Exercise restraint while reporting on Sushant Singh Rajput case: HC to media

The counsel prayed before the court to direct the government and media regulators to lay down guidelines for the mode and manner of coverage of any pending high-profile investigation

The Bombay high court (HC) has asked the media to exercise restraint while reporting on the actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case and also asked representatives of television news channels to be present on September 10 – the next date of the hearing of the two petitions filed by social activists and former senior officials of Maharashtra Police.

Sushant Singh Rajput.(HT Photo)

The court asked the media to report the case in line with the ongoing investigation.

The petitioners have approached the court seeking a restraint on the TV channels from carrying out a trial by media in the Rajput case.

They cited that the non-stop biased coverage would prejudice the minds of the public and would also tarnish the image of the Mumbai Police.

A two-member HC division bench, comprising Justices AA Sayed and SP Tavade, while hearing the petition filed by social activists Nilesh Navlakha, Mahibub Shaikh and Subhash Chander Chaba was informed by senior advocate Devadatt Kamat that the media houses be directed from not going overboard while reporting the Rajput case.

Kamat pointed out that some of the TV channels had overstepped the guidelines laid down in the programme code as per the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and were conducting a media trial by exposing names and details of those named in the case.

He submitted that some TV channels had named police officials and passed their judgements on the names mentioned in the first information report (FIR) even though the investigation was still in progress.

Senior advocate Dr Milind Sathe and advocate Chetan Kapadia represented the former senior officials of Maharashtra Police.

The petitioners include former director-generals of police (DGPs) PS Pasricha, K Subramaniam, D Shivanandan, Sanjeev Dayal, Satish Chandra Mathur; ex-commissioners of Mumbai Police Mahesh N Singh and Dhananjay N Jadhav; and former chief of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Maharashtra Police, KP Raghuvanshi.

Dr Sathe submitted that the media coverage of the Rajput case was irresponsible and would create prejudice among the public about the investigation.

He argued that the round-the-clock biased coverage of the case was also detrimental to the image of the Mumbai Police and, as a result, the court should restrain the TV channels from running a media trial.

He prayed before the court to direct the government and media regulators to lay down guidelines for the mode and manner of coverage of any pending high-profile investigation, particularly the Rajput case.

Additional Solicitor-General (ASG) Anil Singh, who appeared on behalf of the Central government, said he needed time to respond since the copy of the petition --- filed by the former senior officials of Maharashtra Police -- was served to him late at night on Wednesday.

He also submitted that as the petitions involved media houses, they should also be allowed to defend their actions before the court passes any order.

The bench heard the submissions and passed a brief order. “The media should exercise restraint and report the case as per the investigation,” the bench observed.

The court also directed the TV channels named in the petitions to be present for the next hearing of the case on September 10. The News Broadcasters Association (NBA), a private body of various TV channels, has been asked to file its reply before September 10.