INDIAN CONSTITUTION AND MEDIA IS MEDIA TRIAL ENDANGERING JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE IN INDIA?
THE LAWWAY WITH LAWYERS JOURNAL VOLUME:-20 ISSUE NO:- 20 , MARCH 27, 2025 ISSN (ONLINE):- 2584-1106 Website: www.the lawway with lawyers.com Email: thelawwaywithelawyers@gmail.com Authored By :- Ankita Ghosh INDIAN CONSTITUTION AND MEDIA IS MEDIA TRIAL ENDANGERING JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE IN INDIA? Abstract Media trials have become one of the most integral parts of news landscape in the contemporary scenario. Media plays critical role in making public informed regarding a wide arrays of matters. However, its impact on both judiciary and society raises some important questions concerning fairness, rule of law and ethics. Judicial bodies are responsible for running trials to decide specific cases. When media runs such trials on its own before judgement of court, these are called media trials and in some cases, they portray accused or mere suspects as criminals, which violate the law completely. Media trials often highly influence public opinions about the accused or even about the victims by creating an environment of mob-lynching. In a few cases, trial court judges are sometimes bound to take into account the media criticisms and their trials as the extra-judicial trial conducted by media already ends up forming public opinions in a particular way that influences the witnesses and their testimony. The judges therefore, stay under extreme pressure and although media criticisms do not necessarily influence the final decisions made by the judges, these trials affect the perceptions of public and also pressurize the victims that sway their statements. The article has provided a detailed analysis of the ways media trials are interfering with judicial proceedings in India and the adequacy of the present legal framework in governing media behaviour. Keywords: Janta Adalat or Public Court, NBSA or News Broadcasting Standard Authority, Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, Article 19(1)(a), Fair Trial, Article 21, Administration of Justice Introduction Media Trials, as the name suggests, are trials that the Media conducts in any case even before the court trials take place. The process of trial by the media in India gained momentum in late 20th to early 21st century, though it was active in this country since 18th century when newspapers used to play a significant role in influencing public opinions and shaping their thought processes. However, these earlier instances were more focused on ensuring justice through campaigns rather than being focused on sensational trials. A major transformation took place with the emergence of alternative means of disseminating information, one of which is Television. Television took a dominant position in 1990s as the news channels started gaining the attention of a big audience by bringing live-coverage of the on-going high-profile cases. This marked a shift towards dramatization in the reporting of judicial proceedings. There exists a significant difference between the opinions of people supporting uncensored and free media and those prioritising the Right to Privacy for fair trial. Media has already asserted itself as “Janta Adalat” or Public Court and has started exercising its power to interfere with judicial proceedings. Now, the question arises regarding the extent to which this media trial procedure influences the judicial system and the actual scope of it in so influencing. In most cases, media trials result in the generation of prejudiced public views regarding a case, and it affects the judicial functioning of a State. Indian Constitution and Media Freedom Media is considered to be the 4th pillar of democracy in India, and freedom of the Press and Media revolves around Freedom of Expression and Speech guaranteed under the Article–19(1)(a) of Indian Constitution. As per Article-19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution, the media is responsible for ensuring fair expression and speech to create awareness and shape societal views in a positive way. Although Press Freedom falls within the ambit of Article-19(1)(a) of Constitution, the scope of freedom is often crossed, especially when the media takes suo moto coverage of information of the victim and the accused through various mass-media modes, having a detrimental pre-judicial impact on judges as well as the public. It is true that media coverage in a positive way could enhance public confidence and trust in the judicial system and its outcomes. It is sometimes argued that media, by enhancing the pressure on the judges through professional questioning media can ensure their accountability, resulting in a significant increase in legitimacy of the courts. However, in some cases, media trials compel the judges to make decisions in accordance with the follow-up of the media criticisms. In past decades, an exponential growth in the influence of media has been witnessed in process of accessing justice in a number of cases related to murder, corruption, terrorist activities and much more. It is pertinent here to note that media often ends up degrading the reputation of mere suspect and sometimes tagging these people guilty before judges even before they take cognizance of the cases by emphasising one-sided delegations to attract more viewers rather than trying to discover the reality. Thus, it influences the verdicts of the judges, limiting the scope of fair trials. The right of fair trial has been mentioned impliedly under Right-to-Life, which is protected by Article-21 of Indian Constitution. Hence, media trials often interfere with fair-trial procedures in a detrimental way, causing a violation of Article 21. In this regard, a few cases could be analysed to shed light on the ways media trials often infringe human rights and the importance of fair trials of the accused. The case of “Aryan Shah Rukh Khan Vs Union of India” could be taken into consideration to determine the ways media could sway the opinions of the public at large that could have potential impact on judicial decisions. In this case, Aryan Khan was detained on the suspicion that he was possessing prohibited drugs during a raid by Narcotics-Control Bureau. This detention of the son of a Bollywood star piqued the interest of media, and some channels started reporting on his personal character, family history and his probable engagement in the aforementioned case. Despite the absence of strong evidence supporting his involvement in the case,