Supreme Court Asks States To Frame Policy On Police Media Briefing In Terms Of Amicus Suggestions

The Supreme Court recently directed all States to formulate a policy for police media briefing, taking into account a "Police Manual for Media Briefing" furnished before it by amicus curiae.The Court has given 3 months' time to the states to do the needful."We deem it appropriate to direct the States to evolve an appropriate policy for Media Briefing by taking into consideration the Police Manual for Media Briefing furnished by the learned Amicus Curiae. The needful will have to be done within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order", said a bench of Justices MM Sundresh and NK Singh.Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan (Amicus Curiae) submitted the Manual to the Court, after considering the views of the Union government and practices prevalent at the international level.At first, the Court gave the states time to take steps on their end. But as that course did not lead to desired results, it deemed fit to close the matter with a direction to the states to formulate appropriate policies.The Manual was directed to be uploaded on the Supreme Court website. The same can be perused here.What is the Manual about?The Manual is divided into 4 parts - Foundation, Scope and Purpose (Part 1), Authority, Structure and Workflow (Part 2), How to Brief (Part 3) and Operations, Training and Compliance (Part 4).It provides a framework not only for police personnel's interaction with the media, but also with the public. The purpose is to balance public's interest in timely, accurate information with rights of victims, suspects and witnesses as well as integrity of criminal investigations.It has vast scope and applicability, inasmuch as it not only covers external communications by dedicated spokespersons, District media cells, on-scene officers, social media handles, etc., but also press notes, interviews, SMS alerts, posters and audio-visual content.It offers a 90-day Adoption plan divided into 3 phases: (i) establishing of institutional infrastructure, (ii) capacity building and (iii) validation and audit. The process shall begin with constitution of Media Briefing Cells.It emphasizes that disclosures should not be such that lead to "trial by media" and provides a protocol for the type of disclosures that should be made at each stage (pre-FIR, investigation, arrest/remand, etc.).What does the Manual suggest?Some key aspects incorporated in the Manual are thus:- Disclosure tests: Every media briefing must satisfy 4 tests - legality (that is, there is a legal basis to share and no bar on disclosure), necessity (that is, a public objective cannot be reasonably achieved without disclosure), proportionality (that is, disclose only what is strictly necessary) and accountability (that is, content is verified and approved by police department and disclosed through designated briefing cells).- Prevent prejudice and contamination of information: Briefings should not comment on merits of a case or disclose witness accounts. Language used should be neutral, suggesting only process milestones (like "FIR registered") without suggesting guilt, particularly when trial is ongoing. Details of operations should be withheld and spread of misinformation corrected.- Identity protection: The content disclosed must not contain distinctive descriptors, unless informed consent has been obtained lawfully and disclosure is in survivor's interest.- Non-discrimination: There must not be any reference to caste, religion, disability, gender, migration status, etc. in briefings, unless necessary for immediate safety.- Records of briefings should be maintained and only designated spokespersons or officers authorized by the Head of District/Commissionerate/Unit shall brief the media or issue public statements.- Police spokespersons shall be guided by the Press Council of India Norms of Journalistic Conduct (2022) and the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) Guidelines.- Media Briefing Cells should rate each disclosure on parameters of public-interest necessity, prejudice to fair trial, privacy, operational/security risk, rumor-suppression value and impact on survivors/juveniles. If any disclosure surpasses acceptable cumulative risk, it should be deferred, anonymized or replaced with a holding statement.- Penalty for unauthorized disclosures: Unauthorized interviews or leaks shall be treated as misconduct and disciplinary action must follow. Where necessary, there shall be prosecution for breach of official secrecy or contempt.- Communal and caste-sensitive incidents/public order: Use neutral, de-escalatory language. Avoid attributing motive or group labels until verification is complete.- Custodial deaths and alleged excesses: Acknowledge the incident immediately. Initiate all mandated legal processes such as magisterial inquiry and statutory intimations.- Suicides and self harm: Do not publish method or images. Use non-sensational language and always include mental health helplines.- Social media...

Supreme Court Asks States To Frame Policy On Police Media Briefing In Terms Of Amicus Suggestions

Debby Jain

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