Several Hindi newspapers reported that Advocate Pravesh Dabas filed a written complaint at the Bawana police station, Delhi, about an opinion article published on the news website The Quint on 5 January 2018.
According to the reports, the article described Kulbhushan Jadhav — an Indian national then held in a Pakistani jail — as an agent of India's external intelligence agency. The reports said the article had been taken down after objections were raised in India, but that it had already been cited by Pakistan's government on social media.
The complaint alleged that the article harmed India's position, including in proceedings before the International Court of Justice, and sought action under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (sedition, as it then stood). The advocate was reported to have attached copies of the social-media posts and media reports to his complaint.
About this item
This was a complaint made by the advocate himself, not a case in which he represented a client. A complaint sets out allegations only; the reports do not record what action, if any, followed. Section 124A has since been kept in abeyance by the Supreme Court (2022) and is not carried into the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 in the same form.
Where it was reported
- Navbharat Times (Hindi) — "जाधव को रॉ एजेंट बताने वाली वेबसाइट के खिलाफ शिकायत"
- Rashtriya Sahara (Hindi) — "कुलभूषण को रॉ का कथित एजेंट बताने पर वेबसाइट के खिलाफ एफआईआर"
- Punjab Kesari (Hindi) — "वेबसाइट पर मामला दर्ज कराया"
One headline describes the complaint as an FIR; the other reports describe it as a written complaint.
