Muzaffarpur Shelter Home case: No blanket ban on coverage, but media to tread cautiously

The Supreme Court today lifted the ban on media reporting of the Muzaffarpur Shelter Home case that was imposed by the Patna High Court..The Court observed that while there cannot be a blanket ban on media coverage of the case, the media needs to be responsible and cautious in its reportage of sensitive cases like this. The Court added,.“The Media is requested not to sensationalize such events.“.The Supreme Court Bench of Justices Madan Lokur and Deepak Gupta vacated the Patna High Court order imposing a blanket ban on media reporting and issued notice to the Press Council of India (PCI), News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), the Editor’s Guild and the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), seeking their assistance in the issue..Senior Counsel Shekhar Naphade, assisted by Advocate Fauzia Shakil, told the Court that the media cannot be prevented from reporting on the case, considering that there are some aspects which came to light because of the media. The problem begins when there is a media trial, Naphade said..The Court agreed with this submission, with Justice Lokur remarking,.“Trial is when a case is proceeding. They (media) have declared him (accused) guilty already… You are right, there cannot be a blanket ban but a line needs to be drawn.“.The notice issued for self-regulation of media will be returnable in two weeks..Further, the Court also took cognizance of reports submitted by the Central Bureau of investigation (CBI) in the Muzaffarpur case and noted that the investigation appears to be on track. However, there are some aspects which need to be further looked into by the CBI, the Bench opined..One of the angles that the Court said needed further probing is the influence and power wielded by the person in charge of the NGOs that were managing the shelter homes, Brajesh Thakur..The Court said that people seemed to be afraid of Thakur and refrained from filing complaints against him despite hearing the screams of the girls. The Court effectively ordered the CBI to look into the antecedents and influence of Thakur..The Bench has also directed Income Tax department to look into the assets owned by Thakur and his NGOs, and has directed the CBI team to inform the Chief Commissioner to probe this matter from an IT angle..The local police of Bihar is directed to look into the affairs of Chandrashekhar Verma and Bihar cabinet minister Manju Verma, after it was brought to the Court’s notice that the duo was found to be in possession of illegal ammunition and arms..Lastly, the Court has directed the CBI to further look into why some girls were transferred out of the shelter homes in question even before the tell-all report of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) was published. The Court said,.“The transfer seems to suggest that the Social Welfare department of Bihar was aware of the unsavoury activities happening at the Shelter homes.“.The State of Bihar is directed to file an affidavit on these transfers and the CBI is required to submit its report on the overall investigation in a sealed cover in four weeks..Read Order:.Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.