Lekha G
The Supreme Court on Monday observed that the media cannot be stopped from reporting the oral observations made by the Judges during the hearing of a case as they serve as a matter of public interest and would bring about accountability for the Judges thereby fostering citizen’s confidence in the judicial process.
A Bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah heard a petition filed by Election Commission of India against the oral remarks made by Madras High Court that the ECI was responsible for the Covid second wave and its officers must probably be booked for murder.
Justice DY Chandrachud observed, “We cannot say that the media cannot report the contents of the discussions in a court of law. Discussions in a court of law are of equal public interest and I would put it in the same pedestal as the final order. Discussion in the court is a dialogue between bar and bench. The unfolding of the debate in the court of law is equally important and media has a duty to report. It’s not only our judgements that are significant for our citizens”.
It was also observed that the prayer made by the ECI to stop media from reporting oral remarks of judges was far-fetched.
Justice Shah pointed out that the strong observations are often made out of anger or frustration and can work as a bitter pill. “Your subsequent decisions after the remarks have improved the system. Look at what happened in counting. You take it in the right spirit as a bitter pill”, Justice Shah told Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, who appeared for the Election Commission.
Mr. Dwivedi submitted that the High Court remarks were unwarranted as it was hearing a case seeking security for a counting booth in Tamil Nadu and did not provide an opportunity to the ECI to explain the steps taken by it.
The Bench agreed with Mr. Dwivedi that there must be a balance and restraint maintained while making such observations and the “murder charges” remarks were quite strong but they might have been made out of anguish and frustration.
The Bench reserved orders on the ECI application and will pronounce the same on Thursday and formulate a balanced order in a way which observes the sanctity of the High Court as well.
