Complaint to stop harassment of Online Media - Marunadan Malayalee- AsiaNet-i2I News- Karma News
To,
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of India. supremecourt@nic.in
Chief Justice, High Court of Delhi aojestablishment2.dhc@nic.in
Chief justice, High Court of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh rg@allahabadhighcourt.in
Chief Justice, High Court of Kochi, Kerala rsjhc.ker@nic.in
NIA-Kochi info.koc.nia@gov.in
DGP Kerala dgp.pol@kerala.gov.in
press@transparency.org
OHCHR-defenders@un.org
info@law-democracy.org
info@frontlinedefenders.org
dario@hrdf.org.il
policy@internetfreedom.in
elise.vanbeneden@anticor.org
info@cjp.org.in
foundation@moneylife.in
supremecourtlawyersassociation@gmail.com
vinod@indjournals.in
edit@reporters-collective.in
info@insaafkesipahi.co.in
justicekatju@gmail.com
Sir,
This is to bring to your kind attention to
1. Move all litigation regarding Marunadan Malayalee / Shajan Skariah to one high court or supreme court to avoid harassment.
2. Necessary directions to ministry of Home of the union and state governments to stop harassing Mr. Shajan Skariah by entertaining fictitious complaints and multiple FIR in different parts of India.
3. Investigate the conspiracy between criminals to destroy the free and fair journalism in the state of Kerala
4. Take immediate action against criminals who has hacked the facebook channel of Mr. Shajan Skariah and issue necessary directions to facebook to return the channel to Mr. Shajan at the earliest.
5. Take immediate action against criminals who created fake facebook channel page impersonating Marunadan Malayali/(ee) to cheat general public with fake news and collect donations as if for Mr. Shajan and also spread fake news disrupting communal harmony.
6. Take immediate action against conspiracy, death threats, hate speech and appeal for physical violence against Mr. Shajan Scaria.
7. Take immediate action to protect the rights of Mr. Shajan being a member of the minority Christian community to profess and practice his religion and views.
8. Immediately arrest the person who allegedly manhandled and verbally abused Mr. Shajan at London Airport and published its video with appeal for more similar attacks.
9. Investigate the contempt of the orders of the supreme court committed by subordinate courts , executive and police.
10. Investigate the abetment to these criminal mafia activities by officials of political, executive and police.
11. Investigate the suspected nexus between the alleged businessmen, Communist party of India, Chinese Communist party, popular Front of India and D Company.
Sir,
1. I am an Indian citizen concerned about safety of whistle-blowers and freedom of speech and expression and the right to know.
2. Since 2023- June 04, social media is flooded with matters related to the online media called Marunadan Malayalee. Shajan Skariah is a huge success as a journalist who studied journalism and worked in mainstream media and is a graduate of law. He has around 35Lakhs subscribers.In addition to that, one of the main operator of this crime network is allocating chest numbers for targets has now started attacking asianet news, i2i news, karma news etc.
3. The discussions on social media started after Shajan Scaria's video surfaced that the online media Marunadan Malayalee, in which he is the editor-in-chief, was going through unparalleled crises. Shajan had also shared the information that the Facebook pages of the Channel were hacked. After that Mr. Vinu of Asianet, sunil of i2i , karma news etc has reported that they are also facing unprecedented attacks and frivolous cases.
4. A search on Google shows that hacking is an offence punishable with imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to Rs 2 lakh or both in India. Section 43 of section IX of the IT Act, 2000, imposes a fine for damage to a computer or computer system.
5. Such an illegal act is suspected to be supported by concerted efforts of a group of people. It is not easy for a layman or even a techie to hack facebook. Hacking and concerted harassment of this level are usually operated by state actors or criminal gangs.
6. It should be remembered that Mr. Shajan Skaria, Vinu V John, Sunil Mathew, Vince Mathew etc are also a constant critic of corruption , anti-national and illegal activities. The concerted attack has now resulted in communal polarization as majority of the victims are Christians.
7. The unsubstantiated allegations against the channel is that it is spreading lies and spreading hatred. The appropriate action against such allegation would be to initiate appropriate legal or regulatory action or publish evidence of real facts. But under the leader ship of the main operator of this crime, almost 160 cases is registered against Mr. Shajan Alone, that is overwhelming for any person to handle.
8. While legal action and government action can be taken against the Channel , we must be afraid that the vexatious prosecution, .against the settled law that there cannot be any second First Information Report for each and every subsequent complaint (S. Malik vs State of AP CRLP 5499/20 28/09/22 [ REDDY JJ ][ ANDHRA PRADESH HIGH COURT ]) by filing multiple cases in multiple parts of the country, while all the parties are natives of Kerala State, are danger to our democracy and personal freedom.
9. While litigation by related parties are already in courts in Kerala, new litigation is started in Delhi and UP. The Delhi high court has issued an injunction on very first hearing and the UP court has issued warrant against Mr. Shajan. Also, an MLA has filed complaint misusing the SC/ST act for criticising his corruption and illegal activities misusing his official position as an MLA. This is clear misuse of system using money, political and suspected mafia power. Protection of law should be equal for all irrespective of money, political or mafia might.
10. The Kerala High court has rightly remarked as reported by media that Mr. Shajan is not doing any journalism. Mr. Shajan is a member of the Minority Christian community and being a Christian he is duty bound to promote Christian values like fight against corruption, fraud and illegal activities so that the rule of law is followed and the earth becomes heaven. He is following the paths of Jesus and so being persecuted.
