Manipur Violence: Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Editor Guild’s Plea Seeking Protection From Coercive Action in FIRs Lodged

New Delhi, September 6: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear during the day a plea by the Editors Guild of India seeking protection from coercive action in two FIRs lodged in Manipur against some of its members. The matter was mentioned for urgent listing before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud.

"We will take it up after admission (matters) are over," the CJI told senior advocate Shyam Divan, who mentioned the matter for the Guild. Divan said two FIRs have been lodged against the Guild members in Manipur and they are seeking protection from coercive action in these cases. Manipur Government Files FIR Against Editors Guild President and Three Members; CM N Biren Singh Says, ‘They Are Trying To Provoke Clashes in State’.

On September 4, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had said that a police case has been filed on the basis of a complaint against the president and three members of the Editors Guild of India and accused them of trying to "provoke clashes" in the state. A second FIR was also registered against the four members of the Guild, with additional charge of defamation. Manipur Violence: Full Curfew Reimposed in Five Valley Districts of State As Preventive Measure.

The Guild, in a report published on Saturday, had slammed the internet ban in the state as being detrimental to media reportage, criticised what it termed as one-sided reporting by some media outlets and claimed there were indications that the state leadership "had turned partisan" during the conflict period.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)