Judge GK IL ILAntHiraiyan made the observation by getting rid of a batch of writing requests presented by Chennai Press Club and individual journalists who had been summoned for investigation and whose phones were seized by a case of firing of sexual aggression of the University of Anna
The police action to seize the mobile phones of journalists, under the pretext of conducting investigations in a criminal case, and forcing them to provide access to their personal and private data is nothing more than an assault on the press and an attempt to oppress them, The stepmother, the stepmother, the stepmother, the Madras the Superior Court has said.
Judge GK ILLANTHIRAIYAN made the observation by getting rid of a lot of written requests presented by the Chennai press club and the individual journalists who had been summoned for the investigation and whose phones were seized by a special research team (SIT) that probing the case of the sexual assault of the University of Anna. .
After ordering the SIT to return the mobile phones seized immediate 15 (2) of the 1978 Press Council Law.
He pointed out that the source of information received by a journalist would fall into the scope of privileged communication and section 15 (2) clearly establishes that no newspaper, news agency, editor or journalist could be forced to reveal the source of news or information received or reported.
The judge also expressed surprise about the SIT after having issued journalists who had simply seen the FIR in the crime and the portal of the networks and criminal tracking systems (CCTNS) without consulting with the police and other responsible officers having uploaded it on the portal on the portal. .
Judge Ilicanthiraiyan said that the Supreme Court had ordered to load FIR, on a website that the public could access, only with respect to cases that were not of a sensitive nature. Therefore, the police must not load signed with sexual crimes, insurgency, terrorism, etc.
“The FIR load (related to the case of sexual aggression of the University of Anna) is a clear violation of the order approved by the Honorable Supreme Court … it is very unfortunate that the police simply said that due to technical problems, the FIR was uploaded on the official web portal, ”the judge lamented.
Making it clear that the SIT could not harass journalists with the appearance of an investigation, the judge said, the team could summon journalists for an investigation, but should not ask irrelevant questions. The judge also ordered the SIT to complete the investigation with the petitioners before the court on February 10 or before.
Published – February 5, 2025 09:25 pm ist
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