-The Business Standard SC's order on trial coverage is prone to misuse The Supreme Court has ruled that if publishing news concerning a trial creates “a real and substantial risk of prejudice to the proper administration of justice or to the fairness of trial”, the court could allow a postponement of its publication through an appropriate order. The order was passed on complaints that had alleged breach of confidentiality during the...

-The Hindu We live in a legal environment where the rule of sub judice is regarded as an anachronism, emanating from a time when all trials were decided by jurors susceptible to influence by what was published in the press. By and large, the law of sub judice, which regulates the dissemination of matter under the consideration of the court, is a dead letter. In such a context, the Supreme Court’s...

-Live Mint The judgement whittles down an already embattled freedom available to the Press  In an important judgement it delivered on Tuesday, the Supreme Court has institutionalized the power to temporarily prohibit the Press from reporting court proceedings in case it interferes with the right to a free and fair trial. While the court shied from prescribing guidelines for the Press on court reporting, in the same breath it allowed individuals and companies...

-The Indian Express Concerned about instances of reporting that breached confidentiality and threatened to hurt litigants, the Supreme Court has been, for a while, contemplating the way to regulate the journalistic coverage of ongoing cases. While the court has done well to refuse to lay down any overarching rule for all sub-judice cases, it did make a significant and troubling change by allowing a case-by-case appeal for postponing media coverage. Essentially,...

-The Indian Express The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the media to be partially restrained while reporting judicial proceedings by drawing a “Lakshman rekha” for what it called balancing the freedom of expression and a fair trial. But the apex court refused to impose blanket restrictions saying guidelines on reporting cannot be framed across the board. The court laid down the partial line of restraint through the principle of “postponement of publication”,...