The Supreme Court (SC) gave major instructions to the lower courts regarding maintaining the freedom of media.
The court has asked courts to “tread with caution” while passing prohibitory orders against media houses, and said it should be done only in “exceptional cases”.
The SC said the court should refrain from passing unilateral ban orders against media houses without examining the merits of the allegations prima facie.
It says, “Granting a pre-trial injunction against the publication of an article can have a serious impact on the author’s freedom of expression and the public’s right to know.”
Setting aside a trial court order directing international media group ‘Bloomberg’ to remove allegedly defamatory news against ‘Zee Entertainment’, the apex court said an injunction against publication of the material should be issued only after a full hearing.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said, “Granting a pre-trial injunction against a news item can have a serious impact on the freedom of expression of the writer and the right of the people to get information.”
The bench also includes Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra. The Court said that an ex-parte injunction should not be issued without determining that the material sought to be prohibited is malicious and false. The bench said, “The result of issuing an interim injunction, before the commencement of the hearing, is to prevent public discussion… In other words, courts should not issue ex-parte injunctions except in exceptional cases….”
The Court said that granting an interim injunction before the commencement of the hearing bars publication of material before the charges are proved.
The top court said that in defamation cases, by granting interim injunction, courts should also take into account the possibility of the suit being used to curb free speech and public participation.
Along with this, the top court also quashed the trial court’s order stopping the publication of an allegedly defamatory news article against a famous media group.
The court is hearing a petition against a March 14 order of the Delhi High Court. The high court had rejected the appeal filed by Bloomberg against the lower court order.
The bench said that this case is about granting injunction in defamation proceedings against a media organization. The Court said that the injunction demands interference on the constitutionally protected right to freedom of speech.
The court granted liberty to ‘Zee Entertainment’ to approach the lower court again with its request for an injunction. Responding to the apex court’s order, a Bloomberg News spokesperson said, “We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court of India, and we stand by this news.”