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VII. Law Commission Report

The 200th report of the Law Commission addresses the impact of media trials on justice, recommending amendments to the Contempt of Court Act, 1971 to prevent prejudicial media coverage from the time of an accused's arrest. It suggests empowering the High Court to postpone media publications related to ongoing criminal cases and identifies various forms of media conduct that interfere with justice. The report emphasizes the need for legal measures to protect the rights of the accused during investigations and trials.

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32 views2 pages

VII. Law Commission Report

The 200th report of the Law Commission addresses the impact of media trials on justice, recommending amendments to the Contempt of Court Act, 1971 to prevent prejudicial media coverage from the time of an accused's arrest. It suggests empowering the High Court to postpone media publications related to ongoing criminal cases and identifies various forms of media conduct that interfere with justice. The report emphasizes the need for legal measures to protect the rights of the accused during investigations and trials.

Uploaded by

Mohd Aqib
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© © All Rights Reserved
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VII.

Law Commission Report

The most reckoning research on the positive and negative aspects of media trial has been
elaborated in 200th report of the Law Commission entitled Trial by Media: Free Speech vs.
Fair Trial Under Criminal Procedure (Amendments to the Contempt of Court Act, 1971)
submitted on 31st August 2006 recommended various amendments to address the
damaging effect of sensationalized news reports, and accused victimization by media, on the
administration of justice and measures of postponement of proceedings and further said
that such powers cannot be vested in the subordinate courts where the criminal
proceedings are 'active'. This is because under the Contempt of Court 1971 Act, the
subordinate courts have no power to take action for contempt. Under Section 15(2), they
can only make a 'reference' to the High Court. Commission has recommended prohibiting
publication of anything that is prejudicial towards the accused — a restriction that shall
operate from the time of arrest. It also reportedly recommends that the High Court be
empowered to direct postponement of publication or telecast in criminal cases.

The report noted that at present, under Section 3 (2) of the Contempt of Court Act, such
publications would be contempt only if a charge sheet had been filed in a criminal case. The
Commission has suggested that the starting point of a criminal case should be from the time
of arrest of an accused and not from the time of filing of the charge sheet. In the perception
of the Commission such an amendment would prevent the media from prejudging or
prejudicing the case. Another controversial recommendation suggested was to empower
the High Court to direct a print or an electronic media to postpone publication or telecast
pertaining to a criminal case and to restrain the media from resorting to such publication or
telecast. The 17th Law Commission has made recommendations to the Centre to enact a
law to prevent the media from reporting anything prejudicial to the rights of the accused in
criminal cases from the time of arrest, during investigation and trial.

The Law Commission of India, in Chapter IX of its above mentioned report has stated various
forms of conduct by the press which constitutes interference in the due course of
administration of justice. These include, (1) Publications concerning the character of
accused or previous conclusions; (2) Publication of Confessions :(3) Publications which
comment or reflect upon the merits of the case; (4) Photographs related to the case which
may interfere with the identification of the accused; (5) direct imputations of the accused‘s
innocence; (6) Creating an atmosphere of prejudice; (7) Criticism of witnesses: (8)
Premature publication of evidence: (9) Publication of interviews with witnesses. It is
pertinent to mention that most of these ingredients have been culled out from Borrie and
Lowe‘s commentary on Contempt law and are not reflected either in statue or judicial
pronouncements in India. Even though the Law Commission states, ―There are also a large
number of decisions of the Indian Courts falling under these very headings.‖

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