The Allahabad High Court has cancelled summons against India Today’s Aroon Purie and Prabhu Chawla, ruling that their report on child prostitution did not incite hatred or unrest. The Court upheld journalists’ right to free speech under Article 19(1)(a).
Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has cancelled the summons issued to India Today Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie and former Editor Prabhu Chawla in a case related to a news story on child labour and child prostitution.
The case was filed after the magazine published a detailed report exposing the sexual exploitation of minor girls in different parts of India.
The decision came from Justice Brij Raj Singh, who ruled that the report could not be seen as something that created any kind of social unrest or disharmony in society.
The Court clearly said that there was no intention by the journalists to promote hatred or tension between any communities.
The judge observed,
“Article 19 (1) (a) enshrined under Chapter III of the Constitution of India essentially a fundamental right guarantees that a citizen has a right to freedom of speech and expression and in the present case, facts of a particular area pertaining to the minor girls and their sexual exploitation has been published; certainly the plight of sexual exploitation of minor girls depicted in the magazine does not create any disharmony or unrest between two groups or communities.”
The controversy began after the magazine published an article titled “Girls for Sale” and “Ladkiyo Ki Mandi”, which focused on the dark reality of child labour and child prostitution in different parts of India.
The article highlighted how people in poor and backward regions were being misled into sending their young daughters away, either for marriage or employment, but were ultimately being trapped in human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
After the publication, a private complaint was filed against the magazine, accusing it of committing offences under Sections 153 and 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deal with promoting enmity between different groups.
In 2017, a Lucknow trial court took cognizance of the complaint and issued summons to Aroon Purie and Prabhu Chawla. Both then approached the Allahabad High Court seeking to quash the order.
The defence argued that the intention behind the article was purely to inform the public and authorities about the issue of child exploitation and not to hurt anyone’s religious or community sentiments.
It was pointed out that there was no content in the article that could be seen as promoting hatred or hostility between any groups.
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Their counsel submitted before the Court,
“There is no sign of visible representation of either spoken or written words which promotes or attempts to create dis-harmony or feelings of enmity or hatred between the two groups or communities.”
After reviewing all the records and arguments, Justice Brij Raj Singh agreed with the submissions and observed that the accused had not committed any offence under the alleged sections. He also noted that the news story was based on verified sources and factual details.
The Court observed,
“The basis and source of information is mentioned wherein it is evident that Murshidabad District of West Bengal has become a hub of human trafficking where the minor girls are sold for sexual gratification. Even if it is mentioned that there is unrest in Bediya community, it does not mean that it is a case of disharmony between the two groups or community. It is nowhere mentioned that Bediya community has unrest against muslim community.”
In view of this, the High Court decided to quash the summoning order and set aside all the proceedings that were pending before the Special Judicial Magistrate (CBI) in Lucknow.
The Court’s ruling strongly supported the freedom of speech and expression of journalists, reaffirming that exposing social evils like human trafficking and child exploitation cannot be treated as spreading hatred between communities.
The accused journalists, Aroon Purie and Prabhu Chawla, were represented by Advocate Nadeem Murtaza.
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