Supreme Court Lifts Interim Protection from Arrest of Journalists Accused in Bribery Case
In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court emphasized that journalists do not have the authority to take the law into their own hands. The Court lifted the interim protection from arrest that was previously granted to a Dainik Bhaskar correspondent and several other journalists in Madhya Pradesh. These journalists were accused of accepting bribes to suppress a news report exposing an illegal child trafficking racket.
Justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundresh presided over the case and noted that the accused journalists were also involved in other cases. Considering this fact, the Court found no reason to continue the interim protection. Despite the accused claiming that the allegations against them were weak, the Court firmly asserted that being a journalist does not grant the privilege to act unlawfully, stating, "Nothing is believable or unbelievable these days."
The Supreme Court had previously granted interim relief to the accused when hearing their individual petitions, including Sadaqat Pathan of Dainik Bhaskar. However, the probe in the main case had been completed, leading the Court to discontinue the protection granted to them.
Regarding the need to take the petitioners into custody, the Court specified that the Investigating Officer should decide based on the applicable law.
The accused had approached the Supreme Court after the Madhya Pradesh High Court rejected their applications for anticipatory bail. The High Court had commented that acts performed under the guise of journalism could not be protected, highlighting that the allegations against the accused were not related to their journalistic duties.
The case originated from a report published by Dainik Bhaskar on a child trafficking incident in Madhya Pradesh. The police investigation later revealed the involvement of local journalists, who were alleged to have blackmailed and extorted money from one of the accused, threatening to publish false reports on his involvement in child trafficking if he did not comply.
The journalists denied the allegations, and Sadaqat Pathan was suspended from Dainik Bhaskar in connection with the case.
Advocates Sameer Shrivastava, Yashika Varshney, and Sangeeta Verma represented the journalists in the Supreme Court, while the Madhya Pradesh government was represented by advocates Sunny Choudhary, Abhinav Shrivastava, Shivang Rawat, Radhika Jalan, T Harish Kumar, Vikramaditya Singh, and Shreyank Tiwari.
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