IMPORTANT POINT
Media briefings by Police – Age and gender of accused as well as of victims would have significant bearing on nature of disclosure to be made – Media trials are liable to result in a derailment of justice by impacting upon evidence which would be adduced and its assessment by adjudicating authorities.

ORDER :

1. This batch of cases raises two significant issues:

(i) The procedure to be followed by the police in investigating police encounters.

(ii) The propriety and procedure of media briefings by police personnel.

2. The first issue, governing police encounters, has since been dealt with in the judgment of this Court dated 23 September 2014 in People’s Union for Civil Liberties vs. State of Maharashtra, (2014) 10 SCC 635.

3. The second issue pertains to the modalities to be followed by the police in conducting media briefings where a criminal investigation for an alleged offence is in progress. The issue assumes significance, particularly, in the context of the manner in which media reportage takes place, particularly in crimes involving a degree of public interest.

4. Having regard to the ramifications of the issues involved, the Court appointed Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, senior counsel, as Amicus Curiae.

5. A questionnaire was circulated by the Amicus Curiae in order to elicit information from the States and Union Territories. Several States, including the States of Bihar, Goa, Haryana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand have responded, besides the Administrations of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh and Puducherry. Observations have been submitted by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, one of the appellants in the batch of cases. Other States, including the States of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have served copies of the replies filed by them in a connected petition [Surat Singh vs. Union of India, Writ Petition (C) No. 316 of 2008].

6. Media reporting on matters involving the commission of crimes involves several aspects bearing on public interest. At a basic level, the fundamental right to free speech and expression is directly implicated. This engages the right of the media to disseminate news, views and information and the right of the viewing public or readers of printed news. There can be no gainsaying the fact that both the media in pursuance of its fundamental right to the freedom of speech and expression as well as the consumers of news, information and ideas have a right to disseminate and to receive fair and unbiased information. Criminal offences and investigation into them by the law enforcement machinery involves significant elements of public interest bearing upon the right to be informed and the right to know.

7. At the same time, there are competing considerations which are also of immense significance. At one level, the accused whose conduct is under investigation is entitled to a fair and unbiased investigation by the police. Unfair reporting by the media has the potential to affect public opinion and impinge upon the presumption of innocence which is one of the cardinal principles of criminal jurisprudence. At the stage of the investigation and even trial, every accused is entitled to the presumption of innocence. Media reportage in a manner which implicates the culpability of the person who is under investigation is liable to seriously impinge upon the reputation and personal dignity of the individual under investigation. Biased reporting also gives rise to public suspicion that the person under investigation has committed the offence though the complicity of the accused is yet to be investigated and, if a charge-sheet is submitted to be subjected to the administration of criminal justice in accordance with law.

8. At another level, media reportage also impinges upon the right of victims or, as the case may be, survivors of crimes. In a given case, the victim may be a minor. In some cases, the nature of the crime may involve the privacy of the victim, in cases such as those involving gender violence. The publication of photographs and visuals of the bodies of deceased victims of crime affects the very notion of preserving the dignity in death.

9. While a disclosure by the media of relevant details involves public interest associated with the fundamental ri