The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday ordered the immediate release of journalist Prashant Kanojia, who was arrested for sharing a social media post criticising Chief Minster Yogi Adityanath in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
While hearing a petition filed by Jagisha Arora, wife of arrested journalist Prashant Kanojia, the Bench comprising Justices Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi made strong remarks against the police and turned down the submission of the Uttar Pradesh State that the petitioner should approach the lower court or High Court for bail.
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JUST IN: Supreme Court notes that prima facia case of depriving liberty isn't made out & hence orders immediate release on bail of journalist Prashant Kanojia, who was arrested by UP police for allegedly sharing an objectionable post against CM Yogi Adityanath.#PrashantKanojiya
— The Leaflet (@TheLeaflet_in) June 11, 2019
The Supreme Court said the order of Judicial Magistrate remanding him to 11 days of judicial custody was inappropriate.
"The court need not comment on the contents of the tweets. The question is: should the petitioner have been deprived of his liberty over them. The answer to that is, prima facie in the negative. Fundamental Rights under Article 19 and 21 are non-negotiable," the court said while ordering the immediate release of the arrested journalist.
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The Editors Guild of India, a body of Indian journalists, had condemned the arrest of Kanojia, condemning it as a "Brazen misuse of power".