BHOPAL: Four FIRs have been registered against Congress member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor and six journalists, including Rajdeep Sardesai and Mrinal Pandey, in four different police stations on sedition charges in the past 24 hours. Cases have been registered against the accused for allegedly spreading misinformation about the January 26 farmers’ tractor rally over social media.
Lodged on the complaints of farmers, the four FIRs name among the accused Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai (India Today), Mrinal Pandey (National Herald), Zafar Agha (Urdu daily Qaumi Awaz) and Paresh Nath, Anant Nath and Vinod Jose (The Caravan).
The cases had been lodged at Misrod police station of state capital Bhopal. The SP of Betul, Simala Prasad, said that two FIRs had been registered at the Sarani and Multai police stations. The SP, Hoshangabad, Santosh Singh Gour, said that an FIR had been registered in the Shivpur police station of the district.
The cases have been registered under several sections of the IPC, including 124-A (sedition),153-A (promoting enmity between groups), 153-B (imputation or assertion prejudicial to national integration), 295-A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation), 505(2) (statements conducing to public mischief), 298 (uttering words, etc with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings), 120-B (criminal conspiracy to commit offence punishable by death) and 34 (acts done by several persons with a common intent).