An association of digital media organisations condemned on Tuesday the searches carried out by the Delhi Police at the offices of news portal The Wire and the houses of its editors on the basis of a complaint filed by BJP leader Amit Malviya.
In a statement, Digipub News India Foundation claimed that the searches "mainly serve the purpose of criminalising and creating a chilling effect against the profession of journalism in India".
"A journalist or a media organisation that publishes a false report ought to be held accountable by its peers and civil society," the statement said.
"But for the police to carry out an immediate and arbitrary search of the media house's office and its editors' homes, based entirely on a private complaint of defamation filed by a spokesperson of the ruling party, smacks of malafide intentions," it added.
It noted that Malviya's complaint was regarding a series of stories published by The Wire about social media company Meta, claiming that he had special censorship privileges through an Instagram programme called "X-Check".
The Wire had retracted the said articles last month, claiming that it was deceived by a member of its investigative team.
The Delhi Police carried out searches at the houses of the portal's founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan and deputy editor M K Venu on Monday.
A senior police officer said searches were conducted at the office of "The Wire" as well and all electronic devices relevant for the probe were seized.