Supreme Court grants interim protection from arrest to president, members of Editors Guild in Manipur FIR

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim protection from arrest to the president and fact-finding team members of Editors Guild of India (EGI) in relation to the first information report (FIR) lodged against them by the Manipur police. .A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra directed that no coercive steps be taken against the petitioners till September 11, Monday."Issue notice. Keep this (for next hearing) on Monday. No coercive steps to be taken against petitioners till the next date of hearing," the bench ordered..Manipur has been hit by violence involving clashes between the Metei community and Kuki community which is a scheduled tribe.On April 19, 2023, Manipur High Court had ordered the Manipur government to “consider inclusion of the Meetei/Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe list.This had led to clashes between tribal and non-tribal communities.The Manipur Police registered FIR against EGI President Seema Mustafa, and three of its members – Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan and Sanjay Kapoor – who were part of the fact-finding team that visited the State to examine how media in the State was reporting the violence.They fact finding team had concluded that local news reports about the riots were biased..The EGI then moved the top court.During the hearing today, Senior Advocate Shyam Divan said that an error in the report had been corrected."The report is dated September 2, 2023 and an error was corrected on September 3. FIR says report promotes enmity and that it is false etc. We are apprehending the coercive machinery. Please see our serious concern," he said.The Court initially said that it will grant protection for a limited period of one week and the petitioners can then avail other remedies available to them under law.Divan, however, insisted that the protection should be for a longer period. "I can mention some additional factors. After the report was published on 2nd and after FIRs were registered, the Chief Minister has made a statement in a press conference stating that EGI has stoked controversy by making provocative statements etc," he pointed out.The Court then agreed to hear the matter and granted interim protection till September 11.