Allahabad High Court quashes FIR against The Wire editor

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday quashed the FIR lodged against The Wire editor Siddharth Varadarajan and another journalist over a news report on a man who died during the farmers' protest in Delhi last year.

Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh):The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday quashed the FIR lodged against The Wire editor Siddharth Varadarajan and another journalist over a news report on a man who died during the farmers' protest in Delhi last year. Justices Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Rajnish Kumar passed the order on a petition filed by the senior journalist.

The FIR was lodged over a report in the news portal -- and Varadarajan's tweets - giving the version of the family of Rampur farmer Navreet Singh Dibdiba, who died when protesters took out an unauthorised tractor rally on January 26, 2021. The farmer's family had alleged that he died due to a bullet injury. But the police made it clear that the death was due to injuries suffered when the tractor the man was riding overturned.

'The Wire' report was headlined Autopsy Doctor Told Me He'd Seen the Bullet Injury but Can Do Nothing as His Hands are Tied". Later, The Wire also reported the denial of this version by police. The FIR was lodged by Rampur Police on January 31, 2021 under Sections 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity between classes) of the Indian Penal Code on the basis of a complaint by one Sanju Turaiha. The Republic Day tractor rally, during which farmers clashed with police, was part of a year-long protest against three agri-laws that were later repealed. The protesters had been camping at Delhi's borders. (PTI)