Apex court protects news anchor from arrest for interviewing Bishnoi in jail

New Delhi, August 30

The Supreme Court on Friday protected from arrest a private news channel anchor facing a court-monitored SIT probe in a case related to mobile phone interviews of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi from jail aired in March last year.

Bishnoi, who is one of the accused in the 2022 murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala, gave video interviews on mobile phone to the anchor of the news channel. He is also the alleged mastermind of a firing incident outside the Mumbai residence of Bollywood actor Salman Khan.

“The second petitioner shall cooperate with the SIT investigation. We direct that pending further orders from this court, no coercive steps shall be taken against him,” a Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud said.

However, it noted that irrespective of the journalist’s intention to expose criminals, interviewing inmates posed a serious breach of jail regulations. “At a certain level, perhaps your client seeking the interview may have breached certain regulations of the jail,” the Bench told the petitioner’s counsel as it issued notices to the Punjab Government and IPS officer Prabodh Kumar who headed the special investigation team (SIT) set up by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

“The fact remains that you gain access to jail and publish interviews from jail. Can you do that? Can we say the high court is wrong...there are restrictions by virtue of incarceration,” the Bench said.

The order came after senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and RS Cheema, submitted on behalf of the news channel and the anchor that the journalist should not be arrested as he faced threats to his life for the sting operation.

The interviews helped “expose the rot”, Rohatgi said, adding the registration of the FIR against the journalist amounted to shooting the messenger. The fact that it can happen within a jail is also a very serious matter, he said. “If the messenger is killed, then who will expose the rot?” he asked.

The petitioners have challenged a Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order to the SIT to lodge an FIR over the interviews of the jailed gangster.

A three-member SIT was constituted to probe the interviews given to the news channel and ascertain the complicity of officials, if any.

The sting operation was said to be part of investigative journalism to expose how Bishnoi was in touch with Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar and was hatching a conspiracy to attack Salman Khan due to his involvement in the blackbuck shooting case.

Last month, another Bench led by Justice Bela M Trivedi had junked a plea by gangster Bishnoi against the high court’s order to form the SIT and register an FIR over his interviews with the news channel. The bench had said it was not inclined to interfere with the high court order. “Let it be investigated. It is a matter of investigation. There are 73 cases filed against you,” Justice Trivedi had told Bishnoi’s lawyer.