Journalists detained in Delhi’s massive police crackdown on youth protest

Amid a massive police crackdown in Delhi to thwart a youth protest demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over large-scale deletions of names from electoral rolls, which has seen several thousand detentions, many journalists covering the protests were also detained at several locations. Some were picked up from near their homes, far from the protest site.

The journalists detained included those from the Hindi daily Navbharat Times and the digital news platforms Scroll. in and Newslaundry. They were all released later.

Scroll. In’s Executive Editor Supriya Sharma posted on X about the detention of the platform’s political editor Shoaib Daniyal and another colleague, Ayush Tiwari. She said Mr. Daniyal was detained from a residential colony in South Delhi, far away from the protest activities planned by Cockroach Janata Party and several student activist groups in Central Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.

The detentions took place even though they identified themselves as journalists to the police and displayed their press cards, as in the case of Ayush Tiwari.

Editor, Navbharat Times, Ashish Pandey, wrote on X that two of his colleagues, Hritik Joshi and Rahul Charas, were detained while they were carrying out video coverage and prominently displayed their media identity cards.

Three journalists from Newslaundary were also picked up, according to its editor-in-chief, Manisha Pande. They were Ashwine Singh, Astha Savyasachi, and Anmol Pritam.

In India, a journalist cannot claim immunity from arrest merely because they are performing their professional duties. However, the Constitution does protect their right to report, question those in power and bring matters of public interest to the attention of citizens. Article 19(1)(a) guarantees freedom of speech and expression, and the freedom of the press is recognised as part of this Article.

“The police cannot use their powers of arrest simply because a journalist has published an uncomfortable story, questioned the government or expressed criticism. There must be a lawful basis for the action, and the procedure prescribed by law must be followed. The Constitution and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, provide safeguards against arbitrary arrest, including the right to know the grounds of arrest, consult a lawyer and, in ordinary cases, be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours,” according to Advocate Amit kumar who practices in Supreme Court and is among lawyers in the city who have volunteered to offer pro bono support to those being detained.