Supreme Court issues notice on Patricia Mukhim's plea against high court judgement

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a notice on a plea filed by Patrica Mukhim, editor of Shillong Times, against a judgement of the Meghalaya High Court which had refused to quash criminal proceedings against her, Live Law reported.

The criminal case was in the context of a Facebook post published by Mukhim last year on continued attacks on non-tribals in the state.

According to a report by the Print, the high court had observed that Mukhim’s post “sought to create a divide to the cordial relationship between the tribal and non-tribal living in the State of Meghalaya even alluding to the role of the state machinery as being bias in this regard”.

Mukhim's post had been based on a July 3 incident where unidentified youths armed with iron roads and sticks assaulted a group of non-tribal youths playing basketball, the Indian Express reported.

A complaint had been filed against Mukhim by the Dorbar Shnong, a governing body, of Lawsohtun. Mukhim had been charged under Sections 153A, 500 and 505(c) of the Indian Penal Code.