1000 Days Behind Bars: Activists, Journalists Rally for Rupesh Kumar Singh’s Release in Open Letter to CJI

Ranchi- As Jharkhand-based freelance journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh nears 1,000 days of incarceration on April 11, 2025, a coalition of activists, journalists, and family members has launched a fervent appeal to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) for his immediate and unconditional release. Singh, imprisoned since July 17, 2022, under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), has been denied bail despite what his supporters call a campaign of wrongful persecution driven by his fearless reporting.

In an open letter addressed to the CJI, the signatories argue that Singh’s detention is a deliberate attempt by the Indian state to silence his pro-people journalism. Arrested initially in a single case, Singh was subsequently implicated in four additional UAPA cases linked to alleged Maoist activities—charges his advocates denounce as fabricated. “Slapping multiple cases against Rupesh Kumar Singh shows the clear intention of the Indian state to ensure that he remains in jail for a very long time by turning the very process into punishment,” the letter states.

Singh’s work has long focused on exposing human rights violations in Jharkhand and central India, including rape, illegal arrests, and extrajudicial killings. Before his arrest, he was investigating the devastating impact of industrial pollution on local communities, shedding light on how factory waste jeopardized the health and livelihoods of ordinary people. The letter asserts that this commitment to uncovering truth—particularly regarding corporate-induced environmental destruction and state atrocities—is the root cause of his targeting.

"We believe that, as a journalist, Rupesh's work to expose human rights violations as well as corporate induced destruction of lives and environment along with his commitment to uncovering the truth on various issues concerning the people, is the main reason for targeting by the Brahmanical Hindutva Fascist BJP-RSS government. Initially, he was targeted by the Jharkhand Government, ruled by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) with Hemant Soren at the helm, and later the NIA and other agencies got involved in his case. The journalist Rupesh Kumar's case compelled us to think that it is not only the Hindutva-fascist BJP that is threatening press freedom and stifling dissent, but other   ruling political parties of various states are also on the same page when a challenge to their anti-people policies find space in voice of a pro-people journalist," the letter reads.

The appeal points fingers at both the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) government under Hemant Soren and the broader political landscape, including the “Brahmanical Hindutva Fascist BJP-RSS government,” for stifling dissent. It alleges that Singh’s case reflects a pattern where ruling parties, regardless of ideology, suppress journalists who challenge anti-people policies. The involvement of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the use of Pegasus spyware—a surveillance tool condemned internationally—further fuel claims of a coordinated effort to muzzle him. “Journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh, the victim of such an attack, speaks volumes to the government’s desperation to silence his pro-people reporting as it would expose the State-Corporate nexus that destroys people’s lives and livelihood,” the letter contends.

Despite Singh’s role as a petitioner in a Supreme Court case against the use of Pegasus spyware, his bail application was rejected on January 27, 2025. This decision has sparked outrage among his supporters, who highlight a perceived judicial inconsistency. “The Supreme Courts and high courts give various judgments and say that ‘Bail is Rule and Jail is Exception,’ but when cases, especially of activists and pro-people journalists, come before the courts, they forget this basic principle,” the letter laments, accusing the judiciary of either denying bail or delaying proceedings indefinitely.

The open letter calls on democratic and progressive organizations, journalists, advocates, social activists, and human rights defenders to join the cause by signing the petition and standing in solidarity with Singh. It demands his immediate release from what it terms “illegal detention,” framing his plight as a critical test of press freedom and justice in India.

As the 1,000-day milestone approaches, the rallying cry grows louder, urging the CJI to intervene and rectify what supporters see as a grave miscarriage of justice against a journalist whose only crime, they argue, was speaking truth to power.