Key Points :
- A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a direction restraining Arnab Goswami and Republic TV from broadcasting or publishing any information or news related to any criminal investigation.
- The Petitioner alleged that the journalist and the TV channel resorted to distorted and misleading reporting swaying public opinion against Rhea Chakraborty in the Sushant Singh Rajput Case.
- The plea has also sought initiation of contempt of court proceedings against Goswami and his channel for the alleged “prejudicial reporting”.
A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a direction restraining Arnab Goswami and Republic TV from broadcasting or publishing any information or news related to any criminal investigation under the name of investigative journalism.
The Petitioner, Mohd. Khalil has alleged that the journalist and the TV channel are on a “witch hunt” against Rhea Chakraborty by reporting distorted and misleading facts about the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. The Petition also states that this form of unscrupulous reporting was done to sway public opinion against her as the channel behaved as “judge, jury and executioner”. The Petitioner asserts that this has led to the infringement of the right to fair trial of Rhea Chakraborty.
The plea also seeks the framing of rules, regulations or guidelines to govern reporting or broadcasting of any news related to any criminal investigation by any media outlet by the Central government.
The PIL also sought initiation of contempt of court proceedings against the journalist and his channel for the alleged “prejudicial reporting” of the Sushant Singh Rajput death case.
“Interestingly, no investigating agency is probing any charge of murder in the present criminal investigation. Even the FIR registered by the Patna police on the complaint received by the father of the deceased (Rajput) is for abetment to suicide and other penal provisions. Moreover, as per the report of AIIMS, the cause of death is suicide and not murder,” the petition has claimed.
“The entire charade is nothing but an exercise to increase the TRPs and viewership at the cost of an accused’s right to fair trial.”, the petition read.
The petition was listed for a physical hearing on Friday before a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan. The court asked the petitioner to come on the next date with his suggestions on the kind of rules that can be framed to regulate media reporting of criminal probes. The matter would be heard next on November 27, a virtual hearing date.
