The Hindu : National : Show caution in reporting Aarushi case, media told

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

Show caution in reporting Aarushi case, media told

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the print and electronic media to exercise caution in reporting the Aarushi Talwar murder case.

The media should report the case objectively so as not to cause any prejudice to the reputation of the Noida teenager’s family and friends, a Bench consisting of Justices Altamas Kabir and Markandey Katju said while directing that a public interest litigation petition be placed before Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan for hearing on August 18.

Petitioner Surat Singh, a practising advocate, alleged that the media had maligned the sacred father-daughter relations, irresponsibly reporting the murder and indulging in character assassination of the teenager.

The recent investigation of the case and the “irresponsible” coverage by the media brought to surface a wide gap between promises in the Constitution and the conduct of the police and the press in enforcement of fundamental rights, Dr. Singh said.

Important questions

The petition raised important questions whether the police could arrest the unfortunate father of an unfortunate daughter on the ground that he had murdered her without even making a prima facie case for arrest; whether the police should be allowed to have a fishing enquiry; and whether the investigating agency should be allowed to brief the media on the minute-by-minute findings of its probe.

The petitioner sought directions to protect the reputation of the Aarushi’s family which, he alleged, was maligned by the media and the police.

He sought action against the investigators for keeping Dr. Rajesh Talwar, father of the girl, in custody for 50 days before declaring him innocent.

The petitioner sought a direction for setting up a five-judge criminal justice system reforms committee to enquire into why an innocent person was allowed to rot in police custody because of “bungling and mishandling” by investigating agencies. The committee should fix responsibility on officers responsible for mishandling the case and maligning the reputation of the Talwars and their family friends, Durranis.

Dr. Singh wanted a direction issued to the Directors-General of Police of all States to ensure that no information was leaked to the media in a criminal case pending investigation and the police should not rush to the media until after the probe was completely over.

The petition cited as respondents several print and electronic media organisations, besides the Union Ministries of Home, Law and Justice, and Information and Broadcasting, the Central Bureau of Information and the Uttar Pradesh police.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National