MUMBAI: Designated TADA judge P. D. Kode on Tuesday urged the media to exercise restraint in their coverage of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case and not interview any of the accused within the precincts of the court.

He passed this order after a complaint from Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam that members of the print media were interviewing the accused in the court premises soon after the verdicts were pronounced on them.

Mr. Kode said the media should not collect material from anybody that could interfere with the future work of the court and in the administration of justice. He appealed to the media not to speculate and said it would make his work difficult. He also referred to opinion polls on TV channels and said that comment on the verdict could be made only after the entire judgment was delivered.

Mr. Nikam had pointed out that the moment a person was held guilty, the media went to the house of the accused and interviewed his/her relatives. They also asked about the prosecution and in one instance the relatives abused the prosecution in their interview to a television channel.

Mr. Nikam said this was an attempt to threaten him and he had also asked the Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, to investigate the matter. He said the media should maintain some decorum.

Defence advocate Farhana Shah clarified that the defence was not responsible for giving out any addresses of the relatives of the accused. She said the media was commenting prematurely on the orders on some of the accused, even though the process was not completed.

The accused were also upset that the media carried photographs of them taken by the police after they were arrested.

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