Judiciary, media urge each other to play responsible role

New Delhi (PTI): The judiciary and media on Saturday came on a common platform to discuss their delicate mutual relation with judges advocating self-restraint by scribes and the media seeking more transparency in the functioning of judiciary.
Issues relating to contempt of court, reporting on subjudice matters and freedom of press came for deliberation at a "Workshop on Reporting of Court Proceedings by Media and Administration of Justice," which was inaugurated by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan here.
The two-day national workshop is being jointly organised by the Supreme Court Legal Services Authority, Press Council of India, National Legal Services Authority and the Editors Guild of India.
Asking media to appreciate the 'dilemma' of judiciary, Justice Balakrishanan sought cooperation to bring all aspects of the administration of justice closer to citizens.
"I would like to utilize this occasion to once again restate the judiciary's commitment to bringing all aspects of administration of justice closer to each and every citizen. Undoubtedly, such a task cannot be accomplished without cooperation and synergy with the media," the CJI said.
He said though media has been very efficient, factual and searching in portraying the role of the judiciary and the status of administration of justice, there have been some inadvertent errors that seem to creep in periodically due to systemic difficulties.
Justice Balakrishnan said even the media appreciates that such errors may inadvertently impede the functioning of the judiciary as they often tend to lead to unnecessary confusion amongst the public.
Joining the debate, Justice S H Kapadia said the "Media should be a seeker of truth and not finder of fault".
However, in another session, H K Dua, Editor-in-Chief of the Tribune, differed with Justice Kapadia and said "the basic role of the media is to find fault and if fault is the truth what is wrong in it."
Pointing out that there has been an impression about corruption in the judiciary, Dua said there was a need for more transparency in the "operation" of the judicial system which will help public know the criteria on appointment and elevation of judges.
Justice Arijit Pasayat, another apex court judge, said the relation between the media and judiciary was symbiotic and their ultimate role was to ensure the rule of law in the country and "any attempt to make news out of nothing to sensationalise it has to be deprecated".
The apex court judges were of the view that observations made by them in courts should not be reported out of context for drawing inferences.
Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of the Indian Express, said that public trust in the judiciary was at an all-time high and the two organs of the state must be independent from each other.
Hiranmay Karlekar, Consultant Editor of Pioneer, said both judiciary and media played complimentary role in furthering the cause of democracy.
THE HINDU; Saturday, March 29, 2008