New Delhi, Aug. 26 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted protection from arrest to a journalist who claimed he was implicated in a false case by the Uttar Pradesh police after his report exposed irregularities in the donations received at Ayodhya Ram Temple, sparking a controversy that has embarrassed the state and Union governments and necessitated changes in the trust that runs the temple. Issuing notice to the Uttar Pradesh government to respond by September 7, a bench headed by CJI said, "meanwhile, no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioner in the FIRs already registered or such FIRs to be registered." The order came on a petition filed by Abhishek Upadhyay who sought protection from arrest in a case of alleged road rage where he was accused of roughing up a motorist near Indirapuram in Ghaziabad. The court noted that multiple FIRs against him gave rise to an apprehension of arrest and said that on September 7, it will permit the petitioner to approach the Allahabad high court having jurisdiction over the crime. Senior advocate Pradeep Rai appearing for the journalist said that till date the FIR of the case lodged against him has not been supplied for him to prepare his defence. Further, he urged the court to provide the CCTV footage as he apprehended that the police was pressurising the shopkeepers situated near to the incident spot to delete CCTV footage related to the date and place of alleged crime. The bench, also comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, directed the Commissioner of Police of Ghaziabad to file a compliance report and said, "Let the FIR be supplied to the petitioner to enable him to avail his remedies under law. As soon as the copy of the FIR is received, the petitioner will be at liberty to approach the jurisdictional high court." While Rai alleged that he had nothing to do with the alleged crime, he stated that the only "unpardonable sin" he seems to have committed was his fair reporting of the alleged theft in donations received at Ayodhya temple. "We appreciate your apprehension as there is a repeat FIR. We don't know if what you say is true or not. Let us hypothetically see that if a person hits a scooterist and if he abuses, then it can be an offence or if it is concocted, then you need some breathing space. We can protect you for the time being till you approach the high court," the bench observed. Upadhyay sought quashing of the FIR and in the alternate, transfer of investigation to an independent agency such as CBI or to another state such as Delhi . His plea stated that he " apprehends that he may be arrested or subjected to physical harm by planted goons of the state machinery in the state of Uttar Pradesh before he can obtain effective judicial protection." Upadhyay runs a YouTube channel and claimed that a police team visited his residence on August 20 and apprised him about the criminal case against him on allegations of road rage and abusive behaviour. The petition states that the alleged incident took place on August 18 near Shipra Mall in Ghaziabad when a motorcyclist brushed against Upadhyay's car....