{"id":1825,"date":"2026-09-01T08:31:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T08:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/09\/01\/journalist-ram-temple-scam-supreme-court-stay\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T08:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T08:31:18","slug":"journalist-ram-temple-scam-supreme-court-stay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/09\/01\/journalist-ram-temple-scam-supreme-court-stay\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalist Who Reported Ayodhya Temple Scam Seeks Supreme Court Stay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"9fece8afa224fd09e54b043d0febfb58\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- NR ATF -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8898941184964366\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4839033563\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>Journalist Abhishek Upadhyay, the reporter who first disclosed the alleged theft of donations intended for the Ayodhya Ram temple, has filed a petition before the Supreme Court of India seeking an immediate stay on a notice issued by the Ghaziabad Crime Branch. The notice, dated August\u202f22, demands that the social\u2011media platform X provide a wide array of digital information linked to Upadhyay\u2019s X handle, @upadhyayabhii.<\/p>\n<h2>Background of the police notice<\/h2>\n<p>The demand was sent under Section\u202f94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) by the Crime Branch Investigation Unit in Ghaziabad. X\u2019s legal department informed Upadhyay on August\u202f26 that it had received the request and was notifying him so that he could take appropriate legal steps. The request seeks login and logout IP addresses, an alternate email ID, mobile number, precise location data (latitude and longitude), device details including IMEI number, as well as name, address, phone number and full registration logs.<\/p>\n<p>According to the petition, the police are asking for records dating back to June\u202f1, even though the FIR that triggered the investigation concerns a road\u2011rage incident that occurred on August\u202f18, 2026. Upadhyay\u2019s counsel, Advocate Anoop Kumar Awasthi, argued that the data request is \u201cdisproportionately broad\u201d and extends well before the alleged incident.<\/p>\n<h2>Supreme Court hearing<\/h2>\n<p>Earlier this week, the Supreme Court had stayed any coercive action against Upadhyay in connection with the FIR. In the current hearing, Awasthi reiterated that the police\u2019s demand could expose individuals who communicated with the journalist while he was gathering evidence for the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple donation theft story. He warned that disclosure of the requested information would place his sources at the mercy of state machinery and could lead to their harassment.<\/p>\n<p>The Chief Justice of India questioned the necessity of the extensive data pull, noting that the petitioner already enjoys interim protection. \u201cWhat is the problem? We already protected you. They are investigating a matter. Let them investigate,\u201d the Chief Justice remarked. Justice V\u202fMohana responded, \u201cJust file it,\u201d while the Chief Justice added, \u201cWe will see.\u201d Awasthi pressed for an urgent listing of the application, seeking an ex\u2011parte interim stay that would restrain the authorities from seeking, obtaining, processing or disclosing any of the requested information.<\/p>\n<h2>Legal arguments on press freedom<\/h2>\n<p>The petition frames the issue as one of constitutional importance, invoking Article\u202f19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and expression. Upadhyay contends that unrestricted access to his digital records would have a chilling effect on the willingness of sources to provide information on matters of public interest, thereby undermining the press\u2019s role as a watchdog.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond personal privacy, the application stresses that the period covered by the data request coincides with Upadhyay\u2019s investigative reporting on alleged irregularities and theft of donations meant for the Ram Temple. The petitioner fears that the police could reconstruct his digital associations, contacts and movements over several months, potentially revealing confidential sources who assisted him in that investigation.<\/p>\n<p>In his written submission, Upadhyay highlighted that the police\u2019s demand for data from June\u202f1 onward is unrelated to the August\u202f18 road\u2011rage incident. He noted that the week beginning June\u202f1 was when he was actively collecting evidence for the temple donation story. \u201cIf that is disclosed, entire source will be at mercy of state machinery and they will be harassed. There is no connection,\u201d Awasthi submitted on his behalf.<\/p>\n<p>The case is formally recorded as ABHISHEK\u202fUPADHYAY versus STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH AND ORS., W.P.(Crl.) No.\u202f339\/2026. The Supreme Court\u2019s decision on the stay application will determine whether the police can proceed with the extensive data retrieval from X, and will set a precedent for how investigative journalists\u2019 digital footprints are protected in India.<\/p>\n<p>Legal experts watching the proceedings note that the outcome could influence future interactions between law\u2011enforcement agencies and media professionals, especially in high\u2011profile investigations that involve sensitive sources. A ruling that curtails the police\u2019s request may reinforce safeguards for journalistic sources, while a decision allowing the data pull could broaden the scope of state surveillance over the press.<\/p>\n<p>As the petition awaits an urgent listing, Upadhyay remains under the interim protection granted by the Supreme Court. The case underscores the tension between investigative journalism, digital privacy, and law\u2011enforcement powers in a rapidly digitising media environment.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reporter Abhishek Upadhyay, who broke the Ayodhya Ram temple donation theft story, has asked the Supreme Court to halt a police notice demanding extensive data from his X account.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299],"tags":[1793,1792,1790,1794,335,1791],"class_list":["post-1825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-digital-privacy","tag-journalist","tag-press-freedom","tag-ram-temple","tag-supreme-court","tag-uttar-pradesh","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}