The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted protection from arrest to journalist Abhishek Upadhyay, who was among the first to report on the alleged theft of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, in a case filed against him by the Uttar Pradesh Police, Bar and Bench reported.
On August 18, an FIR was registered against Upadhyay in connection with an alleged road rage incident in Ghaziabad. The journalist has claimed that the case, which invokes provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, was filed to harass him over his reports on alleged corruption in Uttar Pradesh.
Upadhyay approached the Supreme Court challenging the case and seeking a copy of the FIR.
His lawyer, Pradeep Rai, told the court on Tuesday that Upadhyay’s “unpardonable sin” was reporting on the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple, Live Law reported. He said Upadhyay had also reported on corruption in other cases.
Rai sought an independent agency investigation into the case against the journalist.
The lawyer also claimed that the road rage allegation was baseless and that CCTV footage from the site would establish this, Live Law reported. He sought directions for the preservation of the footage from the area.
Chief Justice Surya Kant verbally observed that while the court did not know the truth of the matter, it could understand Upadhyay’s apprehension. The Chief Justice asked the journalist to approach the High Court seeking quashing of the case and granted him interim protection, the legal news outlet reported.
The Supreme Court also directed the police to provide Upadhyay with a copy of the FIR. The matter will be heard next on September 7.
Upadhyay described the order on social media as a “big victory from the Supreme Court” and said he would continue his work. “The pen will neither bend nor stop,” he asserted.
A Special Investigation Team constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government is investigating the alleged embezzlement of donations made to the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
In its preliminary report submitted to the Uttar Pradesh Home Department on June 23, the SIT found 70 instances in which counting staff allegedly hid bundles of notes and loose cash in their clothes, pockets and shoes. Scroll reported that it had seen a copy of the report.
The report alleged that offerings were stolen during the counting process, with staff routinely hiding cash on their bodies and leaving the premises with it, while safeguards intended to prevent such thefts were not enforced. It also flagged serious lapses by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and the State Bank of India, the trust’s banker.