AGENCY
new delhi, june 9
The Supreme Court on Monday granted protection from arrest to two Madhya Pradesh-based journalists, Shashikant Jatav and Amarkant Singh Chouhan, who have alleged custodial assault, caste-based abuse, and threats to their lives by Bhind police, including Superi-ntendent of Police Asit Yadav, after they reported on illegal sand mining by the mafia allegedly in collusion with local police. A vacation bench of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Manmohan granted the journalists two weeks to approach the Madhya Pradesh High Court for appropriate relief, while restraining the authorities from taking any coercive action during this period. “We are not entertaining the plea. However, looking at the allegations, we permit the petitioners to move the concerned High Court within two weeks from today. Till petitioners move the High Court and interim prayer is concerned, the petitioner shall not be arrested,” the Court said. The order followed the bench’s earlier stance on June 4, where it had refused to grant interim protection without knowing the specific charges being alleged against the journalist when they were summoned by the police on May 1, 2025.
“Suppose you commit a crime like murder, can we grant you no coercive protection order? We have to know what kind of crime the police are alleging,” the Court had remarked.
The top court had also on June 4 questioned why the petitioners had not first approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court or even the Delhi High Court, which were both functional during the summer vacation.
“We appreciate you are the fourth pillar. But you have to show the apprehension borne out of the record. What prevents you from going to Madhya Pradesh High Court? What prevents you from going to Delhi High Court which is sitting during vacations?” the bench had asked. The journalists, however, told the Court that approaching courts in Madhya Pradesh was unsafe due to continued threats and harassment by local police. In their Article 32 petition, the scribes alleged that on May 1, they were summoned under the pretext of a meeting with SP Asit Yadav, but upon arrival, they found other journalists stripped and being assaulted in the police in the senior officer’s chamber.
The petition specifically alleges that Shashikant Jatav, a member of the Scheduled Caste ‘Jatav’ community.
, was beaten with slippers and abused with casteist slurs, reportedly at the instructions of SP Yadav.
The alleged custodial abuse followed their investigative reports on rampant illegal sand mining in the Chambal River region, which they claim is being facilitated through police connivance. Their reporting, they contend, provoked the backlash.
The Court had issued notice to the State of Madhya Pradesh on June 4 and listed the matter for June 9.
On Monday, while declining to entertain the petition directly, the Court, noting the serious allegations and apprehensions of reprisal, allowed the journalists to seek relief before the High Court, with interim protection granted.
The case underscores the alleged nexus between law enforcement and illegal mining operations and has renewed focus on press freedom and journalist safety, particularly in regions where investigative reporting intersects with entrenched interests.
