CJ cautions against inaccurate court reporting by media

Questions put forth by the judges to advocates for the purpose of clarification, were not “indicative of an opinion by them” and projecting them as the court’s opinion would amount to “spreading disinformation”, he said.

The system of open hearings, though subject to “reasonable restrictions”, was a procedure for media to inform the public. It was essential, therefore, for mediapersons present in court to be as objective and accurate as possible and report the facts of cases as transpired in the hearings. “But sometimes I am wonderstruck that the same proceedings are reported differently in newspapers and when I read them they give a different picture with not everyone being as accurate,” Verma said. He added that “extra care” was required in media reports relating to the progress of a trial or proceedings in a court to ensure that it did not become a trial by the media. Reports should be confined only to facts and “uninfluenced” by the opinion of the reporter.

In case of criminal trials, the likelihood of bias and presumption of innocence of the accused until displaced on conviction at the end of the trial, must be kept in view, he said. “Sensationalism has to be eschewed and care taken that there is no erosion of credibility of the judicial process because of an erroneous impression created by media reports,” Verma said.

Referring to the OJ Simpson trial, the CJ said that undue the publicity and the frenzy generated by media reports in the USA had converted the trial into a soap opera. This was a typical example of misuse of the freedom of press by the media in recent times, he added.

The CJ also stressed that “deliberate attempts to build up or run down the image of someone through the media”, especially when it is contrary to the known image of that person, was the worst misuse of the freedom of press.

“Media reports must aim at encouraging the good to continue their good work and discourage those of the other kind. That is the real purpose of the freedom of press,” he said.