'Media trial' obstructs justice, amounts to contempt: Bombay HC

Bombay High Court

In a significant verdict, the Bombay High Court on Monday said that "media trial" impacts investigations, violates laws, obstructs administration of justice besides amounting to a contempt of court.

The ruling was passed by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G.S. Kulkarni on a bunch of PILs filed by a group of IPS officers and activists vis-a-vis the case concerning the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June 2020 and the resultant high-voltage media coverage.

"Media trial violates the programme code under the Cable TV Network Regulation Act. We have held that the media trial runs counter to the programme code," said the judges.

The court said that since the electronic media does not have its own guidelines currently, the Press Council of India guidelines for print media would be applicable to the electronic media also.

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