The Supreme Court has granted temporary protection from arrest to a news channel anchor under investigation for conducting mobile phone interviews with jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
Bishnoi, implicated in the 2022 murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala, is also suspected of masterminding a firing incident outside actor Salman Khan’s Mumbai residence.
During the hearing, a bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, along with Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, expressed concerns over the breach of jail regulations by allowing interviews with inmates. The court told the anchor’s counsel that seeking such interviews could be seen as violating jail protocols.
Acknowledging the anchor’s concerns for safety following the sting operation, the court issued notices to the Punjab government and IPS officer Prabodh Kumar, who heads the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the matter. The court directed that no coercive action be taken against the journalist while they cooperate with the SIT investigation.
The news channel and the anchor are challenging a Punjab and Haryana High Court order that directed the SIT to file an FIR over the interviews. The High Court initiated the case after learning about the use of mobile phones in jails. A three-member SIT was formed to investigate the interviews and identify any involvement of officials.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the news channel, argued that the interviews exposed corruption within the jail system. He stated that filing an FIR against the journalist was akin to “shooting the messenger.” Rohatgi emphasized the importance of investigative journalism in exposing such issues, particularly in cases involving high-profile criminals like Bishnoi, who has threatened Salman Khan due to the blackbuck poaching case.
The Supreme Court noted the serious nature of allowing interviews from jail but refrained from dismissing the High Court’s concerns about jail security. Previously, the Supreme Court had rejected Bishnoi’s plea against the High Court’s order to investigate the interviews. The news channel aired two interviews with Bishnoi in March of the previous year.
