Updated: October 8, 2020 2:53:08 pm
The Tablighi Jamaat congregation in March, which was attended by more than 8,000 members from around the world, was then called a super spread event for the new coronavirus.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court detained the Center for its “evasive” and “brazen” affidavit in relation to requests for action against allegedly motivated media reporting on the Tablighi Jamaat.
A bank headed by CJI SA Bobde was listening to a series of petitions filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and others seeking action against a media organization that allegedly colored the Covid-19 outbreak in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin de Delhi.
The court criticized Attorney General Tushar Mehta after a junior official from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting submitted the affidavit containing “unnecessary” and “nonsensical” dislikes regarding the media reporting on the issue. The court also requested an affidavit from a clerk-level officer detailing steps taken in the past to stop motivated media reporting in such cases.
“You cannot treat the Tribunal as you are treating it. The affidavit is from a junior officer. The affidavit is evasive and says the petitioner does not show any cases of bad reporting. You may not agree, but how can you tell that no cases of bad reports are shown? The department secretary must file an affidavit and avoid any unnecessary and nonsensical assertions as is done now, ”Bar & Bench quoted CJI Bobde as saying.
Lead attorney Dushyant Dave, who appeared at the Jamaat, told the court that the Center in its affidavit has stated that the petitioners were trying to muzzle freedom of expression.
“Freedom of expression is the most abused right in recent times,” said the court, also made up of judges AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.
“They are free to make any assertion in their affidavit, as you are free to present any argument they want,” he added.
Requests will be answered after two weeks.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind had moved the supreme court on April 6 seeking instructions to prevent what it claimed was the communalization of the Nizamuddin Markaz issue by sections of the print and electronic media.
the The center had submitted its affidavit in the matter on August 7, noting that the spread of Covid-19 among those attending the Jamaat, the attacks on health workers by some sections, etc., were facts and that “news based on facts … not they can be censored ”.
He also said that the statement generated complaints against “certain sections of the media” without naming any and “certain news reports” without producing these reports. Instead, it “simply relied on ‘certain fact-checking news reports’ to argue that the entire media is perpetrating disharmony and hatred towards Muslims, and therefore should be censored / gagged,” said the government.
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