JUDGMENT

Dr. Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, J.

This judgment has been divided into the following sections to facilitate analysis:

A. Factual Background

B. Proceedings before the Supreme Court

C. Legal Position & Analysis

C.1 Open Courts and the Indian Judiciary

C.2 Freedom of Expression of the Media

C.3 Public Discourse, Media Reporting and Judicial Accountability

C.4 Freedom and constraints of judicial conduct

D. Conclusion

1. Leave granted.

A. Factual Background

2. A delicate question of balancing the powers of two constitutional authorities in this appeal has raised larger issues of the freedom of speech and expression of the media, the right to information of citizens and the accountability of the judiciary to the nation. The authority of a judge to conduct judicial proceedings and to engage in a dialogue during the course of a hearing and the freedom of the media to report not just judgments but judicial proceedings have come up for discussion. What are the contours which outline judicial conduct? What are the concerns courts must be alive to in an age defined by the seamless flow of information? What purpose does the media serve in a courtroom? Above all, in a constitutional framework f