Media trials affect freedom of judiciary: CJI

NEW DELHI: Uncharacteristically warning media to desist from holding trials and unsavoury campaigns against judges, Chief Justice NV Ramana on Saturday said agenda-driven debates, especially in electronic media, are detrimental to the health of democracy in India.
Addressing high court judges, judicial officers and law students in Ranchi, he said justice delivery is becoming challenging with each passing day and a major impeding factor is the concerted campaigns in media, particularly in social media against judges. He said unless the media self-regulates its conduct and stops transgressing the limits, the judiciary could be forced to draw lines for them.

“Another aspect which affects the fair functioning and independence of the judiciary is the rising number of media trials. New media tools have enormous amplifying ability but appear to be incapable of distinguishing between the right and the wrong, the good and the bad, and the real and the fake. Media trials cannot be a guiding factor in deciding cases,” the CJI said.