New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India has said in a statement that it is deeply disturbed by the filing of an FIR against veteran Ajit Anjum for his reporting in Bihar.

The FIR was registered on July 13 at the Ballia police station in connection to a video on his YouTube channel on July 12, in which Anjum had alleged large-scale irregularities in the voter list in the Sahebpur Kamal assembly constituency.

“Following this visit, Mr. Anjum’s coverage highlighted several alleged irregularities in the revision process. He has now been accused of interfering with the electoral roll revision, provoking communal discord, and spreading misinformation. Based on a complaint by an election official, Mr. Anjum has been booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Representation of the People Act, 1951,” said the Editors Guild Statement dated Wednesday (July 16).

The video on Anjum’s YouTube channel had showed how the special intensive revision (SIR) process was being undertaken in Balia and claimed that many voter forms were being filled and uploaded without the Election Commission’s required documents or photographs.

“The Editors Guild does not seek to defend or refute the contents of Shri Anjum’s reportage. However, the registration of an FIR for what appears to be a legitimate journalistic exercise seems excessive. Administrators have various means to counter or clarify a media report if they so choose. Criminalising journalism and invoking serious legal provisions against journalists should not be among them,” said the Editors Guild in the statement.

“The Editors Guild hopes that better sense will prevail and that journalists – including Mr. Anjum – will not face impediments in the discharge of their professional duties. All stakeholders must work to safeguard and promote journalism that is both responsible and truthful,” the statement added.

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