The Supreme Court has intervened to protect journalist Abhishek Upadhyay from coercive police action, following his reports on alleged irregularities in donations for Ayodhya's Ram temple, highlighting concerns over press freedom and accountability.
Key Points
- Supreme Court protects journalist Abhishek Upadhyay from coercive police action.
- Upadhyay faces a Ghaziabad Police FIR, which he claims is retaliation for his reporting.
- The journalist had flagged alleged irregularities in donations for Ayodhya's Ram temple.
- SC directed Uttar Pradesh government to provide FIR copy and sought a compliance affidavit.
- Upadhyay is advised to approach the Allahabad High Court for quashing the FIR.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday protected from coercive action a journalist who had flagged alleged irregularities in the handling of donations at Ayodhya's Ram temple and challenged Ghaziabad Police's FIR against him in a road rage case.
SC Intervenes In Journalist's FIR Case
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and directed that a copy of FIR lodged at Indirapuram in Ghaziabad be provided to Abhishek Upadhyay. It also sought a compliance affidavit by the police.
The top court asked Upadhyay to approach the Allahabad high court for quashing of the FIR and posted the matter for hearing on September 7.
In the plea, Upadhyay contended that the FIR copy had not been supplied to him and that police were forcing nearby shopkeepers to delete the CCTV visuals of the relevant time.
Upadhyay had sought quashing of the FIR or, in the alternative, that investigation be transferred to an independent agency other than the Uttar Pradesh police.
He claimed that the FIR was planted in connection with his reporting on alleged corruption in Uttar Pradesh.
