Sealing of UNI’s Premises
The Editors Guild of India (EGi) strongly condemns the use of excessive force, as well as the undue haste shown in implementing a High Court order cancelling the allotment of land on which the premises of United News of India, one of India’s oldest independent news agencies, was situated, and allowing the Land and Development Office of the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry to retake possession of the land.
While the Guild does not question the need to implement the High Court’s order, what is disturbing is the lack of due process, and the manifestly excessive display of force by the authorities in executing the Court’s directions. As per reports, the order was pronounced in Court at around 1.30 PM on Friday, March 20, 2026.
Within hours, and even before the order was made available on the Court’s website, a force of hundreds of police and paramilitary personnel had arrived at the UNI’s premises. Journalists, including female staff, were forcibly evicted in the midst of carrying out their duties. The journalists have asserted that no notice was shown to them, and that the authorities refused to allow time for the UNI management to arrive, or even allow journalists to collect their personal effects before the premises were sealed. They have also alleged that some staff, including some women journalists, were manhandled in the process, a charge which the Delhi Police have denied.
The alacrity with which the authorities reacted, as well as the overwhelming display of force, sends a chilling message to the media. The action has not only halted the dissemination of news to UNI’s subscribers, but has also cast a shadow over the future of the organisation, and the careers of hundreds of journalists. The EGI urges the authorities to exercise greater restraint, and desist from actions which restrict the freedom of media to operate and carry out its functions in a democracy.
The Press Club of India (PCI) also through a press release expressed deep shock at the manhandling of journalists while at work at the United News of India (UNI) premises.
PCI condemned in the strongest possible term such highhandedness unleashed on the journalists including women workers. The PCI mentioned that it stands with the affected journalists and maintains that authorities should have shown restraint particularly when the journalists at work had informed them that the management was yet to convey to them to vacate the premises after the court order, which came just hours before the police action was launched on the working journalists.
PCI urges the authorities to take prompt action against whoever was responsible for such misconduct as it would help instill confidence within the journalist fraternity that right to work of the press is an important part of a democracy. Pic courtesy: The New Indian Express
