The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted protection from arrest to journalist Abhishek Upadhyay in a road rage case filed against him, after he approached the court seeking to quash the FIR.
Upadhyay, who has reported on alleged irregularities involving Ram Mandir donations in Ayodhya, has claimed that the case was filed in retaliation for his investigative reports. The FIR invokes provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act along with offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
SC seeks UP government's response
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and directed that no coercive action be taken against Upadhyay.
"Issue notice. Returnable on September 7. Meanwhile, no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioner in the FIR already registered or in such FIR, to our knowledge, that may be registered against him," the Court ordered.
The court also directed the Uttar Pradesh Police to provide Upadhyay with a copy of the FIR registered at Indirapuram in Ghaziabad.
"Similarly, let a copy of FIR registered at Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, be supplied to the petitioner to enable him to avail every remedy against such FIR in accordance with law. The Superintendent of Police, Ghaziabad, shall file a compliance report," the apex court directed.
The matter will next be heard on September 7.
Journalist alleges case was retaliation
The FIR was registered on August 18 following a complaint by a two-wheeler rider, who alleged that Upadhyay's vehicle hit his from behind and that he subsequently threatened and abused him.
Upadhyay has denied the allegations and claimed that the case was a "counter blast" to his reporting on the Ram Mandir Trust and alleged corruption in the Uttar Pradesh administration.
Senior Advocate Pradeep Rai, appearing for Upadhyay, told the court that the FIR was lodged on "fictitious" grounds.
"He did the entire expose of Ayodhya, My Lord. Earlier also, he has done so many investigations. For each and every investigation, there is some FIR on some fictitious reason. I do not want any other relief other than a fair investigation," Rai argued.
Court seeks clarity on road rage allegations
CJI Kant pointed out that a road incident involving caste-based abuse, if established, could constitute an offence.
"Suppose you hit a scooterist with your car,and then you get out of your car and give casteist abuses. Then, yes, it is an offence and it has to be seen. Let us hypothetically say, it can happen in various ways. If it is a completely imaginary and concocted story, then it is a different case," CJI Kant said.
Rai sought CCTV footage from the area to establish Upadhyay's version of events.
"Nothing of this sort happened. That's why we are asking for the CCTV footage, My Lord. For that, you need some breathing time and space so that you can make out the case properly. They should give us the copy of the FIR and CCTV footage also...If they provide these two things, I will be able to," Rai responded.