The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the Madhya Pradesh government’s response on a petition filed by two journalists who were allegedly thrashed by police for reporting on illegal sand mining activities.
A Bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Satish Chandra Sharma, however, refused to grant interim protection from arrest to them.
The Bench agreed to hear the petitions of Shashikant Goyal and Amarkant Singh Chouhan, and issued notices to Madhya Pradesh and the NCT of Delhi for their responses and posted the matter on June 9.
The counsel appearing for the petitioners pressed for interim protection but the court said, “Let the other side respond. Let the facts be brought by the State also. We are listing it on Monday (June 9).” The top court asked why the petitioners did not make the Superintendent of Police of Bhind a party to the petition.
“It is very easy to say all kinds of things against an IPS officer without making him a party. Whatever comes to your mind, just put it in black and white against the IPS officer,” it added.
The Bench also asked why the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the NCT of Delhi were made parties.
The counsel said NHRC was made a party as petitioners had previously filed a complaint there and offered to remove it as a party from the case.
On the NCT of Delhi, the counsel said both the petitioners were in the national capital at present.
The Bench asked why was it not informed on June 2, when the matter was mentioned for urgent listing, about the petitioners moving the Delhi High Court where the matter was pending.
“Why did you not tell us at that point in time that you had already approached the Delhi High Court and the matter was pending?” it asked.
The counsel said the petitioners were seeking a stay on arrest and protection from coercive action in the Supreme Court and such reliefs were not sought in the high court.
“We don’t know what kind of a crime has been registered against you by the police. Can we grant you some blanket kind of anticipatory bail order that you will not be touched even if you commit a crime against this nation? Can we grant this kind of an order?” the Bench asked further.
It observed the “phantom” of the story, which was created on the day of mentioning was not made out in the petition.
While mentioning the matter on June 2, the Bench said the counsel claimed a threat to the petitioners’ lives aside from regular intimidation. “We believed your phantom of story and we allowed your mentioning. You did not tell us one fact that you have already approached the Delhi High Court,” it said.
The counsel referred to the FIR, saying the petitioners had not concealed anything from the court.
“We appreciate that you are the fourth pillar. We appreciate also that if there is a threat to life, we will come to your rescue. But you will have to also answer two-three things,” the Bench said.
The Bench enquired about the apprehension of threat to life as claimed by the petitioners and asked what prevented them from moving either the Madhya Pradesh High Court or going back to the Delhi High Court for protection.
The counsel, in the meantime, referred to a press release of the Press Club of India condemning the incident.
When the counsel informed the Bench that the petitioners were in the national capital, the Bench said: “Today, you don’t have an apprehension in Delhi. We will issue notice and list it on Monday”.
The Bench said, “Suppose you are involved in a case of murder, what to do then? We don’t know what is the case against you”, when the counsel insisted on grant of interim protection.
“We will hope that since the Supreme Court has issued notice and is seized of the matter, they will not take any coercive steps,” the counsel said.
On May 28, the Delhi High Court granted two-month protection to Mr. Chouhan, who claimed there was a threat to his life by the Bhind Superintendent of Police after he was allegedly beaten in his office.
The High Court directed Delhi Police to provide protection to Mr. Chouhan, the Bhind Bureau Chief of Swaraj Express news channel.
“In the meantime, they can approach the high court concerned [for availing further legal remedies],” the High Court said.
Three journalists from Bhind district recently alleged that they were beaten and manhandled inside the SP’s office, an allegation denied by the officer.
Pritam Singh Rajawat who runs a YouTube channel, Shashikant Goyal who runs a news portal and Mr. Chouhan, alleged in a complaint to the District Collector that they were assaulted on May 1.
Published – June 05, 2025 02:23 am IST
