The Supreme Court on Friday protected from arrest a private news channel anchor who is facing a court-monitored SIT probe in a case pertaining to mobile phone interviews of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
Bishnoi, who is one of the accused in the 2022 murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala, is the alleged mastermind of a firing incident outside the Mumbai residence of Bollywood actor Salman Khan.
The gangster gave video interviews on mobile phone to the anchor of the news channel.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, however, said that irrespective of the journalist's intention to expose criminals, interviewing inmates “poses serious breach of jail regulations”. “....at a certain level, perhaps your client seeking the interview may have breached certain regulations of the jail,” the court told the petitioner's counsel.
Taking note of the plea of the news channel, the top court also issued notices to the Punjab government and IPS officer Prabodh Kumar who is heading the special investigation team (SIT) set up by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
It took note of the submissions of senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and RS Cheema, appearing for the news channel and the anchor, that the journalist, who is facing threats to his life for the sting operation, be not arrested.
"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,” the CJI said in the order.
The news channel and the journalist have challenged the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to the SIT to lodge an FIR over the interviews of the jailed gangster. The high court had passed the order while hearing a case it initiated on its own on the use of mobile phone in jails.
A three-member SIT was constituted to probe the interviews given to the news channel and ascertain the complicity of officials, if any.
Observing that the interviews helped “expose the rot”, Rohatgi said 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," the senior lawyer asked.
The sting operation was part of investigative journalism to show 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.
Bishnoi has threatened to kill Salman Khan for shooting a blackbuck which the Bishnoi community holds as sacred.
"The fact remains that you gain access to jail and publish interview from jail. Can you do that? Can we say the high court is wrong...there are restrictions by virtue of incarceration,” the bench observed.
On July 30, another apex court bench headed by Justice Bela M Trivedi had junked a separate 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," the bench had told the counsel for the gangster.
In March last year, the news channel ran two interviews of Bishnoi.
