The Regional Committee of the Indian Newspaper Society and the Kerala Television Federation in an open letter have appealed to Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur to resolve the stand-off between mediapersons and lawyers in the State.
The open letter:
“We — representing the Regional Committee of the Indian Newspaper Society and the Kerala Television Federation — welcome you to our State on the occasion of her 60th birthday.
As you know, the State and its High Court share the same birthday of November 1. While welcoming you to Kerala on this occasion, we are saddened to inform you that a huge blot left by a section of the legal fraternity has blurred the transparency of the judicial process even as grand preparations for the diamond jubilee celebrations are on.
For the last six decades, the State has benefited from the timely intervention of many illustrious judges, whose vision and perspective have given Kerala a right roadmap to evolve as an enlightened society with good legal literacy. But a series of sad incidents — stemming from the reportage of an incident involving government pleader Dhanesh Mathew Manjooran — have cast a slur on this synergy.
“You may recall a meeting our senior representatives had with you in New Delhi………….. We thank you for the patient audience you had given them. We all were immensely hopeful of an early solution post this meeting. But unfortunately precious little has changed on the ground.”
This bleak scenario is continuing in spite of intervention of the Governor P. Sathasivam, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, various international press associations, senior leaders of all socio-political organisations and prominent citizens.
To give you an update, journalists were hounded out of the Chief Justice’s court the very next day a third communiqué reassuring all media of hassle-free entry and reporting, signed by the Registrar General, was sent to our offices.
To mention that this shocked and surprised us would be an understatement. But what is more worrying is the dirty pattern in which the whole script is being played out in courtrooms across the State. At the Vanchiyoor court, in Thiruvananthapuram, sadly, again in the presence of the judge, journalists, including women, were booed and manhandled and elbowed out of the court room. Our equipment were damaged. Additionally, false cases have been filed against the reporters by the lawyers involved.
Of course, this attack by lawyers was less intense than the earlier incidents when empty beer bottles stocked on the premises of the court were hurled at media. But a highly slanderous campaign tarnishing women journalists, including putting up flex boards with their photographs, has been unleashed to demoralise us more.
The situation has come to such a pass that advocates are threatened not to represent media houses when their legal issues come before various courts.
In effect, apart from being prevented from discharging our constitutional rights granted under the freedom of expression provisions, the media as a whole is being denied its right to natural justice to present their side of the story — on any issue, for that matter — before any judicial officer.
The muscle power of a section of lawyers has built a wall between readers and legal news. Watched by an indifferent section of judiciary, this gag-mentality is tarnishing beyond recognition the crystal-clear transparency that was once the hallmark of the media-court synergy.
It, indeed, is sad that the very concept of rule of law is being challenged by some of the custodians of law on the premises of courts.
Promises in vain
Repeated assurances inviting media like any other visitor to a court have become mere formality. But we have no access to daily orders and judgments so as to enable real-time coverage. The media room remains closed.
Sir, you would attest to the view of Jeremy Bentham, British philosopher: Where there is no publicity, there is no justice. This open letter, may be our last appeal before we are all forced to withdraw colleagues from courts taking into consideration their safety and security, is to request you to preach sense to this section of the legal fraternity of Kerala who are standing between our right to practise journalism and the reader/viewer’s right to information. Once again, we greet you on the occasion of the diamond jubilee.
Hoping that you would resolve the issue before bidding adieu to the State.”
