The Indian Express journalists win ACJ investigative journalism award
Shyamlal Yadav and Mumbai Resident Editor Sandeep Singh of The Indian Express were declared winners of the Asian College of Journalism’s Award for Investigative Journalism on Tuesday for their reports on the Ayodhya land deals published in December 2021. The winners were declared at the college’s annual convocation of 2022 batch.
Yadav has won the award for the second time, previously winning it in 2017 for his 2016 story on fraud in the Jan Dhan accounts.
“The winning entry titled ‘Ayodhya land deals’, published in The Indian Express newspaper in December 2021, investigates the wrongdoings by families of some public officials who bought land after the apex court verdict, within the 5-km radius of the Ram Temple site,” the college said.
Prema Sridevi and Himanshu Kala won the K P Narayana Kumar Memorial Award for Social Impact Journalism for their documentary feature film on manual scavengers, produced by The Probe.
The final jury comprised Ayaz Memon (Chairperson), Swapna Sundar and Harsha Subramaniam and the winners were chosen from shortlisted entries in each category. The award carries a trophy, citation, and Rs 2 lakh in cash.
“The jury unanimously chose the probe into the land deals in Ayodhya by Shyamlal Yadav and Sandeep Singh published in The Indian Express,” the college said.
“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… We commend Shyamlal Yadav, Sandeep Singh and The Indian Express for this outstanding work,” it added.
