annual report print final.qxd - Asian Centre for Human Rights
annual report print final.qxd - Asian Centre for Human Rights
annual report print final.qxd - Asian Centre for Human Rights
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INDIA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2005 Freedom of the press<br />
and illegal house trespass. But all of them<br />
were released on bail immediately<br />
although they were arrested under nonbailable<br />
charges. The culprits were<br />
granted bail because the police failed to<br />
produce important records be<strong>for</strong>e the<br />
magistrate including the medical <strong>report</strong>,<br />
case diary and seizure <strong>report</strong>. The public<br />
prosecutor who was supposed to oppose<br />
the bail application was also absent which<br />
resulted in the perpetrators bail<br />
applications going unopposed. 12<br />
Lawyers at the metropolitan<br />
magistrates’ court in Ahmedabad, Gujarat<br />
assaulted television crews and other<br />
members of the media on the evening of<br />
29 January 2004. At least four<br />
mediapersons were seriously injured, and<br />
the irate mob of lawyers even burnt a Zee<br />
TV camera within the court premises. The<br />
lawyers were protesting against Zee TV’s<br />
exposure of the metropolitan magistrate of<br />
Court No. 10 of Meghaninagar, Brahm<br />
Bhatt, who had issued the bailable<br />
warrants against President A.P.J. Abdul<br />
Kalam, Chief Justice V. N. Khare,<br />
Supreme Court judge B.P. Singh and<br />
<strong>for</strong>mer Supreme Court Bar Association<br />
president R.K. Jain. Around 60 lawyers<br />
attacked Zee News cameramen Subodh<br />
Vyas and correspondent Janak Dave, Aaj<br />
Tak correspondent Rajiv Patel and<br />
cameramen Quasar Khan. All of them<br />
were beaten and their clothes torn. An FIR<br />
has been filed at Meghaninagar police<br />
against the lawyers <strong>for</strong> attacking the<br />
mediapersons. 13<br />
The Assam Police in Lakhimpur area<br />
278<br />
harassed the journalists in connection with<br />
the news of death of five ULFA cadres in<br />
an encounter with the Army on 29 October<br />
2004 near Laluk in the district. On the<br />
pretext of a discussion, the Lakhimpur<br />
Superintendent of Police had invited the<br />
journalists <strong>for</strong> a meeting, but later started<br />
using intimidatory tactics to know the<br />
source behind the news items published in<br />
their respective newspapers. 14<br />
The armed opposition groups were<br />
also responsible <strong>for</strong> silencing the right to<br />
freedom of expression.<br />
The alleged cadres of the Maoist<br />
Communist <strong>Centre</strong> (MCC) shot dead<br />
Naveen Kumar Verma, a local journalist of<br />
Patna-based Hindi daily Dainik Jagran in<br />
Gaya district of Bihar on 24 April 2004.<br />
Verma was <strong>report</strong>edly abducted from his<br />
residence at Nima village under Amas<br />
police station and shot dead from point<br />
blank range in a nearby field. 15<br />
The Maoist Communist <strong>Centre</strong><br />
(MCC) <strong>report</strong>edly issued summons to nine<br />
Bakaro-based journalists <strong>for</strong> allegedly<br />
writing anti-MCC articles during the<br />
April-May 2004 Lok Sabha election. In a<br />
press release issued by MCC north zonal<br />
secretary Arun Kumar, the scribes have<br />
been asked to argue their cases be<strong>for</strong>e a<br />
Jan Adalat. 16<br />
On 3 May 2004, eight persons<br />
including a photojournalist Habibullah<br />
Naqash were <strong>report</strong>edly injured in a<br />
grenade explosion at Press Enclave Pratap<br />
Park in Srinagar of Jammu and Kashmir.<br />
The grenade exploded outside the<br />
residential quarter of journalist turned