SC restrains Tripura cops from acting against students who tweeted on violence

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“Pending further orders, there shall be a stay of further proceedings in case dated November 3, 2021, West Agartala Police Station, Tripura,” a record of the proceedings reads. The full-fledged order is not yet available. The apex court also ordered to tag the petition with writ petition filed earlier on the issue.

Speaking to The Indian Express, a senior official of the state police said this evening that reports of the apex court order had come to his attention but refused to comment on it, saying he hadn’t yet received the full order copy.

“I shall get the order copy on Monday and shall be able to comment on it then,” the official, who didn’t wish to be named, said.

Advocate Sharukh Alam, who moved the case on behalf of the petitioners, Friday said they received notices under Section 41A of the CrPC and submitted that the apex court had earlier protected others over similar action.

The court asked if all four petitioners had any common FIR against them, which the counsel confirmed.

On February 7, the Supreme Court had pulled up the state police for serving similar notices to people over their posts and comments on social media centering alleged communal tension and violence in Tripura in the aftermath of vandalism in Bangladesh last year.

The apex court had also warned the state government’s counsel saying it would summon officials of the state police and even the Home Secretary if harassment of people on the subject continued.