'Rule Of Noise Has Replaced Rule Of Law': Senior Advocates Discuss Problems Of Media Trial

Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal, Harish Salve, Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi and C Aryama Sundaram discussed the problems on 'media trial' in a virtual debate hosted by NewsX on the topic 'pros and cons of media trial' as part of Ram Jethmalani Memorial Lecture.The comments of the senior lawyers assumed relevance in the context of the coverage of the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, which attracted criticism from several quarters for public vilification of the accused and for holding a parallel investigation.The Bombay High Court recently observed that the media should observe restraint while reporting the case so as not to interfere with the police investigation.'Media can make a hero turn into a villain in not time' : Kapil SibalSibal, the first speaker at the session, started by expressing concerns about media acting as a 'public court', and pronouncing guilt verdict even before the completion of formal investigation and trial in accordance with law."The media looks upon discovery of facts as a way of earning TRP, to gain more audience. They bother less about the credibility of source", he said.Adding that the media often distort facts to sensationalize events, he said they "can make a hero turn into a villain in no time at all"."Today the media has reincarnated itself into a public court. They do not just make suggestive innuendos but direct allegations. And some of them even instigate violence", he said. All norms laid down for ethical journalistic practices are being violated by media on a day to day basis while reporting on crime and investigation, he said.He cited the example of the 2G case, which according to him was propelled by a baseless media campaign. The Courts acquitted the accused in the 2G case but the media trial badly affected the telecom sector, which was then booming.He suggested that the media should work as a stand-alone business, following the example laid down by Ram Nath Goenka with respect to the Indian Express group. This, according to him, will ensure that media will function in pursuance of their true journalistic duties, without any conflict of interest or vested interests.'Rule of noise' has replaced 'rule of law':Harish Salve"The problem starts when media becomes a parallel system of rule of noise and the rule of noise starts displacing the rule of law", Salve said.He commented that the Indian judicial system in high profile cases has become a "circus" and that the media does not believe in anything called the law of evidence. "Trial by court of law has been replaced by trial by embarrassment", he lamented.In contrast with India, media in countries like the UK and the USA exercise restraint while reporting on crime.But in India, before even an investigation is afoot, there is a clamour for arrest. When the clamour becomes deafening, arrest is made, and guilt is pronounced by media, he added.He cited the example of Sunil Mittal, who was an accused in the 2G scam case. Though the only evidence for conspiracy cited by the CBI was that he had attended the wedding of the daughter of the telecom secretary, Salve said, the media reports thundered "CBI nailed him".The Courts threw out the CBI evidence; but by that time, enough trauma had been caused to Mittal and his family."Sunil Mittal's family had to undergo severe trauma, spending sleepless nights. Reputation was tarnished", he said.Commenting that the unbridled functioning of social media was a threat, he said :"Now there is a dangerous cocktail of electronic media and social media. Social media has put the power of publication in the hands of everybody who has an opinion and who has a bias. Anything written in WhatsApp is taken as gospel truth. This gets picked up the electronic media".He expressed the view that this atmosphere was the biggest impediment to India's progress. Foreign investors are wary of investing in India because of the fear of harassment, he said."Despite the Bhopal tragedy, Warren Anderson was not arrested. Can that be imagined today? Someone recently filed a complaint in Bihar against the Chairman of Samsung for losing dealership of mobiles and court issued summons. Why? Because media said 'rich vs poor''", he said.As regards the coverage of the Sushant Singh-Rhea Chakraborty case, Salve said that he won't say much except that "it would scare anybody who has practiced law and is familiar with the criminal justice system".Coming to the means to fix this problem, Salve ruled out government control."Anything worse than a reckless media is a government tamed media. I don't believe that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has any business in interfering with the content", he said.He suggested that the control should come from the Courts, laying down the lakshman-rekha which the media should not cross.In this regard, he said that he had made a proposal to the Law Ministry earlier to set up special tribunals to try civil defamation cases, which will deliver judgments in six months."In UK , civil...

'Rule Of Noise Has Replaced Rule Of Law': Senior Advocates Discuss Problems Of Media Trial

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