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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Editors oppose time bar

Editors oppose time bar

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published Published on Mar 30, 2012   modified Modified on Mar 30, 2012
-The Telegraph

The Editors’ Guild today opposed any move to empower courts to temporarily clamp down on reporting to protect the interests of parties in an ongoing case, saying it would amount to “pre-censorship” of news.

Arguing for the guild, senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan opposed suggestions for a temporary gag on covering court cases — specially criminal cases and high-stakes corporate matters — if the courts felt it was adversely affecting the rights to dignity and fair trial of parties, and thereby interfering with administration of justice.

“Any postponement in reporting of news amounts to pre-censorship,” Dhavan told the Supreme Court.

Opposing any law or guideline to deal with reporting of sub-judice cases, he said it would amount to infringing the freedom of the press, a crucial component of a citizen’s overall right to free speech and expression.

He lauded the media’s role in cases in which justice was done. He cited the R.K. Anand sting operation that exposed efforts to influence a witness in the 1999 BMW-hit-and-run case and the Delhi High Court decision to overturn the Jessica Lal verdict.

“The Bhopal gas case would never have been reheard but for the media,” he said.

He said it was correct that the media was putting a lot of pressure on the judicial system, but wondered if it could be completely shut out.

He cited excerpts from a case involving Mahatma Gandhi to show that the right of the public to comment was supreme. The media, he said, can “comment”, talk and even take a view. “They cannot pre-judge a case.”

The court could only deal with the media in a specific case by using its contempt of court powers. Any other preventive measure would imply a legislation of sorts by the court of adding to the Contempt of Courts Act, he said. The disadvantages of any pre-emptive action would outweigh the advantages, he added.

For the court to do that, there must be a law to curtail Article 19 (1)A, which deals with the right to freedom of speech and expression, he said. The court cannot lay down guidelines that are enforceable in the absence of such a law, he said.

A Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, is hearing a petition by Sahara India for relief in a case in which a TV channel reported a proposed offer to SEBI causing market valuation losses to the company.

The Telegraph, 30 March, 2012, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120330/jsp/nation/story_15313152.jsp#.T3VjG2GO0fU


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