[Alwar Riots] Appear for interrogation on May 27: Rajasthan High Court to News18 journalist Aman Chopra

The Rajasthan High Court on Friday directed News 18 journalist Aman Chopra to appear before the Investigating Officer (IO) on May 27 for further interrogation in connection with the Alwar riots [Aman Chopra vs State of Rajasthan]..When the matter was taken up by Justice Dinesh Mehta, the Special Public Prosecutor submitted that the investigation was incomplete and further interrogation was necessary.“The petitioner is hereby directed to appear before the Investigating Officer on 27.05.2022, for interrogation which shall take place between 10:30 a.m to 5:00 p.m. The petitioner shall be allowed 45 minutes break to have lunch etc,” the single judge directed..The interim protection from arrest in connection with two of the three First Information Reports (FIRs) lodged against Chopra was directed to continue till the next date of hearing on July 8..Pertinently, on the previous date of hearing, the Court barred the IO from looking into allegations covered by Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, pursuant to the Supreme Court's order keeping all pending Sedition cases in abeyance..The allegation against Aman Chopra is that comments made by him while anchoring a television programme called Desh Jhukne Nahi Denge, which were also posted on his Twitter account, resulted in communal disharmony and riots at Alwar on April 22.Three separate FIRs were subsequently registered against him.The first was registered at Bichwada Dungarpur Police Station on April 23. A second FIR was registered with police station Sadar, Bundi on the same day, while a third FIR was instituted at police station Kotwali, Alwar.Chopra moved the High Court with an anticipatory bail application apprehending arrest in view of the three separate FIRs. He contended that the investigation in the two subsequent FIRs must not be allowed to proceed, as they were lodged maliciously just to harass him..Senior Advocate Manoj Bhandari along with Advocates Nishank Madhan, Achintya Kaushik, Govind Suthar and Sapna Vaishnav appeared for Chopra. The State was represented by Senior Advocate Vineet Jain along with Advocates Pravin Vyas, Rajeev Vishnoi, Ashok Kumar, Anil Joshi, Gaurav Singh, Advocates Harshwardhan Singh, Gajender Singh and Venkat Poonia. .[Read Order]