Meghalaya High Court rejected request to quash proceedings against journalist Patricia Mukhim
Guwahati:
Meghalaya High Court rejected plea to quash criminal proceedings against Shillong reporter for her four-month Facebook post condemning the attack on five non-tribal youth by a gang of masked men, allegedly from the tribal community .
Patricia Mukhim, editor-in-chief of the Shillong Times, on July 4 criticized the Lawsohtun village council in a Facebook post for failing to identify the “deadly elements” when masked people attacked five boys at a basketball court in town. No one was arrested.
Meghalaya High Court Judge W Diengdoh said the message “seeks to create a wedge in the cordial relationship between tribes and non-tribals living in Meghalaya State.”
“He makes a comparison between tribes and non-tribals with respect to their rights and security and the alleged shift in the balance in favor of one community over the other … he apparently seeks to promote discord or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will between two communities, ”the High Court said.
Ms. Mukhim had asked the chief minister of Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma and the Dorbar Shnong, the traditional local body in each locality, to take action against the accused.
On July 7, a village council in Meghalaya filed a complaint against Ms. Mukhim for her allegedly inciting statements. On this basis, the police brought criminal proceedings against her. She was also charged with defamation. Then she went to the High Court to quash the case against her.
In 2019, the Meghalaya High Court found Ms Mukhim in contempt, along with Shobha Chaudhuri, editor of the Shillong Times, for two articles published in the newspaper.
One of the two articles concerned an order made by the High Court on judges’ retirement benefits, and the other was a commentary on how the order was similar to a previous judgment handed down by two other judges, on the point to retire.