11. As per Indian constitution, religious freedom, especially of minorities is protected.
12. In addition to this, there is also information that some one has created a fake page of Marunadan Malayalee/I channel impersonating the original to cheat the general public and posted material violating communal harmony and also initiated a fraud donation drives as if to support Mr. Shajan.
13. While the government has responsibility to impose punishment to any illegal acts by the channel, through proper judicial process, The government also has a solemn duty to protect the constitution of India and thereby rule of law and protect the channel and its proprietor from this misuse of executive, judicial and cyber mob lynching (hacking).
14. This horrifying attack on a budding private enterprise has also raisen serious doubts among young entrepreneurs and investors on the investment environment in the country. This multilateral attack on an entity is unparalleled in the history of the country and impossible for even well-established behemoths to sustain.
15. When a massive, short attack happened on ADANI related companies as a result of the report by Hindenberg, the Supreme court was kind enough to direct an investigation. This case is much more criminal in nature.
16. In this digital social media era, one to one or physical meetings have become scarce, primarily because people have to migrate to distant places separated by miles and time zones and it is almost impossible to have convenient meetings or even phone calls. People are keeping their relationships alive using social media, which they use to convey their emotions, opinions and events.
17. The posts in social media or website are not forced on any one like a television channel to view. Only friends or friends of friends or subscribers or related parties see them. If anyone disagrees with them, they can record their objections or counter or simply close the view. Also the channel is appropriately rated and citizens above age of 18 , who are matured enough to vote the government, are also matured enough to decide what to see and what not. There is no previous instance of any fake news or fake information by this channel as can be seen by the fact checks. There is no instance of the Government removing or objecting to any videos this channel. Cases where the videos removed as per pending court orders are not final and not yet decided on merits.
18. We are afraid that, this un paralleled attack on free speech will become a precedent and that the same action may be taken against other citizens and media outlets against which are opposed to corruption and illegal activities. . Which is a naked attack on the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression, the main pillars and the shields of democracy. if there is intolerance towards all those who disagree, then there will be no freedom of the press here.
19. People are of diverse backgrounds and capabilities, that it is not possible to set any standards for one’s opinion and expression or every citizen be graduates of law and always UpToDate with integrities of law or obtain legal opinion or employ private detectives before uttering a word.
20. Many ordinary people are supporting the Channel. This is because the problems of ordinary people come out through this channel. It has fulfilled its duty as a newspaper.
21. Everyone has the right to agree and disagree with the Channel. The question of why it is not dealt with legally if there is disagreement and opposition is very relevant. There is a legal way in the country to correct mistakes if they have made any mistakes in doing so. That's the way to be taken.
22. Resorting to illegal means of hacking, multiple FIR, or multiple litigation etc. are not advisable in a country where the rule of law exists. People should be wary of everyone doing illegal acts of their own volition and promoting it on the strength of money and power.
23. Newspapers and media grew in the world in connection with the growth of a sense of freedom, human rights and people's rights. The five most important rights and freedoms are, Right to Expression. Right to Association. Right to Live with Dignity. Right to Equality Before Law, as well as Minority Rights
24. The French freedom thinker Voltaire said.
I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
25. If there is no freedom of expression there is no Democracy. At the core of the Indian Constitution is its Preamble as well as the fundamental rights of Article 14 to 35. Civil and political rights are the basis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted and passed by the United Nations on December 10, 1948.
26. This particular case is a most organized attack on freedom of speech and expression by those who controls power, political interests, business interests, and vested interests. This concerted attacks reminiscent of an organized mafia may overwhelm the most sophisticated defences possible either technical or legal and would ever remain a black mark on the history of freedom of speech in the worlds biggest democracy.
27. Similar concerted attack was previously observed before in the case of Mr. Dominic Simon, another anti-corruption activist, by filing false case using forged documents in the name of Embassy of India, Riyadh and defamation campaign, against his posts in twitter, reporting and educating the public about corruption and how to legally deal with it. He ended up in jail and now stranded in Saudi Arabia, without any job or income or legal status.
28. The supreme court of India, In K.S. Puttaswamy , it is observed that the Canadian Supreme Court in Spencer (supra) had stopped short of recognising an absolute right of anonymity, but had used the provisions of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms of 1982 to expand the scope of the right to privacy, used traditionally to protect individuals from an invasion of their property rights, to an individuals reasonable expectation of privacy. Yet the Court has observed that there has to be a careful balancing of the requirements of privacy with legitimate concerns of the State after referring to an article29 wherein it was observed that: Privacy is the terrorists best friend, and the terrorists privacy has been enhanced by the same technological developments that have both made data mining feasible and elicited vast quantities of personal information from innocents
29. Hence, I request the highest authorities, the guardian angels of the constitution and the fundamental rights to intervene and protect Democracy and freedom.
30. References
31. a. Order of Delhi high court CS(COMM) 360/2023 & I. A. 10540/2023 & I. A. 10542/2023 & I. A. 10543/2023
32. b. News by Mr. Shajan Skariah regarding the concerted attacks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybFKHzkLj_s
33. c. Facebook posts by Shri. P. V. Anwar https://www.facebook.com/pvanvar
34. d.
35. 28.
36.