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: