In Assam, three recent FIRs have turned the spotlight on a pattern: journalists critical of the government hauled up under a new sedition-style law. There’s another trend – the complainants in at least two of the FIRs ostensibly had links to the BJP or the RSS student wing ABVP.

The first FIR was filed on May 9 at the Guwahati Crime Branch by local resident Biju Verma. It named The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan, consulting editor Karan Thapar, commentator Najam Sethi, journalist Ashutosh Bhardwaj, and the late J&K governor Satya Pal Malik. The FIR remained out of view until the Crime Branch issued summons in the matter. These summons had emerged days later even though they were dated August 12 – the same day the Supreme Court granted The Wire protection from coercive action in a second FIR. 

That second case had been filed at Morigaon police station on July 11 against Varadarajan, based on a complaint by one Partha Pratim Patar.

A third FIR followed on August 21, this time against YouTuber Abhisar Sharma, after a complaint by Alok Baruah.

All the FIRs invoked BNS section 152 – seen as a rebranded version of the outdated sedition law – among other charges.

Newslaundry reviewed the profiles of the complainants. 

Complainant#1: Biju Verma

The earliest of the three FIRs was filed on May 9 by Biju Verma, a resident of Guwahati. 

This FIR concerns the aftermath of the........

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