Putting on hold coercive action against two Telugu channels — TV5 news and ABN Andhra Jyoti — India’s Supreme Court took a strong view on attempts to muzzle the Fourth Estate and on Monday called for defining “the limits of sedition”.

The Andhra Pradesh police had mentioned the coercive measures in a first information report (FIR) alleging sedition, news service IANS reported from New Delhi.

The three-judge bench, comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud, L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat, said “it’s time we define the limits of sedition” and expressed prima facie FIRs were an attempt to muzzle media freedom.

Emphasizing everything cannot be treated as sedition, the bench said the government of India’s southern State of Andhra Pradesh act of filing sedition cases against the TV channels was an attempt to muzzling their voice.

The TV channels moved the top court seeking quashing of FIRs and also contempt petitions contending that Andhra police action violated the April 30, 2021 court’s order, which emphasized on restraining prosecution against citizens who ventilate grievances in connection with Covid-19 issues.

The top court said the TV channels broadcasting programmes and print media publishing views “howsoever critical of government, may not be seditious”, the IANS report said.

The top court observed that it would endeavour to define sedition in the context of such charges being invoked against media.

The court asked the Andhra government to respond to the petitions and contempt pleas of two TV channels within four weeks and, in the interim, the court added that the police would not take any coercive steps against TV channels and journalists.

The TV channels contended that the FIRs were registered against the channels for publishing the press statements of rebel YSRCP Member of Parliament Raghu Rama Krishnam Raju.