On Tuesday, the Supreme Court granted interim protection to advocate Deeksha Dwivedi, who was charged with sedition for accompanying a fact-finding team investigating recent violence in Manipur. The Chief Justice of India, along with two other justices, passed the interim order after Senior Advocate Siddhartha Dave brought the matter before the court. Dwivedi's plea highlighted that she had joined the National Investigation Forum for Women (NIFW) team as an independent lawyer and observer. The NIFW team concluded that certain violent incidents in Manipur were State-sponsored and held a press conference on July 1 to share their findings. Subsequently, an FIR was filed against Dwivedi and NIFW representatives on July 8 by the Manipur Police, alleging sedition, defamation, and other related offenses. Dwivedi emphasized that she hadn't signed the press release and argued that its contents were not seditious or in violation of the Indian Penal Code. She also stated that there were no negative consequences resulting from the press release. Senior Advocate Dave sought a stay on Dwivedi's arrest, while the Solicitor General argued that she could have approached the High Court. The Supreme Court directed the Solicitor General to provide a copy of the FIR to Dwivedi and gather more information about the case. The court listed the matter for further hearing on July 14 and ordered that no coercive action be taken against Dwivedi until then.
TAGS: Supreme Court interim protection lawyer sedition fact-finding team violence Manipur Deeksha Dwivedi NIFW press release FIR Indian Penal Code arrest High Court Solicitor General hearing coercive action.
