Institute of Legal and Management Studies

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday flagged a “disturbing trend” of media reporting innocuous remarks made during the hearings “only to create sensation.”

“Such reporting of the court proceedings, which may generate curiosity of public to read with more interest, is accepted without realizing that such remarks are not part of the proceedings or do not pertain to the merits of the case, and need no prominence or even reporting,” the judge added.

The Court observed that the media owes responsibility of not only making correct information available to the public but also to ensure that unnecessary sensationalization is not created by taking innocuous remarks out of context and reporting them as the main event.

“With their expertise in journalism and reporting, no guidance from any Court is required as to what is germane to the court proceeding that may be reported and that which is of no consequence,” it said.

The Court was dealing with a plea filed by one Shravan Gupta, in relation to the PMLA case concerning the Agusta Westland scam.

It was his case that certain false, malicious and defamatory News Articles were reported on July 16 and 17 by media outlets, targeting the professional reputation and dignity of his counsel, Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa.

It was submitted that the reporting attributed false statements to the High Court, purportedly made during the course of the hearing on July 16.

The plea said that after the matter was heard on the concerned date, the case was reserved for judgment, while the connected matters were deferred for hearing on another date.

However, it was alleged that the Media houses falsely projected that adverse observations were made against the Senior Counsel, stating that his conduct of seeking instructions was an act “unbecoming” of a Senior Advocate.

It was submitted that no such statement was ever made by the High Court and did not form part of the judicial Order recorded.

The impugned media reports were published by CNN News- 18, The Tribune Group, The Times Group, Rabhyaa-Rabhav Corp. Pvt. Ltd. (Law Trend), Indian Express Ltd. and CSR Journal.

The plea thus sought expungement of the remark allegedly made by the High Court.

Disposing of the plea, Justice Krishna said that Media Houses owe an absolute responsibility to conduct sensible reporting and that it cannot be overstated that media reports have a widespread impact on the general public, which may include some legal professionals.

“The majority of the public may not be aware of legal nuances and depend solely on media reports to know, about events happening in the country and the proceedings taking place in the Court. The Media has the absolute responsibility for accuracy and fairness in media reporting,” the Court said.

It added that it was a where an innocuous general remark expressing a concern about repeated adjournments by lawyers was made by the Court during the hearing.

“To observe and falsely attribute that the remark was specifically directed toward Mr. Pahwa, Senior Advocate, is not only incorrect but is essentially designed to create a sensational news story of interest to the public at large, with scant regard to the harm it may cause to an individual who is diligently discharging his duty of representing the litigant,” the Court said.

“With these observations, no further clarification is required. It is expected that the Media houses which are of great repute, would themselves consider whether such reporting should be allowed to continue on their media Portals. No further directions are required,” it added.

Title: SHRAVAN GUPTA v. DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT

Click here to read order