Press Freedom: Kerala Govt assures HC of no coercive action against Asianet Journalist

The Kerala government has assured the high court that no coercive action will be taken against an arraigned television journalist while hearing her petition to quash the FIR lodged against her for a report that turned out to be inaccurate, an issue that sparked a furore over muzzling media freedom in the state.

The matter came up on Friday, a day after Akhila Nandakumar, chief reporter of Asianet News channel’s Kochi bureau, moved Kerala High Court seeking that the FIR alleging criminal conspiracy, forgery and defamation be set aside.

One of her counsels, who didn’t want to be named, told The Telegraph that the government’s assurance came before the single bench of Justice K. Babu. The court has directed the government to present its arguments on Tuesday.

Akhila was arraigned based on a complaint by SFI state secretary P.M. Arsho over a report she broadcast about his name figuring in the third-semester results of MA archaeology at Maharaja’s College, showing him as having passed without securing any marks or grades in any subject.

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