Journalist's death: PCI recommends an impartial probe

The Press Council of India (PCI) has recommended the Uttar Pradesh government to get the case of burning of journalist Jagendra Singh probed by an impartial agency and blamed the state police for neither providing security to the deceased nor showing interest in investigation of his death.

The Council has also recommended that the Uttar Pradesh government should study measures taken by other states to stop harassment of journalists and sought an impartial review to be done at Superintendent of Police level before filing a complaint against a journalist or arresting him.

"In view of seriousness of the (Jagendra Singh) case and delay in conducting inquiry of the case, UP government should get this case thoroughly investigated by an impartial agency," a PCI-appointed three member fact finding team has recommended in its report.

PCI Chairman Justice (retd) Chandramauli Kumar Prasad while addressing a press conference here today, said that the report submitted by the committee -- comprising Prakash Dubey, S N Sinha and Suman Gupta -- has been adopted by the Council.

Apart from PCI Chairman, the members of the committee were also present.

To ascertain the facts related to Singh's death, the Committee visited Shahjahanpur district to meet family members of the deceased and also met senior functionaries including UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

The Committee, in its report, said that the police and the administration had neither taken this incident seriously nor tried to take cognisance of the statement given by deceased Singh which led to worsening of the situation.

It noted that incidents of filing of cases by Jagendra Singh and his rivals were taking place but the police did not take cognisance in an impartial manner.

The PCI report also emphasised that no matter who commits the crime, there should be an arrangement for penalising him according to the prevalent law. It also asked the state to ensure that nobody can influence the enquiry on the basis of power.