AU rape: Press club moves HC alleging SIT harassment

Chennai: Noting that accessing or downloading an FIR from a public domain per se is not an offence, Madras high court has said its order constituting a special investigation team to probe the Anna University rape case had clearly laid out the manner in which media should be handled.
A division bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice M Jothiraman made the observations on Wednesday, when Chennai Press Club moved the court, alleging harassment of journalists by SIT.
Representing the club, advocate A P Suryaprakasam said the SIT had seized mobile phones of several journalists after summoning them for inquiry. While there is no specific direction to SIT to probe journalists in regard to FIR leak, the team is harassing mediapeople under the guise of inquiry, he said.
The judges then referred to their earlier judgment and said the mediapersons concerned could approach the apex court if the SIT harassed them.