The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday sought a reply from the Press Council of India (PCI) chairman Markandey Katju on his statement supporting the media in connection with the March 2 violence at the City Civil Court complex here.
The questions
“On what basis [did] he [Mr. Katju] make the statement? Did he take instruction from anyone or did he investigate the incident before making the statement? He was my ex-Chief Justice. He did not consult me [on the incident],” High Court Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen observed orally while asking counsel for the PCI to submit a reply.
A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Sen and Justice B.V. Nagarathna, sought the reply during the hearing on a batch of public interest litigation petitions related to the incident.
While condemning the attack on journalists, Mr. Katju called for “severe punishment” for the lawyers who allegedly “took the law into their own hands and physically attacked mediapersons”.
Referring to the allegation of a few lawyers that it was members of the media who attacked advocates, Mr. Katju had said: “I do not believe this version since the TV footage I have seen only show mediapersons with injuries and no lawyers with injuries.”
