Supreme Court grants protection from arrest to journalist Mamta Tripathi

The Supreme Court on Monday granted interim relief to journalist Mamta Tripathi, who was booked for a video report in Dainik Bhaskar concerning the working of the Uttar Pradesh government [Mamta Tripathi v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Another]..A Bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice SVN Bhatti said that no coercive action should be taken against Tripathi and also sought the State's response to the plea filed by Tripathi to quash the First Information Report (FIR) registered against her. "Issue notice to respondent. In the meanwhile no coercive action will be taken against the petitioner in the cases against her. At the outset, counsel for State of Uttar Pradesh submits that copies of the case papers be furnished to her so that she can make appropriate submissions before this court on the challenge by the petitioner against the High Court order. The same shall be done. Post the matter after two weeks," the Court said in its order..Tripathi moved the apex court against a September 11 order of Allahabad High Court refusing to quash FIR against her under Sections 120B, 420 (cheating) and 501 (defamation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.A chargesheet was filed against Tripathi and she was summoned on May 3. Seeking quashing of the case, Tripathi had moved the High Court which rejected her plea.She then approached the Supreme Court..During the hearing today, Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Tripathi, argued that the entire case against her was absolute harassment. It was contended that every time she posts something, a new FIR is registered against her.Tripathi argued that Dainik Bhaskar newspaper has stood by the report and affirmed the report by Tripathi to be factually correct. Therefore, it was submitted that no case lies against her. "This is a complete harassment against a journalist in UP. Everytime I post a tweet, an FIR is filed against me. This is absolute harassment. Please protect me," Dave submitted on behalf of Tripathi.On the other hand, Additional Advocate General Garima Prasad, appearing for State, argued that when Tripathi was earlier granted protection by the top court, the State was not heard. Prasad also said that Tripathi was not appearing before trial court and requested the Court to grant one week to the State to place the entire facts before the court..Considering the entirety of circumstances, the Court sought response from the State but granted interim protection from arrest in favor of Tripathi.The matter will be heard again after two weeks. The Supreme Court had in October protected Tripathi from arrest in a series of criminal cases filed against her in relation to certain tweets by her.