New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the arrest of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and six journalists including Rajdeep Sardesai in connection with FIRs lodged against them for their alleged "misleading" tweets on the violence during the farmers' tractor rally here on the Republic Day.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde issued notices and sought responses from the Centre and others on the petitions filed by Tharoor, Sardesai and journalists Mrinal Pande, Zafar Agha, Paresh Nath, Vinod K Jose and Anant Nath.
When the bench said it was issuing notice in the matter, senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for Tharoor, said that no coercive action be taken against the petitioners in the meantime.
Nothing is going to happen. Where is the danger, said the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for one of the journalists, argued before the court that FIRs were being registered in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh when nothing had been done - no religious sentiments had been hurt and the wrong report was corrected.