Khushi Gupta
Published on: April 21, 2022 at 17:57 IST
The Supreme Court has ruled that Debate or Discussion upon matters that fall in the Domain of Courts like Evidence in a Criminal Case on Public Platforms like television will amount to direct interference in the administration of Criminal Justice.
A Bench of Justice U U Lalit and Justice P V Narasimha ruled the same while deciding Appeals filed by four Convicts who were held guilty of robbery under Section 394 Indian Penal Code and sentenced to Life Imprisonment by the Karnataka High Court.
“The statement amounted to confession to a Police Officer which should instead have been recorded before a Magistrate,” the Court said, adding, “the DVD statement should not have been relied upon by the Court…What has further aggravated the situation is the Fact that the said Statements recorded by the investigating agency were played and published on a programme named ‘Putta Mutta’ by Udaya TV”.
The Supreme Court said, “Allowing the DVD to go into the hands of a private TV channel is nothing but dereliction of duty…Evidence must be dealt with by a Court… Any such debate or discussion touching upon matters which are in the Domain of Courts will amount to direct interference in the Administration of Criminal Justice.”
