Allahabad High Court Refuses Relief To 'News18' Journalists Over Alleged Telecast Claiming UP STF IG Released Criminal For Money

Yash, who is currently serving as Additional Director General (ADG), STF and Law & Order, Uttar Pradesh, had filed a criminal defamation complaint against 3 journalists over a 2017 news broadcast which alleged he had accepted bribes to release a Punjab-based criminal.

A bench of Justice Brij Raj Singh opined that it can't conduct a "mini-trial" or weigh the evidence regarding the innocence of the journalists while dealing with a plea filed under Section 482 CrPC.

Briefly put, a news segment was telecast on September 20, 2017, on News18 Punjab/Haryana/Himachal Pradesh, claiming that the mastermind of the Nabha Jail Break, Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi Ghanshyampuria, had been arrested by the UP Police but was later released by Amitabh Yash in exchange for money.

Yash stated in his complaint that the news challenge had highlighted the ticker and spoken content by the anchor, which repeated the phrase: "STF ke IG Amitabh Yash paisa lekar Punjab ke dahshatgardon ko chod deta hai" (IG STF Amitabh Yash releases Punjab terrorists after taking money).

In his complaint, Yash stated that this broadcast had severely damaged his reputation, despite the fact that a high-level govt inquiry committee had eventually exonerated him of all charges.

Taking note of his complaint, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Court No. 32, Lucknow, issued summons on December 12, 2018, to the applicants: Jyoti Kamal (then Editor, News18 Punjab), Shantosh Sharma (then Reporter) and Gaurav Shukla (then Anchor).

Challenging the summons, the journalists moved the HC, wherein their Counsel (Advocate Nadeem Murtaza) argued that the alleged news was reported in various national newspapers.

It was further stated that the Channel had done fair, unbiased and bona fide reporting of the whole incident and they had not attributed any role to Yash in setting Gurpreet Singh free.

They further argued that, since the officer was cleared by a departmental inquiry and the broadcast material differed from that of other news channels, the criminal proceedings should be quashed.

On the other hand, the counsel for Yash, Advocate Ishan Baghel, argued that there is no denial of the publication of news by the Applicants and the aspersions made by the news channel amount to imputation.

The counsel also apprised the bench that a similar report was telecast by another channel, e-24, and though the HC quashed the proceedings, the Supreme Court had set aside the High Court's order in March 2024.

He also pointed out that Bharat Samachar and the accused-reporter Abhishek Mishra were also denied relief in this case by the High Court in July 2022.

Taking into account the Supreme Court's order and the facts of this case, the bench observed that the news was telecast on the News 18 Punjab channel and that it was seriously alleged that his image was lowered in the eyes of others.

The bench also noted that Yash's statement under Section 200 CrPC and the statements of witnesses under Section 202 CrPC have been considered by the Magistrate and only thereafter, the summons had been issued.

Further, noting that the Court cannot weigh the evidence and a trial is required in the case, Justice Singh rejected the application.