Special court gags media

A special court on Wednesday issued orders restraining the media from publishing the proceedings of the court in the trial of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his aide Tulsi Prajapati.

Tasked with the hearing of cases under the Central Bureau of Investigation, the special court, however, allowed the media to attend the court proceedings. But it has barred them from reporting anything till further orders.

The orders were passed by special Judge Sunilkumar Sharma, who observed, “There is a possibility of security problems arising for the accused persons, the prosecution and the defence. So, I find substance in the plea of the defence advocates; also, given the sensitivity of the case, there is a likelihood of an untoward incident which can affect the trial.”

The orders were issued in response to an application moved by the advocates representing the accused, who had sought a complete ban on the media from covering the court proceedings till the court delivers its judgement in the case.

The advocates claimed the case has a ‘chequered’ history and ‘misreporting’ has already created prejudice for both the sides.

The defence advocates also cited the recent news pertaining to the death of a judge who had dealt with this matter earlier. They argued that the ‘natural’ death of the judge was given a colour, which has somehow prejudiced the case.

Before passing the orders, the court even heard some media professionals, who were present in the court. The media professionals objected to the application and urged the court to dismiss it since they are publishing the proceedings in ‘good faith’ to keep the public at large informed.

The judge appreciated and complimented the ‘hard work’ of the media; he however, noted the case is sensitive wherein all accused are police officials. The judge also cited the discharge of various high-profile people, including ministers and senior police officials from Gujarat and Rajasthan, in the last four years, which has somehow made the case ‘sensational.’

This case has assumed even more pronounced political overtones with the discharge of BJP president Amit Shah, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria, Rajasthanbased businessman Vimal Patni, former Gujarat police chief P C Pande, Additional Director General of Police Geeta Johri and Gujarat police officers Abhay Chudasama and N K Amin. Besides them, Yashpal Chudasama and Ajay Patel (both senior officials at Ahmedabad District Co-operative Bank), Gujarat IPS officer Rajkumar Pandiyan and Andhra Pradesh cadre IPS official N Balasubramanyam, Rajasthan IPS officer Dinesh M N and former senior Gujarat police officer D G Vanzara, too, have been discharged by the court.

As of now, the court has framed charges against 22 accused in the case under various charges punishable under Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Arms Act.