AHMEDABAD, SEPT 21: The Gujarat High Court has directed that newspapers will publish court proceedings ``only if the report is countersigned by the advocate appearing in the matter.''The direction was given on Wednesday by a division bench comprising Justices B C Patel and P B Majmudar after Additional Advocate General S N Shelat pointed out that ``newspapers sometimes report what is discussed in court in a manner that is inaccurate.'' Sometimes, even things not discussed were published, he said, in apparent reference to a report published in a vernacular newspaper that the court had likened the Municipal Commissioner to a rotten egg.Shelat, as also counsel for Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation Prashant Desai and Amit Panchal, complained that the report was wrong as the court had said nothing about the Municipal Commissioner. Even though the commissioner was not present in the court, the report stated that he was.The court observed, ``For true reporting, if learned advocate appearing in the matter is consulted and under his signature the report is obtained, then, in such case, there would not be misreporting.'' Otherwise, it may happen that without reference to the context an item might be published. ``Under the circumstances, we direct that reporting will be permissible if it is true and correct and for correctness, advocate appearing in the matter may sign the same.''The court referred to the All-India Reporter, 1937 (Bombay 305) in which the Bombay High Court has pointed out that all proceedings in suits pending in a court of justice are privileged, and any comment on subject of the suit, any abuse of the parties, and holding them to ridicule, are not allowed.
