Media running kangaroo courts; Print media has some accountability; electronic media has none: CJI NV Ramana

Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana, on Saturday, berated media for running Kangaroo courts and conducting media trial on sub-judice matters, thereby, making the job of judges difficult and adversely affecting the justice delivery system..He said that by running agenda-driven debates, media was overstepping and breaching its responsibility and taking democracy two steps backwards."Of late, we see the media running kangaroo courts, at times on issues even experienced judges find difficult to decide. Ill-informed and agenda driven debates on issues involving justice delivery are proving to be detrimental to the health of democracy. Biased views being propagated by media are affecting the people, weakening democracy, and harming the system. In this process, justice delivery gets adversely affected," he said.In this regard, he was particularly critical of electronic media which he said has zero accountability."Print media still has certain degree of accountability. Whereas, electronic media has zero accountability as what it shows vanishes into thin year. Still worse is social media," he said.He was delivering the inaugural ‘Justice SB Sinha Memorial Lecture’ on the topic “Life of a Judge”, organised by National University of Study & Research in Law, Ranchi.Doing justice is not an easy responsibility and it is becoming increasingly challenging with each passing day due to concerted campaigns in media, particularly on social media against judges, he bemoaned.Media trial, he maintained, cannot be a guiding factor in deciding cases. .Owing to the frequent transgressions by media and consequent social unrests, there is a growing demand for stricter media regulations and accountability, he added."It is best for the media to self-regulate and measure their words. You should not overstep and invite interference, either from the government or from the courts. Judges may not react immediately. Please don’t mistake it to be a weakness or helplessness. When liberties are exercised responsibly, within their domains, there will be no necessity of placing reasonable or proportionate external restrictions," said CJI..Of late, we see the media running kangaroo courts, at times on issues even experienced judges find difficult to decide.CJI NV Ramana.He further urged the media, particularly the electronic and social media, to act responsibly."You are as important a stakeholder as we are. Please use the power of your voice to educate the people and to energize the nation in our collective endeavor to build a progressive, prosperous, and peaceful India.".Recently, two Supreme Court judges, Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala had come under attack for their remarks during the hearing of a case filed by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. Subsequently, he had during a symposium batted for for regulations to contain social media attacks on judges and the negative impact of trial by media..[Read live coverage of event below].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.