Dejo Kappan Vs Deccan Herald (Madras High Court)
Article 19(1)(a) Media Rights Delimited in Criminal Reporting; Writ Petitions Disposed with Declaration of Law: Madras HC
The Madras High Court considered writ petitions concerning the scope, content, and extent of the media’s right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution while reporting criminal investigations and matters pending before adjudicatory forums. The matter had initially been placed before a Full Bench, which referred it to a Larger Bench in view of an earlier Full Bench decision in S. Sudin v. Union of India and Others. After considering developments in free speech jurisprudence and technological changes such as video conferencing and live streaming of court proceedings, the Larger Bench confined the issue to determining the scope of media freedom under Article 19(1)(a) in the context of reporting criminal investigations and pending proceedings.
The petitioners contended that the existing statutory and regulatory framework was insufficient to regulate media reporting relating to pending criminal matters and sought judicial guidelines to ensure accurate reporting and prevent interference with the administration of justice. The respondents argued that the existing legal framework was adequate, that any blanket regulatory measure would amount to pre-censorship, and that additional restrictions could be imposed only through legislation under Article 19(2) rather than by judicial directions. They also relied on various Supreme Court decisions to contend that courts should adopt a case-by-case balancing approach instead of framing general guidelines.
