Media Should Take Care of Public Interest Instead of Sensational News: Madras HC While Granting Anticipatory Bail To Dainik Bhaskar's Editor
The Madras High Court while granting anticipatory bail to the editor of Dainik Bhaskar held that the media needs to be responsible in publishing news and the veracity of the information ought to be verified to prevent unnecessary panic amongst the public.
The Bench headed by Justice A.D. Jagadish Chandira stated that “The Media is considered to be the fourth pillar of the democracy as it carries with such a huge power and responsibility as public repose their trust and confidence in the Media. The Media and Press need to adopt their professional ethics and take care of public interest instead of concentrating on sensational news alone for promoting their own commercial interest.”
Further, adding, the Court said “This Court strongly deprecates the act of the petitioner in publishing such a sensitive news. However, taking into consideration the unconditional apology rendered by the petitioner and the undertaking made on his behalf that he would publish a Corrigendum in the homepage this Court is inclined to grant anticipatory bail to the petitioner with certain conditions.”
Senior Advocate B. Kumar appeared for the Petitioner while GA N.S. Suganthan represented the Respondent.
The trouble arose when Dainik Bhaskar published a news online citing the bad conditions of migrant laborers in Tamil Nadu. Adding on to that, the news report stated that more than 15 laborers were killed for not speaking Hindi. This caused a sense of fear among the public. The Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu had to issue a notice asking people to not panic and that the contents of the video were fake.
The Special Sub Inspector (SI) of Tiruppur North Police Station gave a written complaint against the news article and subsequently, a case was registered under Section 153-A and 505(1)(b) IPC against Dainik Bhaskar.
Another complainant, a member of the IT Wing of DMK Party, lodged a complaint before the Inspector of Tirunindravur Police Station and a case was registered u/s.153(A)(1), 505(1)(b) and 505(2) IPC.
The Court upon hearing the submissions from both sides and examining the damage caused by the news story stated that “This Court strongly deprecates the act of the petitioner in publishing such a sensitive news, without verifying the correctness of the same.”
However, owing to the assurance of publishing an apology about the fake news on the website, and a promise to not repeat the offense, the Petitioner was granted anticipatory bail by the Court upon certain conditions, wherein the Court stated that “the petitioner is ordered to be released on bail in the event of arrest or on his appearance, within a period of fifteen days from the date on which the order copy made ready.”
Cause Title: Prasoon Mishra v. State
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