Sedition case: SC extends protection to journalist till Jul 15

The Supreme Court Tuesday extended till July 15 the protection granted to senior journalist Vinod Dua from any coercive action in a sedition case filed against him by a local BJP leader in Himachal Pradesh over his YouTube show.

A bench headed by Justice U U Lalit, in a hearing conducted through video conferencing, restrained the Himachal Pradesh police from arresting Dua in the case and decided to hear the journalist's plea next Wednesday.

It also said that Dua, who has joined the police probe through virtual medium, is not required to answer supplementary questions of police in the case.

Earlier, the top court had assembled on a Sunday and had granted protection from arrest to Dua till "further orders" in the sedition case.

An FIR against Dua under IPC provisions for offences of sedition, public nuisance, printing defamatory materials and public mischief was lodged by BJP leader Shyam at Kumarsain police station in Shimla district on May 6 and the journalist was asked to join the probe.

Shyam has alleged that Dua, in his programme, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using "deaths and terror attacks" to get votes.