How did reporter get access to jail for Lawrence Bishnoi interview? Supreme Court asks dismissed Punjab DSP

The Supreme Court on June 24 dismissed as withdrawn a petition filed by former Punjab Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Gursher Singh Sandhu in connection with the interview of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. [Gursher Singh Sandhu v. State of Punjab & Anr.].Sandhu had challenged the issuance of notices under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).A Bench of Justices KV Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh noted that Sandhu’s writ petition, which also sought the quashing of proceedings arising out of the same incident, is already listed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 3..During the hearing, Justice Viswanathan questioned how the journalist was able to access Bishnoi inside the jail premises. He also noted that Sandhu was in charge the night before the interview..Sandhu had contended that he was being summoned under Section 41A CrPC despite not being named as an accused in the FIR. His counsel, Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhri, submitted that the notice was being issued even as the journalist who recorded the interview had secured interim protection from the Supreme Court. He argued that Sandhu never had access to Bishnoi and that he was being selectively targeted..The controversy arises from televised interviews of Lawrence Bishnoi, accused in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case, which were broadcast by ABP Sanjha in March 2023, while Bishnoi was in custody. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of mobile phone use in jails following the broadcast, and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted to probe the circumstances of the interview.The SIT later 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 (CIA), Kharar. The second interview reportedly took place in a Rajasthan jail. Following the probe, the Punjab government suspended seven police officers, including Sandhu, and launched departmental action..Punjab and Haryana High Court pulls up prison officials for allowing Lawrence Bishnoi TV interview from jail.In November 2024, the High Court observed that Punjab Police officers had not only allowed the use of electronic devices inside the jail, but had also facilitated a studio-like environment for the interview. The State was directed to initiate strict action against senior officers found complicit, and was also advised not to scapegoat lower-ranking personnel..Sandhu approached the High Court in January this year challenging his dismissal, and in a subsequent order of June 4, the High Court sought the State’s material linking him to the offence in a sealed cover. The order noted that the general diary entry recording his transposition as an accused did not disclose any reasons. .Was there spurt in crime after Lawrence Bishnoi TV interview? Punjab and Haryana High Court seeks data.In the Supreme Court, When the bench pointed to the pendency of the High Court petition, Chaudhri urged that the top court at least protect Sandhu from coercive action in the interim. However, the bench declined to intervene at this stage and noted in its order that the petition stood dismissed as withdrawn, with liberty to pursue reliefs before the High Court..[Read Order]