Prashant Kanojia/Facebook

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, while hearing the petition against journalist Prashant Kanojia’s arrest, asked the state of Uttar Pradesh on what basis he was arrested and ordered his immediate release. Hearing the petition filed by Kanojia’s wife Jagisha Arora, a vacation bench comprising justices Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi, according to NDTV said, “Normally we don’t entertain these type of petitions. But a person can’t spend 11 day’s in jail.” The court also asked ASG Vikramjit Banerjee, who was representing the Uttar Pradesh government, “Is he a murder accused?” “A persons liberty is being curtailed. Opinions may vary and perhaps such things should not have been posted, but arrest? Under what provision has he been arrested?” Justice Banerjee was quoted by Bar & Bench as saying.

Justice Indira Banerjee: A persons liberty is being curtailed. Opinions may vary and perhaps such things should not have been posted, but arrest? Under what provision has he been arrested?



Banerjee: Section 505 of IPC — Bar & Bench (@barandbench) June 11, 2019

The UP government, making submissions to the Supreme Court, said that the remedy lied before the high court and a writ of habeas corpus is not maintainable. Not satisfied with the UP government’s submissions, the court said:

"If there is a glaring illegality, we cannot fold our hands and say go to lower courts", Justice Banerjee says #PrashantKanojiyaArrest#PrashantKanojia@PJkanojia — Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) June 11, 2019