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Govt wades into trial-by-media battle
-The Telegraph

The government today told a Constitution bench that the right to freedom of speech was for the “benefit” of the public, not the media, as it backed the Supreme Court’s attempt to lay down norms for reporting judicial proceedings.

“Freedom of speech is not for the benefit of the press but for the benefit of the public,” additional solicitor-general Indira Jaisingh said, marking a shift from the cautious stand the Centre had so far taken since hearings began on a raft of petitions to stop “trial by the media”.

At the first hearing, attorney-general G.E. Vahanvati had said “self-regulation” was the best approach.

“Norms, if any, should not be coercive,” he had told the bench, headed by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, which has been debating the need to lay down guidelines for reporting court proceedings.

The hearings had started last month after several corporate houses like Sahara and Vodafone claimed their commercial rights were being adversely affected by media coverage of their high-value cases.

The bench is hearing a complaint by Sahara against a news report for leaking details of an asset valuation made to securities watchdog Sebi.

Today, Jaisingh said that unlike the First Amendment to the American Constitution that provided for freedom of the press, the right of free speech and expression, guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution, was a citizen’s right not available to institutions.

It was a right that gave citizens the right to be informed, not misinformed, she asserted. “There can be no right to misinform/misguide the public under the guise of the right to freedom of speech and expression.”

The law officer openly spoke in favour of guidelines to regulate media coverage of cases that were sub judice, pointing out that “unlike Parliament proceedings, which are covered by privilege, there was no privilege attached to court proceedings”.

“In the courts of the EU, the balancing act between the right to free speech and fair trial is in favour of the litigant in advancing the administration of justice,” she said.

Jaisingh also cited British norms that say reporting should be fair and accurate and any report that assumes a verdict is not fair.

Under British guidelines, she said, what witnesses say under oath can be reported. The media in India, she added, should be barred from reporting material that has been filed with the court’s registry but has not come before the court.

Citing a recent article by Subramanian Swamy, in which the Janata Party leader had allegedly vilified a minority community, she said the right to free speech did not give anyone such rights.

She reminded the court that even the right to information under the RTI act was not an unhindered right. “Even under the RTI act, some information is privileged,” she said.

The bench tried to dispel apprehensions that the guidelines would have stringent provisions, saying it had no intention of sending journalists to jail. “We want journalists to know their limitations,” Justice Kapadia said.

“In the act of balancing 19(1)(a) with Article 21 (right to life and liberty) we are limiting both. We can’t go beyond an extent,” he said.

To this Jaisingh said: “We don’t intend to restrict or curb the freedom of the press but to enhance the credibility of the press.”