Lakshadweep filmmaker Aisha Sultana gets interim shield from arrest in sedition case

The Kerala High Court Thursday granted interim protection from arrest for a week to Aisha Sultana, a filmmaker-activist who was booked under sedition charges by the Lakshadweep Police, Bar and Bench reported.

A single-judge bench of Justice Ashok Menon directed Sultana to co-operate with the investigation. The court also reserved its judgment in the plea by the activist in which she has sought anticipatory bail.

Sultana had approached the Kerala High Court after a case of sedition was filed against her by the police for calling the Union Territory’s administrator Praful K Patel a “bioweapon”.

The case was filed based on a complaint raised by the BJP Lakshadweep president C Abdul Khader Haji, who alleged that Sultana criticised the Centre and Patel during a debate on a Malayalam news channel about the ongoing political crisis in Lakshadweep.The discussion pertained to the controversial proposals of the UT Administrator which have sparked public protests on the islands.

According to Live Law, Sultana’s lawyer, P Vijaybhanu, told the court that the remark by her client was made while criticising the Lakshadweep administration over its Covid-19 policy.

Vijaybhanu further said the remark was made in the “heat of the moment” during a channel debate and admitted that it was “a lapse”. He told the bench that Sultana clarified her remarks later and issued an apology for the same.

On Wednesday, the Lakshadweep administration, while opposing Sultana’s anticipatory bail plea, said that the activist made a specific baseless assertion having serious consequences against the central government established by law.

“She clarified, despite being cautioned by the anchor, that she stands by what she asserted and also stated that she is ready to face any actions for making such a statement,” it said.

The administration further submitted that in plain terms she has alleged that the central government used the Covid pandemic as a bio-weapon against the people of Lakshadweep.

In response, Sultana justified her statement through a Facebook post. She wrote, “I had used the word bio-weapon in the TV channel debate. I have felt Patel as well as his policies [have acted] as a bio-weapon. It was through Patel and his entourage that Covid-19 spread in Lakshadweep. I have compared Patel as a bioweapon, not the government or the country…. You should understand. What else should I call him…”

Sultana has been at the forefront of the recent campaign against the recently proposed legislation and controversial reform measures that have triggered widespread anger amongst locals.

Several politicians and activists, including BJP party leaders, have spoken against the sedition case of the activist.

As reported by the Indian Express, at least a dozen BJP party leaders and scores of party workers have resigned as a protest over the sedition case, calling Haji’s allegations against Sultana “untruthful” and aimed at destroying her and her family’s future.