The Supreme Court’s Press Accreditation panel has decided against journalists entering the ‘Well’ in court rooms, reports The Hindu.
This was conveyed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi in open court yesterday during a jovial conversation with a scribe who was standing close to the judges.
The judge was about to dictate the order in a case pertaining to reservation for disabled persons when he turned to the journalist and enquired about the organisation he worked for.
“Don’t rush to the Well”, said Justice Gogoi expressing his reservations about journalists occupying the space right in front of the judges’ dias. He also said that most judges don’t want the observations made by them during the course of arguments to be quoted or reported as it creates animosity between the Bench and the Bar.
Journalists usually try to occupy the front portion of the court rooms and get close to the judges so as to hear the proceedings clearly, especially the order dictated (or murmured?) by judges since the microphones provided are rarely used by the judges.
The reasons for judges shying away from using microphones continue to be a mystery.
