Bombay High Court Issues Notice To Mid-Day For Publishing Name And Photo Of Minor Involved In Criminal Case

A division bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Prithviraj Chavan said,

“We have perused the photocopy of the said article, so tendered. Having regard to the fact, that Mid-Day has published the name of the child as well as the photographs of the child, in contravention of Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2015, we deem it appropriate to issue notice to the scribe of the said article – Shirish Vaktania, the Publisher and Editor of Mid-Day, as to why suo-motu action should not be initiated against them.”

Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 prohibits disclosure of the identity of any child in conflict with law. The court directed Mid-Day to respond to the notice by February 1, 2023.

The court had on October 20, 2022, quashed an FIR under Section 338 of the IPC (causing grievous hurt by endangering life or personal safety of others) against a 9-year-old boy for accidentally hitting a lady while riding a bicycle. The court had observed that the FIR traumatized the boy.

Advocate Viresh Purwant for the complainant, in a hearing for compliance of the October 20 order, informed the court that Mid-Day had published the name and photos of the minor boy in its article, contravening Section 74 of the Act.

Case no. – Criminal Writ Petition No. 3062 of 2022

Case Title – ABC v. State of Maharashtra and Anr.

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