New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday, October 15, sought responses from the Centre and others on a plea seeking framing of guidelines governing interaction of police and law-enforcement authorities with journalists during protests and crowd control operations.
Passing the order during a hearing on petitions regarding the ongoing agitation in Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi addressed claims of Delhi Police brutality. One plea alleged that journalists and female reporters were mistreated while covering the Delhi demonstrations against irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls.
“We would like to lay down guidelines,” the bench observed after senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for a woman journalist, booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The female reporter had earlier complained that a senior Delhi police officer molested her while she was covering the protests.
The court ordered no coercive action should be taken against the woman journalist for now, adding that the allegations made in her complaint were “very serious.” It asked the police to examine the complaint and complete its inquiry on it.
“That individual woman journalist about whom the allegations are there, and against whom the police official is stated to have gone to the High Court (for the registration of an SC/ST Act case)… please see that there is no coercive action,” the CJI said.
No more FIRs against women journalists
Jaising asserted there has to be a national protocol on the matter and contended that the case was an abuse of the SC/ST Act. “I am representing a woman who was very badly molested,” she said. “She went to the police station to lodge a first information report (FIR). No FIR was lodged. Now what does this man do? He has gone to the Delhi High Court and filed a petition under the Atrocities Act, saying she used casteist remarks against him. That matter has been entertained.”
The lawyer requested a court order prohibiting any coercive action against women journalists after they filed a sexual harassment complaint.
“Even in war zones in Israel and Palestine, journalists go there and nobody stops them. Here, they are stopping journalists from going to Jantar Mantar,” she said, adding that journalists have a right to report.
Don’t know who is reel-maker or journalist: SC Tushar Mehta
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench, “The difficulty is that, in the present era of digital technology, anyone having a mobile is a journalist.”
“Our experience is that there are several people who say they are freelance journalists. What is going on is reel-making in the protests.
“The problem is we don’t know who is a reel-maker and who is an independent journalist,” the top law officer said.
Jaising argued that several women journalists, who were performing their duties, were allegedly pushed and assaulted, including by male police officers, during the protests.
Jaising seeks formation of committee to look into complaints
She urged the apex court to constitute an independent committee to look into the complaints of women journalists.
The bench observed that the committee could predominantly or exclusively have women members, such as former retired judges or retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officers.
Jaising, who said she could suggest names for the committee, told the bench that she would submit a list of complaints by women journalists in a sealed cover.
“Before this court, every voice is valuable, and everyone will be heard irrespective of numbers,” the bench observed.
The lawyer argued that police cannot investigate themselves and the complaints made by female journalists covering the protests have to be examined by an independent committee.
The bench issued notice on the plea seeking responses from the Centre and the Delhi Police.
Delhi Police accused of seizing devices of journalists
One of the advocates told the apex court that the police have seized electronic devices of several journalists who were covering the protests.
Another advocate claimed that a large number of women protestors were treated badly by the police.
“Allow me to file my response,” Mehta said.
After the top court asked the police not to take any coercive action against the woman journalist, senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia, appearing for some other petitioners, urged the bench to also consider the case of a pregnant woman journalist, who, he said, was allegedly pushed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the apex court premises during the October 12 march.
“A lady journalist was pushed by Rahul Gandhi in the Supreme Court precincts. She was three months pregnant and she was hospitalised,” Bhatia argued, adding that the apex court may take cognisance of this.
The bench asked him to file a petition in this regard, and said it would consider the issue.
(With inputs from PTI)
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