A writ petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking to prohibit the casting and recasting of news relating to the sexual harassment allegations made by a former employee of the Supreme Court of India against the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Ranjan Gogoi.
Filed by an organisation called the Anti-Corruption Council of India, the public interest petition seeks to immediately restrict media and news channels from further telecasting, publishing and republishing “defamatory news against the CJI” unless the allegations are proved by the enquiry panel, headed by Justice S A Bobde.
‘Restrict Media from Advertising, Besmirch CJI’s Image’
“Unless the allegations are proved against the CJI in the enquiry conducted by Hon’ble Justice SA Bobde, Justice NV Ramana, Justice Indira Banerjee, the media should be restricted from advertising and besmirch the image of the CJI and the Indian Judicial System,” the petition reads.
Justice Ramana has recused himself from the panel and Justice Indu Malhotra has been inducted in his place.
The petition specifically names as respondents the operational heads of Scroll, LinkedIn, Google, WhatsApp and YouTube as well as the Union of India, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of NCT of Delhi, Press Council of India and the Commissioner of Police.
The petitioner has sought “an appropriate writ/order/directions against respondents restraining them from publishing, telecasting in print media or electronic media via the internet, newspaper and various programmes in respect of the allegations against Hon’ble Chief Justice of India till final conclusion of the enquiry.”
(This article was originally published by The Leaflet, and has been republished by arrangement.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)