Journalists while reporting criminal cases should be more sensitive to rights of accused: Justice Rajiv Shakdher

Journalists, while performing their role, should ensure that what they do not wish upon themselves does not happen to persons who expect neutrality from the media when they stand trial in courts, said Justice Rajiv Shakdher of the Delhi High Court said on Tuesday..He underscored the requirement for media to put in place checks and balances whereby reporting is such that it alludes to facts and does not draw inferences, particularly when it comes to reporting criminal cases. ."It is important for the media to put in place checks and balances whereby reporting is such that it alludes to facts and does not draw inferences. That is the job of the court. (Otherwise) You are being unfair to the accused, you are being unfair to the entire system," Justice Shakdher said, as part of his opening remarks. .Justice Shakdher was part of a panel at a discussion on hosted by DAKSH as part of its series on Media And its Role in Governance and Accountability..Journalists, he said, should be aware of other people's rights because if, one day, the journalist is at the receiving end, it might not be a happy situation. ."In a case where journalists are put on trial, the principle that I have articulated becomes relevant. What journalists wish don't happen to themselves, they should ensure it doesn't happen to a common person who expects neutrality from the media when he is being tried by courts ... .Journalists need to be cognizant about entrenching on other people's rights. The best example of this is when their own rights get affected. It is not a happy situation.".To cite an example of the ramifications of irresponsible reportage, Justice Shakdher recounted a case where a teacher was nearly lynched by a mob after a newspaper report was published alleging that she had disseminated pornography to her students. .Justice Shakdher, a practicing lawyer at the time, recounted that while the report had a very typical impact on most people, he also experienced its impact in the courtroom while appearing for a banker in an anticipatory bail application. ."... the first question he (judge) asked me was 'what is happening in the country where teachers are showing pornographic material to students?'" Justice Shakdher narrated, while pointing out that the topic was completely irrelevant to his case before the Court. .He proceeded to underscore, "If trained judges can get impacted by newspaper reports, what would be the state of the common public?".All the same, he said that he was not in favour of issuing any guidelines or straightjacket formula for media reportage, while opining that it is on the media to show restraint in reporting by bearing in mind the rights of others affected by its reportage. ."...they (journalists) need to be sensitive to what their role is as journalists. You can bring facts, raise shindy about a slow or inept investigation. But once the judicial process is triggered, you should, to my mind, unless something is going grossly wrong, allow the judicial process to be completed. You have seen in the recent past there have been scores of instances where the electronic media discussed pending investigation in a way that caused, I think, a lot of grief perhaps on the person. We don't know yet if the person is guilty," Justice Shakdher said..In an open appeal to the media, he requested that they show restraint while reporting on criminal trial. ."My request to the journalists would be please exercise restraint... In a criminal trial, there needs to be more sensitivity from the point of view of the accused, the journalist have to keep this in mind. Because it could come to bite you someday. You are seeing in the recent past what is happening. When you report, you must accord the same courtesy...".Other panellists at the event included Justice GS Patel of the Bombay High Court, Apurva Vishwanath, Assistant Editor at the Indian Express and Harish Narasappa, co-founder of DAKSH. The dicussion was moderated by Surya Prakash BS, Programme Director at DAKSH..[Read a detailed account of the session]