Eminent jurists have expressed shock and surprise over a judgment passed by the Madras High Court Bench here directing its Registrar (Administration) to “instruct” media houses not to publish or broadcast names of lawyers and “request” them to avoid naming judges too, unless it was necessary, while reporting court news.
‘Media’s prerogative’
Former Madras High Court judge K. Chandru said courts could not pass such blanket orders since it was the prerogative of the media to name or not to name judges and lawyers. “There is nothing wrong in reporting a judgment with the names of the judges and lawyers because people would certainly want to know who handled a particular case,” he said.
The Bench had reasoned that naming the lawyers in news reports would amount to indirect advertisement of their professional capabilities. Questioning the logic behind the view taken by the Bench, Mr. Chandru said, “At times, the media also names lawyers who had lost their cases. In such instances, can we say that it will amount to defaming those lawyers?”
Opining that the judgment must be reviewed by a larger Bench, he added that courts could not give instructions to the media on what to report and what not to report on open court proceedings unless there was a statutory bar on issues such as disclosing the identities of rape victims, juveniles in conflict with law and Family Court litigants.
Concurring with his views and wondering how the court could dismiss the PIL petition at the admission stage itself despite taking note of a Child Welfare Committee report in favour of the Dalit children, former Madras High Court judge D. Hariparanthaman said it was absolutely unwarranted on the part of the Bench to have referred the issue to the Bar Council.
“Naming the judges and lawyers in news reports actually encourages transparency. Similarly, the right of socially conscious lawyers to file PIL petitions has been well recognised. They cannot be branded as busybodies or wayfarers or interlopers. If lawyers cannot file PIL petitions, who else can ? This order will only widen the rift between the Bar and the Bench,” he said.
Former High Court judge and incumbent chairman of Intellectual Property Appellate Board K.N. Basha said: “My opinion, with great respect to the Bench, is that such direction is not at all warranted. From time immemorial, arguments advanced by advocates have been published in the news media mentioning their names. By no stretch of imagination, it can be considered as an advertisement.
“The advocates are placing their points to defend their cases. There is nothing wrong in it. The names of advocates are not published in every case. It is done only in the cases of public importance… Moreover, there is no need for an advocate to get publicity through media. These days, people are visiting the courts and they are well aware of the capacities and capabilities of lawyers.”
