Festival organiser Shyam Kanu Mahanta on Friday (October 3, 2025) moved the Supreme Court seeking protection for his “life, limb and personal liberty” following the death of Assamese singer Zubeen Garg in Singapore.Mr. Mahanta said he is a “victim of a well calculated witch-hunt involving irresponsible media reportings, both print and electronic, which seek to create a false narrative with regard to the alleged involvement of the petitioner in the sad and unfortunate demise of his very dear personal friend, Mr. Zubeen Garg”.“This is a classic case in which the petitioner who himself is grieving due to the passing away of his personal dear friend, has been made the target of public hate and has not been allowed to even pay his respects at the last rites of the late singer,” the petition stated, adding that he has been deprived of his right to mourn the loss of his dear friend. Mr. Mahanta said he was subjected to “large-scale public hatred owing to a false narrative and termed the allegations against him “ludicrous to say the least”.Mr. Mahanta has sought an NIA or a CBI probe into the death and a fair trial monitored by a retired Supreme Court judge into case, instead of allegations becoming “embroiled in a media trial on mainstream media and social media”.Prayers in the petitionConsolidation and transfer of probe from SIT to CBI, NIAAppointment of a retired Supreme Court judge to monitor and supervise the investigation into the deathRestrain the State of Assam from employing any coercive measures against Mr. Mahanta or his familyProvide adequate protection to Mr. Mahanta and his family members in the wake of public and media outrageCall for the post-mortem report and other medical records along with the investigation report conducted in Singapore, sent by the High Commission of Singapore to the State of Assam and DGPRestrain social media as well as print and digital media from running hateful and prejudiced news items which are unsubstantiated till the time the investigation is ongoingIn his writ petition, Mr. Mahanta said he was the event organiser of a festival to be held on September 19-21, 2025 at Singapore and was “not even present at the place of occurrence of the unfortunate demise of the late singer”.“The petitioner could not even meet the deceased on September 19, 2025 i.e., the date of the incident, as he was busy in overseeing the arrangements of the festival and had met him only on September 17, 2025,” the petition, filed through advocate Raj Kamal, submitted. The petition also referred to media reports, including video footage available on Youtube, which indicate the singer was apparently swimming in the waters of the island with his family and friends.The petition said Mr. Mahanta himself came to know about the singer’s death at around 1 pm IST via a telephonic call from the singer’s manager Siddharth Sharma. Mr. Sharma, too, has been arrested in the case.Atmosphere in Assam was “extremely surcharged”The petition said the atmosphere in Assam was “extremely surcharged”, and the entire State machinery as well as the fans of the late singer were emotionally outraged.Seeking to shift the case outside the Assam, Mr. Mahanta said there was every likelihood he would not get justice in the State.“The gravity of the situation and the extent of prejudice and bias against the petitioner became even more apparent in light of the fact that the All Assam Lawyers’ Association has publicly urged its members of the legal fraternity not to represent the accused persons in Zubeen Garg’s demise case. This unprecedented call to boycott the defense has far-reaching implications. It undermines the very foundation of the criminal justice system,” the petition noted.The State has registered a case of criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, causing death by negligence of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.It has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate into the death of the late singer.“The petitioner is faced with a barrage of FIRs, more than 54 in number, to the best of his knowledge and information of the Petitioner in the State of Assam and other neighboring States in the Northeast region,” the petition said.The Union government, State of Assam, Assam DGP, CBI, and the National Investigation Agency have been listed as respondents in the petition.