Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Friday sought response from the government on a plea seeking quashing of FIR lodged against a senior journalist and author Gowhar Geelani under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act -1967.
Justice Ali Muhammad Magray while hearing the matter directed the government to submit its response on the petition before the next date of the hearing scheduled on May 20.
Earlier, appearing on the behalf of petitioner Gowhar Geelani, his counsel Sauleh Pirzada had sought interim protection from the arrest and quashing of the FIR against his client.
"The respondent has no jurisdiction to investigate the offences beyond the purview of the Information Technology Act, 2000," the petitioner argued while referring to the Kerala High Court's judgement titled Rajesh Vs State of Kerala.
He also submitted that the FIR does not disclose the commission of an offence under Sections 505 of IPC and Section 13 of Unlawful Activities (Preventions) Act.
"The information forming basis for registration of FIR for the commission of an offence under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, does not meet the requirement of the definitions made in Section 3 of the Act of 1967," he contended.
Pirzada during the proceedings highlighted, "There is no genesis or manner of the commissions of alleged offences mentioned in the FIR, as such, the initiation of persecution being an abuse of process of law can’t be allowed to sustain. The registration of impugned FIR emanates from misuse of police powers, as such liable to be quashed."
Meanwhile, additional advocate general BA Dar submitted that after registration of FIR, the case was transferred to Police Station Sadder from Cyber Police Station on the directions of Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) for investigation.
"The Inspector-General of Police, Kashmir, transferred the case to Police Station, Sadder, for investigation on April 20, 2020, therefore, the jurisdiction aspect of the matter is not available to the petitioner to seek quashing of FIR, which otherwise also, cannot be a ground for quashing of FIR," Dar argued in the Court.
Dar also submitted that he could not meet all the grounds raised by the petitioner due to non-availability of the petition copy.
Following over one-hour-long proceeding, via video conferencing, the Court directed the officials to share a PDF of the petition with the additional advocate general through email and the respondent (government) should submit their reply before the next hearing scheduled on May 20, 2020.
In the petition, Geelani's counsel has argued that mere expression of opinion of political or apolitical on a public forum doesn’t ipso facto constitute an offence.
"During my professional career spanning over 15 years, I have been writing stories of the marginalised and the dispossessed, the powerful and the powerless — all kinds of stories, the tragedies and triumphs… It is a badge of honour for a journalist when the dispossessed love your body of work and the powerful dislike it," Geelani said in a statement issued on Thursday.
The registration of cases against independent photojournalist Masrat Zahra, senior journalist Gowhar Geelani, summoning of The Hindu’s special correspondent Peerzada Ashiq by police has evoked widespread criticism from different quarters.
The international bodies of Journalists like Reporters San Frontiers (RSF), Committee for Protection of Journalists(CPJ) and International Federation of Journalists(IFJ) have demanded the withdrawal of charges against them. The fraternity of the Valley described the FIRs against journalists “thought policing and intimidation.”
"Journalists in Kashmir have always worked under perilous conditions, holding up values of press freedom in the face of dangers to life and liberty. In the last three days, police have filed FIRs against three journalists, in a spree that seems to be aimed at throttling their voice with a new zeal," Kashmir Working Journalists Association (KWJA) has said.
It is to be noted that, last Saturday, Police booked Masrat Zahra under the UAPA.
The law allows the government to proscribe individuals as militants and empowers the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe cases. Following day, Peerzada Ashiq was verbally summoned by the cops for an alleged factually inaccurate story published the same day. Then on Tuesday late night, Gowhar Geelani was booked for "glorifying terrorism in Kashmir Valley" through social media posts.
Also Read: Kashmir journalist bodies demand withdrawal of case against senior journalist Gowhar Geelani
