Colloquium Of Lawyers And Media Professionals Held On Limits Of Press Freedom

An inter-professional colloquium of lawyers and media-persons on the topic “Media, Courts and Fair Trial Guarantee” was held on March 31 at Cochin. It was organized by Bar Council of Kerala and M.K Nambiar Academy for Continuing Legal Education Program under the leadership of Dr. N.R Madhava Menon, in association with the legal publication house Complete Kerala High Court Cases.The demand for regulating reporting of court proceedings has been rising from the legal fraternity on the ground that the reports are most often inaccurate, distorted and sensationalized. In criminal proceedings, it amounts to a virtual trial by media, infringing right to fair trial. However, the attempts to make such regulations are resisted by media stating that it amounts to infringing press freedom under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. The High Court of Kerala has recently framed norms for accreditation of legal correspondents, which mandate law degree and minimum legal practice for getting accreditation. These norms were challenged before the High Court by media houses as unconstitutional and the matter is pending. Meanwhile, a Full Bench of the High Court of Kerala has reserved orders on a petition seeking framing of guidelines for reporting of court proceedings, including oral observations made by judges during argument.It was in this backdrop that the colloquium was organized. It was attended by a galaxy of speakers from both the fields of law and journalism.The inaugural session was presided over by Justice (Retd.) R. Basant, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India and former Judge, High Court of Kerala. He said that press, as the fourth estate, was the conscience keeper of democracy. But at the same time, he reminded in order to properly discharge its function in court reporting it press should understand the nuances of legal process and dialogue between the bar and bench. Although they have the right to report, they cannot be selective in reporting.Sashi Kumar, the founder of Asianet TV Channel and present Chairman of Media Development Foundation, stated that the primary function of the press was to be adversarial to the State. Press is not just a market product as it stands for higher values of democracy. If it fails to do that, then it cannot claim the status of a fourth estate.Justice Dama Sheshadri Naidu, judge of High Court of Kerala, delivering the keynote address, spoke about the changed nature of media in the ‘post-truth’ world, where different spins to facts are given to suit agendas. He also mentioned about the circumstances in which of courts are constrained to pass ‘super-injunctions’, ‘john doe orders’ and ‘gag orders’ to contain the spread of misinformation in social media.Adv. George Johnson, Editor of Kerala High Court Cases, delivered the vote of thanks for the inaugural session.The inaugural session was followed by a discussion session on the sub-topic ‘Constitutional and statutory framework governing media freedom in relation to court proceedings’. Manoj K. Das, the resident editor of Times of India, Kochi edition and Suhrit Parthasarathy, Advocate, High Court of Madras delivered the keynote presentations regarding the topic.Manoj Das elaborated on the basic function of the media, which was to act as a mirror to the society to reflect its untidiness. The dislike towards media and the tendency of those in power to stifle it are natural, since media blares out uncomfortable truths; but instead of feeling annoyance, society should introspect and do some cleaning up. He opposed the demand that only legally qualified persons should be court reporters. He also emphasized that external regulation will kill the media.Suhrit Parthasarathy stated that prior restraints on news publication, even in respect of court proceedings, are not constitutionally valid. According to him, publicity is the soul of justice and idea of open courts is the foundational rock of democracy. He discussed in detail the Naresh Mirajkar case and Sahara case, where judiciary had toyed with the idea of restraining court reporting. Press freedom cannot be curtailed through judge-made laws, as they do not fall within the ambit of reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2).The critical view to the above was offered by Renjith Marar, Advocate, Supreme Court, Mohan Idicula Abraham and Mohammed Shah, Advocates High Court of Kerala. They offered the viewpoints of legal practitioners confronting concrete hardships created by unfair and inaccurate court reporting. The framing of guidelines for court-reporting was the need of the hour. Courts have the power to do it in the interests of the administration of justice. It cannot be characterized as judicial lawmaking. Rather, rulemaking power for administration of justice is specifically provided in constitutional and statutory provisions like Article 227(2) of the Constitution of India, Section 477 Cr.P.C etc. The problems caused by reporting of oral observations by judges during...

Colloquium Of Lawyers And Media Professionals Held On Limits Of Press Freedom

Manu Sebastian

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