Although the court said that there can’t be blanket bans, it also urged the media to exercise restraint and not sensationalize sexual abuse and violence.
New Delhi: Overruling the August statement by Patna High Court, Supreme Court ended the embargo on media reporting the Bihar shelter abuse cases on Wednesday. Although the court said that there can’t be blanket bans, it also urged the media to exercise restraint and not sensationalize sexual abuse and violence.
A bench of Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta vacated the August 23 order of the Patna High Court which had imposed a ban on media reporting about the investigations in the case.
The decision came after the incidents in Muzaffarpur shelter homes where several women inmates were allegedly raped and sexually abused.
“A journalist, who had challenged the ban in the top court, through her lawyer told the court that the media actually helped the Bihar shelter scandal to come out. However, Justice Madan B Lokur said that when a case is going on, media can’t deliver its judgement,” reported NDTV.
“It appears there is no mechanism of enforcement of guidelines which leads to misreporting. For this purpose, we need the assistance of Editors Guild, Press Council and NBSA,” a bench of Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said in the report.
The incident had come to light following an audit of the shelter home by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. The audit report, submitted to the state government in April, said that many girls at the shelter home had complained of sexual abuse.