HP High Court stays arrest of journo who exposed irregularities in e-pass system by procuring pass using names of Amitabh Bachchan, Donald Trump

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has stayed the arrest of Aman Kumar Bharadwaj, a journalist who revealed irregularities in the e-pass services which allowed visitors to enter the State of Himachal Pradesh during the COVID-19 pandemic..The journalist had applied for e-passes in names of Amitabh Bachchan and Donald Trump with his own Aadhaar details. To his surprise, the e-passes were generated without any verification..A single-judge Bench of Justice Ajay Mohan Goel stayed the arrest of the journalist, against whom a First Information Report (FIR) was registered the same evening he broadcast the news about these irregularities."It is ordered that till the next date of hearing, no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioner pursuant to lodging of FIR No. 51/21, dated 07.05.2021 at Police Station Shimla East, District Shimla under Sections 419, 468 & 471 of the Indian Penal Code, Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act and Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act," the order stated..On the evening on May 5, an FIR under Section 419, Section 468 and Section 471 of the Indian Penal Code, as well as Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act and Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act was registered at Police Station Shimla. At around 11 AM the same day, the petitioner broadcast the story, highlighting the manner in which e-passes were being generated without any verification of the accompanying documents so uploaded..In his petition, the applicant submitted that the registration of the FIR was nothing but an "attempt to curb the freedom of press" in the State of Himachal Pradesh. The reason behind the news broadcast was the sudden increase in the interstate vehicular movement, despite the fact that the State had imposed strict restrictions on the same."The petitioner had unearthed the entire story as a part of his duty bearing in mind the fact that Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution of India considers the freedom of press as an essential part of the freedom of speech and expression as guaranteed by the constitution of India. The Right to freedom of press further includes the right to investigate, propagate, publish and circulate the opinion and other views with complete freedom by resorting to the available means of publication and broadcasting," the plea stated. .It was submitted that the very purpose of the registration on the web-portal was not only to verify the documents uploaded on the portal by the person entering the State, but also to authenticate the purpose of visit..[Read Order]