SSR case: Bombay HC frowns on media, warns against hampering probe

The Bombay High Court on Thursday urged the media to exercise restraint while reporting on the Sushant Singh Rajput case and not report in a manner which may hamper the investigationsWe urge and expect the media to exercise restraint in reporting of the investigation with respect to the Sushant death which should not hamper the investigation in any manner a Division Bench comprising Justice AA Sayed and Justice SP Tavade orderedHearing two public interest litigations PILs one filed by eight retired IPS officers of Maharashtra and another by three activists the court also issued notices to the respondents and said it would consider the reliefs sought in the matter after getting the version of the Central Bureau of Investigation which is handling the probeArguing for the PIL by the former IPS officers Senior Advocate Milind Sathe termed the media reporting especially by the electronic media as a parallel media trial in which there was vilification of the Mumbai PoliceMedia has virtually taken over the investigation conducting a parallel probe and a parallel trial Mumbai Police is being called a coconspirator there is a malicious vilification campaign said SatheSushant Singh Rajput case Extop cops rally to defend Mumbai police from media trialHe contended that the petitioners are not concerned about who is investigating the case the accused or the victim but are concerned about the reporting in the case which violates journalistic ethicsSathe referred to the Supreme Court judgment on August 19 which found no fault with the procedures adopted by the Mumbai Police in the probe but despite this the media was engaged in falsely tarnishing the city polices imageHe also pointed out how some media were calling witnesses and asking them questions which was like a parallel investigation an attempt to influence the probe and prejudice the caseIn the second PIL filed by filmmaker Nilesh Navlakha journalist MD Shaikh and retired bureaucrat SC Chaba filed by lawyers Rajesh Inamdar and Shashwat Anand Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat said that the media has flouted the norms of Press Council of India and Program Code under the Cable TV ActWhile one TV channel said Sushants suicide was a ahit wicket another showed the body of the dead actor one channel circulated fake tweets as Sushants last message and later when found false deleted them and channels discuss the private chats between the late actor and Rhea Chakrabortya Kamat arguedContending that the media is not after truth but for TRPs and more commercial gains Kamat pointed out how when one witness stepped out of the CBI probe the media hounded him on what questions he was askedIn an unprecedented gesture eight retired IPS officers rallied together on behalf of the beleaguered Mumbai Police to save its reputation being maligned in the ongoing highprofile probe in the Sushant death case and the subsequent media trialNo details of ongoing investigation shared says CBI on media reports in Sushant Singh Rajputs caseThe eight former officers who held top positions in the Maharashtra Police have filed a public interest litigation in Bombay High Court seeking directions to halt the unfair malicious and false media campaign against the Mumbai Police in the matterThe petitioners are MN Singh PS Pasricha DN Jadhav D Shivanandan Sanjeev Dayal K Subramaniam SC Mathur and KP Raghuvanshi all DirectorsGeneral level at the time of their retirement and enjoying an envious reputationHome Minister Anil Deshmukh lauded the move by the retired IPS officers on ThursdayMaharashtra and Mumbai Police have a reputation They are compared to the Scotland Yarda The manner in which Mumbai Police was targeted in the Sushant case I welcome the PIL Deshmukh told mediapersonsFiled through a prominent law firm Crawford Bayley amp Companys Senior Advocate Milind Sathe the PIL named the Union and State Governments Press Council of India and News Broadcasters Association as respondentsThe PIL sought guidelines for the media houses whether print electronic radio Internet or television or any other form to refrain from publishing and circulating any false derogatory and scandalous comments social media posts news stories etc that could jeopardise the polices reputation and may cause the people to lose faith in the system and the police administration or hinder the cause of administration of justiceCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever