Overview
- The February 7 order from DG&IGP M. A. Saleem tells officers not to file FIRs or make arrests over posts without specific procedural safeguards.
- Police must verify that complainants are legally ‘persons aggrieved’ and conduct a preliminary inquiry before registering FIRs in cognizable cases.
- Defamation is to be treated as a non-cognizable offence, with complainants directed to magistrates and police action allowed only under BNSS Section 174(2).
- No case for enmity, intentional insult, public mischief, threats to public order, or sedition may be registered absent prima facie incitement to violence or disorder, protecting harsh political criticism from criminal action.
- The directive requires prior public-prosecutor review for sensitive speech cases, strict compliance with Arnesh Kumar arrest norms, and closure of frivolous or politically motivated complaints under BNSS Section 176(1), drawing on Supreme Court-backed Telangana HC guidelines.