NEW DELHI, July 6: With observations made by judges during court proceedings often making it to headlines, Law Minister Salman Khurshid today suggested that judges should evolve guidelines and be careful in what they say.
Citing the example of British courts, the Minister also made a strong pitch for court proceedings to be telecast live.
“As far as reporting guidelines on court proceedings are concerned, please try to help the court arrive at some rational and possible guidelines… The judges also have to have guidelines for themselves, because a lot of the things which are reported are said by them during trials,” Khurshid said, addressing a seminar organised by Editors Guild of India on the issue of ‘Challenges Facing Media’.
He also sought to clarify that the guidelines suggested by the Supreme Court for legal correspondents will only be for the purpose of court reporting.
“One thing is clear that it is only about the court proceedings and not about guidelines for reporting all events in general,” Khurshid said.
He stressed on the need for engaging the judiciary in the process to come out with a set of agreed guidelines.
“I think that kind of open system will probably will be very good. That way court cannot complain of misreporting or that you are putting a spin to what they have said and people will not have to speculate and worry about what happened in the court,” he said.
“I think it is an evolving area. The media must engage the judiciary and bring in some judges (to discuss the issues),” Khurshid said.
The Law Minister also highlighted the lack of proper communication affecting understanding between the judiciary and the media in this regard. (PTI)
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