The Hindu : 'Law of contempt stands like a sword over media'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 16, 2003

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'Law of contempt stands like a sword over media'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI MARCH 15. Liberalising the law of contempt of court and scrapping the criminal defamation law to enable the media function without unreasonable restriction were the key suggestions that emerged at the end of a two-day soul-searching exercise by the media here.

The national colloquium on "Emerging media issues" organised by the Media Development Foundation, at its concluding session, debated the "inhibiting" impact of the contempt of court and defamation actions on the media.

Initiating the discussion, Rajeev Dhavan, senior advocate, said the law of contempt was defective and stood like a sword over the media. While, on the one hand, the courts were willing to accept that protection had to be given to the press in terms of their institutional freedom and rights, on the other, they were not sufficiently liberal in contempt proceedings.

Calling for the abolition of criminal defamation cases, especially in the light of the States filing a slew of cases against the media, he said there was no room for criminal defamation in the armoury of the powers of the Government. Posing why a State Government should resort to criminal defamation cases, he said the court process, by itself, was a punishment.

'Vexatious litigation'

The Editor of The Hindu, N. Ravi, said that vexatious litigation inhibited the functioning of the media and had a chilling effect on the freedom of the press. Insisting that the press was entitled to greater freedom and latitude compared to an individual, he said tolerance of media freedom covered not just provable truth but also exaggeration and even provocation.

In matters of criminal defamation cases filed against the media, the "biggest inconvenience" was the requirement of the journalists making personal appearance in the court. Pointing out that the Sri Lankan Government had abolished the criminal defamation law last July, he said there was a need to look into whether the provision should remain in India's statutes.

As for the contempt proceedings initiated against the media, Mr. Ravi said that truth should be allowed as a defence. There was the "biggest uncertainty" over what would tantamount to scandalising the court. Even reports on personal conduct of judges totally unrelated to their judicial work were being construed as contempt of court. "The idea that media criticism should be prevented to uphold the public confidence in judiciary is misplaced," he said even while emphasising the need for media to uphold journalistic standards.

It was high time the Supreme Court set guidelines on what exactly constituted contempt of court and how it should be dealt with, the Thuglak Editor, Cho Ramasamy said. However, he felt that a section of the media, which was publishing slanderous articles with utter irresponsibility, should face the consequences of defamation cases.

Lawrence Liang, legal researcher of the Alternative Law Forum, citing the recent contempt case against writer Arundhati Roy, said the idea of freedom of speech and contempt of court were incommensurate.

Earlier, speaking on the role of the Editor in a changing media environment, Vinod Mehta, Editor-in-chief of the Outlook magazine, said that editors of newspapers and magazines should respond to new readers, new aspirations and ideas, without undermining the social obligation or credibility of the media. "Change does not mean a sell-out," he insisted.

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