‘Process is the punishment’: Neha Dixit on her 5-year legal battle over her Outlook reportage

It’s been over five years since a case was filed against independent journalist Neha Dixit for criminal defamation and promoting “disharmony, enmity, hatred or ill-will” through a five-part series she wrote for Outlook magazine in 2016.

Since then, the case has been listed approximately 40 times in the Gauhati High Court. Dixit has spent over Rs 3 lakh on legal and travel fees, has appeared in the high court five times, and, she said, has received no support from Outlook in the process.

“The process is the punishment,” Dixit told Newslaundry, “because it is harassment in a way.”

The series in question was Outlook’s cover story in its July 29, 2016 edition. Titled “Operation #BetiUthao”, it uncovered how the Sangh Parivar “flouted every Indian and international law on child right to traffic 31 young tribal girls from Assam to Punjab and Gujarat to ‘Hinduise’ them”.

Days later, on August 6 that year, then assistant solicitor general SC Koyal and BJP spokesperson Bijon Mahajan filed a criminal complaint against Dixit under sections 153A (promoting disharmony, enmity, etc) and 499 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.

Outlook’s CEO Indranil Roy, and its then editor Krishna Prasad were also named in the complaint. Outlook allegedly removed Prasad from his post a few days later, while Roy is still the group’s CEO.

“I have had to come all the way to keep attending such court hearings for my reportage,” said Dixit, speaking to Newslaundry from the Gauhati High Court where she was waiting to find out the next date of hearing. “That in itself is a problem because then it means that the next time a journalist reports on something that may be complex, they will have to really think about whether that will invite any legal case...So, this is the kind of self-censorship they are trying to introduce within reporters.”

According to Scroll, the complainants took issue to one particular paragraph in Dixit’s report, which said: “In conflict-torn Assam, parents, young men and women and children resent their situation – there’s dearth of opportunity and development and poor penetration of state welfare. For the Bodos, there’s now a manufactured hostility to Islam and Christianity, and an artificially heightened hostility to the Santhals and Mundas. Encouraged by the Sangh Parivar, institutions of family, religion and patriarchy push naive tribal girls and their parents into a path of indoctrination that encourages incessant conflict. Worse, it strips them of the power to exercise faculties not in line with the elite-caste Hindutva mainstream.”

When the series was published, Dixit was on the receiving end of relentless online harassment: internet users published photos of Dixit and her partner, sent her abusive tweets, and called for her arrest. Last year, Dixit said she was being “physically stalked” and had received “rape, acid attack and death” threats.

In this case, her troubles have been compounded by the fact that Outlook magazine “cut all communication” with her ever since the case was registered. Since August 6, 2016, she said Outlook “has not responded to my calls or told me what to do”.

“They are not supporting me,” she said. “They don’t pay the legal fees and don’t tell me when the court summons are sent, because they are sent to the Outlook office. That also often gets me into trouble because the judge thinks then that if I am not showing up after being summoned, then that is contempt of court. So, this becomes another added problem for me.”

On why Outlook cut ties with her, Dixit said, “I don’t know. They have to answer. It’s been a big question for the last six years...Either they got scared of the ruling dispensation or the establishment, or they just compromised on their journalism. I do not know what is the reason behind them behaving like this. They have to answer.”

Newslaundry accordingly contacted Outlook’s Indranil Roy, but he told this reporter to speak to Sasidharan Kollery, whom he described as the “legal head” of the group, though his LinkedIn profile describes him as general manager of human resources. Newslaundry telephoned and texted Kollery but did not receive a response.

Meanwhile, Dixit travels for hearings with her partner, she said, since “RSS supporters come in groups, display aggressive body language, and sometimes raise slogans to show hostility”.

“Then I just sit and wait in the accused box at the back of the courtroom for the judge to see my face, and either give me bail or not issue an arrest warrant for not appearing,” she said. “Sometimes it takes the whole day waiting. Sometimes it is done within a few minutes. Either way, I have to travel 2,000 km each time.”

Dixit’s lawyer Santanu Barthkur told Newslaundry the case “has not progressed at all”.

“We are still, in fact, in the stage of appearance,” he said. “The other accused” – referring to Roy and Prasad – “have not yet been represented or they have not appeared in the court. The matter is pending as such.”

Dixit, Roy and Prasad are also fighting the case individually. It will take a “very long time” to reach the arguments stage of the case, he added. “This is how cases progress in the lower judiciary in India.”

The pandemic also slowed down the process; the court either wasn’t listing the matter or Dixit had been unable to travel to Guwahati due to Covid restrictions.

About what happened in court today, Barthkur said, “Since we had not been appearing for quite long, the judge wanted Neha to be present in the court so that the court may not think that she is avoiding appearing before the court. To avoid such a situation, we asked her to be present. It will take some more time to start the actual trial, which includes the arguments, cross-examination and so on, as everyone else will have to be there.”

Update: After this story was published, Outlook CEO Indranil Roy sent Newslaundry a response.

Here is Roy's response in full: "Outlook would like to state that it has never severed communications with Ms Neha Dixit with respect to the legal case involving her article of 2016. All the parties, including Ms. Dixit, Mr Prasad and me (Mr Roy), are together in the said legal matter for their joint defence. Outlook had meetings and discussions with Ms Dixit on the legal case, and continues to be available to take the matter forward. Outlook, in its true traditions, has always stood by its reporters. Any suggestions to the contrary are inaccurate."