An FIR has been registered against Supriya Sharma, Executive Editor, Scroll for her article titled "In Varanasi village adopted by Prime Minister Modi, people went hungry during the lockdown"..The FIR has been registered at Ramnagar Police Station, Varanasi District for the alleged commission of offences under Sections 269 and 501 of the Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989..To substantiate her claim that the public distribution system in Uttar Pradesh was "not visible on the ground", Sharma had interviewed and quoted several residents of the village, including one Mala Devi. .It was stated that due to the lockdown, Mala was out of a job and was denied ration by the distributor. .Within days of the publication of the article, Mala approached the Police on June 13 and claimed that Sharma misquoted her in the piece. .Contrary to the information in the piece, Mala stated in the FIR that she was not facing any issues with food and that Sharma had falsely written that she "only had chai-roti before sleeping"..By writing that my kids and I slept on empty stomach during the lockdown, Sharma mocked my poverty and caste, Mala has alleged. .In response to the FIR, Scroll.in has asserted that it stands by the article and that the FIR was an attempt to intimidate and silence independent journalism as well as reporting on conditions of vulnerable groups during the Covid-19 lockdown. .Read the FIR:
An FIR has been registered against Supriya Sharma, Executive Editor, Scroll for her article titled "In Varanasi village adopted by Prime Minister Modi, people went hungry during the lockdown"..The FIR has been registered at Ramnagar Police Station, Varanasi District for the alleged commission of offences under Sections 269 and 501 of the Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989..To substantiate her claim that the public distribution system in Uttar Pradesh was "not visible on the ground", Sharma had interviewed and quoted several residents of the village, including one Mala Devi. .It was stated that due to the lockdown, Mala was out of a job and was denied ration by the distributor. .Within days of the publication of the article, Mala approached the Police on June 13 and claimed that Sharma misquoted her in the piece. .Contrary to the information in the piece, Mala stated in the FIR that she was not facing any issues with food and that Sharma had falsely written that she "only had chai-roti before sleeping"..By writing that my kids and I slept on empty stomach during the lockdown, Sharma mocked my poverty and caste, Mala has alleged. .In response to the FIR, Scroll.in has asserted that it stands by the article and that the FIR was an attempt to intimidate and silence independent journalism as well as reporting on conditions of vulnerable groups during the Covid-19 lockdown. .Read the FIR: