Non-bailable warrant against Madhu Kishwar stayed

Madhu Kishwar

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against activist Madhu Kishwar in a criminal defamation case filed against her by the editor of a Kashmir-based newspaper.

In a short hearing, a Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, stopped the operation of the NBW issued by a Srinagar trial court last month because of her non-appearance. The apex court fixed the next hearing on September 22.

Video-conferencing

Ms. Kishwar, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Ravi Sharma, submitted that the NBW had been issued despite the apex court's order permitting her to participate in the court proceedings in Srinagar through video-conferencing from a Delhi court.

“The Delhi High Court, through an order on September 11, 2017, while issuing notice on the writ petition preferred by the petitioner [Kishwar], denied her the interim protection in the nature of stay of execution of such patently illegal NBW and as such, the present petitioner finds herself in a situation where her personal liberty can be taken away any moment in utter disregard to the order of the Supreme Court,” Ms. Kishwar’s petition contended.

‘Defamatory tweets’

Ms. Kishwar claimed that on the basis of “a few tweets” posted by her on her Twitter handle regarding the state of the media in Kashmir, a complaint had been filed by Syed Shujaat Bukhari, Editor-in-Chief of a daily published from Srinagar, alleging that the tweets were defamatory.

Ms. Kishwar had earlier approached the apex court challenging the May 24 order of the high court dismissing her plea seeking transfer of the criminal defamation complaint against her from a court in Srinagar to Jammu.