The Brihanmumbai Union of Journalists (BUJ) is shocked by the arrest of two senior journalists by Palghar Police on Friday, June 22 and thereafter denying them bail.
Bail was granted only this afternoon, after three days in custody!
The BUJ views with grave concern on increasing attempts by police to foist false charges against journalists engaged in their professional work and condemn these attempts to hamper newsgathering and to cast a cloud over the work of the journalists.
This is the second instance in June this year.
Two stringers of Hindustan Times from Palghar district, Ram Parmar, and his colleague, Hussain Khan were arrested by the Palghar police on Friday morning when they had gone to cover a report of firing on a dacoit gang in Waghoba Khind on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway on June 21. Police had apprehended one member of the gang.
Also Read: Palghar Police Arrest Two Journalists; People Outraged
The two journalists, reporting on the story, were clicking pictures of the accused in Palghar Police station but an altercation broke out with the police and consequently, PSI Sayyed picked them up on charges of assaulting an officer on duty.
Both have been charged under Sec 353 of the Indian Penal Code (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty). According to the Palghar District Patrakar Sangh, the reports of the duo assaulting a police officer inside the police station are a complete fabrication. The CCTV evidence to prove this charge too was not forthcoming.
Police high-handedness towards media persons of late has increased in Mumbai. In another instance on June 4, journalist Ranjit Mahanti had gone to NCH Colony, Kanjur Marg in Mumbai, to cover a report on the death of a worker due to electrocution. He was dragged into a room and assaulted by security staff of the colony. An eyewitness called the police control room helpline and he was rescued by police and brought to Parksite police station.
There, he tried to lodge an FIR against the security personnel but Senior Inspector Vilas Jadhav merely lodged a non-cognisable report. The journalist insisted on the lodging of an FIR and even staged a sit-in at the police station. Instead of taking cognizance of his complaint, police lodged an FIR against him on June 16, under sections 353, 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code. In this instance, police said there was no evidence of the journalist being confined to a room and beaten since the CCTV was malfunctioning at the time!
Now, with a case hanging over his head, Mahanti is being forced to run from pillar to post to secure bail (he only has interim bail until June 27) and also press for his demand to quash the case against him and the lodging of an FIR against the security personnel. These instances seek to prevent journalists from doing their job by filing false cases against them and entangle them in long drawn-out litigation to clear themselves and prove their credentials. The police, being the primary investigating authorities and law-enforcing agencies, are clearly abusing their powers and preventing the journalists from doing their duty.
Further, BUJ General Secretary Indrakumar Jain demands that police must desist from criminalizing journalists in the pursuit of their professional duty and instead should pursue the real offenders diligently.
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