Not given ‘fair hearing’: The Caravan moves Delhi HC to quash govt’s ‘perverse’ takedown order

Weeks after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ordered Delhi-based magazine The Caravan to take down an article and social media posts under section 69 of the IT Act, the media outlet moved the Delhi High Court, saying the order “violates the fundamental right to free speech and expression and the freedom of the press”.   

The petition, filed on February 28, also said the “impugned order is an arbitrary, excessive, and unconstitutional exercise of power”, and also violated the right to equality. 

The article in question is a story by Jatinder Kaur Tur, published by the magazine on February 1. Headlined “Screams from the Army Post”, it’s about the Indian army’s alleged “torture and murder of civilians” in Jammu. 

The ministry directed the magazine to also take down a video story based on the report as well as a social media post on the ethnic violence in Manipur. It alleged they “have the potential to lead to communal disharmony and uprising against the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, they are detrimental to sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, and public order in the country”.

But in its petition, The Caravan pointed out that it was not given a “fair hearing” or given details of the allegations against it. It said the ministry’s inter-departmental committee had “revealed their pre-determined mind” in its decision to issue the notice “without detailing any reasons”.  

It added that the decision was “arbitrary and perverse” as there was “no material on record” to conclude that the article, video, or social media post were detrimental to the country and its security, or could lead to communal tensions in Jammu and Kashmir. The Caravan further said that the order did not even mention “how the post on the Manipur article is detrimental to these state interests”.

The Caravan also emphasised that its February 1 report was “based on interviews with the six survivors of the torture, relatives of the deceased” as well as “other eyewitnesses of the incident, local residents of the area, political leaders, civil servants, officers of the Intelligence Bureau, and senior officers of the Indian Army”. It had also examined “medical reports of the victims, publicly reported and available facts”.

While the army was given a chance to respond to the story, the petition said the media outlet had received “no responses or denials” from the army so far.

What were the committee’s observations? 

As per the petition, the ministerial committee had ordered the magazine to take down the article on the premise that it was “one-sided” and its contents levelled “serious allegations of custodial torture and murder against the Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir”. 

The committee also noted that the article portrayed the army’s actions “from a communal angle” and made claims about its “politicisation”.

The magazine said in its petition that these observations are “wholly unfounded” and singularly “cannot be ground to order the pulling down of the article”. On claims of the army’s “politicisation”, the petition said such concerns have been expressed in several other pieces of academic and journalistic writing. 

The petition added that the social media post on the Manipur violence “stands on a completely different footing” and the observations did not make any reference to it except saying that it could potentially “incite hate amongst communities, disturb peace and public order in the country”. 

Sequence of events 

The petition detailed the sequence of events reported in the article in question, starting from “several persons” being picked up from villages in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri and Poonch by the 48 Rashtriya Rifles of the Indian army on December 22 last year.  

The article alleged these people were taken to three army bases, where they were tortured with “lathis and iron rods, and chilli powder rubbed into their faces, wounds, and buttocks. Their bodies also showed signs of electrocution burn marks”, said the petition, adding that a video of what happened was recorded by an “unknown person”. The incident was “widely reported by several media organisations.”    

The action reportedly came a day after a militant attack on an Indian army convoy.

Following the alleged torture, three persons from Topa Pir died from their injuries, and the government gave their families compensation of Rs 20 lakh, a government job, and a plot of land. Subsequently, the report said one Brigadier MP Singh gave each family additional compensation of Rs 10 lakh.

In the aftermath of the incident, the report alleged several senior army officials in Rajouri were transferred out, including a brigadier. An FIR was registered and the army ordered a court of inquiry. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande visited the families and those injured on December 27.

A month later, on January 29, The Caravan sent questions to the army public relations officer on the matter. It published its article two days later on February 1.

Newslaundry had earlier reported on the broadcasting ministry’s notice to The Caravan, and that the “government is concealing facts”. Read here.