New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said that criminal cases should not be filed against journalists simply because their writings are seen as critical of the government.

A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Rai and SVN Bhatti said that freedom of expression must be respected in a democratic country and the rights of journalists are protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by journalist Abhishek Upadhyay seeking quashing of the FIR lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh for publishing a report on caste bias in the general administration in the state.

Issuing notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on the petition, the bench said that in the meantime no punitive action will be taken against the petitioner in relation to the subject article. The apex court said in its order that the petitioner's lawyer read the FIR and said that no crime is revealed in the said FIR.

Despite this, the petitioner is being targeted and many more FIRs may be filed after posting the report on X. The Supreme Court will hear the case next after four weeks.

In the petition, Abhishek Upadhyay has alleged that the FIR against him is an attempt to misuse the law enforcement machinery of the state to suppress his voice. Hence, it should be quashed to prevent further harassment. In the petition filed through advocate Anoop Prakash Awasthi, he claimed that after the report titled 'Yadav Raj vs Thakur Raj', an FIR was registered against him at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow on September 20.