media is abusing its right to free speech and expression( granted by article 19(1)(a)) because media is affecting trial and investigation gravely by building public opinion against the accused even before the trial. for example, in case of rape, even before the trial begun, media build a rapist image of the accused before public and thus building public opinion against the accused.
in case of murder or any crime media build public opinion against the accused before trial begun. the harmful effect of this practice is : if accused got aquitted, he cannot go back to his normal life any more. even his relatives will no longer care for him.his public image is seriously damaged.
beside this defamation, there is another damage that occurs to our judicial system. indian judicial system follows adversarial criminal justice system which has presumption of innocence as its fundamental principle. this means that "A principle that requires the government to prove the guilt of a criminal defendant and relieves the defendant of any burden to prove his or her innocence."
source:https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Presumption+of+Innocence
so you see a person is innocent until proven guilty in adversary system that exists in india. media by building negative image of a person affects seriously this presumption of innocense. media propaganda against the accused affect the fundamental principle of our judicial system thereby affecting the trial, the presumption, the interpretation of witness testimony, and in a word everything of the trial. the trial will no longer be a FAIR TRIAL.
so i think this abuse of free speech by media must be restricted on the following grounds:
1] decensy and morality in relation to contempt of court
2] defamation
court should put a reasonable restriction on the right of free speech of media on the above mentioned grounds.
what do you think?