New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday, August 22, granted protection from coercive action to The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan, consulting editor Karan Thapar and all staff in an FIR registered by the Crime Branch, Guwahati, under Section 152 of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). This is the second such case invoking sedition law that the Assam Police has filed against the news platform in three months.A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymala Bagchi passed the protective order after hearing an application in a pending writ petition by senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, representing the Foundation for Independent Journalism (the nonprofit owning The Wire). Ramakrishnan told the court that on the very day (August 12, 2025) it had granted protection to The Wire’s editors in another FIR, an older/dormant FIR from May 9, 2025, was raked up by the Assam police to summon its editors for questioning. Though the editors of The Wire were willing to extend full cooperation to the police, they apprehended arrest, she said.“No coercive action shall be taken against petitioner no.2 and members of the petitioner Foundation, including the Consulting Editor, pursuant to FIR No.3/2025 stated to have been registered under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, subject to their joining and fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation,” the Supreme Court ordered on Friday and posted the matter for September 15.When ‘summoned’ by the Assam Police in the second FIR, Varadarajan and Thapar were not provided a copy of the FIR, not even its date or the gist of its contents. Ramakrishnan said that it was only on August 20 – two days before they had been summoned to appear before the Crime Branch in Guwahati – that The Wire was able to obtain a copy of the FIR.Upon Ramakrishnan’s apprehension of chain FIRs being lodged against The Wire’s editors to harass them and subvert the court’s orders, the bench orally remarked that it was closely watching the situation and expected everyone to follow the law, presumably a reference to the Assam police.Satyapal Mallik (ex-governor of J&K and Meghalaya, who passed away earlier this month), Najam Sethi (Pakistani journalist and former Caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab in Pakistan) and Ashutosh Bhardwaj (Editor of The Wire Hindi) were among the others named in the FIR.The Assam Police (Morigaon PS) invoked Section 152 of BNS – akin to sedition – against the The Wire, Varadarajan and others on July 11 in light of an article titled “IAF Lost Fighter Jets to Pak Because of Political Leadership’s Constraints’: Indian Defence Attache” published on the The Wire’s website, in relation to Operation Sindoor.On August 12, the top court issued notice to the Union Government and granted interim protection to the members. However, the same day, Guwahati Police’s Crime Branch issued summons to Varadarajan and Thapar, under Section 152 BNS in another case.Media watchdog bodies, journalists and opposition leaders have called the FIRs a textbook case of attempts to criminalise journalism as a whole – asking questions, encouraging a variety of views, informing the public on vital matters pertaining to national security, and fostering an environment of healthy discussion and debate. On Thursday (August 21), the Assam police also registered an FIR against Delhi-based journalist Abhisar Sharma, under multiple sections of the BNS, including section 152.A complaint was filed by a Guwahati resident, one Alok Baruah, over a video where Sharma refers to Guwahati high court judge Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi’s searing remarks on the Assam government’s tribal land transfer to a private company and criticises chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, accusing him of relying on communal hate and violence to further his politics.Timeline of the Assam police’s cases against The WireDateEventMay 9First FIR (03/2025) registered by Crime Branch, Guwahati, against Siddharth Varadarajan and Karan Thapar under Section 152 BNS. It lists 14 interviews/articles as against the sovereignty and integrity of India but does not explicitly name the authors (including A.S. Dulat, Avinash Mohananey, S.K. Sood, Ajai Shukla, Ali Ahmed, Manoj Joshi, Rahul Bedi, Anand Sahay, Harish Khare, Rohit Kumar, Nirmanyu Chouhan).May 9-Aug 12Crime Branch FIR kept in cold storage.July 11Morigaon PS registers another FIR under Section 152 against Siddharth Varadarajan and The Wire, for a June 28 story about the Indian defence attaché’s statement on aircraft loss in Operation Sindoor.Aug 12Supreme Court gives The Wire protection from coercive action in the July 11 FIR of Morigaon PS.Aug 12Guwahati Crime Branch revives its May 9 FIR; summons sent to Siddharth Varadarajan and Karan Thapar.Aug 22Supreme Court grants protection from arrest to Siddharth Varadarajan, Karan Thapar, and The Wire’s journalists in the Crime Branch FIR. Court directs Siddharth Varadarajan and Karan Thapar to join investigation and report back. Justice Surya Kant remarks, “We are watching,” after concerns of further FIRs/arrest threats were raised by Nitya Ramakrishnan.Sept 15Next date of hearing.