The Karnataka High Court on Thursday flagged serious concerns about sensationalised media reporting on the Renukaswamy murder case, including on the prime accused, Kannada actor Darshan Thogudeepa.
Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum questioned how media coverage can be regulated in such matters.
"How to deal with these people (media outlets, social media). They are parallely holding a media trial. What is the remedy actually? There is already a gag order," he observed.
The Court went on to reserve its verdict on a plea by Darshan to curb media trials against him.
Notably, in 2024, the Court had restrained the media from sharing confidential information in the chargesheet filed in the Renukaswamy murder case.
The case concerns the murder of a 33-year-old auto-driver Renukaswamy whose dead body was found on June 9, 2024.
Renukaswamy was attacked after he allegedly sent lewd messages to actor Darshan's partner, Pavithra Gowda, who is also an accused in the murder case. Darshan, the prime accused, is alleged to have instigated Renukaswamy's murder.
His latest plea before the Court flags concerns that his right to fair trial and privacy have been violated through how the media continues to cover the murder case. He has referred to media broacasts that involve the use of recreated graphic crime scenes with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and panel discussions with the victim's relatives, senior advocates, and retired police officials on ongoing court proceedings.
Advocate Pratham N represented Darshan.
During the hearing, Justice Magadum asked for the Union government's assistance in preventing such media trials.
Advocate Kumar MN appeared for the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy). He suggested that actor could have sought contempt of court action against those violating the Court's 2024 order.
He added that if the ongoing media reportage is interfering with the administration of justice, the Court could also issue an order to MEITy to direct online intermediaries to take down such content.