On Monday, January 18, the Bombay High Court noted that the media coverage by the Republic TV and Times Now against Mumbai Police in the case pertaining to death of Sushant Singh Rajput was prima facie contemptuous.
The petitioners in the case had urged the court to direct media houses to refrain from reportage that could affect the investigation into the actor’s death. They also sought the framing of guidelines to regulate television and print media, without curbing their freedom. One petition, filed by eight former Indian Police Services officers, had objected to the media’s negative portrayal of the Mumbai police.
The bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni was hearing a batch of petitions against the media trial following the actor’s death. The court said it would not take any action as of now but made it clear that media trial during investigation in a case does impact the investigation.
The division bench comprising also observed that the media ought to avoid discussions, debates relating to criminal investigation and should confine only to informative reports in such matters in public interest.
The High Court also ruled that the Press Council of India’s guidelines while reporting on suicide cases will govern electronic media till the time it comes up with its own guidelines, according to Bar and Bench.
In an earlier hearing, the court had issued another set of strong comments, questioning Republic TV if seeking viewers' opinion on who should be arrested during an ongoing investigation and infringing on a person's rights qualified as investigative journalism.
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