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September 05, 2025 – India –
In Assam, northeastern India, authorities have launched three criminal investigations in under four months against The Wire, a New Delhi-based news outlet, and three journalists—including its editor-in-chief Siddharth Varadarajan, veteran journalist Karan Thapar, and freelance reporter Abhisar Sharma—for content considered critical of the government. All are being prosecuted under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), India’s revised criminal code. This section, a modern iteration of the colonial-era sedition law, penalizes “acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India,” and carries penalties of up to life imprisonment.
On 9 May 2025, Varadarajan and Thapar were accused via a complaint filed in Guwahati concerning their coverage and interviews on the military escalation between India and Pakistan following a terrorist attack in Pahalgam. Then, on 11 July, a lawyer affiliated with the ruling BJP lodged a second complaint against The Wire and Varadarajan over an article published on 28 June discussing remarks by an Indian defence official about a military aircraft’s loss during Operation Sindoor. On 21 August, Abhisar Sharma was targeted by a separate complaint after posting a video on 8 August criticizing Assam’s Chief Minister.
RSF denounces the use of Section 152 as a blatant assault on press freedom, describing these legal actions as absurd and incompatible with democratic principles, and demands immediate withdrawal of the charges. The first complaint, which also referenced Pakistani journalist Najam Sethi and The Wire Hindi’s editor Ashutosh Bhardwa,j among others, lay dormant until 12 August, when summonses were issued to Varadarajan and Thapar by the Guwahati Crime Branch.
The Supreme Court has intervened twice: granting Varadarajan and members of the Independent Journalism Foundation (which owns The Wire) temporary protection from preventive detention—first in relation to the 11 July complaint, and again on 22 August for the 9 May complaint—while instructing full cooperation with investigations. A hearing is scheduled for 15 September 2025. Separately, on 28 August, the court provided Abhisar Sharma with a four-week protective order against arrest.
RSF notes that the revamped sedition law (Section 152) effectively replicates the old Section 124A, which had been suspended by the Supreme Court in May 2022 due to widespread abuse. Critics, including The Wire, have challenged Section 152 in the Supreme Court, arguing it mirrors the discredited colonial sedition law.
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