Supreme Court says Media shouldn't do reporting in pending cases

New Delhi: Attorney General (AG) KK Venugopal in the Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the media should not do reporting on pending cases. He said that this is completely wrong and could lead to contempt of court.

AG appeared before a bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar. He assisted the court in hearing the 2009 contempt case against lawyer Prashant Bhushan and journalist Tarun Tejpal.

Court gave time to Venugopal to rectify some issues to present his views on the contempt case. The court was hearing a contempt of court case. In November 2009 in Bhushan and Tejpal's news magazine Tehelka for allegedly attacking some of the top court suitors and former judges. At that time, Tejpal was the editor of the magazine.

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Media should not make remarks on pending cases: Court

Venugopal referred to the electronic and print media's comments in the pending cases in the court during a brief hearing through video conferencing. He stated that these were completely wrong. They said, "Today the electronic and print media are commenting on the cases which are pending and they try to influence the court."

The Attorney General said, "Today in big cases when the bail application is going to be heard, its report presented on TV. This is very harmful for the accused who filed the bail plea. He also referred to media reporting in the Rafale case and said that such remarks should not made on pending cases.

Venugopal said, "These things are completely prohibited and may lead to contempt of court." He said that he wanted to discuss the matter with Bhushan's lawyer, Rajiv Dhawan and all other lawyers present in the case.

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The court bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Krishna Murari noted Venugopal's point. Court said that they could consider correcting the points which needed to dealt with by the bench. The case was then listed for November 4.

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