The Supreme Court protected a woman lawyer on Tuesday who was arrested by the Manipur Police for taking part in a fact-finding mission in the state and holding a press meeting for the National Federation of Indian Women.
Lawyer Deeksha Dwivedi's arrest case was under the accusations of sedition and conspiracy to wage war against India along with other offences. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud took note of the submissions by Dwivedi's lawyer, senior advocate Siddharth Dave regarding the case.
Reportedly Dave informed the media about the offences registered against Dwivedi, he said, "We learn that the offences are Section 121A, 124A, 153, 153A, and 153B of the Indian Penal Code. Two of the offences are punishable with life imprisonment."
The bench also had justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra who asked Dave to provide a copy of the petition to the counsel assisting Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is representing the Manipur government. Mehta is also looking at several petitions pertaining to ethnic violence in the state.
CJI Chandrachud addressed Mehta and reportedly said, "She is a member of our Bar. There is an apprehension that she might likely be arrested. She does not have a copy of the FIR," as he informed that a copy of the FIR is yet to be received by the petitioner.
According to the reports, Dwivedi was a lawyer for four years and she was part of a three-member fact-finding team of a women lawyers' association, the National Federation of Indian Women which visited Manipur and then held the press conference.
The court in its interim order recorded, “The Solicitor General may take instructions on the background of the case. List on Friday. Till 5 p.m. on Friday, no coercive steps will be taken against the petitioner."
On Monday, the top court, while hearing a batch of petitions on the violence in the state, said it was not a platform to be used for escalating tensions in the state and asked the warring ethnic groups to exercise restraint during the court proceedings.
It was hearing petitions filed by different NGOs, including the one by 'Manipur Tribal Forum', which has sought Army protection for the Kuki tribe, Dinganglung Gangmei, the chairman of the Hills Area Committee of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, who has challenged the high court's order on designating the Meitei community as a Scheduled Tribe, the high court bar association and others.
