New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday extended till Monday, protection from arrest granted to a woman lawyer regarding an FIR lodged by Manipur police over alleged utterances of the members of a fact-finding mission to the violence-hit state, which she was part of.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra said the interim order dated July 11, 2023 is extended till the next date of listing. The bench scheduled the matter for hearing on July 17, after it was informed that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta will appear for the state of Manipur and the Centre but he was not currently available and sought a pass over.
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The counsel for the petitioner informed the bench that the protection granted to his client was only till 5 pm on Friday. The bench said that one option is that it could extend whatever protection which it had granted for a sufficient period and then the petitioner can move for the remedy before that High Court. After hearing submissions, the bench said let the solicitor come and posted the matter for hearing on July 17.
The top court on July 11, protected lawyer Deeksha Dwivedi from arrest in connection with the FIR lodged by Manipur police over reported comments by the team members that the ethnic violence in the state was “state sponsored”. In the plea before the apex court, advocate Deeksha Dwivedi contended that she had accompanied a two-woman team from the National Investigation Forum for Women (NIFW) as an independent lawyer and observer, and in the first week of July, a press conference was held after the inquiry was completed and a press release was issued.
After this, an FIR was registered against her and others for sedition, defamation by the Manipur police. The lawyer claimed that contents of the press release were not seditious nor did they attract the other offences alleged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
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