Overview

• The Supreme Court directed no coercive action against Siddharth Varadarajan and Karan Thapar in a Guwahati FIR, with the case listed for September 15 and cooperation with the probe required.
• The Guwahati Crime Branch filed an FIR against journalist Abhisar Sharma under BNS Sections 152, 196 and 197 over a video that accused the Assam chief minister of communal politics and mocked the concept of Ram Rajya.
• Sharma termed the case 'completely baseless' and said he will contest it legally, noting his video referenced a judge’s remarks on land allotted to a cement company.
• The summons to The Wire journalists stem from reporting on Operation Sindoor, and their legal filings question police procedure, including the absence of an FIR copy with earlier notices.
• Opposition MPs and press bodies including DIGIPUB, the Press Club of India and the Indian Women’s Press Corps condemned the use of Section 152, which replaced the sedition law, and urged withdrawal of the cases.