Journalists in Chennai met with Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) Shankar Jiwal to voice their concerns over the way the Special Investigation Team (SIT) is handling the Anna University sexual abuse case inquiry. They alleged that seven journalists were questioned inappropriately, with some facing intrusive and irrelevant queries, while two had their mobile phones seized without following due process.
The journalists stated that they were summoned through WhatsApp, in violation of Supreme Court guidelines, and were not given sufficient time to appear for questioning. One journalist noted that he was not issued a ‘return of property’ slip for his seized phone, leaving him uncertain about when it would be returned.
Haseef, General Secretary of the Chennai Press Club, criticised the SIT’s approach, stating, “Summons are being issued through digital mediums, and journalists are not given enough time before appearing. They are then asked irrelevant questions such as ‘how many wives do you have?’ and about their property details. The investigation is supposed to be about an FIR leak, but it appears that the police are instead targeting journalists.”
Senior journalist Shabbir Ahmed described the SIT’s actions as a “rowing inquiry” lacking proper procedure. “There is no method followed in issuing summons. They have called in journalists simply for having seen the FIR, which was publicly available on the CCTNS website. It was uploaded by police officers themselves. Journalists accessed the FIR lawfully and did not disclose the survivor’s identity. Yet, accessing a publicly available document is being criminalised. The SIT is summoning crime reporters and attempting to extract every detail from their phones, setting a dangerous precedent. The Madras High Court has clearly directed authorities to act against those responsible for leaking the FIR, yet no action has been taken against any official. Instead, a number of journalists have been summoned, with more expected to be questioned by the SIT,” Ahmed said.
DGP Shankar Jiwal acknowledged the grievances raised by the journalists and assured them that the matter would be conveyed to the SIT. However, he emphasised that the SIT functions as an independent body.