A group of intellectuals under the banner of SAHMAT have condemned as "totally unwarranted" the CBI raids on the television news channel NDTV and termed it as "an intimidatory tactic".
The group maintained that all due procedures should be followed in cases of private complaints.
It said it is of opinion that searches even without a preliminary enquiry, as stated by the NDTV, is nothing but an "intimidatory tactic".
"By attacking the media, the present government is undermining freedom of the press, so essential for a democratic polity," it said.
SAHMAT is a trust formed in the memory noted Communist leader and dramatist Safdar Hashmi, killed by a mob for staging a play in support of labour rights.
In a surprise move, the CBI converted a private complaint against the NDTV into an FIR and had carried out searches on the premises of its founders Pranoy Roy and Radhika Roy, and their company RRPR Pvt Limited.
The probe agency's move came in criticism from all quarters but it defended the move claiming it had followed due procedure.
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