OVERVIEW
- The Delhi High Court slams the media for publishing news against Umar Khalid without verifying all facts in the riot case.
- Delhi High Court criticized the media for publishing an alleged confession statement in the Delhi riot conspiracy cases without verifying that such confessions are not admissible evidence.
- The Court took a specific objection to a news item which started with the words "Radical Islamist and Anti Hindu Delhi Riots accused Umar Khalid...."
- The Court was considering an application filed by JNU student leader Umar Khalid - who has been under custody since September 14 last year complaining about a media campaign that he has confessed his involvement in the conspiracy behind the communal riots which took place in North East Delhi in February 2020.
WHO IS UMAR KHALID?
Umar Khalid is a former Jawaharlal Nehru University student, alleged to be the main conspirator of the Delhi Communal riot case. He was charged with sedition and got arrested in 2016 for shouting anti-India slogans inside the JNU campus. He was earlier charged with the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in other cases. Khalid got arrested on 14 September 2019 around 1 a.m after 11 hours of interrogation on his role in the conspiracy of the Delhi riot case.
BACKGROUND OF THE CASE
The case began on 12 December 2019 when the Government of India passed the Citizenship Amendment (Act), Bill. The Citizenship Amendment (Act) protest or CAA protest or the CAB protest was in response to the Act which allowed the immigrants of Pakisthan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, fast-track naturalization but only to six religions except for Islam. It was seen as discriminatory to Muslims, as it threatens their existence.
On September 14, 2019, a JNU student leader Umar Khalid was arrested by the Delhi Police and remanded to ten days of police custody for involvement in the alleged conspiracy of North East Delhi riot cases. The Delhi police sought 10 days of police custody to confront Umar Khalid with huge technical data of more than 40GB to unearth the "deep-rooted conspiracy behind Delhi riots".
This criticism was made by the Court when it was considering an application filed by Umar Khalid complaining about the media campaign that he has confessed his involvement in the Delhi communal riot case.
JUDGEMENT
The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate North East, Karkardooma Courts, Delhi, observed that "the news reporters have only highlighted the confession made by Umar Khalid regarding his involvement, however, no news or articles had made it clear to the readers or the viewers that such a statement, even if actually made, could not be used as evidence by the prosecution. A reporter should have such basic knowledge of the law as readers/viewers consider news items as true without verifying the facts. Further, the general public might not be aware of the law as mentioned above. Therefore, it is the duty of the Press and Media to inform and educate its readers and viewers about all the relevant facts and circumstances of a news item published or shown on the News channel”.
The Court specifically mentioned the news published with an introductory statement as - Radical Islamist and Anti Hindu Delhi Riots accused Umar Khalid…." as an objection, as it portrays the riot as an anti-Hindu riot but it was not the case. Such news items might show to the public at large that accused Umar Khalid had in fact confessed/admitted his role in the Delhi riots. However, it is the duty of the judicial system to decide a case on merits after trial.
CONCLUSION
As the Court opined, the prejudiced media trial is becoming a contradictory legal justification. The media is always obliged to expose the true and justified version of justice through its lens. A minor error in the media justification could bring out a major misunderstanding of facts and legality of cases that arose among the public. Thus, the power of media in investigative journalism could not be expected to be misused.
"The Media is the most powerful entity on Earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses" - MALCOLM X.
DO YOU SUPPORT THE COURT ORDER, AS MEDIA BEING A PREJUDICED FACTOR OF LEGAL SYSTEM OR THE MEDIA? Let us know by posting in your comments!
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