The Kerala High Court has pulled up the police for seizing the phone of a journalist working for the online news portal Marunadan Malayali and taking him into custody, in an effort to track down the website’s missing editor Shajan Skariah. Skariah went underground after his bail pleas were denied by the Kerala High Court.
Hearing a petition filed by Vishakh, the journalist who alleged police torture, Justice PV Kunhikrishnan of the Kerala High Court questioned the need for seizing his phone, especially when he was not an accused in the case. The court also said that journalists were the fourth pillar of democracy and their fundamental rights should not be breached.
Skariah has been booked under certain provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, for a news item that was aired on May 24, 2023, which allegedly defamed ruling CPI(M) MLA P V Sreenijan.
While the prosecution argued that Shajan was aware that Sreenijan belonged to the Scheduled Caste and was an MLA from a reserved constituency, and alleged that the news report contained defamatory and derogatory comments targeting the MLA, Skariah refuted these allegations, and said that he had no intention to defame or insult the MLA.
The Supreme Court, on Monday, July 10, is set to hear the anticipatory bail plea of Shajan Skariah in the case. A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha will hear the plea. Skariah had earlier filed anticipatory bail pleas at the Special Court for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as well as the Kerala High Court, both of which were denied.
Earlier on July 3, raids were conducted at the offices of the news portal, as well as in the residences of the reporters and editor. The police seized several gadgets, including laptops, hard disks and cameras.