The Kerala High Court yesterday denied reports that there was a ban on journalists on reporting its proceedings.
“There is a need to make public the fact that there is no ban imposed on the journalists from attending and reporting court proceedings,” Registrar General Ashok Menon said in a statement after a meeting of the committee formed to set the code for the media on reporting court proceedings.
“(The panel) will look into the issue of framing guidelines for guidelines to provide prompt and easy access for the journalists to judgements and orders which are pronounced and issued.”
Apart from the threat of lawyers physically preventing journalists from entering the court premises, there were widespread complaints against the media misreporting judgements mostly quoting comments of judges during arguments.
The court’s media room was closed, and lawyers chased away journalists two weeks back.
But the statement is silent about reopening the media room which invited criticism from journalists unions and a section of lawyers which some even described as a “judicial emergency.”
The statement also said the individual judges would be at liberty to decline access to any persons to their chambers and the office of the private secretaries and personal assistants “taking into account the requirements to insulate the chamber and office of each judge and attached staff.”
Meanwhile, in a repeat of incidents on courts in Kochi, Trivandrum and Kollam over the fortnight, police yesterday forcibly evicted television reporters from a court in Kozhikode, triggering widespread protests.
A reporter said he was attacked by a police officer whom police chief Loknath Behera later suspended pending investigation.
He, however, rejected the demand for his arrest saying no case was registered against him so far.
“Such things should not have happened. Media and the police should cooperate with each other,” he told reporters here, assuring prompt action if the officer was found guilty.
Following the incident, journalists staged a protest before the Kozhikode Town Police Station and raised slogans the police whom they accused of locking up two television reporters and two technicians.
“The situation is serious. Journalists had not suffered this much even during the state of Emergency (1975-77),” said MP Veerendra Kumar, managing director of mass circulation Mathrubhumi daily.
“Media personnel went to the court to cover the news, not to free Maoists. The public has the right to know what is happening there. Media gag should not be allowed in a democracy.”
In New Delhi, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, whom the opposition and journalists accuse of silently supporting media gag, said he had taken the issue seriously, and action would be followed.
He, however, indicated that the media have no privilege other than what ordinary citizens enjoy.
“Police have no power to deny journalists their freedom to enter the court and movements,” he said.
“Like any other citizen, they also have the freedom to enter the courtroom if there were no prohibition orders in force.”
Police locked up the media personnel when they had gone to the police station to take back the vehicle of a television channel, which they confiscated in the morning while evicting them from the court premises.
The police officer reportedly used foul languages and when they protested, allegedly entered into a scuffle with them and dragged some of them inside the police station.