Governance · Community accountability · North-east India · Meghalaya · English, Khasi
Patricia Mukhim
Editor, The Shillong Times · Shillong, Meghalaya
“I put up the post as someone who believes in human rights and justice for all.”
Patricia Mukhim has edited The Shillong Times, the oldest English daily in the North-east, since 2008 and is a Padma Shri awardee. Her editorials have repeatedly scrutinised power inside her own community, from traditional councils to the courts. In 2021 the Supreme Court quashed a criminal case brought against her over a Facebook post condemning an attack on non-tribal youths, holding that the post was a call for the rule of law rather than hate speech.
The Mukhim judgment is now a standard citation on the limits of criminal law against online speech by journalists in India, and the two Columbia Global Freedom of Expression case notes record both the contempt and the FIR proceedings in detail.
Defining work
The cost, as recorded
courtHeld in contempt by the Meghalaya High Court over an editorial about judges' housing and fined; the Supreme Court later stayed the order. source ↗
06 Jul 2020firA village council filed a police complaint over her Facebook post; an FIR followed under provisions including promoting enmity. source ↗
25 Mar 2021courtThe Supreme Court quashed the FIR, finding the post sought justice and the rule of law rather than enmity. source ↗
Recognition
Contested · the other side
The complainant village council and the Meghalaya police maintained that the July 2020 post was liable to promote enmity between communities, and the Meghalaya High Court initially declined to quash the FIR. The Supreme Court disagreed in March 2021. Mukhim resigned from the Editors Guild of India in November 2020, alleging it defended only well-known journalists; the Guild's position should be sourced before publication.
Sources
- globalfreedomofexpression.columbia.edu — https://globalfreedomofexpression.columbia.edu/cases/patricia-mukhim-v-state-of-…
- globalfreedomofexpression.columbia.edu — https://globalfreedomofexpression.columbia.edu/cases/registrar-general-v-patrici…
- newslaundry.com — https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/03/25/supreme-court-quashes-fir-against-journal…
- eastmojo.com — https://eastmojo.com/meghalaya/2021/03/25/sc-quashes-fir-against-meghalaya-journ…
- rsf.org — https://rsf.org/en/indian-journalist-charged-over-facebook-post-urging-respect-r…
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