MP CM security breach: 2 journalists get 1-year imprisonment

The accused scribes had pleaded that the dispute started when they were filming the security personnel who were sleeping on duty

A TV journalist and a cameraman have been sentenced to one year imprisonment by a court for breaching the security ring of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan about seven years ago.

It was alleged in the complaint that the security personnel sustained injuries as these journalists manhandled them.

The case was related to a scuffle between journalist Vijay Meena and cameraman Vikrant Singh Thakur and security personnel on April 11, 2010 at the Berda Primary Health Centre, where Chouhan was staying for the night.

Assistant district prosecutor Seema Sharma said Class-One Judicial Magistrate Vishnu Prasad Solanki on Monday convicted Meena and Thakur under section 456 (punishment for lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night) of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced them to one year imprisonment.

The court also found the duo guilty under IPC section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and sentenced them to six months in jail. Both the punishment would run concurrently.

A case against these scribes was registered on a complaint filed by platoon commander of 32 battalion of RAF, Ujjain, Vijay Kumar Mahor, she added.

The accused scribes pleaded that the dispute started when they were filming the security personnel who were sleeping on duty, she added.

The court in Sailana town also slapped a fine of Rs 100 on each of them.

After the conviction, the scribes were granted bail.