The Bombay High Court was told on Friday that none of the Central agencies probing the actor Sushant Singh Rajput death case has leaked any information to the media.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G.S. Kulkarni was hearing a bunch of public interest litigation petitions seeking a direction to authorities to issue guidelines to be followed by all media houses to refrain from publishing comments which may jeopardise the reputation of the police that may hinder the cause of administration of justice.
Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the CBI, reassured the court that all the three agencies — the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate and the Narcotics Control Bureau — investigating the case have not leaked any information to the media.
Mr. Singh said, “We know our responsibilities and there is no question of leaking information by any of the agencies.”
When the advocate representing Zee News cited some old judgments arguing against a statutory regulatory mechanism, the court said, “Journalists were responsible back then and the media was neutral then. It is now highly polarised .... This is not a question of regulation, this is a question of checks and balances. People forget where to draw lines. Do it within lines.”
Chief Justice Datta went on to say, “You want to criticise the government, do it. The issue is someone has died and the allegation is you are interfering. We are ruled by the rule of law. In India there is a rule of law, right? How do you advocate that people who go around accusing others can find shelter of freedom of press?”
The matter will now be heard next week.
