Scores of journalists held demonstrations across the region on Monday to protest against the UIDAI's move to register a case against The Tribune newspaper and one of its reporters for exposing illegal data leak of Aadhaar details.
The protests were organised on behalf of the Chandigarh Press Club, the Himachal Press Club, the Punjab Press Club in Jalandhar, the Patiala Media Club and the Sangrur Press Club.
Journalists in Chandigarh started their protest march from the Press Club and headed towards the Punjab Raj Bhawan to submit a memorandum to Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator VP Singh Badnore.
Chandigarh Press Club Secretary General Barinder Singh Rawat condemned the FIR against the Tribune
journalist.
“Instead of taking action against people involved in data breach, the Government agency preferred to lodge a FIR against a reporter who exposed the loopholes in the system,” Rawat said in a statement.
Similar protests also took place in other places in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal to show solidarity with the reporter and the newspaper.
The office bearers of Press Club Shimla led by its president Dhananjay Sharma called on Himachal Governor Acharya Devvrat at Raj Bhawan and presented a memorandum regarding registration of FIR by Delhi Police against the reporter. They called it unfair, unjustified and a direct attack on the freedom of the press.
They said that the action of the UIDAI was uncalled for and a brazen attack on the freedom of press and condemn it and woo to fight it out. They added that it was not only an attempt to bully a newspaper but also beginning of a new trend which if not stopped could pose a great threat to freedom of press and democracy.
Notably, after a January 3 report over breach in Aadhaar data with a headline “`500, 10 minutes, and you have access to billion Aadhaar details”, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) registered an FIR against the newspaper and its reporter.
The FIR, lodged with the Cyber Cell of the Crime Branch, invokes serious charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), IT Act and Aadhaar Act.
The UIDAI on January 4 said its search facility for grievance redressal may have been “misused” but denied any breach or leak of Aadhaar data.
The UIDAI move has attracted widespread criticism from press bodies, Editors Guild and journalists across the country have demanded the withdrawal of cases against the newspaper and its reporter.