Lawrence Bishnoi’s jail interview: SC questions reporter’s entry into prison

As dismissed Punjab Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Gursher Singh Sandhu sought quashing of proceedings arising out of an interview of alleged gangster Lawrence Bishnoi in jail, the Supreme Court raised questions over the entry of a journalist in jail.

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A Bench of Justice KV Viswanathan and Justice N Kotiswar Singh wondered how the reporter got access to jail for the interview.

Noting that Sandhu’s petition challenging issuance of notices under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was already listed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 3, the Bench on June 24 allowed him to withdraw his petition. Sandhu has also challenged his dismissal.

On behalf of Sandhu, senior counsel Vikram Chaudhri argued that the notice was issued to him but the journalist who recorded the interview got interim protection from the Supreme Court. Chaudhri said Sandhu never had access to Bishnoi and that he was being selectively targeted.

To Sandhu’s contention that he was summoned under Section 41A of CrPC despite not being named as an accused in the FIR, the Bench pointed out that he was in charge the night before the interview.

Bishnoi is one of the accused in the May 29, 2022, murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala. In March 2023, a private news channel ran two interviews of Bishnoi while the alleged gangster was lodged in a high-security Bathinda jail over video calls, leading to a controversy over the use of mobile phones by prison inmates. Now, he is lodged in Sabarmati Jail in Gujarat.

In December 2023, the high court had ordered the registration of an FIR and probe by an SIT headed by IPS officer Prabodh Kumar into Bishnoi’s interviews after taking suo motu cognisance of the alleged use of mobile phones by inmates in jails. The high court has made it clear that Kumar would continue to probe the matter even after his retirement.

The Supreme Court had on July 30, 2024, dismissed Bishnoi’s petition challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order to register an FIR over his interview with a TV channel from jail and a probe into it by a special investigation team (SIT).

The SIT found that the first interview was conducted on the intervening night of September 3-4, 2022, when Bishnoi was in the custody of the Crime Investigation Agency, Kharar. The second interview was said to have taken place in a Rajasthan jail.

The Punjab Government suspended seven police officers, including Sandhu, and also initiated departmental action.

In November 2024, the high court noted that Punjab Police officers not only permitted the use of electronic devices in the jail premises, but also facilitated a studio-like environment for the interview.