UP Government Notified as Supreme Court Orders No Penal Action

In a decisive ruling on August 25, the Supreme Court sent a notice to the Uttar Pradesh administration, directing it not to pursue any penal measures against journalist Abhishek Upadhyaya in the wake of the Indirapuram road‑rage FIR. The bench, led by Chief Justice S. Kant and joined by Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohan, placed an interim freeze on any arrest or punitive step concerning the case.

The order explicitly bars the FIR—registered at the Indirapuram police station—from being used as a basis for criminal proceedings. The court further instructed the state police to furnish Upadhyaya with a certified copy of the FIR, facilitating his right to legal recourse.

Compliance is to be reported by the Ghaziabad Police Commissioner, and the next judicial review is set for September 7. The court indicated that upon receipt of the FIR document, the journalist may petition the Allahabad High Court to have the complaint dismissed or to seek any other appropriate remedy.

Senior advocate Pradeep Ray, speaking for Upadhyaya, argued that the FIR is part of a calculated campaign to punish the journalist for his investigative pieces on alleged irregularities in the Ram Temple Trust and suspected corruption within the Uttar Pradesh bureaucracy. He maintained that the incident occurred when Upadhyaya, accompanied by his daughter, was simply returning from school and a motorcyclist attempted to impede his car, leading to a tense but non‑violent confrontation.