Supreme Court Grants Protection to Abhishek Upadhyay
The Supreme Court of India has extended protection from arrest to journalist Abhishek Upadhyay in a case linked to road rage allegations, following his investigative reporting on the alleged misappropriation of donations for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The court has also requested a response from the Uttar Pradesh government regarding Upadhyay’s plea to dismiss the charges against him.
Claims of Retaliation and Legal Proceedings
Upadhyay claims that the road rage charges, which invoke the stringent Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, are retaliatory in nature, aimed at silencing his critical reports on alleged corruption involving the Ram Mandir Trust and the Uttar Pradesh administration. The case is currently being reviewed by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.
The bench has issued a notice to the state of Uttar Pradesh, stating, “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 has further instructed the Uttar Pradesh Police to provide Upadhyay with the FIR copy to ensure he can pursue all available legal remedies.
Allegations and Defense
Upadhyay faces allegations from an incident reported on August 18, where a complaint was filed by a motorcyclist claiming Upadhyay hit his vehicle and subsequently issued threats and abusive remarks. The accusations led to charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Senior Advocate Pradeep Rai, representing Upadhyay, argued that the accusations were “fictitious” and part of a pattern of filing FIRs to intimidate the journalist due to his investigative work. Rai emphasized, “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.”
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Call for Fair Investigation
During the court proceedings, CJI Surya Kant remarked on the gravity of the allegations, stating, “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.”
Rai countered, “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.”
Alleged Manipulation of Evidence
According to Upadhyay, the alleged incident occurred while he was returning home with his minor daughter. He asserts there was no confrontation and claims the situation was fabricated. Upadhyay further alleges that local police coerced businesses to delete or withhold CCTV footage of the incident. He also noted that the complainant was not the owner of the vehicle involved, suggesting further inconsistencies in the accusation.
The Supreme Court will revisit the case on September 7 to determine further action.
