The final jury comprising Ruben Banerjee (Chairperson), Jayalakshmi Shreedhar and V. Krishna Ananth chose the winners from shortlisted entries.
The award, which comprises a trophy, a citation and INR 200,000/- in prize money, was presented to the winner by the Chief Guest Chander Uday Singh, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India, at the Convocation of the ACJ Class of 2023.
The jury’s citation read as follows:
“There were several outstanding nominations for this year’s ACJ Award for Investigative Journalism. The jury was spoilt for choice, but a consensus was reached finally on a report by Arunabh Saikia for Scroll.in. Titled “Adani power station gets coal from Hasdeo Arand mine allocated to Rajasthan”, it qualified as the best.
Saikia’s work stands out for its telling expos of the government – industry nexus that has been bleeding the country of its resources. It is a fitting testament to good investigative journalism, embracing time-honoured but now-endangered qualities such as editorial rigour and tireless persistence to uncover the truth.
What Saikia unravelled should leave many red-faced, provided they have any shame. Using RTI and joining the dots thereafter, he has diligently unearthed how millions of tonnes of coal from a mine in Chhattisgarh have been powering private power plants, possibly at prices far lower than the market rate. His report calls attention to a human-caused ecological nightmare unfolding in the region.
Speaking truth to power is increasingly becoming rare. But Saikia’s reportage in Scroll.in is reassuring. It serves to remind us that journalism is very much kicking and alive. Though under siege, not all voices have been silenced yet.”
Other stories that were considered as final nominations and have been awarded special mentions by the jury (in no particular order) are as follows:
- Dhanya Rajendran, Sudipto Mondal, Prajwal Bhat, Samrah Attar, Pooja Prasanna and Shivakumar S | The News Minute/Pratidvani – Armed with govt order, Bengaluru NGO steals voter data
The management of the NGO also ran a political consultancy firm. TNM found that they were selling data to politicians and working out of the BJP ward office. The opposition alleged voters were being deleted with these lists. The trail also led TNM to a company connected to the union government. TNM’s report forced the ECI, the SEC and the state govt to order probes. The issue became a huge talking points ahead of the assembly elections in Karnataka. - Himanshi Dahiya | The Quint – “Are We Victims or Criminals?” Child Brides in Gujarat Fight For Nutrition
A multimedia immersive production which features a primitive practice of girls being married off and impregnated multiple times with little family planning or social safety and security. A social evil that continues in 21st century India.
