Supreme Court refuses to quash FIRs against TV news anchor

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to quash FIRs against TV anchor Amish Devgan for his alleged defamatory remark against Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti during a show on June 15 but said he will get protection from any coercive action if he continues to cooperate with the probe.

A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Sanjiv Khanna also transferred all FIRs filed against Devgan in different states, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, to Ajmer in Rajasthan.

The apex court had earlier granted Devgan protection from any coercive action in connection with the FIRs.

Several FIRs were lodged against Devgan for using a derogatory term for the Sufi saint in the news debate show called ''Aar Paar'' on his channel on June 15. Devgan later tweeted an apology saying he was actually referring to Muslim ruler Alauddin Khilji and inadvertently ended up naming Chisti.