Tamil Bi-Weekly Editor R. Gopal Freed After Court Order
Chennai: The 13th Metropolitan court in Chennai on Tuesday ordered release of R. Gopal, editor of Tamil bi-weekly Nakkeeran, who was arrested earlier in the day at Chennai airport by the city police for publishing reports that had damaging references to governor Banwarilal Purohit. Magistrate S. Gopinath dismissed the police's request to remand him, stating that the complaint did not mention defamation of governor Banwarilal Purohit and that the court cannot arrest Nakkeehran as the charges "fail facts".
"The court shall protect the right to expression and freedom of media/journalism," magistrate Gopinath said in his order.
Gopal was arrested under Section 124 (non-bailable) of the Indian Penal Code – “assaulting President, Governor etc., with intent to compel or restrain the exercise of any lawful power” – for publishing a story on Nirmala Devi, an assistant professor at a private college in Virudhunagar, accused in a scam for allegedly forcing girl students to render sexual favours, in its April 2018 issue. The story, titled “Nakkeeran to bell the cat – governor trapped, danger in prison for Nirmala”, included a detailed report of investigation on Nirmala Devi.
The FIR stated that the deputy secretary to governor and comptroller, Tamilnadu had filed a complaint with the City police commissioner against Nakkeeran bi-weekly's volume 31, issue 1 for printing the governor's photograph on the cover with a defamatory title, thereby intending the offence of Section 124. The court dismissed the case, stating that Gopal cannot be arrested for an article published in April 2018 and that this reason, along with the allegation of assault on the governor (as mentioned in the section), fails to stand valid for his remand.
After arrest, Gopal was kept in the Chindadripet police station and produced in the Egmore magistrate court after medical check-up. Senior journalist N. Ram, who was allowed by the court to express his opinion on the matter, said there was no connection between the article and IPC section 124 and that it was the first time a journalist had been arrested under the provision. “By arresting a journalist under Section 124, the police are setting a bad example to the nation. While freedom of press is protected under section 19A, it is impossible to charge a case against the journalist for writing an article,” Ram said.
“It is the state government refusing to learn its lesson from the judiciary. This is not the first time in recent past wherein the court throws out sedition charges against a person arrested by the police. Just a couple of weeks ago, a lower court in Chennai dismissed sedition charges alleged against political activist Thirumurugan Gandhi under section 124A. This is the second time the court has repeated rejection of sedition charges levied against well-known journalist Nakkeeran Gopal. It is to be noted that the 13th Metropolitan magistrate court here in Chennai has outrightly rejected all the charges including the sedition charge levied against Gopal. Now the Chennai police is hanging its head on its face for the second time in the past two weeks. It is a million dollar question whether they will change or reform themselves even after today’s judgment,” said senior journalist Mani.
“The court has once again proved its stand to protect the freedom of expression and freedom of journalism," Gopal said after he was released by the court. He thanked N. Ram for arguing his case in the court and also thanked Vaikko, who had earlier in the morning protested outside the Chindadripet police station to meet Gopal. He also thanked all journalists and media for standing with him.
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