The Hindu : `Contempt action will deter press'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 08, 2003

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`Contempt action will deter press'

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE FEB. 7. The publications facing suo motu criminal contempt of court action by the Karnataka High Court with regard to the "Mysore episode" today submitted before the court that initiation of the contempt proceedings had a "chilling effect" on people and the press. As a result, the efforts of the Chief Justice of India to gather the truth experienced a setback.

Making his submission before a Full Bench, senior counsel Anil Diwan, who appeared for The Hindu and Vijaya Karnataka, said that while the Committee of Judges constituted by the Chief Justice of India was to hold sittings on December 14 and 15, contempt notices were issued on December 5. The common man and the press were under fear of the contempt proceedings to depose the truth before the committee inquiring into the alleged episode, Mr. Diwan said.

It might be an unintended effect of the contempt proceedings, he said while submitting that the truth was put in cold storage. Had the contempt proceedings not been initiated, people would have forgotten the "Mysore episode" as public memory is short. By initiating the proceedings, people were being frequently reminded of the incident, Mr. Diwan submitted before the Bench, comprising Justice T.S. Thakur, Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice V.G. Sabhahit.

He said the reports related only to the alleged deviant behaviour of the judges, which had nothing to do with the administration of justice. The publications had exercised utmost restraint and refrained from mentioning the names of the persons allegedly involved in the episode at the initial stages. The job was to report the news and not the truth, he said adding that the motive was to make the authorities concerned to bring out the truth.

Mr. Diwan mentioned about the code of conduct for judges and the recommendations of the Constitution Review Committee to evolve a mechanism to deal with the deviant behaviour of judges at the higher levels. When the court drew his attention to a statement of a Karnataka High Court judge, published in The Times of India today, Mr. Diwan said the court was empowered to initiate contempt proceedings.

Questioning the very purpose of the proceedings, Mr. Diwan asked whether it would enhance the prestige of the judiciary, serve any public purpose or create the unintended impression in the common man that the proceedings would block out from public view the alleged deviant behaviour of some judges. He submitted that contempt jurisdiction was not for the protection of individual judges but for maintaining the high esteem of the judiciary.

While Mr. Diwan made a strong plea for summoning communications between the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court and the Chief Justice of India regarding the transfer of three judges, the court persistently asked him what purpose the communications would serve. He replied that none, including the Bench, knew the contents of the communication, which, if made available, would help the publications to argue their case. The court however, deferred passing any order on the plea.

Earlier in the day, Uday Holla, appearing for The Times of India, continued his submissions. He stated that a distinction should be drawn between a judge in his official capacity and a judge in his personal actions. To a question why the publication had not initially named the persons involved, Mr. Holla replied that they were under a hope that the authorities concerned would bring out the truth.

When the court suggested that mentioning of "involvement of judges" in the alleged episode had denigrated the judiciary as a whole, Mr. Holla replied in the negative. To another question regarding the authenticity of the reports filed by the correspondent concerned, the counsel replied that the correspondent has reliable sources and that the publication believed in the correspondent. When the court asked Mr. Holla to identify the women who allegedly accompanied the judges, he replied that, "they (the women) were not their (judges') wives".

At one point, the court felt that there was no effective "checks and balances" for the press, except the Press Council of India.

It questioned whether the press did not have any conscience and whether it thought it could write anything and everything. A limit had to be defined. However, Mr. Holla stated that the PCI was fully empowered to initiate any action. The hearing was adjourned to February 11.

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