Continuing in its endeavour to balance free press, fair trial and integrity of judicial proceedings, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued a public notice inviting suggestions from the general public on media reporting of court matters, including whether real-time reporting (live tweeting) of court proceedings should be permitted.

The notice contains a questionnaire for the public to give their suggestions within 21 days to the seven-member committee formed by Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal.

It can also be filled in and sent to Reetesh Singh, the Joint Registrar (Judicial) (Rules).

The committee, headed by Justice (Retd) Ruma Pal, has also sought the opinion of various stakeholders on formulating guidelines for accreditation of media personnel reporting from the Delhi High Court and other lower courts in Delhi.

The questionnaire contains 13 fill-ins, of which 10 are objective type questions, including one at number 7 which asks, “What should be the penalty for misreporting by an accredited person?”

The options given include no penalty, warning, temporary suspension of accreditation, permanent withdrawal and financial penalty.

Some of the other questions that the committee has put before the general public for its suggestions are:



Should accreditation be mandatory to report pending court proceedings and for what kind of reporting should accreditation be required?



What qualification must be met for accreditation?



The questions that need to be mandatorily answered include:



Should reporting of oral observations by judges be allowed?



Should real-time reporting (e.g. live tweeting) of court proceedings be permitted?



Who should be permitted to carry electronic devices into the courtroom?*



The questionnaire also seeks to know if there should be a separate seating arrangement for accredited reporters.

This takes care of court reporters often ruing how they do not have any space to sit or stand inside the court and have to cover lengthy hearings in any matter on foot or cramped in a crowded courtroom.

In June, Justice Mittal had constituted a committee to recommend measures to balance free press, fair trial and integrity of judicial proceedings and how court proceedings should be covered by media in Delhi.

The committee comprises Justice Pal, Justice Manmohan of Delhi High Court, retired Justice G Raghavan (director, National Judicial Academy), Retired IAS officer SC Panda, Arghya Sengupta (research director, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy), Dayan Krishnan and advocate Bharat Chugh.

Read the Notice Here