The Supreme Court on 22 October granted interim protection from arrest to online news portal The Wire‘s Founding Editor Siddharth Varadarajan and Consulting Editor-Karan Thapar in an FIR registered by Assam police under Section 152 of the BNS, Live Law reported.
According to the website, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi passed the order after taking up the matter following a mention by senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan. She said that after the Supreme Court granted interim protection to the petitioners in one FIR of the Assam Police, a summons was issued to them in another FIR.
“Post the matter on 15 September. Meanwhile, no coercive action shall be taken against petitioner No.2 (Varadarajan) and members of petitioner-Foundation, including the Consulting Editor (Karan Thapar), pursuant to FIR registered u/s 152 BNS subject to their joining and cooperating with investigation,” the court order quoted by Live Law said.
The Assam Police had summoned Varadarajan and Thapar, invoking Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which pertains to endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India.
The summons to the senior journalists to appear before the Crime Branch office in Guwahati’s Panbazar on 22 August 2025 comes just days after the Supreme Court granted Varadarajan and others protection against any coercive action by the Assam Police in connection with another FIR lodged over an article published by The Wire.
Journalist bodies had expressed outrage over the registration of the FIR against Varadarajan and Thapar. For the earlier report, click here.
