Tamil Nadu police decision to arrest editor is an attack on press freedom, say journalists

The arrest on Tuesday of Tamil magazine Nakkheeran’s editor R Rajagopal, popularly known as Nakkheeran Gopal, has once again put the spotlight on the threat to the freedom of the press in Tamil Nadu.

The Tamil Nadu police arrested Gopal at the Chennai airport on Tuesday morning following a complaint by state Governor Banwarilal Purohit’s office. Gopal was said to be travelling to Pune to attend an event. He was subsequently taken to the Chintadripet police station, where he was kept for nearly four hours before being produced before a court.

Later on Tuesday evening, a magistrate’s court in Egmore refused to remand Gopal in judicial custody and asked the police instead why Section 124 of the Indian Penal Code was imposed on him. Section 124 of the Indian Penal Code deals with assault of the president of India or a state governor with an intent to restrain them from exercising lawful power. The court also questioned why he was arrested in October for a report published in April. Following the court order, the police released Gopal.

Addressing the media after his release, Gopal said that he was not aware of the charges filed against him till he reached the court. “This is only to harass and create fear,” he said.

Several journalists associations in the state condemned Gopal’s arrest and said it was part of the state’s continued assault on the freedom of the press.

Tamil Nadu sex scandal

A journalist working in Nakkheeran said, on condition of anonymity, that the complaint against Gopal related to the publication of an article titled Nakkheeran Bells the Cat – Governor Trapped, in the bi-weekly magazine’s April 20-22 edition.

That report addressed an alleged sex scandal at Madurai Kamaraj University, where Purohit is the Chancellor, and linked Purohit to the case. It referred to an audio clip, which had gone viral, where Nirmala Devi, an assistant professor of mathematics at the Devanga College of Arts in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu, who was later arrested in connection with the scandal, claimed that she knew Purohit and had access to him. The college is affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University.

Nirmala Devi was arrested on April 24 on charges of luring women who studied in her college into sex work. Research student Karuppasamy and V Murugan, an assistant professor in Madurai Kamaraj University, were also arrested in connection with the case. The police charged Nirmala Devi under provisions of the Indian Penal Code related to buying or disposing of any person as a slave, and attempting to commit an offence punishable with imprisonment for life. She was also charged under the Information Technology Act.

The Nakkheeran article was later picked up by the broadcast media.

The complaint against Gopal came six months after the publication of that article. It stated that the editor, through his activities, had prevented the governor from executing his work. “The lawyer representing our publication has questioned the complainant to give a detailed account of works that were stopped because of the Nakkheeran editor in the last six months,” the journalist said.

Purohit’s defence

Purohit has denied any link with Nirmala Devi. On April 16, he ordered an inquiry into the sex scandal by retired Indian Administrative Service officer R Santhanam. In a press conference held the following day, he brushed aside the allegations levelled against him, and said that he had not seen Nirmala Devi’s face. During that meeting, journalists also questioned Purohit about overstepping his authority to form an inquiry committee. The News Minute had reported that he had read out from a “Governor’s Guide” quoting an unrelated clause about the governor’s power to appoint a pro vice chancellor and vice chancellor.

In its September 26-28 issue, Nakkheeran magazine published a cover story titled Met Governor Four Times, Shocking Revelation by Nirmala Devi – her life in danger. That report said that Nirmala Devi, in her statement to the Crime Branch Crime Investigation Department, had confided that she had met the governor four times. “However, this statement was not recorded,” said the report, which questioned why the Crime Investigation Department had not made the governor a party in the case and started an inquiry. The report alleged that several influential people were involved in the case and that authorities planned to close the investigation without inquiring further.

Journalists in TN condemn arrest

On Tuesday, journalists associations in Tamil Nadu strongly condemned Gopal’s arrest. A letter, endorsed by 11 journalists’ associations, including the Madras Reporters Guild, submitted a letter to Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, who was visiting Coimbatore on Tuesday. In the letter, they said that the arrest was an “utterly irresponsible act” by the Chennai police.

The journalists said that if the governor or his office was offended by any Nakkheeran article, they could have sought a legal remedy, such as filing a defamation case against Gopal, and not charged him under Section 124. They pointed out that Gopal was not even allowed to meet his lawyer after he was arrested and detained at the Chintadripet Police Station.

The journalists said that the media in Tamil Nadu has been under attack from the police, the State government as well as the Centre. “The Chennai police and the Tamil Nadu state government must also issue an unconditional apology for violating the freedom of the press and media consistently in the state,” read the statement. They also demanded that the governor’s office issue an apology immediately for abusing the Constitutional power vested in them to attack a member of the press, without reason or basis.

M Haseef, the joint secretary of the Centre of Media Persons for Change, a journalists’ association, said that the arrest was an attempt by the state government to instil fear among journalists. In a statement, his organisation said that the action against Gopal constituted the suppression of the freedom of expression and demanded that the government immediately withdraw the charges filed against Gopal, and stop threatening journalists.