On Friday, the Supreme Court issued a stay on the arrest of ABP News journalist Jagvinder Patial, who had conducted a telephone interview with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, currently imprisoned in Punjab, last year.

However, the court expressed "serious concern" regarding the action.

“The fact that it can happen within a jail is a very serious matter. The fact remains that you gained access to the jail and published an interview on the TV channel. Whose permission did you take? We see the broader point of 19(1)(a)... (fundamental right to free speech) but there are restrictions by virtue of incarceration of the person…,” Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud told senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for the channel and the journalist.

The bench questioned whether the protection under Article 19(1)(a) could extend to allowing breaches of prison rules for an interview. Justice Chandrachud asked Rohatgi, "Can you do that?"

Challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court's December 2023 order directing an SIT investigation into the interview, Rohatgi argued: “…The high court's order has a chilling effect on free speech. This is investigative journalism and nothing more. The journalist was aware that phones are readily available in jails. He utilized his sources and conducted the interview.”