New Delhi: The Supreme Court, Attorney General KK Venugopal referring to specific reporting in pending cases said on Tuesday- ‘that it is completely wrong and forbidden to do so’, it can lead to contempt of court. The Attorney General made this remark before a bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar in the 2009 contempt of court against senior advocate Prashant Bhushan and journalist Tarun Tejpal.
During the hearing in this case, while referring to the comments of ‘electronic and print media’ on the pending cases in the courts, AG Venugopal said that doing so is completely forbidden. Whenever a bail plea of an accused in a high profile case is heard, the TV channel making comments on the accused can cause damage to their image. In the context of reporting of death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput AG pointed out, “A bail petition is filed and TV channels start showing personal WhatsApp messages of the accused. This is prejudicial to the rights of the accused and is very dangerous for the administration of justice. ‘
The court gave AG Venugopal time to remodel the issues to be considered in this contempt case. The court issued notices in November 2009, to Bhushan and Tehelka magazine editor Tarun Tejpal. In an interview given to this magazine, Bhushan had allegedly attacked some presiding and former judges of the Supreme Court.
Venugopal said, “Today the electronic and print media are commenting on pending cases and trying to influence the court.” Referring to media reporting in the Rafale case, the Attorney General said that such comments should not be made in pending cases”.
Further added, “This is completely forbidden and may lead to contempt of court. He will discuss this with senior advocate Rajiv Dhawan appearing on behalf of Bhushan and all other lawyers appearing in the case”.
A bench of Justices Khanwilkar, Justice BR Gavai and Justice Krishna Murari took cognizance of AG Venugopal’s submission and asked him to consider re-framing the questions that the bench has to consider. With this, the bench adjourned the hearing in the matter for November 4.