Two editors and the managing director of Hindi daily Prabhat Khabar are facing a criminal complaint lodged with state police. The charges include forgery and defamation after their report alleged a connection between a liquor businessman and various scams.
Following the publication of the said report, the Chief Editor Ashutosh Chaturvedi, Resident Editor Vijay Kant Pathak, and Managing Director Rajeev Jhawar were accused by Jogendra Tiwari, who was named in their article and is currently serving time in a central jail for money-laundering charges related to a liquor scam.
The ensuing criminal complaint is not the only consequence borne by the media personnel. Even before the legal complaint, Pathak, Chaturvedi, and another associate had been victims of threatening calls, reportedly traced back to Tiwari and even from the jail premises where he is imprisoned. Vijay Pathak brought the matter to the attention of Hemant Soren, Chief Minister of Jharkhand through a letter, urging him to investigate.
The Editors Guild of India has expressed profound concern about the situation, a sentiment that was already aired earlier when they requested the Jharkhand government to guarantee Chaturvedi’s safety. The Press Club of India has also echoed this sentiment, calling for a detailed investigation into the underlying issues.
Rampant with corruption, crime, poverty, illiteracy, and facing a left-wing extremist insurgency, Jharkhand, the state where Prabhat Khabar is based and the incidents have occurred, is brutally reminded of the constant struggle between maintaining the freedom of press and reporting ground realities, and ensuring personal safety.