Indoa: The Press Club of India (PCI) and the Indian Women Press Corps have expressed dismay at the FIR against senior journalists Siddharth Varadarajan and Karan Thapar of The Wire by the Assam Police’s Crime Branch, which invoked sedition charges under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The organisations said this was the second such FIR against the news platform in two months. They alleged the Assam Police unleashed vindictive actions against the journalists through the Crime Branch in Guwahati.
“It is noteworthy that the summons were issued on August 12, 2025, even as the Supreme Court bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi had granted Mr. Varadarajan and all journalists at The Wire protection from any coercive action in an FIR (0181/2025) filed by the Assam Police in Morigaon on July 11, 2025 under Section 152 and other provisions of the BNS. Now, the Assam Police have filed another FIR without mentioning any reason and have asked Mr. Varadarajan and Mr. Thapar to appear before the investigating officer at the Crime Branch in Guwahati on August 22 — on pain of arrest in the event of non-compliance,” the statement added.
