Supreme Court directs Home Ministry to frame fresh guidelines on media briefings by police in criminal cases

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to prepare a comprehensive manual on media briefings by the police in criminal cases so as to prevent media trial in such cases [Peoples Union For Civil Liberties v. The State Of Maharashtra] .A Bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra said that the existing guidelines were prepared a decade ago and since then, there has been an upsurge in reportage of criminal cases in print, electronic and social media.“The age, gender of accused and nature of crime will weigh on the nature of disclosure to be made...media trial leads to deflection from the course of justice. Bearing in mind these aspects we are of the view that the Home ministry prepares a comprehensive manual on media briefings by police personnel,” the Court said..The Court also asked Directors General of Police (DGPs) of states to communicate their views to the MHA within one month. The MHA has been directed to prepare the guidelines after considering the views of state DGPs and other stakeholders. The entire exercise should be completed within three months..While emphasizing on the right to press freedom as a facet of the fundamental right to free speech and expression, the Court said, “There is no gainsaying of the fact that both the media and consumers have a right to produce and receive fair and unbiased information."However, it added that accused persons are also entitled to fair and unbiased investigation and presumption of innocence.It pointed out that media reportage at times hampers the reputation of accused and that biased reporting also gives rise to public suspicion about the crime. “At another level, media reportage also impinges upon the rights of victims and survivors of crime. In a given case the victim may be a minor while in another case the nature of the crime may involve privacy of the victim such as those involving gender violence,” the Court said..With this in mind, the Bench said that disclosures made by the police during media briefings should be objective in nature and not subjective, having a bearing on the guilt of the accused.Referring to the Section 3 of the Contempt of Courts Act, the Court said the manner in which the explanation has been incorporated may expose a publication to a charge of contempt “only after chargesheet has been filed or cognizance taken or summons /warrants issued.” .The Court passed the order in a petition filed by People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) relating to police encounters. While a detailed judgment was passed on the main issue in 2014, the modalities to be followed by the police in conducting media briefings in pending criminal cases is under consideration before the Court.Amicus Curiae and Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan submitted that disclosure by the police regarding investigation has a bearing not only on the rights of victims and accused but also on the rule of law.