NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday granted protection from any coercive action to Nupur Sharma the editor and Rahul Roushan, the CEO of a news portal, OpIndia in a case of alleged fake news in connection with the attack on Bihar migrants in Tamil Nadu.
We direct there shall be no coercive action against them for four weeks," a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha said after hearing their counsel senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani.
The bench, however, declined to consider their plea for quashing the FIR lodged in Tamil Nadu. The bench said they can approach the Madras High Court for the relief.
"How can the court quash the FIR under Article 32 of the Constitution," the bench asked Jethmalani.
The petitioners contended that the portal published the report based on a news article published by a newspaper but when it was found to be false, it was retracted.
The counsel said that in certain cases, FIRs have been quashed under Article 32 of the Constitution.
To this, the bench said that it would depend on the facts and circumstances of each case.
The counsel then asked the court to grant protection from arrest to the petitioners, while they move the high court.
