SC quashes sedition charge against journalist Vinod Dua

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday cancelled a sedition case against senior journalist Vinod Dua in connection with his Youtube video criticising the government's handling of COVID-19 lockdown last year.

A bench of Justices UU Lalit and Vineet Saran quashed the First Information Report (FIR) against Mr Dua filed by Himachal Pradesh BJP’s Mahasu unit president Ajay Shyam saying a 1962 order protects every journalist from such charges.

However, the bench rejected Dua's plea for non-registration of FIR for any media personnel with 10 years experience unless cleared by an expert committee, saying it will be directly encroaching upon the legislative domain.

On October 6 last year, the top court had reserved the verdict on the plea after hearing arguments for Dua, the Himachal Pradesh government, and the complainant in the case.

According to the FIR filed against his YouTube program, 'Vinod Dua show', the media person was accused of spreading fake news, causing a public nuisance, printing defamatory material, and making statements amounting to public mischief under IPC sections 124A, 268, 501 and 505.(UNI)