SC stays proceedings in Jay Shah case, asks media to be more responsible

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked a Gujarat trial court not to proceed till 12 April with a criminal defamation complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah's son Jay Shah against news portal The Wire and its journalist Rohini Singh.

While hearing a petition filed by journalist Rohini Singh, the bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra observed that the media should be more responsible and should write whatever it feels like about anyone, clarifying that it was only making a generl observation and not referring to this particular case.

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said that a section of the media and especially "some electronic media channels" have become "popes sitting on pulpit delivering sermons".

The court said it did not wish to name the channels but their conduct has been against the culture of journalism.

The CJI however repeatedly asserted that these observations were not immediately related to the Jay Shah v/s The Wire case.

Kapil Sibal, appearing for The Wire, insisted that the press and journalists have a right to ask questions and express views.

CJI Misra however countered, "Can they write anything or whatever they feel? One just cannot write anything or comment irresponsibly on anyone. Do other people not have a heart?"

When senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the press should not be gagged, the CJI said, "This court has zealously guarded the freedom of speech but press should be responsible. Sometimes what they write or say is directly in contempt of court."

Kapil Sibal however argued, "If this is about the contempt of court then how can someone sitting in Chennai make comments about Justice Muralidhar?"

Political commentator S Gurumurthy had recently posted a tweet saying that Justice Muralidhar of Delhi High Court passed a certain order because he was junior to P Chidambaram. The tweet was later deleted after the court said it was untrue.

Justice Muralidhar recently granted interim protection from arrest by the Enforcement Directorate to Karti Chidambaram in the INX Media case.

CJI Misra responded by saying that the said judge took action. Sibal however shot back saying he did not.

The court asked Jay Shah and others, who have filed the complaint against the scribes, to respond within two weeks to the plea filed by the journalists against the Gujarat High Court's order, refusing to quash summons issued against them by the trial court.

The case pertains to an article published by the website against Jay Shah, son of BJP president Amit Shah. The article raised questions on the disproportionate rise of Jay Shah's company's income in the past two years.

The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, observed that the media should be more responsible and said it cannot write whatever it feels about anyone.

The Gujarat High Court had on 8 January rejected a petition filed by the news portal, seeking quashing of a criminal defamation case filed against it by Jay Shah over an article related to his company.

The high court rejected the petition on the grounds that the article, "The Golden Touch of Jay Amit Shah", is per say "defamatory" and the trial court should proceed with the case.

Jay Shah had moved the lower court alleging criminal defamation by the petitioners after the article published by the website claimed his company's turnover grew exponentially after the BJP-led government came to power at the Centre in 2014.

The suit has been filed against the author of the article, founding editors of the news portal, the public editor and the Foundation for Independent Journalism.

Jay Shah has separately filed a civil defamation suit of Rs100 crore against the website over the article, insisting the story was "false, derogatory and defamatory".