Supreme Court quashes sedition case against journalist Vinod Dua

The Supreme Court today quashed the Himachal Pradesh police’s sedition case against journalist Vinod Dua. The case was based on a video uploaded on Dua’s YouTube channel last year criticizing the Covid lockdown imposed by the Narendra Modi government.

According to Bar and Bench, Dua was additionally accused of spreading fake news, causing public nuisance, printing of defamatory matter and making statements conducive to public mischief.

Quashing the FIR, the court said, “Every journalist will be entitled to the protection under Kedar Nath Singh judgement. We reject the prayer that no FIR can be registered against any media personnel with 10 years experience unless cleared by committee.”

In June 2020, the Supreme Court had issued interim directions to protect Dua from arrest in the case but declined to stay the FIR filed in Himachal Pradesh. The Delhi police had also registered an FIR against Dua on June 4 for the same video. However, the FIR was stayed by the Delhi High Court on June 10.