Wednesday

30


September , 2020
Trial by media – constitutional or sensational?
12:44 pm

Aritra Mitra


 

On April 29, 1999, Jessica Lal, a model working part-time as a bar waitress was murdered at a party by Manu Sharma, the son of a politician in Delhi, as Lal refused to serve him liquor at the party after midnight. Though the police arrested Sharma and his friends, most witnesses turned hostile, which eventually led to the acquittal of all the nine accused in the case.

 

Delhi Police failed to sustain the case as they were unable to find the murder weapon. Following this, news magazines like Tehelka exposed the loopholes of the trial. Confessions of many witnesses stating that they had turned hostile during the hearing as they were bribed -were filmed secretly in a series of sting operations. The audio recording of the main accused in police custody was also leaked to the media. Due to these sting operations, SMS campaigns titled ‘Justice for Miss Jessica Lal’ and mounting public pressure, the police had to go to the High Court with an appeal to reopen the case. The High Court reversed the decision of the trial court and Manu Sharma was sentenced to life imprisonment. This was a classic example of media activism in India.

 

There are certain norms laid down by the Press Council of India (PCI) for reporting cases in order to avoid trial by the media. PCI warns journalists against excessively publicising victims, witnesses, suspects and the accused to avoid invasion of their privacy. According to experts in this field, the identification of witnesses may endanger the lives of witnesses - turning them hostile. For instance, Zaheera Sheikh, who was a key witness in the Gujarat Best Bakery case, was a victim of excessive media coverage and sympathy. Her turning hostile invited an equal amount of media speculation and wrath which possibly endangered her life. Instead of focusing on the lack of a witness protection programme in the country, the media focused on the twists and turns of the case and the conflicting statements of the 19-year old. 

 

Reacting to media trials, advocate Subhasri Chatterjee told BE, “Sometimes media trials adversely affect the on-going investigation proceedings in high-profile criminal cases pending before the court of law. Recently, in Sushant Singh Rajput's case, the electronic media played a proactive role by way of gossip in a cheap tabloid alleging that Rhea Chakraborty is the perfect villain by creating widespread perception of guilt without resorting to any evidence on record prior to the verdict from any court of law.”

 

In fact, a report by electronic media theprint.in stated that in recent weeks, Republic TV, Republic Bharat, Times Now and Aaj Tak which are leading the pursuit of #JusticeForSushant for the last two months with continuous coverage are the most watched news channels.

 

Nimisha Jha, Faculty, NLIU, Bhopal in the article titled, ‘Constitutionality of Media Trials in India: A Detailed Analysis’ on Academike pointed out the conflict between free press and free trial. The article stated, “The freedom of the press stems from the right of the public in a democracy to be involved on the issues of the day, which affect them. This is the justification for investigative and campaign journalism.” On the other hand, the ‘Right to Fair Trial’, a trial uninfluenced by extraneous pressures is recognised as a basic tenet of justice in India.

 

While responding to the question if there is any impact on a court’s judgement due to media trials, Chatterjee stated, “The print media and social media plays a crucial role in determining the outcome of proceedings by conducting a parallel trial prior to the commencement of the formal investigations and/or inquiry proceedings in a criminal trial causing serious harm and/or injury to the reputation of an accused person and/or group of persons and thereby malign their image in the society.” She further informed that Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution does not provide unfettered and unrestrained freedom of speech and expression either by express media, electronic media or any individual and it should fall within the limitations imposed by the Indian Constitution.

 

Justice Learned Hand of the United States Supreme Court commented on the increasing role of media in the present technology-driven world and recently stated, “The hand that rules the press, the radio, the screen and the far spread magazine, rules the country.” Due to this responsibility, the pivotal role of the electronic and print media during an on-going case in a civil society should be to place the facts and circumstances in a proper manner involving its accountability and professionalism which is not at all absolute, unlimited or unqualified.

 

 

Add new comment

Filtered HTML

  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.