New Delhi: In a relief to senior journalist Vinod Dua, the Supreme Court in a special hearing on Sunday restrained the Himachal Pradesh police from arresting him till "further orders" in a sedition case filed against him by a local BJP leader over his YouTube show. The top court, however, refused to stay the ongoing probe and said Dua will have to join the investigation "through video-conferencing or online mode" as offered by him in his response to the summons issued by the police seeking his personal appearance.
"Pending further orders, the petitioner (Dua) shall not be arrested in connection with the present crime," a bench of Justices U U Lalit, M M Shantanagoudar and Vineet Saran said while issuing notices to the Centre and the state government for July 6, the next date of hearing. "However, the petitioner (Dua) in terms of the offer made by him in his communication dated June 12, shall extend full cooperation through video-conferencing or online mode; and the HP police shall be entitled to carry on the investigation including interrogation of the petitioner at his residence after giving him prior notice of 24 hours and complying with the social distancing norms prescribed during Covid-19 pandemic," the bench said.
The top court, in the hearing conducted via a video link, asked the police to file a status report on the steps taken during the investigation. The Centre will have to also file its response within two weeks. The bench, meanwhile, directed Dua to make complainant Ajay Shyam also a party to his plea and issued notice to the BJP leader as well for July 6. An FIR against Dua under IPC provisions for offences of sedition, public nuisance, printing defamatory materials and public mischief was lodged by BJP leader Shyam at Kumarsain police station in Shimla on May 6
