Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the government in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, made light of India’s fall to 161st position in press freedom ranking, saying “that depends on who is giving the rating. I can have my own forum and give India the first rating”.
The remark was in response to the Supreme Court’s observation that India has fallen to the 161st position out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index published by the non-profit organisation, Reporters Without Borders. In 2022, India was ranked at 150.
“India is 161 in ranking in journalistic freedom,” Justice K.M. Joseph, heading a three-judge Bench, addressed the Union and Gujarat governments, represented by Mr. Mehta, during a hearing in the Bilkis Bano case.
According to the World Press Freedom Index, India is ranked behind countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia.
Hearing on July 10
The exchange between Justice Joseph and Mr. Mehta came while the Supreme Court ordered the publication of a notice giving the details of the case and the next date of court hearing, July 10, in two vernacular papers in Gujarat to alert those unserved among the 11 convicts who were released prematurely from their life imprisonment. They had been found guilty of the gangrape of Ms. Bano and the murder of her family members. Ms. Bano and other writ petitioners have separately challenged their remission.
The discussion was on the choice of the two newspapers and their circulation in Gujarat. Mr. Mehta said there were local papers published daily evening in every city of Gujarat.
Justice Joseph said there were one lakh newspapers published weekly in the country.
Convicts seek adjournments
The hearing, at one point, saw the Supreme Court wonder whether some of the released convicts were making a “mockery” of or even “playing” with the court by either going incognito to hamper the serving of notice of the case on them or seeking time to file counter affidavits.
Previous hearings have been a no go with lawyers for the men seeking adjournment on procedural grounds.
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One of the convicts was untraceable with his phone switched off. His relatives had refused to accept notice on his behalf, advocate Shobha Gupta, representing Ms. Bano, said.
The court decided to publish the notice in the newspapers so that the released convicts would not take the plea of ignorance and the case could go ahead and be heard on merits.
In the previous hearing, Justice Joseph, who has his last working day as Supreme Court judge on May 19, said it was “more than obvious” that the released convicts were resorting to these procedural or technical objections in successive court hearings to avoid his Bench.
