New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Monday granted 'protection from arrest' to two Madhya Pradesh-based journalists who alleged they were assaulted by Bhind police for reporting on illegal sand mining in the Chambal region.
A bench of Justices PK Mishra and Manmohan dismissed their petition and granted the journalists liberty to approach the jurisdictional High Court (High Court of MP) within two weeks in this egard.
"...Considering the allegations made in the petition, we relegate the petitioners to approach the concerned High Court within a period of two weeks from today," the Court said in its order.
The bench clarified that the journalists shall not be arrested until the concerned High Court considers the matter. Journalists Shashikant Jatav and Amarkant Singh Chouhan had moved the top court seeking protection for their lives as they claimed that Bhind police had assaulted them over their reporting on illegal sand mining in the Chambal region. As per their plea, they had been abducted, assaulted and were subjected to casteist slurs by the Bhind police.
At the previous hearing, the top court refused to grant interim protection to the journalists, stating that it was unaware of the facts of the case and that a response from State authorities (respondents) in this regard was necessary before taking any decision.
The Court also raised doubts over the journalists' allegations that their lives were under threat in the last hearing. Further, the Court had also taken a dim view of the fact that certain allegations had been made against an IPS officer in connection with the alleged assault on the journalists without allowing him to explain the matter.
The Court also sought the responses of the Madhya Pradesh and Delhi governments to the plea in the last hearing. Today, the Court granted the journalists interim protection from being arrested and referred them to the MP High Court.