Shyamlal Yadav and Sandeep Singh were declared
winners of the Asian College of Journalism’s Award for Investigative Journalism
2021. The winning entry titled ‘Ayodhya land deals’,
published in The Indian Express newspaper in December
2021, investigates the wrongdoings of families of public officials bought
land after the apex court verdict, all within a 5-km radius of the Ram temple
site.
The final jury comprising Ayaz Memon (Chairperson), Swapna
Sundar and Harsha Subramaniam 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
Ayaz Memon, Senior Journalist and Columnist, at the Convocation of the ACJ
Class of 2022.
Other stories that were considered as final nominations and have
been awarded special mentions by the jury (in no particular order) are as
follows:
·
An investigative series into the deaths due to covid by Rukmini
S published in Scroll, The Hindu and India Spend.
·
The Foreigner by
Makepeace Sithlou and Prakash Bhuyan published in Fifty Two.
The jury’s citation read as follows:
“The jury unanimously chose the investigation
into the land deals in Ayodhya by Shyamlal Yadav and Sandeep Singh published
in The Indian Express.
This series exposes how elected representatives and relatives of
government officials rushed to buy land in Ayodhya hoping to make hefty gains
after the Supreme Court verdict. The follow-up report unearths blatant
irregularities in how land parcels were purchased from Dalit villagers at a
throwaway price. The work of these two journalists leads to a probe by the
State Government and, eventually, a court order quashing the original land
transfer.
This is a stellar example of journalism done right. One that
relentlessly pursues the truth and holds public servants accountable to law.
These stories raise pertinent questions of conflict of interest and impropriety
by those who hold high offices. Above all, these stories provide confidence
that journalism in public interest continues to thrive in India, despite many
pressures.
We commend Shyamlal Yadav, Sandeep Singh and
The Indian Express for this outstanding work.”