HCS must have freedom, can’t restrain media: SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday said it was not in favour of putting fetters on judges’ remarks or their reportage by the media, saying that high courts must get “complete freedom” to decide issues before them, and that the “media is a very important and powerful watchdog of the judicial processes”.

A bench of justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and MR Shah termed as “far-fetched” a plea by the Election Commission of India (ECI) before the Madras high court to restrain media from reporting oral observations of the judges that the poll body was singularly responsible for a second wave in the country and that its officials should probably be tried on murder charges for allowing political parties to hold massive rallies without following Covid-19 norms.

“In today’s time, we cannot say that media won’t report contents of discussion in a court and only orders. Since the discussion is of equal public importance, we will put it on the same pedestal like our orders. There is a dialogue between the court and the lawyers and when they are reported, people get to know about the judicial process. The unfolding of the debate in the court of law is equally important and media has a duty to report. It is not only our judgements that are significant but the dialogue also is,” justice Chandrachud told senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi.

MEDIA IS A VERY IMPORTANT AND POWERFUL WATCHDOG OF JUDICIAL PROCESS, SAYS TOP COURT