prashant’s arrest, she said: “The manner in which the UP police came in plain clothes and whisked him away … whether they sought permission from the Delhi police or not is unknown. It’s not like the state police can enter another state and pick up whoever they want. There are issues of jurisdiction; we are a federal system and that needs to be respected. Law and order is a state subject. therefore, the process of arrest is in itself, questionable.”

Kanojia’s wife Jagisha Arora has moved the Supreme Court for her husband’s release. In her petition, she has also asked the court to immediately release her husband as well as take action against the police officers involved in his arrest. The Supreme Court is slated to hear the matter tomorrow.