A magistrate court directed the police to register a complaint against senior journalist Nikhil Wagle for"waging a war against the nation", among others, after a private complaint by a group of lawyer that he allegedly criticised the judiciary on Twitter in connection with the Bombay High Court"™s observations on Anna Hazare"™s fast in Mumbai.
The Borivali Metropolitan Magistrate court ordered the Charkop Police to investigate the matter and submit a report.
According to the complaint, Wagle allegedly used the microblogging site to write against the judiciary and the state government on December 24, following the Bombay High Court"™s sharp reaction to the application by Team Anna seeking a waiver or free access to MMRDA ground for Hazare"™s fast held earlier this week.
Wagle had reportedly tweeted,"If the state/judiciary together attempt to curb democratic dissent, will our Constitution be safe? Or is it an open invitation to Naxalites?" Soon after, Wagle tweeted:"You may agree or disagree with HC decision about Anna agitation. But some of the strictures are not conducive to democracy. Why are we ignoring?"
The Division Bench of Justices P B Majumdar and Mridula Bhatkar " observing that the court was not able to conclude if the agitation was indeed in public interest or politically motivated, and thus in no position to direct the government to allow the protest at Azad Maidan " had rejected the application. Team Anna had to cough up Rs 7.8 lakh for the stir.
Anirban Roy, a practising lawyer, filed a private complaint, claiming Wagle should have been careful in making public statements as he is capable of strongly affecting public opinion.
The complaint reads,"A bare perusal of the aforesaid tweets show the utter disregard of the accused towards the highest judicial forum of the state and the Constitution of India."
The complainants claimed they are in the process of initiating appropriate proceedings against Wagle for the gross"contempt of court by virtue of the aforesaid tweets"."Around 13,000 people follow him on Twitter. He is a well-known journalist and has an extensive reach. Through his tweets, Wagle further vitiated the already charged atmosphere," alleged advocate Rajiv Desai.
Wagle said,"I have not received any complaint yet. Anyone can approach the court and lodge a complaint. It is only when I receive the copy can I comment. Besides, this is a private complaint and I have nothing to say on it for now."