The Editors Guild Sunday condemned the arrest of a journalist, and the editor and head of a television channel over alleged objectionable content related to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, describing the police action as an “authoritarian misuse of laws” and an effort to intimidate the press.
An FIR was registered against Noida based journalist Prashant Kanojia at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow on Friday night in which it was alleged that the accused made “objectionable comments against the CM and tried to malign his image.”
Kanojia had shared a video on Twitter and Facebook where a woman is seen speaking to reporters of various media organisations outside the CM office claiming that she had sent a marriage proposal to the CM.
While the editor and the head of a Noida-based television channel, Nation Live – Ishita Singh and Anuj Shukla- were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh government, the Guild said.
“The police action is high-handed, arbitrary and amounts to an authoritarian misuse of laws,” the Guild said in a statement.
