Supreme Court shields journalist Abhishek Upadhyay from coercive action

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 25, 2026) ordered that no coercive action be taken against journalist Abhishek Upadhyay, who flagged alleged irregularities in the handling of donations at Ayodhya’s Ram temple.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant directed the Uttar Pradesh Police to provide him with copies of the FIR and CCTV footage so that he can challenge the allegations in court.

The plea by journalist Abhishek Upadhyay, challenging a first information report (FIR) lodged against him by the Ghaziabad Police in an alleged road rage case, claimed that the FIR was based on concocted allegations and was an attempt to harass him for his independent journalistic work.

In the plea, he has contended that the FIR copy has not been supplied to him and that the police were forcing nearby shopkeepers to delete the CCTV visuals of the relevant time.

The Supreme Court has also requested a compliance report from the Ghaziabad Police Commissioner.

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