Updated: September 10, 2020 9:04:27 pm
Media staff surround actress Rhea Chakraborty as she arrives at the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) office for questioning, following the death of her boyfriend and actor Sushant Singh Rajput, in Mumbai. (Photo Express)
Hearing a slew of petitions related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, including one requesting restraining orders against the “media trial,” the Bombay High Court said Thursday that it was surprised to learn that the government had no control over electronic media.
A divisional bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Judge GS Kulkarni ordered the Center to indicate the degree of state control exercised over the transmission of news that may have “serious ramifications”.
The court made the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Narcotics Control Office (NCB), the central agencies conducting the investigations related to the case, be parties to the Public Interest Litigation (PIL). Petitions include one submitted by eight former senior Maharashtra police officers seeking restraining orders against the “media trial” in the case. It was introduced through lead attorney Milind Sathe and attorney Chetan Kapadia.
The court was informed that the investigating agencies were leaking news related to the investigation to the media, as a result of which the news channels were carrying out a vociferous campaign and smear of the Mumbai police.
The other PIL that the court was seeing was presented by activists Nilesh Navlakha, Mahibub D Shaikh and Subhash Chander Chaba through lead attorney Devadatt Kamat along with advocates Rajesh Inamdar and Shashwat Anand. He claimed that the nature of the television channels’ reports was one of “sensationalism” and was adversely affecting the ongoing CBI investigation into the case.
The court also sought to learn from the central government why there was no state regulation on electronic media.
The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting stated that the issue of the “media trial” in the case was referred to the Association of News Broadcasters (NBA) for investigation and that the government also has an inter-ministerial committee to review the NBA decisions after the complaint is resolved. by the association itself.
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Appearing before former Maharashtra police officers, senior attorney Sathe argued that despite the court order calling for restraint of news channels, some media outlets were becoming more vociferous and running ‘smear’ campaigns against Mumbai Police and produced transcripts of certain television news articles before the Court in support of their claims. He said that the Supreme Court had not issued any adverse comment against the Mumbai police investigation and that the HC should take notice and have the channels respond to the request.
To this, CJ Datta said, “The Supreme Court order on the Mumbai police will prevail. What is objectionable here? Why should you consider what the newscaster is saying and how can we stop it? “The court also said that the NBA should decide first, as it was investigating complaints against such coverage.
Lead attorney Devadatt Kamat agreed with Sathe’s submissions, adding that the parallel media trials had not been slowed down due to investigating agencies leaking information from the investigation. While he agreed with CBI submissions that they were not leaking any information to the media, Kamat said that ED and NCB would become parties to determine if information was leaking through them and also respond to the statement.
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After defender Asim Sarode submitted a separate PIL requesting instructions from authorities to put a regulatory mechanism in place for the media, CJ Datta said: “We are surprised to find that there is no state control over electronic media. This body (the News Broadcasting Standards Authority) has no force, it is our prima facie opinion. “
The court further stated: “The processing of these petitions will not prevent the News Broadcasting Standards Authority from considering the complaints it has received and taking appropriate action in accordance with the law. The resulting NBSA decision can be incorporated into the affidavit that will be filed. “
He added: “We hope and trust that the spirit of the September 3 order to exercise restraint in the media reporting on the investigation into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput so that the investigation is not hampered can be carried out. by the media.
Seeking sworn statements in response from the defendants before September 30 and replies from the petitioners before October 6, the court set an additional hearing on the PILs for October 8.
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