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Disha Ravi’s petition in Delhi High Court in ‘toolkit case’: Who said what
Toolkit case: The court, however, refused to take down the articles already published and said that the issue would be considered at a later stage.
The Delhi High Court on Friday heard 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi’s plea seeking to restrain the city police from leaking information related to its probe of the 'Google toolkit’ on farmers’ protest to the media. While the police have denied leaking any information to the media, the Bengaluru activist in her plea stated the police had prejudged her guilt in the matter and had been putting out a “biased and defamatory narrative”.
The Delhi Police have submitted an affidavit in the matter denying any leak of information accessed during the investigation. The court has directed the police to stick to its stance in the affidavit and told media organisations to ensure their information came from authentic sources.
Here’s who said what at the hearing
What the police said
Delhi Police told the court that the plea by Ravi is an attempt to defame and vilify the police and put pressure on the investigating agency. Additional solicitor general SV Raju, representing the police, told the court that the climate activist’s messages which have allegedly been leaked are from February 3 and she was arrested on February 13. “She must have sent the messages to several people, why only blame the police,” he said during the hearing.
Ravi was arrested from her home in Bengaluru for her alleged involvement in creating and editing a ‘toolkit’ related to the farm stir in the national capital. On February 14, she was sent to five days in police custody by a court in Delhi.
What Delhi High Court directed
Before dictating the directives for the police and media personnel, the court told the counsel of TV news channel Network 18, “There is no doubt that the video is sensational, extremely sensational.” The bench was referring to the broadcast of a news report on the case by the channel.
The Delhi HC directed the police to stick to their affidavit that they have not leaked anything and also asked them to adhere to the office memorandum of 2010 on press briefing. The court said they were entitled to brief the media but must strictly follow guidelines laid down by the Union ministry of home affairs.
Media houses were directed by the court to ensure that their sources are authentic. The editorial team at news organisations must note that such news breaks should be verified and the sources should be authentic, the court underlined. “While a journalist cannot be asked to reveal his source, it must be authentic,” it said.
The court has also told editors to exercise proper editorial control so that dissemination of information does not hamper the investigation.
There is an important role of the media and they should not sensationalise the same. The leak ought not to be disseminated that it prejudices the right of an individual,” the court noted, adding that there is no doubt that regulation of content has been a very contested issue across the world and India was no exception.
The court, however, refused to take down the articles already published and said that the issue would be considered at a later stage. Three factors considered by the court are—the balance between the privacy and dignity of an individual and public interest, sovereignty and integrity of the country, and the right to free speech.
The high court told Ravi to ensure that people related to her did not share information regarding the case.
What Disha Ravi said
The Bengaluru climate activist asserted that she would not make attempts to malign the police in sharing scandalous information.
The matter will next be heard on March 17.
