The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to “show magnanimity in releasing” freelance journalist Prashant Kanojia.
While hearing the plea of freelance journalist, the apex court observed, “Liberty of citizen is sacrosanct and non-negotiable. It is guaranteed by the constitution and it cannot be infringed.”
“Opinions may vary, he (Prashant) probably should not have published or written that tweet, but on what basis was he arrested,” it added further.
Kanojia has been accused of making an objectionable comment against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on social media.
A vacation bench, comprising justices Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi, Monday took note of the submission by a lawyer that the plea filed by the spouse of the arrested scribe needed urgent hearing as the arrest was “illegal” and “unconstitutional”.
ALSO READ | ‘Authoritarian misuse of laws’: Editors Guild of India on journalist Prashant Kanojia’s arrest
The journalist’s wife Jageesha Arora has filed a habeas corpus (bring the person) petition challenging the arrest of Kanojia.
Kanojia had shared a video on Twitter and Facebook where a woman is seen speaking to reporters of various media organisations outside the chief minister’s office claiming that she had sent a marriage proposal to Adityanath.
An FIR was registered against Kanojia by a sub-inspector at the Hazratganj police station in Uttar Pradesh on Friday night in which it was alleged that the accused made “objectionable comments against the CM and tried to malign his image”.