Seizures On Whim…”: Press Bodies To Chief Justice After NewsClick Raids

New Delhi: 

A day after the Delhi Police action against the NewsClick portal, several prominent press organisations have written to Chief Justice Of India DY Chandrachud, seeking evolved guidelines for the interrogation of journalists and for seizures from them.

“India’s freedoms will be safe as long as journalists can speak truth to power, without being chilled by a threat of reprisal,” the press bodies said.

The press bodies cited the instance of raids conducted on October 3 on the homes of 46 employees of NewsClick.

The letter alleged that the country’s “investigating agencies have been misused and weaponised against the press”.

Frame norms “to discourage the seizure of journalists’ phones and laptops on a whim, as has been the case”, read the letter which also demanded to ensure that investigations are not undertaken as “fishing expeditions with no bearing to actual offences and finding ways to ensure the accountability of state agencies”.

“As journalists and news professionals, we are always ready and willing to cooperate with any bona fide investigation. However, ad hoc, sweeping seizures and interrogations surely cannot be considered acceptable in any democratic country, let alone one that has begun advertising itself as the ‘mother of democracy,” it said.